(b Harima [now in Hyogo Prefect.], 1282; d Kyoto, 1337). Japanese Zen abbot and calligrapher. It is to Daito Kokushi (‘national teacher Daito’) that the abbots of virtually all modern Japanese Rinzai Zen temples trace their religious heritage, and he was one of Japan’s foremost monk–calligraphers. Daito took monastic orders as a youth and at the age of about 21 became a disciple of Koho Kennichi (1241–1316), who had studied in Japan under the Chinese master Wuxue Zuyuan (1226–86), and who was a son of Emperor GoSaga (reg 1242–6). By 1305 Daito was studying Zen under Daio Kokushi [Nanpo Jomyo] (1235–1308), a monk who had studied for eight years in China and under whom Daito achieved enlightenment. Daito’s early, graceful, Japanese-style calligraphy may have been the result of his training under Koho Kennichi. The early style is fluid, yet betrays a penetrating strength in the use of the brush tip. A fine example is his two Enlightenment Verses recording his experience of enlightenment (ink on paper, 410*500 mm; 1307; Kyoto, Daitokuji; Important Cultural Property). After Nanpo’s death Daito lived in a retreat or, according to legend, under the bridges of Kyoto with beggars, and eventually founded the hermitage north-west of Kyoto which, under the patronage of the emperors Hanazono (reg 1308–18) and GoDaigo (reg 1318–39), was to become the great temple Daitokuji (see KYOTO, §IV, 5). Daito’s religious spirit is illustrated in a famous incident, when he broke a bone in his leg, an earlier injury to which had prevented him from assuming the full lotus position, took the posture, wrote a traditional deathbed poem ( yuige) and died.

• Daito Kokushi
  • Japan, §XIV, 4(ii): Tea ceremony calligraphy: Influence of 16th–early 17th-century tea masters
  • Kyoto, §IV, 5: Daitokuji