Chion-in (知恩院, Monastery of Gratitude) in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan is the headquarters of the Jōdo-shū (Pure Land Sect) founded by Hōnen (1133–1212), who proclaimed that sentient beings are reborn in Amida Buddha's Western Paradise (Pure Land) by reciting the nembutsu, Amida Buddha's name.
The vast compounds of Chion-in include the site where Hōnen settled to disseminate his teachings and the site where he died.
The Chinzei school (鎮西流) branch, also called the Chinzei Doctrine (鎮西義), is one of the two largest branches of Jōdo-shū Buddhism (the second being Seizan). The tradition traces itself to Benchō (a.k.a. Shōkō Shōnin), a disciple of Hōnen, but it was formally established as a separate branch by Benchō's disciple Ryōchū (良忠, 1199–1287). It is also sometimes called the Chikushi school due to its early development in the Chikushi region of Kyushu. It played a key role in shaping the doctrinal and institutional framework of Jōdo-shū, which remains one of Japan's major Buddhist traditions today.
Originally based in Kyushu where Benchō had been exiled, the sect contended with other disciples of Hōnen until it emerged into the dominant branch today. Its origins in Kyushu are also the reason for the sect's name, as Chinzei was an older name for Kyushu and was adopted by Benchō.