Enni Ben'en (1202-80)

Early Japanese Rinzai zen monk. He entered the Tendai order at the age of 5, and while growing up received a broad education in Buddhist and Confucian studies (see Confucianism), and after receiving full ordination as an adult, was introduced to Tendai esoteric rituals. He travelled in China from 1235 to 1241, and studied with the eminent Ch'an master Wu-chun Shi-fan (1177-1249) of the Yang-ch'i branch of Lin-chi (Japanese, Rinzai). He transmitted this lineage back to Japan upon his return, and became the fountainhead of this branch there. Because of him, and because his own Japanese Zen masters failed to propagate the Dharma of their own lineage (the Huang-lung branch of Lin-chi), Yang-ch'i (Japanese, Yōgi) became the dominant branch in Rinzai. Also, when he returned to Japan, he was given charge of a temple very near to Dōgen's (1200-53). Because he was more broadly trained and more willing and able to provide the services that the aristocracy demanded, he soon diverted much of Dōgen's support, which precipitated the latter's move to Echizen province and his founding there of the Eiheiji.

A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2003, 2004 (which is available in electronic version from answer.com)