Saichō (最澄, 767–822) — Founder of the Tendai School in Japan
Overview
Saichō established Tendai on Mount Hiei (near Kyoto) as Japan’s home for Lotus-centered Buddhism. After studying Tiantai in China (804–805), he returned with texts, practices, and ordination ideals that reshaped Japanese Buddhism.
Aim: a comprehensive path—scholarship, contemplation, ritual, and ethical formation
Place: Mount Hiei, Enryaku-ji monastery complex
Core sutra: Lotus Sutra; incorporated esoteric elements (Mikkyō), Pure Land nembutsu, and meditation
Life & Times (Concise)
767. Born in Ōmi Province (modern Shiga).
788. Founds a small hermitage on Mount Hiei (seed of Enryaku-ji).
804–805. Travels to Tang China; studies Tiantai on Mount Tiantai and returns with texts, precepts, and practices.
c. 806–820. Consolidates Tendai on Hiei; advocates Mahāyāna bodhisattva precepts (from the Brahmā Net Sutra) as Japan’s primary ordination—resisted by Nara schools.
822. Passes away; Tendai becomes a training ground for later luminaries (e.g., Hōnen, Shinran, Dōgen, Nichiren).
Tendai Distinctives
Lotus-centered inclusivity
The One Vehicle frames diverse practices as skillful means.
Integrated curriculum
Scriptural study, meditative training, esoteric rituals, and precepts as character formation.
Twelve-year mountain training ideal
Discipline, simplicity, and service.
Mahāyāna precept platform (大乗戒壇)
Saichō’s push to base ordination on bodhisattva precepts reshaped Japanese Buddhist ethics.
Legacy
Tendai’s breadth seeded multiple Japanese traditions while preserving a Lotus-based synthesis. Mount Hiei’s Enryaku-ji remains a symbol of rigorous practice in service of awakening for all beings.
Recommended Reading
- Historical studies on Enryaku-ji and early Heian Buddhism
- Translations on Tendai precepts debates and curriculum
- Introductions to Mikkyō within Tendai