Death of Shinran

1263 · Kyoto (Japan)

Shinran, Honen's disciple and the founder of Jodo Shinshu, dies in Kyoto; his teaching of absolute reliance on Amida's Primal Vow, taken by a married priesthood, builds the largest Buddhist tradition in Japan and the ancestor of the Buddhist Churches of America.

Tagged: Buddhist Pure Land

The Event

Date
1263 (exact)
Era
Medieval; Standard periodization of Buddhist history
Location
Kyoto; today Japan
Traditions
Buddhism
Streams
Pure Land
Key figures
Shinran
Key texts
Kyogyoshinsho, Tannisho (recorded sayings)

Primary Sources

  • Shinran, Kyogyoshinsho

Secondary Sources

  • Stone, Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism (Hawaii, 1999)
  • Buswell and Lopez, The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton, 2014)

Provenance: HIST-0426; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-27.

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