Koumyou Sanzo was the previous generation's Sanzo priest and Genjyo Sanzo's adoptive father. He found the baby floating down a river, named him Kouryuu, and raised him as his own. As keeper of both the Seiten Sutra and Maten Sutra, he eventually passed these sacred texts to his successor before being killed by youkai forces at age 47.
Personality-wise, Koumyou was endlessly easygoing and gentle—the kind of person who operated on his own wavelength and could be a total goofball. Yet he had an almost uncanny philosophical streak, as if he could peer into the distant future. Those contradictions seemed to coexist naturally in him.
He'd trained as an apprentice monk under Arch-Bishop Jikaku alongside Goudai Sanzo, an old friend who'd later inherit the Muten Sutra while Koumyou took the Seiten. Their third companion was Tenkai Sanzo, a youkai who walked the priestly path with them. When Tenkai died, his Maten Sutra fell to Koumyou's care as well—a significant responsibility that would shape everything that came after.
Though he's been dead for twelve years by the time the main story unfolds, Koumyou remains a crucial figure in Saiyuki, his influence woven throughout the narrative.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
