Chōgen studied Buddhism, architecture, building techniques.
Chōgen first studied the doctrines of Shingon Buddhism at the Daigo-ji near Kyoto and went by the name Chogen of the Shunjobo. Later he studied Pure Land Buddhism under its famous propagator Honen. During the years from 1167 to 1176, he made three trips to China, where he continued his Buddhist training.
When the struggle for power between the Taira and Minamoto families was raging, and in 1180 the great Todai-ji temple of Nara, which had sided with the latter, was burned to the ground by Taira no Shigehira. Its reconstruction was undertaken by the government, and Chogen was ordered to direct the work. The buildings that he erected employ a type of architecture known as tenjiku-yo, which makes use of the unit construction system. For the casting of the great bronze Buddha image, an artisan named Ch’en Ho-Ch'ing (Chin Nakei in Japanese reading) was summoned from China, while the noted sculptors Unkei and Kaikci were assigned the task of carving wooden images. The work was completed in 1203, and the main hall, though later reconstructed, remains today the largest wooden building in existence. He left a record of the reconstruction of the Todai-ji entitled Narnu-Amidabutsu sazensliu.
Chogen was an ardent believer in Pure Land teachings and adopted the name Namu- Amidabutsu.
