GOZAN ZEN. The Japanese term gozan (also pronounced gosan; Chin., wushan; "five mountains") refers to a system of monastic organization and its associated culture that flourished in Song-dynasty China and medieval Japan. Because many Buddhist monasteries in premodern China and Japan were located on mountains and conceived of as being secluded from the world, the word mountain came to connote a monastery. The "five mountains" were a designated group of Zen (Chin., Chan) monasteries. Gozan organization began to develop in China during the Song dynasty (960–1279) and was transmitted to Japan during the Kamakura period (1185–1333). These monasteries developed a distinctive pattern of Zen monastic life, a common organizational hierarchy, and a characteristic cultural style. Thus the expression "five mountains" is also applied to the literature produced by monks from these monasteries (gozan bungaku), the wood-block books printed in these monasteries (gozan-ban), and the art and culture associated...