A Popular Dictionary of Buddhism
Bsm. entered Japan (c. A.D. 550) from Korea. The Empress Suiko became a convert, and the Prince Regent, known as Shōtoku Taishi (q.v.), did his best to encourage it. He drew up Japan’s first ‘Constitution’.
proclaiming the ‘Triune Treasure’ of Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha as the basis of the national life. From that time on, Japan took over and made her own the fruits of Chinese culture. In the ninth century, Dengyō Daishi, the founder of the Tendai Sect, and Kōbō Daishi, the founder of the Shingon Sect, harmonized Buddhism with Shinto, producing the Ryōbu Shintō (q.v.), a fusion which lasted for a thousand years.
In the twelfth century Hōnen brought the Jōdo School to Japan, from which developed the Shin-Shū, founded by Shinran. About the same time Nichiren founded his School which is based on the Saddharma Pundarīka Sūtra, and the two branches of Zen Shū, Rinzai and Sōtō, were re-founded. In 1868, at the Meiji restoration, Bsm. was dis-established. The largest schools today are Shin and Zen.
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