Gonso
Gonso
[勤操] (758–827)
Also known as Gonzo. A priest of the Three Treatises (Sanron) school in Japan. In 769 he began to study under Shin-rei, a priest of Daian-ji temple, and at sixteen he went to Mount Koya. After that, he studied the three treatises—The Treatise on the Middle Way, The Treatise on the Twelve Gates, and The One-Hundred-Verse Treatise — under Zengi, a priest of Todai-ji temple. In 802 he and other learned priests of the seven major temples of Nara engaged Dengyo, the founder of the Japanese Tendai school, in religious debate at Takao-dera temple. Dengyowon the debate. Gonso was later appointed supervisor of priests by the imperial court, in which capacity he administrated Todai-ji and Saidai-ji temples and founded a temple named Iwabuchi-dera. In 826 he was appointed general supervisor of priests, and after his death he was named the Administrator of Priests Iwabuchi. Gonso is also known as a teacher of Kobo, the founder of the True Word (Shingon) school.
