GYŌGI (670–749), born Koshi no Obito, was a Buddhist monk who popularized Japanese Buddhism during the Nara period (710–784). According to the Genkō shakusho, a collection of biographies of priests, Koshi no Obito was born in the Kubiki district of Echigo (present-day Niigata prefecture) to a family that claimed to be descended from Korean royalty. In his youth, because he was so often in the company of birds and cows, he was called Ushitori ("cowbird"), but he soon began to concern himself instead with the needs of his fellow people. His ministrations on behalf of common people attracted hundreds of followers. At the age of fifteen, he "left the world" (i.e., took mendicant orders) and entered Yakushiji, one of the seven great Nara temples. Under the guidance of the monks Eki, Dōshō, and Gien he became acquainted with the doctrines of...