death_date religion birth_place color nationality title article_title background birth_date school name
1388 zen buddhism japan black japanese priest gidō shūshin
 #ffd 068 1325 rinzai gidō shūshin
gidō shūshin

, 1325 -- 1388 -rrb- , japanese luminary of the zen rinzai sect , was a master of poetry and prose in chinese -lrb- literature of the five mountains -rrb- .
gidō 's own diary -lrb- -rrb- relates how as a child he discovered and treasured the zen classic `` rinzairoku '' in his father 's library .
he was born in tosa on the island of shikoku and began formal study of confucian and buddhist literature .
his religious proclivities were encouraged when he witnessed the violent death of a clan member .
like many others he took his first vows on mt. hiei near the capital .
gidō 's life was changed with a visit to the prominent zen master musō soseki -lrb- 1275 -- 1351 -rrb- in 1341 .
he would become the master 's attendant after his own unsuccessful pilgrimage to china .
he would become a principal disciple .
gidō was born with eyesight difficulties .
his choice of a literary name was `` kūgedojin '' or holy man who sees flowers in the sky .
kūge was from sanscrit `` khpuspa '' and indicated illusory sense perceptions .
gidō would play a role of conciliator between rival courts in the nation 's civil war .
his loyalty was with the northern court and its ashikaga supporters .
after taking residence in the city of kamakura , gidō would become the personal advisor to the ashikaga rulers there .
gidō encouraged confucian political values such as centralized rule and social stability .
likewise gidō became an advocate of sung period chinese neo-confucian humanistic values , both political and literary .
in 1380 gidō was asked by the reigning shogun , yoshimitsu -lrb- 1358 -- 1408 -rrb- , to reside with him in kyoto .
gidō 's last years were spent personally instructing yoshimitsu in confucian and buddhist subjects .
