Mongaku

Mongaku (文覚) was a Japanese samurai and Shingon Buddhist priest of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. He was a close associate of shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo, having contributed to the declaration of the Genpei War. Myōe was the disciple of his disciple Jōkaku. His secular name, before ordination, was Endō Moritō. He is also known as Mongaku Shōnin.

Life

Mongaku was born the son of Endō Mochitō, a samurai in the Watanabe faction of the Settsu Genji clan (a branch of the Minamoto clan). He fell in love with Kesa, the wife of Minamoto no Wataru, but killed her by accident.

After the destruction of the Taira clan and the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate, Mongaku was a highly trusted associate of Yoritomo. After his successful role in the declaration of war against the Taira clan, Mongaku's request was finally heard, and the Cloistered Emperor gave the Kaseda Manor in Kii Province to Jingo-ji in 1183. After this, the temple received further estates from both Yoritomo and the Cloistered Emperor. By 1190, the temple buildings were almost completely restored. He was allowed to return to Kyoto in 1202, but was exiled to Tsushima Province the following year by Emperor Emeritus Go-Toba; Mongaku died in exile in Tsushima.

According to Seiashō, there were rumors that Mongaku hated Saigyō, a monk of the same period.