Gāthā on a Miraculous Stone

Ninjo Shūgyō (1483-1574) was a Zen monk of the Rinzai sect of Zen in the Sengoku period. He lived at Hōunji Temple, Hōrinji Temple, and other temples in Harima, and became the 91st resident priest of Shōkokuji Temple in Tenbun 13 (1544). Finally, he became Rokuon Sōroku (which was initiative institution over Zen sect Temples under Rokuon’in Temple of small zen temple in Syōkokuzi Temple, and took over general affairs, including the promotion of a resident priests and the handling of temple land litigation) in Eiroku 3 (1560). He retired to Unsenken Temple in Tenshō 2 (1574) and passed away at the age of 92. He was a representative Zen monk of the Five Mountain’s literature in his later years, and was a close friend of Sakugen Shūryō and others. He is known for his work “Ruhyōshū.”

This is a poem verse written by Jinjo about a “miraculous stone” obtained by a monk named Sēin Zogen at Shōrin Zen temple (unknown) in Geishū (now Hiroshima Prefecture). The poem is liken to the legend that Zhang Qian of the former Han Dynasty obtained a “Shikiseki (a stone used by princess Orihime represented as the star Vega, as a foundation for their looms)” in the Mt. Kunlun.