Eisai, Dogen, and the Founding of Rinzai and Soto Zen

Eisai, known formally as Myoan Eisai (1141–1215), was born in Bitchu province and ordained on Mount Hiei within the Tendai school, but grew dissatisfied with what he saw as its declining rigor. A brief first voyage to China in 1168 was followed by a much longer second stay, from 1187 to 1191, originally intended to continue on to India before Eisai was barred from doing so; during this stay he received Rinzai transmission in the Huanglong branch. On returning, he founded Shofuku-ji in Hakata in 1195, generally regarded as Japan's first dedicated Zen temple, and later Kennin-ji in Kyoto in 1202 with the backing of the shogun Minamoto no Yoriie, though he was compelled to present Zen there alongside existing Tendai and Shingon elements to placate opposition from Mount Hiei. Eisai defended the new school in his 1198 treatise Kozen Gokokuron, "On the Promotion of Zen for the Protection of the Nation," and separately authored the Kissa Yojoki (1211), "Drink Tea and Prolong Life," credited with helping popularize the cultivation and ceremonial drinking of tea in Japan using seeds he had brought back from China.