Enni ［円爾］ (1202–1280): Also known as Bennen. A priest of the Rinzai school of Zen in Japan. In 1235 he journeyed to China where he studied for six years under Wu-chun Shih-fan. After returning to Japan in 1241, he taught Zen at the imperial court and obtained the patronage of the nobility. He became the first chief priest of Tōfuku-ji, a temple built in Kyoto by the chief minister of the imperial court, Kujō Michiie. Enni’s lineage is called the Tōfuku-ji branch of the Rinzai school. In 1311 the imperial court gave him the posthumous name and title Teacher of the Nation Shōichi.