On the enduring legacy of Tiantai tian tai educational books in Premodern Japan: the [Tendai enshū shikyō goji tian tai 円 zong si jiao wu shi] Nishidani myōmoku xi gu ming mu and Shishi yaolan shi shi yao lan (Śākyamuni [Buddha’ s] essential teachings)
On the enduring legacy of Tiantai 天台 educational books in Premodern Japan: the [Tendai enshū shikyō goji 天台円宗四教五時] Nishidani myōmoku 西谷名目 and Shishi yaolan 釋氏要覽 (Śākyamuni [Buddha’s] essential teachings)
How did premodern East Asian Buddhists learn about the history and teachings of the Buddha? Its conspicuous self-image as an authentic branch of Chinese Buddhism in Japan, the great Tendai tradition tian tai zong (Ch. Tiantai) – both atop Mount Hiei bi rui shan and below it at Miidera san jing si –...
| Subtitles: | New Perspectives on the Localization and Globalization of Buddhism in Medieval China and Beyond |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
Studies in Chinese Religions
Year: 2024, Volume: 10, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 398-421 |
| Further subjects: | B
Shishi yaolan
B Nishidani myōmoku B Medieval Japanese Buddhism B Buddhist catalogues B Doctrinal Buddhist studies B East Asian Buddhist libraries |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | How did premodern East Asian Buddhists learn about the history and teachings of the Buddha? Its conspicuous self-image as an authentic branch of Chinese Buddhism in Japan, the great Tendai tradition tian tai zong (Ch. Tiantai) – both atop Mount Hiei bi rui shan and below it at Miidera san jing si – preserves several educational books that generations of Japanese Buddhists have considered to reflect an educational curriculum from Song China (960–1279). In this article I introduce and provide an overview of the Tendai enshū shikyō goji tian tai 円 zong si jiao wu shi Nishidani myōmoku xi gu ming mu [Guide to the Perfect Tendai Tradition’ s Four Teachings and Five Periods, according to the Nishidani Approach], which is preserved in multiple editions – with sub-commentaries – from the Edo jiang hu period (1603–1868) and earlier and references an early-eleventh-century Chinese exegetical compendium called the Shishi yaolan shi shi yao lan [Śākyamuni (Buddha’ s) Essential Teachings, T no. 2127]. I show how, according to Tendai Buddhists who followed the teachings of many teachers who studied in China across more than 400 years, the essential teachings of Buddhism are best conveyed through what we might call a Tiantai lens of scholarship. How did premodern East Asian Buddhists learn about the history and teachings of the Buddha? Its conspicuous self-image as an authentic branch of Chinese Buddhism in Japan, the great Tendai tradition 天台宗 (Ch. Tiantai) – both atop Mount Hiei 比叡山 and below it at Miidera 三井寺 – preserves several educational books that generations of Japanese Buddhists have considered to reflect an educational curriculum from Song China (960–1279). In this article I introduce and provide an overview of the Tendai enshū shikyō goji 天台円宗四教五時 Nishidani myōmoku 西谷名目 [Guide to the Perfect Tendai Tradition’s Four Teachings and Five Periods, according to the Nishidani Approach], which is preserved in multiple editions – with sub-commentaries – from the Edo 江戸 period (1603–1868) and earlier and references an early-eleventh-century Chinese exegetical compendium called the Shishi yaolan 釋氏要覽 [Śākyamuni (Buddha’s) Essential Teachings, T no. 2127]. I show how, according to Tendai Buddhists who followed the teachings of many teachers who studied in China across more than 400 years, the essential teachings of Buddhism are best conveyed through what we might call a Tiantai lens of scholarship. |
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| ISSN: | 2372-9996 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Studies in Chinese Religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/23729988.2025.2466969 |
