The Religion In The Heian Period

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The Religion In The Heian Period

The Main Religion of the Heian Period
Two Buddhist sects, Tendai and Shingon, dominated religion in the Heian period.
The word tendai means heavenly platform, and the word shingon means true word. Both
of them belonged to the Mahayana, Great Vehicle, branch of Buddhism originating in
India, and both of them were imported from China by the Japanese court at the beginning
of the ninth century. In their new surroundings, the sects came to terms with the change
from the centralized monarchy of early Heian times to aristocratic familism. Together the
spread throughout the countryside, absorbing Shinto in the process, and became a fruitful
source of artistic inspiration. In those years, two prominent scholar-monks, Saicho and
Kukai, each at the height of his powers, returned to Japan from a period of study in China.
Tendai Buddhism
Saicho, the founder of Tendai Buddhism, was born in 767 in the province of Omi
into Mitsuomi family, who were originally immigrants from China. His father was such a
devout Buddhist that their house was turned into a temple. At the age of 12, Saicho
entered the Kokubunji monastery of Omi and became a disciple of Gyohyo where he
received his first ordination at the age of 14 (in 785 C.E.) His life was relatively
uneventful up until this point, until he received his complete ordination at the age of 19.
Then, three months after his ordination he went to live in a small hermitage on Mountain
Hiei.
In 788, Saicho established the Hienzanji temple where the carved image of
Yakushi the healing Buddha is a central image. It was sometime during this period that he
began studying Ti'en-t'ai scriptures. As a devoutly religious idealist, Saicho was very
impressed by the undiscriminating and universal aspects of Ti'en T'ai and thought the
Teachings would be a welcome change to the somewhat sterile theology of the Six Nara
Sects of the day.
The mood of the Nara sects was scholastic rather than devotional, and the major
Nara practices were magical rites to improve memory or to expand the mind for study,
and on occasion to impress the aristocracy. These were far from the daily devotional
exercises found in the writings of Chih-i, the founder of Chinese Ti'en-t'ai.
In 802, in favoring monks like Saicho, Emperor Kammu doubtless intended to
strengthen the State’s control over ecclesiastical affairs. Apart from any immediate
checks to the political power of the Nara Monks, the move to a new capital marked a fresh
st...

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