For the Japanese era, see Keian (1648-1652).

Keian Genju
桂庵 玄樹
Keian Genju at Kagoshima
Born	1427 Shimonoseki, Nagato Province, Japan
Died	June 28, 1508(1508-06-28) (aged 80–81) Kagoshima, Satsuma Province, Japan

Keian Genju (桂庵 玄樹, 1427 – June 28, 1508) was a Rinzai school Buddhist priest and Confucian scholar in late Muromachi period Japan, who is noted for forming the Satsunan school of Japanese Neo-Confucianism.^[1][2] who studied classics under Ishō at Nanzen-ji.^[3]

Keian was born in Akamagaseki, Nagato Province (present day Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi). When he was nine years old, he became a monk and went to study at Kyoto's Nanzen-ji. Afterwards, he went to Manju-ji Temple in Bungo Province for further study, and was invited by Ōuchi Yoshitaka to become the chief priest of Eifuku-ji in Nagato Province, his hometown. Keian accompanied the 1466 mission to the Ming court in China. In Beijing, he was favored by the Chenghua Emperor.^[4] He studied in Suzhou and other places, where he developed an interest in Neo-Confucianism. Keian delayed his return to Japan until 1475.,^[4] but took refuge in Iwami Province to escape the ravages of the Onin War. In 1478, he was invited by Shimazu Tadamasa to become chief priest of Shōkō-ji in Ōsumi Province and Ryūgen-ji in Hyūga Province. Furthermore, he was invited by Shimazu Tadayoshi to lecture on Neo-Confucianism at Keijū-in in Satsuma Province.^[5]

In 1481, Keian published his translation of Zhu Xi's Collective Commentaries on the Great Learning, the first such translation of that work into Japanese.^[6] This made him famous as the founder of the Satsunan school of Neo-Confucianism.^[7] He later went on to become chief priest of Kennin-ji and Nanzen-ji in Kyoto. At the age of 76, he retired to Toki-an (the location of his grave) in Satsuma and died at the age of 82.^[5]

Keian's grave is located in the cemetery of Keijū-in in Ishikichō, neighborhood of Kagoshima City, at the foot of a mountain to the west of the city. The grave was constructed by his disciples on the 25th anniversary of his death, but a tombstone was not erected until 1722. It was designated as a National Historic Site in 1936.^[8] Currently, the whole area is maintained as Keian Park.^[5]

The grave is about 4.8 kilometers north of JR Kyushu Kagoshima-Chūō Station.

• Dōgen
• Eisai
• Ingen

• Iwao, Seiichi, Teizō Iyanaga, Susumu Ishii, Shōichirō Yoshida et al. (2002). Dictionnaire historique du Japon (Vol. I), (Vol. II). Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose. ISBN 978-2-7068-1632-1; OCLC 51096469
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1962). Sovereign and Subject. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 1014075
• Xinzhong Yao. (2005). An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64312-2; ISBN 978-0-521-64430-3; OCLC 255153845