Tendai

• 1. Founding And Establishment

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  In the sixth month of 805, a monk named Saichō returned to Japan from China after studying under Dàosuì, the seventh Tiantai patriarch. He had traveled on a separate ship from Kūkai during the 804 mission to Imperial China and never met him there. The future founder of Shingon Buddhism sailed away while Saichō studied Chan, Precepts, and Chinese Esoteric Buddhism in Ningbo before journeying to Tiantai Mountain for further instruction. Upon his return, Emperor Kanmu asked him to perform esoteric rituals and granted permission to establish an independent Tendai school in 806. This new community took root on Mount Hiei, located northeast of Kyoto, which was considered auspicious as the city's protector according to Chinese geomancy. By 809, under Emperor Saga, Saichō received his first ordinands, though he had waited years for this approval. His choice of location proved fortuitous because it allowed the school to grow independently of the powerful Nara-based schools like Hossō.

• 2. Doctrinal Synthesis And Philosophy

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  Saichō integrated exoteric Lotus Sutra teachings with esoteric practices into what Hazama Jikō calls the One Great Perfect Teaching. This framework unified all Buddha's teachings without contradiction into one comprehensive system. The school emphasized the Bodhisattva Precepts of the Brahmajala Sutra rather than the traditional Pratimokkha code used by other East Asian monastic orders. Saichō wrote the Kenkairon to defend these precepts against criticism from traditionalists who opposed his reforms. He believed that all Buddhist ideas could enter a great sea of Thusness through following the path of goodness. Later thinkers like Annen developed theories such as original enlightenment thought, which held that all beings are inherently enlightened. This doctrine extended buddha-nature to insentient things like mountains and rivers, arguing that the distinction between sentient and insentient is ultimately illusory. The Tendai worldview sees every sense phenomenon as an expression of Dharma itself.

• 3. Heian Period Dominance And Conflict

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  During the later Heian period, Ryōgen served as the 18th abbot of Enryakuji and became closely tied to the Fujiwara clan. His influence allowed Tendai to dominate Japanese intellectual life at the imperial court in Kyoto. Some scholars argue that Ryōgen hired an army to protect Mount Hiei, contributing to the development of warrior monks known as sōhei. Other historians attribute this rise to social pressures like the decline of the imperial bureaucratic state and the growth of temple estates. Armed groups within Tendai temples resorted to violence on multiple occasions, including conflicts between Enryakuji and Onjōji. By the end of the Heian period, political entanglements with rival factions during the Genpei War (1180, 1185) further militarized the sect. Major Tendai temples fielded their own monastic armies to protect vast landholdings from samurai forces and bandits. This era saw increased violence among Buddhist schools, with armed groups using force to resolve disputes between temples.

• 4. Kamakura Schisms And New Sects

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  By the Kamakura period, low-ranking Tendai monks became dissatisfied with perceived worldliness and elitism within the powerful school. Figures like Nichiren, Hōnen, Ippen, Shinran, Eisai, and Dōgen all initially trained as Tendai monks before teaching radical new doctrines focused on simpler practices. These new schools adopted Tendai practices but narrowed them into more specific forms such as daimoku for Nichiren or zazen for Zen. Initially, traditions like Pure Land Buddhism and Nichiren Buddhism did not attempt to create separate institutions; many continued ordination and training within Tendai frameworks. Over time, however, these groups differentiated themselves and formed independent organizations. The Tendai establishment used brigades of sōhei to repress these emerging factions. In one notable event, warrior monks destroyed the printing blocks of Hōnen's Senchakushū and raided his tomb. Despite internal divisions, medieval Tendai remained a rich tradition even while facing competition from these rival movements.

• 5. Destruction And Rebirth In The Edo Era

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  In 1571, the warlord Oda Nobunaga destroyed the Tendai headquarters on Mount Hiei, resulting in the deaths of many inhabitants. This severe crisis occurred during the Sengoku period when Nobunaga sought to break the political and military power of Tendai institutions. Despite this devastation, the school maintained strong bases elsewhere and was rapidly reconstructed with backing from Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa shoguns. During the Edo period, Tenkai helped restore the school's prestige by securing Tokugawa patronage and linking Tendai to shogunate ideology. He built new temples including Kita-in and Kan'ei-ji near Tokyo, which became the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. Tenkai also printed and published the entire Chinese Buddhist Canon comprising 6,323 fascicles, completed in 1648 as the Kan'ei-ji Edition. This project stands as one of the most significant achievements in Japanese printing history. While Enryaku-ji regained support, Tendai never fully recovered its former influence or power compared to previous centuries.

• 6. Modern Revival And Global Expansion

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  The Meiji Restoration brought severe challenges to Tendai through government promotion of Shinto and the separation of Shinto from Buddhism. Temple lands were confiscated and patronage declined significantly during the 19th and early 20th centuries. In response, figures like Shōchō Hagami (1903, 1989) promoted religious dialogue and traveled widely while practicing extensive Kaihōgyō meditation. Today, the Tendai school remains active with Enryaku-ji serving as its headquarters and major training center. Although some influential temples have become administratively independent, the main Tendai school persists despite having fewer temples than schools like Pure Land or Zen. The school has expanded to Western countries including the Tendai Mission of Hawaii Betsuin founded before WWII which received its first bishop Ryokan Ara in the 70s. The Tendai Buddhist Institute in Canaan, New York became the first Tendai Buddhist training center authorized to train priests in North America under Abbot Monshin Paul Naamon and his wife Rev. Shumon Tamami Naamon. Mount Hiei served as a focal point for commemorations in 1987 marking the 1,200th anniversary of Saichō's retreat to the mountains.