|
Tendai is a
Japanese school of
Buddhism which was a descendant of the
Chinese
Tiantai school.
The Tiantai teaching was brought to Japan by
Jianshen (鑑眞) in the middle of the 8th century, but it was not widely
accepted. In 805,
SaichΕ (最澄) brought back the Tendai teachings from China and made the
temple that he had built on
Mt. Hiei (比叡山), the
Enryakuji, a center for the study and practice of Tendai.
However, what he had transmitted from China was not exclusively Tendai,
but also included
Zen (禪),
Mikkyo (密教) and
Vinaya (戒律) teachings. This tendency became more marked in the
doctrines of his successors, such as
Ennin (圓仁) and
Enchin (圓珍). The Tendai sect flourished under the patronage of the
imperial family and nobility in Japan.
|
