Kenzeiki

Introduction

The Kenzeiki (建撕記) is the fundamental biography of Dōgen Zenji, written by Kenzei, a fourth-generation disciple. It is our primary source on Dōgen's life: his childhood, his initial training at Mount Hiei, his journey to China, his return, and the founding of the Japanese Sōtō school.

The text blends biographical narrative with hagiography, conveying the major stages of Dōgen's life — his encounter with Myōzen, his teacher Eisai, and then with Rujing in China — in a form that makes it both a historical document and a devotional text.

This text is written in classical Japanese (文語). It is not yet available in our corpus; a translation is provided.