Commonly known as Jie Daishi 慈恵大師 or Great Master Jie. The posthumous name of Ryōgen 良源 (912-85), abbot at Mt. Hiei 比叡, reformer of the Tendai 天台 sect, and early supporter of Pure Land jōdo 浄土 Buddhism. Also known by the names Gansan Daishi 元三大師, Tsuno Daishi 角大師, and Mibyō Daishi 御廟大師. Born in Ōmi 近江 province (Shiga Prefecture), he entered Mt. Hiei, the Tendai headquarters northeast of Kyoto, at age twelve. He became abbot in 966 and spent the next nineteen years overseeing the rebuilding of the temple complex, constructing new buildings and enhancing the power and prestige of the Tendai establishment. Ryōgen secured imperial patronage and acquired a nationwide network of branch temples *betsu-in 別院. He also reinforced monastic rules and the tradition of scholarship. A major figure in the lineage of Tendai patriarch Ennin 円仁 (794-864), Ryōgen was in turn the teacher of the two seminal Pure Land theologians Genshin 源信 (942-1017) and Kakūn 覚運 (953-1007). When Ryōgen's prayers for the recovery of Emperor Enyū 円融 (959-91) proved effective, he was granted the title of Daishi or Great Master. Because he was legendary for subjugating vengeful ghosts, many portrait sculptures were made of him. Well known examples include the statues at Genkōji 現光寺 (1218, Hyōgo Prefecture) and Manshuin 蔓殊院 (1268, Kyoto).