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William Denman may refer to:
William Denman (judge) (1872–1959), Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
William Denman (publisher) (1784–1870), New York newspaperman
|
family name
|
{
"answer_start": [
8
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"text": [
"Denman"
]
}
|
William Denman may refer to:
William Denman (judge) (1872–1959), Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
William Denman (publisher) (1784–1870), New York newspaperman
|
given name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"William"
]
}
|
William Denman may refer to:
William Denman (judge) (1872–1959), Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
William Denman (publisher) (1784–1870), New York newspaperman
|
position held
|
{
"answer_start": [
66
],
"text": [
"Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit"
]
}
|
William Denman may refer to:
William Denman (judge) (1872–1959), Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
William Denman (publisher) (1784–1870), New York newspaperman
|
occupation
|
{
"answer_start": [
46
],
"text": [
"judge"
]
}
|
Huang Boyun (simplified Chinese: 黄伯云; traditional Chinese: 黃伯雲; pinyin: Huáng Bóyún) is the former President of Central South University, the academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and a member of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and a representative of the 16th and 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
== References ==
|
occupation
|
{
"answer_start": [
142
],
"text": [
"academic"
]
}
|
Huang Boyun (simplified Chinese: 黄伯云; traditional Chinese: 黃伯雲; pinyin: Huáng Bóyún) is the former President of Central South University, the academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and a member of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and a representative of the 16th and 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
== References ==
|
employer
|
{
"answer_start": [
112
],
"text": [
"Central South University"
]
}
|
Huang Boyun (simplified Chinese: 黄伯云; traditional Chinese: 黃伯雲; pinyin: Huáng Bóyún) is the former President of Central South University, the academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and a member of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and a representative of the 16th and 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
== References ==
|
member of
|
{
"answer_start": [
157
],
"text": [
"Chinese Academy of Engineering"
]
}
|
Huang Boyun (simplified Chinese: 黄伯云; traditional Chinese: 黃伯雲; pinyin: Huáng Bóyún) is the former President of Central South University, the academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and a member of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and a representative of the 16th and 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
== References ==
|
family name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Huang"
]
}
|
Mara Faccio is an economist and currently the Duke Realty Chair in Finance and Professor of Finance at the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University.She is a research associate at the NBER. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis and the Journal of Corporate Finance. and previously held editorial positions at Financial Management magazine and The Review of Financial Studies.She won the 2015 William F. Sharpe Award for Scholarship in Financial Research for her paper “Taxes and Capital Structure” in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. In 2016, she won the referee of the year award from the Review of Corporate Finance Studies.Faccio started her career in 1999, as an assistant professor of finance at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. She then moved to the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame in 2001, and after that the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University in 2003. In 2007, she became a full professor at Purdue University.Faccio earned a Laurea in Economics (in 1994) and Master in Accounting and Finance (in 1995) from the University of Pavia, a MPhil in Accounting and Finance from the City University Business School in London in 1997, and a Dottorato in Finance from the Università Cattolica in Milan in 1999.
Research
Her research mainly focuses on corporate finance, banking, taxation and the political economy of corporate finance. Her works has been quoted over 18000 times according to Google Scholar. She has published in The American Economic Review, the Journal of Financial Economics and The Journal of Finance.Her research has been cited in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Forbes and The New York Times.
Selected bibliography
Faccio, Mara (2006). "Politically Connected Firms". The American Economic Review. 96 (1): 369–386.
Faccio, Mara; Lang, Larry H. P (2002-09-01). "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations". Journal of Financial Economics. 65 (3): 365–395.
Faccio, Mara; Masulis, Ronald W.; McConnell, John J. (2006). "Political Connections and Corporate Bailouts". The Journal of Finance. 61 (6): 2597–2635.
Faccio, Mara; Lang, Larry H. P; Young, Leslie (2001). "Dividends and Expropriation". The American Economic Review. 91 (1): 54–78.
== References ==
|
occupation
|
{
"answer_start": [
18
],
"text": [
"economist"
]
}
|
Mara Faccio is an economist and currently the Duke Realty Chair in Finance and Professor of Finance at the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University.She is a research associate at the NBER. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis and the Journal of Corporate Finance. and previously held editorial positions at Financial Management magazine and The Review of Financial Studies.She won the 2015 William F. Sharpe Award for Scholarship in Financial Research for her paper “Taxes and Capital Structure” in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. In 2016, she won the referee of the year award from the Review of Corporate Finance Studies.Faccio started her career in 1999, as an assistant professor of finance at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. She then moved to the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame in 2001, and after that the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University in 2003. In 2007, she became a full professor at Purdue University.Faccio earned a Laurea in Economics (in 1994) and Master in Accounting and Finance (in 1995) from the University of Pavia, a MPhil in Accounting and Finance from the City University Business School in London in 1997, and a Dottorato in Finance from the Università Cattolica in Milan in 1999.
Research
Her research mainly focuses on corporate finance, banking, taxation and the political economy of corporate finance. Her works has been quoted over 18000 times according to Google Scholar. She has published in The American Economic Review, the Journal of Financial Economics and The Journal of Finance.Her research has been cited in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Forbes and The New York Times.
Selected bibliography
Faccio, Mara (2006). "Politically Connected Firms". The American Economic Review. 96 (1): 369–386.
Faccio, Mara; Lang, Larry H. P (2002-09-01). "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations". Journal of Financial Economics. 65 (3): 365–395.
Faccio, Mara; Masulis, Ronald W.; McConnell, John J. (2006). "Political Connections and Corporate Bailouts". The Journal of Finance. 61 (6): 2597–2635.
Faccio, Mara; Lang, Larry H. P; Young, Leslie (2001). "Dividends and Expropriation". The American Economic Review. 91 (1): 54–78.
== References ==
|
employer
|
{
"answer_start": [
971
],
"text": [
"Vanderbilt University"
]
}
|
Mara Faccio is an economist and currently the Duke Realty Chair in Finance and Professor of Finance at the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University.She is a research associate at the NBER. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis and the Journal of Corporate Finance. and previously held editorial positions at Financial Management magazine and The Review of Financial Studies.She won the 2015 William F. Sharpe Award for Scholarship in Financial Research for her paper “Taxes and Capital Structure” in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. In 2016, she won the referee of the year award from the Review of Corporate Finance Studies.Faccio started her career in 1999, as an assistant professor of finance at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. She then moved to the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame in 2001, and after that the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University in 2003. In 2007, she became a full professor at Purdue University.Faccio earned a Laurea in Economics (in 1994) and Master in Accounting and Finance (in 1995) from the University of Pavia, a MPhil in Accounting and Finance from the City University Business School in London in 1997, and a Dottorato in Finance from the Università Cattolica in Milan in 1999.
Research
Her research mainly focuses on corporate finance, banking, taxation and the political economy of corporate finance. Her works has been quoted over 18000 times according to Google Scholar. She has published in The American Economic Review, the Journal of Financial Economics and The Journal of Finance.Her research has been cited in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Forbes and The New York Times.
Selected bibliography
Faccio, Mara (2006). "Politically Connected Firms". The American Economic Review. 96 (1): 369–386.
Faccio, Mara; Lang, Larry H. P (2002-09-01). "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations". Journal of Financial Economics. 65 (3): 365–395.
Faccio, Mara; Masulis, Ronald W.; McConnell, John J. (2006). "Political Connections and Corporate Bailouts". The Journal of Finance. 61 (6): 2597–2635.
Faccio, Mara; Lang, Larry H. P; Young, Leslie (2001). "Dividends and Expropriation". The American Economic Review. 91 (1): 54–78.
== References ==
|
given name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Mara"
]
}
|
Richard Gilpin (1625–1700) was an English nonconformist minister and physician, prominent in the northern region.
Life
The second son of Isaac Gilpin of Strickland Ketel, in the parish of Kendal, Westmorland, and Ann, daughter of Ralph Tonstall of Coatham-Mundeville, County Durham, he was born at Strickland, and baptised at Kendal on 23 October 1625. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an MA on 30 July 1646, and studying first medicine, then divinity. Neither the date nor the manner of his ordination is known.
He began his ministry at Lambeth, continued it at the Savoy as assistant to John Wilkins, and then returning to the north preached at Durham. In 1650 William Morland had been sequestered from the rectory of Greystoke, Cumberland. For about two years the living had been held by one West, a popular preacher, who died of consumption. Gilpin succeeded him in 1652 or early in 1653. In the parish of Greystoke there were four chapels, which Gilpin supplied with preachers. His parish was organised on the congregational model, having an inner circle of communicants and a staff of deacons; the presbyterian system had not been adopted in Cumberland. In August 1653 Gilpin set on foot a voluntary association of the churches of Cumberland and Westmorland, on the lines of Richard Baxter's Worcestershire 'agreement' of that year, but giving to the associated clergy somewhat larger powers. The organisation worked smoothly and gained in adherents; the terms of agreement were printed in 1656; in 1658 Gilpin preached (19 May) before the associated ministers at Keswick. His chief trouble was with the Quakers, who abounded in his district; one of his relatives at Kendal had been for a short time a Quaker.
Gilpin was in the habit of giving medical advice as well as spiritual counsel to his flock. By his purchase of the manor of Scaleby Castle, some twenty miles north of Greystoke, beyond Carlisle, he acquired a public position in the county. He was appointed Visitor to Durham College, for which Oliver Cromwell issued a patent on 15 May 1657.
At the Restoration, Gilpin was one of the most prominent religious leaders in the north of England, and was offered the see of Carlisle, which he refused. He preached at Carlisle at the opening of the assize on 10 September 1660. When Richard Sterne became bishop (2 December), Gilpin was not called upon to vacate his living, but resigned it on 2 February 1661 in favour of the sequestered Morland, retired to Scaleby, and preached there in his large hall. He is also said to have preached occasionally at Penruddock, a village in Greystoke parish, where John Noble, one of his deacons, gathered in his own house a nonconformist congregation, afterwards ministered to by Anthony Sleigh (died 1702). Shortly after the passing of the Uniformity Act of 1662 Gilpin moved to Newcastle upon Tyne, to minister to the hearers of the ejected lecturer, Samuel Hammond. By 1663 John Cosin was complaining of him. He did not wait for the indulgence of 1672, but openly disregarded the Conventicle Acts (1664, 1670) and the Five Mile Act (1665). He was several times fined for holding a conventicle, but does not seem to have been interfered with after 4 August 1669.
At Newcastle, he acquired a good practice as a physician, and graduated M.D. at Leiden University on 6 July 1676. He was an effective preacher and drew a diverse congregation. From 1694 to 1698 Gilpin had as assistant William Pell, ejected from Great Stainton, Durham. Pell was followed by Timothy Manlove (died 3 August 1699), and Manlove by Thomas Bradbury. After Bradbury was Benjamin Bennet. Gilpin died on 13 February 1700.
Works
He published:
'The Agreement of the Associated Ministers and Churches of Cumberland and Westmerland' (sic), &c., 1646, (anon.).
'The Temple Rebuilt,' &c., 1658, (sermon, Zach. vi. 13, to associated ministers).
'Disputatio Medica Inauguralis de Hysterica Passione,' &c., 1676.
'Dæmonologia Sacra; or, a Treatise of Satan's Temptations,' &c., 3 pts., 1677; 2nd edit. Edinburgh, 1735; new edition, by A. B. Grosart, Edinburgh, 1867, (a work of religious experience, the first title somewhat misleading).
'The Comforts of Divine Love,' &c., 1700 (funeral sermon for Manlove). Posthumous was
'An Assize Sermon … at Carlisle,' &c., London and Newcastle, 1700 (preached in 1660, see above).Among Gilpin's manuscripts was a treatise on the 'Pleasantness of the Ways of Religion,' which Calamy desired to see in print; it has since been lost.
Family
He was twice married; his second wife, who survived him, was Susanna, daughter of William Brisco of Crofton, Yorkshire. She moved to Scaleby Castle, and died on 18 January 1715. His children were:
William, born 5 September 1657, remained a churchman, became recorder of Carlisle (1718), was noted for artistic and antiquarian tastes, married Mary, daughter of Henry Fletcher of Tallantire, Cumberland, and was buried 14 December 1724. William's daughter, Susanna Appleby, was also an antiquarian and excavated a Roman bath house near Camboglanna in 1741.
Isaac, born 12 July 1658, died 21 February 1719.
Susanna, born 17 October 1659, married Matthias Partis.
Anne, born 5 December 1660, married Jeremiah Sawrey of Broughton Tower, Lancashire; buried 11 April 1745.
Elizabeth, born 3 August 1662.
Richard, born 4 May 1664, died young.
Mary, born 28 December 1666.
Dorothy, born 13 August 1668, married, first, Jabez Cay, M.D., of Newcastle upon Tyne; secondly, on 29 December 1704, Eli Fenton; died April 1708.
John, born 13 February 1670, merchant at Whitehaven, made a fortune in the Virginia trade; married Hannah, daughter of Robert Cay of Newcastle upon Tyne; buried 26 November 1732.
Frances, born 27 July 1671, died young.
Bernard, born 6 October 1672, died young in Jamaica.
Frances, born 27 January 1675, died young.
Thomas, born 27 July 1677, died 20 June 1700.
Notes
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Gilpin, Richard". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
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family name
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{
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8
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Richard Gilpin (1625–1700) was an English nonconformist minister and physician, prominent in the northern region.
Life
The second son of Isaac Gilpin of Strickland Ketel, in the parish of Kendal, Westmorland, and Ann, daughter of Ralph Tonstall of Coatham-Mundeville, County Durham, he was born at Strickland, and baptised at Kendal on 23 October 1625. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an MA on 30 July 1646, and studying first medicine, then divinity. Neither the date nor the manner of his ordination is known.
He began his ministry at Lambeth, continued it at the Savoy as assistant to John Wilkins, and then returning to the north preached at Durham. In 1650 William Morland had been sequestered from the rectory of Greystoke, Cumberland. For about two years the living had been held by one West, a popular preacher, who died of consumption. Gilpin succeeded him in 1652 or early in 1653. In the parish of Greystoke there were four chapels, which Gilpin supplied with preachers. His parish was organised on the congregational model, having an inner circle of communicants and a staff of deacons; the presbyterian system had not been adopted in Cumberland. In August 1653 Gilpin set on foot a voluntary association of the churches of Cumberland and Westmorland, on the lines of Richard Baxter's Worcestershire 'agreement' of that year, but giving to the associated clergy somewhat larger powers. The organisation worked smoothly and gained in adherents; the terms of agreement were printed in 1656; in 1658 Gilpin preached (19 May) before the associated ministers at Keswick. His chief trouble was with the Quakers, who abounded in his district; one of his relatives at Kendal had been for a short time a Quaker.
Gilpin was in the habit of giving medical advice as well as spiritual counsel to his flock. By his purchase of the manor of Scaleby Castle, some twenty miles north of Greystoke, beyond Carlisle, he acquired a public position in the county. He was appointed Visitor to Durham College, for which Oliver Cromwell issued a patent on 15 May 1657.
At the Restoration, Gilpin was one of the most prominent religious leaders in the north of England, and was offered the see of Carlisle, which he refused. He preached at Carlisle at the opening of the assize on 10 September 1660. When Richard Sterne became bishop (2 December), Gilpin was not called upon to vacate his living, but resigned it on 2 February 1661 in favour of the sequestered Morland, retired to Scaleby, and preached there in his large hall. He is also said to have preached occasionally at Penruddock, a village in Greystoke parish, where John Noble, one of his deacons, gathered in his own house a nonconformist congregation, afterwards ministered to by Anthony Sleigh (died 1702). Shortly after the passing of the Uniformity Act of 1662 Gilpin moved to Newcastle upon Tyne, to minister to the hearers of the ejected lecturer, Samuel Hammond. By 1663 John Cosin was complaining of him. He did not wait for the indulgence of 1672, but openly disregarded the Conventicle Acts (1664, 1670) and the Five Mile Act (1665). He was several times fined for holding a conventicle, but does not seem to have been interfered with after 4 August 1669.
At Newcastle, he acquired a good practice as a physician, and graduated M.D. at Leiden University on 6 July 1676. He was an effective preacher and drew a diverse congregation. From 1694 to 1698 Gilpin had as assistant William Pell, ejected from Great Stainton, Durham. Pell was followed by Timothy Manlove (died 3 August 1699), and Manlove by Thomas Bradbury. After Bradbury was Benjamin Bennet. Gilpin died on 13 February 1700.
Works
He published:
'The Agreement of the Associated Ministers and Churches of Cumberland and Westmerland' (sic), &c., 1646, (anon.).
'The Temple Rebuilt,' &c., 1658, (sermon, Zach. vi. 13, to associated ministers).
'Disputatio Medica Inauguralis de Hysterica Passione,' &c., 1676.
'Dæmonologia Sacra; or, a Treatise of Satan's Temptations,' &c., 3 pts., 1677; 2nd edit. Edinburgh, 1735; new edition, by A. B. Grosart, Edinburgh, 1867, (a work of religious experience, the first title somewhat misleading).
'The Comforts of Divine Love,' &c., 1700 (funeral sermon for Manlove). Posthumous was
'An Assize Sermon … at Carlisle,' &c., London and Newcastle, 1700 (preached in 1660, see above).Among Gilpin's manuscripts was a treatise on the 'Pleasantness of the Ways of Religion,' which Calamy desired to see in print; it has since been lost.
Family
He was twice married; his second wife, who survived him, was Susanna, daughter of William Brisco of Crofton, Yorkshire. She moved to Scaleby Castle, and died on 18 January 1715. His children were:
William, born 5 September 1657, remained a churchman, became recorder of Carlisle (1718), was noted for artistic and antiquarian tastes, married Mary, daughter of Henry Fletcher of Tallantire, Cumberland, and was buried 14 December 1724. William's daughter, Susanna Appleby, was also an antiquarian and excavated a Roman bath house near Camboglanna in 1741.
Isaac, born 12 July 1658, died 21 February 1719.
Susanna, born 17 October 1659, married Matthias Partis.
Anne, born 5 December 1660, married Jeremiah Sawrey of Broughton Tower, Lancashire; buried 11 April 1745.
Elizabeth, born 3 August 1662.
Richard, born 4 May 1664, died young.
Mary, born 28 December 1666.
Dorothy, born 13 August 1668, married, first, Jabez Cay, M.D., of Newcastle upon Tyne; secondly, on 29 December 1704, Eli Fenton; died April 1708.
John, born 13 February 1670, merchant at Whitehaven, made a fortune in the Virginia trade; married Hannah, daughter of Robert Cay of Newcastle upon Tyne; buried 26 November 1732.
Frances, born 27 July 1671, died young.
Bernard, born 6 October 1672, died young in Jamaica.
Frances, born 27 January 1675, died young.
Thomas, born 27 July 1677, died 20 June 1700.
Notes
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Gilpin, Richard". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
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given name
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
|
name in native language
|
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"text": [
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
|
posthumous name
|
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100
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
|
World History Encyclopedia ID
|
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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place of death
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Commons category
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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pseudonym
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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Kūkai (空海; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師, "The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 C.E.
Because of his importance in Japanese Buddhism, Kūkai is associated with many stories and legends. One such legend attribute the invention of the kana syllabary to Kūkai, with which the Japanese language is written to this day (in combination with kanji), as well as the Iroha poem, which helped to standardise and popularise kana.Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai by the honorific title of Odaishi-sama (お大師様, "The Grand Master"), and the religious name of Henjō Kongō (遍照金剛, "Vajra Shining in All Directions").
Biography
Early years
Kūkai was born in 774 in the precinct of Zentsū-ji temple, in Sanuki province on the island of Shikoku. His family were members of the aristocratic Saeki family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. In modern scholarship, his first name is generally believed to be Mao ("True Fish"), although one source records his birth name as Tōtomono ("Precious One"). Kūkai was born in a period of important political changes with Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) seeking to consolidate his power and to extend his realm, taking measures which included moving the capital of Japan from Nara ultimately to Heian (modern-day Kyoto).
Little more is known about Kūkai's childhood. At the age of fifteen, he began to receive instruction in the Chinese classics under the guidance of his maternal uncle. During this time, the Saeki-Ōtomo clan suffered government persecution due to allegations that the clan chief, Ōtomo Yakamochi, was responsible for the assassination of his rival Fujiwara no Tanetsugu. The family fortunes had fallen by 791 when Kūkai journeyed to Nara, the capital at the time, to study at the government university, the Daigakuryō (大学寮). Graduates were typically chosen for prestigious positions as bureaucrats. Biographies of Kūkai suggest that he became disillusioned with his Confucian studies, but developed a strong interest in Buddhist studies instead.
Around the age of 22, Kūkai was introduced to Buddhist practice involving chanting the mantra of Kokūzō (Sanskrit: Ākāśagarbha), the bodhisattva of the void. During this period, Kūkai frequently sought out isolated mountain regions where he chanted the Ākāśagarbha mantra relentlessly. At age 24 he published his first major literary work, Sangō Shiiki, in which he quotes from an extensive list of sources, including the classics of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The Nara temples, with their extensive libraries, possessed these texts.
During this period in Japanese history, the central government closely regulated Buddhism through the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs) and enforced its policies, based on the ritsuryō legal code. Ascetics and independent monks, like Kūkai, were frequently banned and lived outside the law, but still wandered the countryside or from temple to temple.During this period of private Buddhist practice, Kūkai had a dream, in which a man appeared and told Kūkai that the Mahavairocana Tantra is the scripture which contained the doctrine Kūkai was seeking. Though Kūkai soon managed to obtain a copy of this sutra which had only recently become available in Japan, he immediately encountered difficulty. Much of the sutra was in untranslated Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ script. Kūkai found the translated portion of the sutra was very cryptic. Because Kūkai could find no one who could elucidate the text for him, he resolved to go to China to study the text there. Ryuichi Abe suggests that the Mahavairocana Tantra bridged the gap between his interest in the practice of religious exercises and the doctrinal knowledge acquired through his studies.
Travel and study in China
In 804, Kūkai took part in a government-sponsored expedition to China, led by Fujiwara no Kadanomaro, in order to learn more about the Mahavairocana Tantra. Scholars are unsure why Kūkai was selected to take part in an official mission to China, given his background as a private monk who was not sponsored by the state. Theories include family connections within the Saeki-Ōtomo clan, or connections through fellow clergy or a member of the Fujiwara clan.The expedition included four ships, with Kūkai on the first ship, while another famous monk, Saichō was on the second ship. During a storm, the third ship turned back, while the fourth ship was lost at sea. Kūkai's ship arrived weeks later in the province of Fujian and its passengers were initially denied entry to the port while the ship was impounded. Kūkai, being fluent in Chinese, wrote a letter to the governor of the province explaining their situation. The governor allowed the ship to dock, and the party was asked to proceed to the capital of Chang'an (present day Xi'an), the capital of the Tang dynasty.
After further delays, the Tang court granted Kūkai a place in Ximing Temple, where his study of Chinese Buddhism began in earnest. He also studied Sanskrit with the Gandharan pandit Prajñā (734–810?), who had been educated at the Indian Buddhist university at Nalanda.
It was in 805 that Kūkai finally met the monk Huiguo (746–805) the man who would initiate him into Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi) at Chang'an's Qinglong Monastery (青龍寺). Huiguo came from an illustrious lineage of Buddhist masters, famed especially for translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Mahavairocana Tantra. Kūkai describes their first meeting:
Accompanied by Jiming, Tansheng, and several other Dharma masters from the Ximing monastery, I went to visit him [Huiguo] and was granted an audience. As soon as he saw me, the abbot smiled, and said with delight, "since learning of your arrival, I have waited anxiously. How excellent, how excellent that we have met today at last! My life is ending soon, and yet I have no more disciples to whom to transmit the Dharma. Prepare without delay the offerings of incense and flowers for your entry into the abhisheka mandala".
Huiguo immediately bestowed upon Kūkai the first level abhisheka (esoteric initiation). Whereas Kūkai had expected to spend 20 years studying in China, in a few short months he was to receive the final initiation, and become a master of the esoteric lineage. Huiguo was said to have described teaching Kūkai as like "pouring water from one vase into another". Huiguo died shortly afterwards, but not before instructing Kūkai to return to Japan and spread the esoteric teachings there, assuring him that other disciples would carry on his work in China.
Kūkai arrived back in Japan in 806 as the eighth Patriarch of Esoteric Buddhism, having learnt Sanskrit and its Siddhaṃ script, studied Indian Buddhism, as well as having studied the arts of Chinese calligraphy and poetry, all with recognized masters. He also arrived with a large number of texts, many of which were new to Japan and were esoteric in character, as well as several texts on the Sanskrit language and the Siddhaṃ script.
However, in Kūkai's absence Emperor Kanmu had died and was replaced by Emperor Heizei who exhibited no great enthusiasm for Buddhism. Kukai's return from China was eclipsed by Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, who found favor with the court during this time. Saichō had already had esoteric rites officially recognised by the court as an integral part of Tendai, and had already performed the abhisheka, or initiatory ritual, for the court by the time Kūkai returned to Japan. Later, with Emperor Kanmu's death, Saichō's fortunes began to wane.
Saichō requested, in 812, that Kūkai give him the introductory initiation, which Kūkai agreed to do. He also granted a second-level initiation upon Saichō, but refused to bestow the final initiation (which would have qualified Saichō as a master of esoteric Buddhism) because Saichō had not completed the required studies, leading to a falling out between the two that was not resolved; this feud later extended to the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Little is known about Kūkai's movements until 809 when the court finally responded to Kūkai's report on his studies, which also contained an inventory of the texts and other objects he had brought with him, and a petition for state support to establish the new esoteric Buddhism in Japan. That document, the Catalogue of Imported Items, is the first attempt by Kūkai to distinguish the new form of Buddhism from that already practiced in Japan. The court's response was an order to reside in Takao-san temple (modern Jingo-ji) in the suburbs of Kyoto. This was to be Kūkai's headquarters for the next 14 years. The year 809 also saw the retirement of Emperor Heizei due to illness and the succession of the Emperor Saga, who supported Kūkai and exchanged poems and other gifts.
Emerging from obscurity
In 810, Kūkai emerged as a public figure when he was appointed administrative head of Tōdai-ji, the central temple in Nara, and head of the Sōgō (僧綱, Office of Priestly Affairs).
Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Saga became seriously ill, and while he was recovering, Emperor Heizei fomented a rebellion, which had to be put down by force. Kūkai petitioned the Emperor to allow him to carry out certain esoteric rituals which were said to "enable a king to vanquish the seven calamities, to maintain the four seasons in harmony, to protect the nation and family, and to give comfort to himself and others". The petition was granted. Prior to this, the government relied on the monks from the traditional schools in Nara to perform rituals, such as chanting the Golden Light Sutra to bolster the government, but this event marked a new reliance on the esoteric tradition to fulfill this role.
With the public initiation ceremonies for Saichō and others at Takao-san temple in 812, Kūkai became the acknowledged master of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. He set about organizing his disciples into an order – making them responsible for administration, maintenance and construction at the temple, as well as for monastic discipline. In 813 Kūkai outlined his aims and practices in the document called The admonishments of Konin. It was also during this period at Takaosan that he completed many of the seminal works of the Shingon School:
Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence
The Meaning of Sound, Word, Reality
Meanings of the Word HūmAll of these were written in 817. Records show that Kūkai was also busy writing poetry, conducting rituals, and writing epitaphs and memorials on request. His popularity at the court only increased, and spread.
Meanwhile, Kukai's new esoteric teachings and literature drew scrutiny from a noted scholar-monk of the time named Tokuitsu, who traded letters back and forth in 815 asking for clarification. The dialogue between them proved constructive and helped to give Kūkai more credibility, while the Nara Schools took greater interest in esoteric practice.
Mount Kōya
In 816, Emperor Saga accepted Kūkai's request to establish a mountain retreat at Mount Kōya as a retreat from worldly affairs. The ground was officially consecrated in the middle of 819 with rituals lasting seven days. He could not stay, however, as he had received an imperial order to act as advisor to the secretary of state, and he therefore entrusted the project to a senior disciple. As many surviving letters to patrons attest, fund-raising for the project now began to take up much of Kūkai's time, and financial difficulties were a persistent concern; indeed, the project was not fully realised until after Kūkai's death in 835.
Kūkai's vision was that Mt. Kōya was to become a representation of the Mandala of the Two Realms that form the basis of Shingon Buddhism: the central plateau as the Womb Realm mandala, with the peaks surrounding the area as petals of a lotus; and located in the centre of this would be the Diamond Realm mandala in the form of a temple which he named Kongōbu-ji ("Diamond Peak Temple"). At the center of the temple complex sits an enormous statue of Vairocana, who is the personification of Ultimate Reality.
Public works
In 821, Kūkai took on a civil engineering task, that of restoring Manno Reservoir, which is still the largest irrigation reservoir in Japan. His leadership enabled the previously floundering project to be completed smoothly, and is now the source of some of the many legendary stories which surround his figure. In 822 Kūkai performed an initiation ceremony for the ex-emperor Heizei. In the same year Saichō died.
Tō-ji Period
When Emperor Kanmu had moved the capital in 784, he had not permitted the powerful Buddhists from the temples of Nara to follow him. He did commission two new temples: Tō-ji (Eastern Temple) and Sai-ji (Western Temple) which flanked the road at southern entrance to the city, protecting the capital from evil influences. However, after nearly thirty years the temples were still not completed. In 823 the soon-to-retire Emperor Saga asked Kūkai, experienced in public works projects, to take over Tō-ji and finish the building project. Saga gave Kūkai free rein, enabling him to make Tō-ji the first Esoteric Buddhist centre in Kyoto, and also giving him a base much closer to the court, and its power.
The new emperor, Emperor Junna (r. 823–833) was also well disposed towards Kūkai. In response to a request from the emperor, Kūkai, along with other Japanese Buddhist leaders, submitted a document which set out the beliefs, practices and important texts of his form of Buddhism. In his imperial decree granting approval of Kūkai's outline of esoteric Buddhism, Junna uses the term Shingon-shū (真言宗, Mantra Sect) for the first time. An imperial decree gave Kūkai exclusive use of Tō-ji for the Shingon School, which set a new precedent in an environment where previously temples had been open to all forms of Buddhism. It also allowed him to retain 50 monks at the temple and train them in Shingon. This was the final step in establishing Shingon as an independent Buddhist movement, with a solid institutional basis with state authorization. Shingon had become legitimate.
In 824, Kūkai was officially appointed to the temple construction project. In that year he founded Zenpuku-ji, the second oldest temple of the Edo (Tokyo) region. In 824 he was also appointed to the Office of Priestly Affairs. The Office consisted of four positions, with the Supreme Priest being an honorary position which was often vacant. The effective head of the Sōgō was the Daisōzu (大僧都, Senior Director). Kūkai's appointment was to the position of Shōsōzu (小僧都, Junior Director). In addition there was a Risshi (律師, Vinaya Master) who was responsible for the monastic code of discipline. At Tō-ji, in addition to the main hall (kondō) and some minor buildings on the site, Kūkai added the lecture hall in 825 which was specifically designed along Shingon Buddhist principles, which included the making of 14 Buddha images. Also in 825, Kūkai was invited to become tutor to the crown prince. Then in 826 he initiated the construction of a large pagoda at Tō-ji which was not completed in his lifetime (the present pagoda was built in 1644 by the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu). In 827 Kūkai was promoted to be Daisōzu in which capacity he presided over state rituals, the emperor and the imperial family.
The year 828 saw Kūkai open his School of Arts and Sciences (Shugei Shuchi-in). The school was a private institution open to all regardless of social rank. This was in contrast to the only other school in the capital which was only open to members of the aristocracy. The school taught Taoism and Confucianism, in addition to Buddhism, and provided free meals to the pupils. The latter was essential because the poor could not afford to live and attend the school without it. The school closed ten years after Kūkai's death, when it was sold in order to purchase some rice fields for supporting monastic affairs.
Final years
Kūkai completed his magnum opus, The Jūjūshinron (十住心論, Treatise on The Ten Stages of the Development of Mind) in 830. Because of its great length, it has yet to have been fully translated into any language. A simplified summary, Hizō Hōyaku (秘蔵宝鑰, The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury) followed soon after. The first signs of the illness that would eventually lead to Kūkai's death appeared in 831. He sought to retire, but the emperor would not accept his resignation and instead gave him sick leave. Toward the end of 832, Kūkai went back to Mt. Kōya and spent most of his remaining life there. In 834, he petitioned the court to establish a Shingon chapel in the palace for the purpose of conducting rituals that would ensure the health of the state. This request was granted and Shingon ritual became incorporated into the official court calendar of events. In 835, just two months before his death, Kūkai was finally granted permission to annually ordain three Shingon monks at Mt. Kōya – the number of new ordainees being still strictly controlled by the state. This meant that Kōya had gone from being a private institution to a state-sponsored one.
With the end approaching, he stopped taking food and water, and spent much of his time absorbed in meditation. At midnight on the 21st day of the third month (835), he died at the age of 62. Emperor Ninmyō (r. 833–50) sent a message of condolence to Mount Kōya, expressing his regret that he could not attend the cremation due to the time lag in communication caused by Mount Kōya's isolation. However, Kūkai was not given the traditional cremation, but instead, in accordance with his will, was entombed on the eastern peak of Mount Kōya. "When, some time after, the tomb was opened, Kōbō-Daishi was found as if still sleeping, with complexion unchanged and hair grown a bit longer."Legend has it that Kūkai has not died, but entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.
Stories and legends
Kūkai's prominence in Japanese Buddhism has spawned numerous stories and legends about him. When searching for a place on Mount Kōya to build a temple, Kūkai was said to have been welcomed by two Shinto deities of the mountain—the male Kariba, and the female Niu. Kariba was said to have appeared as a hunter, and guided Kūkai through the mountains with the help of a white dog and a black dog. Later, both Kariba and Niu were interpreted as manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana, the central figure in Shingon Buddhism and subject of Kūkai's lifelong interest.Another legend tells the story of Emon Saburō, the wealthiest man in Shikoku. One day, a mendicant monk came to his house, seeking alms. Emon refused, broke the pilgrim's begging bowl, and chased him away. After this, his eight sons fell ill and died. Emon realized that Kūkai was the affronted pilgrim and set out to seek his forgiveness. Having traveled round the island twenty times clockwise in vain, he undertook the route in reverse. Finally, he collapsed exhausted and on his deathbed. Kūkai appeared to grant absolution. Emon requested that he be reborn into a wealthy family in Matsuyama so that he might restore a neglected temple. Dying, he clasped a stone. Shortly afterwards a baby was born with his hand grasped tightly around a stone inscribed "Emon Saburō is reborn." When the baby grew up, he used his wealth to restore the Ishite-ji (石手寺, "Stone-hand Temple"), in which there is an inscription from 1567 recounting the tale.According to one legend, male same-sex love was introduced into Japan by Kūkai. Historians however, point that this is probably not true, since Kūkai was an enthusiastic follower of monastic regulations. Nonetheless, the legend served to "affirm same-sex relation between men and boys in 17th century Japan."
In popular culture
Kūkai (空海) a film from 1984 directed by Junya Sato. Kūkai is played by Kin'ya Kitaōji and Saichō is played by Gō Katō.
The 1991 drama film Mandala (Chinese: 曼荼羅; Japanese: 若き日の弘法大師・空海), a China-Japan co-production, was based on Kūkai's travels in China. The film stars Toshiyuki Nagashima as Kūkai, also co-starring Junko Sakurada and Zhang Fengyi as Huiguo.
The 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat stars Shōta Sometani as Kūkai.
Gallery
Outside Japan
Others
See also
Ākāśagarbha
Huiguo
Padmasambhava
Shingon Buddhism
Shikoku Pilgrimage
Vajrayana
References
Additional sources
Clipston, Janice (2000). Sokushin-jōbutsu-gi: Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence, Buddhist Studies Reviews 17 (2), 207-220
Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A.; trans. (2004). Shingon texts, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research
Hakeda Yoshito. 1972. Kūkai – Major Works. New York, USA: Columbia University Press.
Inagaki Hisao (1972). "Kukai's Sokushin-Jobutsu-Gi" (Principle of Attaining Buddhahood with the Present Body), Asia Major (New Series) 17 (2), 190-215
Skilton, A. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Wayman, A and Tajima, R. 1998 The Enlightenment of Vairocana. Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass [includes Study of the Vairocanābhisambodhitantra (Wayman) and Study of the Mahāvairocana-Sūtra (Tajima)].
White, Kenneth R. 2005. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press (includes Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkenmitsu-nikyōron, Sanmaya-kaijō)
External links
Koyosan Shingon Buddhism Kūkai officially founded the seminary community
"Kōbō Daishi" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art, a catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kūkai (see index)
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title
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Pekka Kainu (born 20 December 1979) is a Finnish footballer.
References
Guardian Football
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given name
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Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes (French pronunciation: [kodjɛs də fənujɛd] (listen); Catalan: Caudiers de Fenollet; Occitan: Caudièrs de Fenolhet) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.
Geography
Localisation
Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes is located in the canton of La Vallée de l'Agly and in the arrondissement of Perpignan.
Toponymy
The name of the town in Occitan is Caudiers de Fenolledès (historical form), de Fenolhedés (normalized form) or de Fenolhet (by similarity with other nearby communes).The name first appears in 1011 as Caldarios. It is then written as Cauders in the 14th century, and then Caudies from the 15th to the 17th centuries, and then as Caudiers or Caudiès in modern Occitan.In French, the official name is Caudiès in 1790, when the village becomes a commune, even though the names of Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes or Caudiès-de-Saint-Paul were already in use. Caudiès-de-Saint-Paul is used until the end of the 19th century, but the town officially changes its name on 31 January 1898 to Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes, still in use nowadays.The name comes from the Latin caldarius, meaning cauldron, as can be seen on the local coat of arms, and may refer to nearby pit caves around the river Boulzane.
Population
Sites of interest
The church of Our Lady of Laval.
The ruins of the castle of Castel Fizel.
The curious bridge of the Saint-Louis pass.
See also
Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department
== References ==
|
country
|
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202
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"text": [
"France"
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|
Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes (French pronunciation: [kodjɛs də fənujɛd] (listen); Catalan: Caudiers de Fenollet; Occitan: Caudièrs de Fenolhet) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.
Geography
Localisation
Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes is located in the canton of La Vallée de l'Agly and in the arrondissement of Perpignan.
Toponymy
The name of the town in Occitan is Caudiers de Fenolledès (historical form), de Fenolhedés (normalized form) or de Fenolhet (by similarity with other nearby communes).The name first appears in 1011 as Caldarios. It is then written as Cauders in the 14th century, and then Caudies from the 15th to the 17th centuries, and then as Caudiers or Caudiès in modern Occitan.In French, the official name is Caudiès in 1790, when the village becomes a commune, even though the names of Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes or Caudiès-de-Saint-Paul were already in use. Caudiès-de-Saint-Paul is used until the end of the 19th century, but the town officially changes its name on 31 January 1898 to Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes, still in use nowadays.The name comes from the Latin caldarius, meaning cauldron, as can be seen on the local coat of arms, and may refer to nearby pit caves around the river Boulzane.
Population
Sites of interest
The church of Our Lady of Laval.
The ruins of the castle of Castel Fizel.
The curious bridge of the Saint-Louis pass.
See also
Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department
== References ==
|
located in the administrative territorial entity
|
{
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159
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"text": [
"Pyrénées-Orientales"
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}
|
Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes (French pronunciation: [kodjɛs də fənujɛd] (listen); Catalan: Caudiers de Fenollet; Occitan: Caudièrs de Fenolhet) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.
Geography
Localisation
Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes is located in the canton of La Vallée de l'Agly and in the arrondissement of Perpignan.
Toponymy
The name of the town in Occitan is Caudiers de Fenolledès (historical form), de Fenolhedés (normalized form) or de Fenolhet (by similarity with other nearby communes).The name first appears in 1011 as Caldarios. It is then written as Cauders in the 14th century, and then Caudies from the 15th to the 17th centuries, and then as Caudiers or Caudiès in modern Occitan.In French, the official name is Caudiès in 1790, when the village becomes a commune, even though the names of Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes or Caudiès-de-Saint-Paul were already in use. Caudiès-de-Saint-Paul is used until the end of the 19th century, but the town officially changes its name on 31 January 1898 to Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes, still in use nowadays.The name comes from the Latin caldarius, meaning cauldron, as can be seen on the local coat of arms, and may refer to nearby pit caves around the river Boulzane.
Population
Sites of interest
The church of Our Lady of Laval.
The ruins of the castle of Castel Fizel.
The curious bridge of the Saint-Louis pass.
See also
Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department
== References ==
|
Commons category
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes"
]
}
|
Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes (French pronunciation: [kodjɛs də fənujɛd] (listen); Catalan: Caudiers de Fenollet; Occitan: Caudièrs de Fenolhet) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.
Geography
Localisation
Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes is located in the canton of La Vallée de l'Agly and in the arrondissement of Perpignan.
Toponymy
The name of the town in Occitan is Caudiers de Fenolledès (historical form), de Fenolhedés (normalized form) or de Fenolhet (by similarity with other nearby communes).The name first appears in 1011 as Caldarios. It is then written as Cauders in the 14th century, and then Caudies from the 15th to the 17th centuries, and then as Caudiers or Caudiès in modern Occitan.In French, the official name is Caudiès in 1790, when the village becomes a commune, even though the names of Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes or Caudiès-de-Saint-Paul were already in use. Caudiès-de-Saint-Paul is used until the end of the 19th century, but the town officially changes its name on 31 January 1898 to Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes, still in use nowadays.The name comes from the Latin caldarius, meaning cauldron, as can be seen on the local coat of arms, and may refer to nearby pit caves around the river Boulzane.
Population
Sites of interest
The church of Our Lady of Laval.
The ruins of the castle of Castel Fizel.
The curious bridge of the Saint-Louis pass.
See also
Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department
== References ==
|
official name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes"
]
}
|
Marley Davidson (sometimes referred to as "Marley Davidson: Bronx Exorcist") is a fictional comic book character created by writer and comic book artist Sandy Jimenez. It made its first appearance on June 15, 1995 in the self-titled independent comic book Marley Davidson, which chronicled the exploits of a Jamaican ex-priest, operating as an exorcist and monster hunter in New York City.Typical Marley Davidson stories involve classic renditions of undead monsters such as vampires and werewolves as the chief villains and often as agents in conspiratorial plots to undermine and prey upon the poor and the underclass.
Marley Davidson last appeared in the fourth issue of his titular comic book in 1999. A series reboot was advertised in issue #40 of World War 3 Illustrated, to resume the series in late 2010.
Creation and development
According to end notes by the author on the inside back cover of the first issue, Marley Davidson is a spin off of Vladek, Vampire Detective. Though the latter was never published, Marley Davidson was launched by Vampyrotechnic Studios in 1995 out of Wallabout street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Premise
Marley Davidson chronicles the adventures of an exorcist and his team of monster hunters, beginning in a conjectured 1970s New York City where the supernatural is as big a threat to human life as violent crime. The earliest stories in issues 1 and 2 illustrate a hard-scrabble existence, with the protagonists in need of money and support for their war against the undead. Marley Davidson and his team appear to function as mercenaries seeking paying clients, in seeming opposition to the principles and ethics of their mentors, a Rabbi and a Muslim cleric.
Like Sandy Jimenez’s other long-running series, Shit House Poet, Marley Davidson moves in and out of time from story to story. Issues begin with a particular year stamped on the first page as opposed to an actual title, with subsequent issues taking place years later without editorial segue or explanation. While foremost an action-adventure series, the stories’ setting in the South Bronx introduces realities and social issues more common in crime stories.
Visual style
Marley Davidson, an independent comic book, was executed with intentionally unsophisticated production means. It has thus far employed artwork that is rendered with only “ball point pens” and without the aid of computer scanning or computer image editing. It has been noted for its “cut out” style achieved by use of unique hand-drawn Xeroxed patterns trimmed to fit in as backdrop elements in the place of screentone or Zip-A-Tone to create different textures.
In other media
After the production of an animated short in 2006, a full-length animated feature was announced as being in pre-production in February 2007.
== References ==
|
occupation
|
{
"answer_start": [
344
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"text": [
"exorcist"
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}
|
Marley Davidson (sometimes referred to as "Marley Davidson: Bronx Exorcist") is a fictional comic book character created by writer and comic book artist Sandy Jimenez. It made its first appearance on June 15, 1995 in the self-titled independent comic book Marley Davidson, which chronicled the exploits of a Jamaican ex-priest, operating as an exorcist and monster hunter in New York City.Typical Marley Davidson stories involve classic renditions of undead monsters such as vampires and werewolves as the chief villains and often as agents in conspiratorial plots to undermine and prey upon the poor and the underclass.
Marley Davidson last appeared in the fourth issue of his titular comic book in 1999. A series reboot was advertised in issue #40 of World War 3 Illustrated, to resume the series in late 2010.
Creation and development
According to end notes by the author on the inside back cover of the first issue, Marley Davidson is a spin off of Vladek, Vampire Detective. Though the latter was never published, Marley Davidson was launched by Vampyrotechnic Studios in 1995 out of Wallabout street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Premise
Marley Davidson chronicles the adventures of an exorcist and his team of monster hunters, beginning in a conjectured 1970s New York City where the supernatural is as big a threat to human life as violent crime. The earliest stories in issues 1 and 2 illustrate a hard-scrabble existence, with the protagonists in need of money and support for their war against the undead. Marley Davidson and his team appear to function as mercenaries seeking paying clients, in seeming opposition to the principles and ethics of their mentors, a Rabbi and a Muslim cleric.
Like Sandy Jimenez’s other long-running series, Shit House Poet, Marley Davidson moves in and out of time from story to story. Issues begin with a particular year stamped on the first page as opposed to an actual title, with subsequent issues taking place years later without editorial segue or explanation. While foremost an action-adventure series, the stories’ setting in the South Bronx introduces realities and social issues more common in crime stories.
Visual style
Marley Davidson, an independent comic book, was executed with intentionally unsophisticated production means. It has thus far employed artwork that is rendered with only “ball point pens” and without the aid of computer scanning or computer image editing. It has been noted for its “cut out” style achieved by use of unique hand-drawn Xeroxed patterns trimmed to fit in as backdrop elements in the place of screentone or Zip-A-Tone to create different textures.
In other media
After the production of an animated short in 2006, a full-length animated feature was announced as being in pre-production in February 2007.
== References ==
|
creator
|
{
"answer_start": [
153
],
"text": [
"Sandy Jimenez"
]
}
|
Marley Davidson (sometimes referred to as "Marley Davidson: Bronx Exorcist") is a fictional comic book character created by writer and comic book artist Sandy Jimenez. It made its first appearance on June 15, 1995 in the self-titled independent comic book Marley Davidson, which chronicled the exploits of a Jamaican ex-priest, operating as an exorcist and monster hunter in New York City.Typical Marley Davidson stories involve classic renditions of undead monsters such as vampires and werewolves as the chief villains and often as agents in conspiratorial plots to undermine and prey upon the poor and the underclass.
Marley Davidson last appeared in the fourth issue of his titular comic book in 1999. A series reboot was advertised in issue #40 of World War 3 Illustrated, to resume the series in late 2010.
Creation and development
According to end notes by the author on the inside back cover of the first issue, Marley Davidson is a spin off of Vladek, Vampire Detective. Though the latter was never published, Marley Davidson was launched by Vampyrotechnic Studios in 1995 out of Wallabout street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Premise
Marley Davidson chronicles the adventures of an exorcist and his team of monster hunters, beginning in a conjectured 1970s New York City where the supernatural is as big a threat to human life as violent crime. The earliest stories in issues 1 and 2 illustrate a hard-scrabble existence, with the protagonists in need of money and support for their war against the undead. Marley Davidson and his team appear to function as mercenaries seeking paying clients, in seeming opposition to the principles and ethics of their mentors, a Rabbi and a Muslim cleric.
Like Sandy Jimenez’s other long-running series, Shit House Poet, Marley Davidson moves in and out of time from story to story. Issues begin with a particular year stamped on the first page as opposed to an actual title, with subsequent issues taking place years later without editorial segue or explanation. While foremost an action-adventure series, the stories’ setting in the South Bronx introduces realities and social issues more common in crime stories.
Visual style
Marley Davidson, an independent comic book, was executed with intentionally unsophisticated production means. It has thus far employed artwork that is rendered with only “ball point pens” and without the aid of computer scanning or computer image editing. It has been noted for its “cut out” style achieved by use of unique hand-drawn Xeroxed patterns trimmed to fit in as backdrop elements in the place of screentone or Zip-A-Tone to create different textures.
In other media
After the production of an animated short in 2006, a full-length animated feature was announced as being in pre-production in February 2007.
== References ==
|
family name
|
{
"answer_start": [
7
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"text": [
"Davidson"
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}
|
Marley Davidson (sometimes referred to as "Marley Davidson: Bronx Exorcist") is a fictional comic book character created by writer and comic book artist Sandy Jimenez. It made its first appearance on June 15, 1995 in the self-titled independent comic book Marley Davidson, which chronicled the exploits of a Jamaican ex-priest, operating as an exorcist and monster hunter in New York City.Typical Marley Davidson stories involve classic renditions of undead monsters such as vampires and werewolves as the chief villains and often as agents in conspiratorial plots to undermine and prey upon the poor and the underclass.
Marley Davidson last appeared in the fourth issue of his titular comic book in 1999. A series reboot was advertised in issue #40 of World War 3 Illustrated, to resume the series in late 2010.
Creation and development
According to end notes by the author on the inside back cover of the first issue, Marley Davidson is a spin off of Vladek, Vampire Detective. Though the latter was never published, Marley Davidson was launched by Vampyrotechnic Studios in 1995 out of Wallabout street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Premise
Marley Davidson chronicles the adventures of an exorcist and his team of monster hunters, beginning in a conjectured 1970s New York City where the supernatural is as big a threat to human life as violent crime. The earliest stories in issues 1 and 2 illustrate a hard-scrabble existence, with the protagonists in need of money and support for their war against the undead. Marley Davidson and his team appear to function as mercenaries seeking paying clients, in seeming opposition to the principles and ethics of their mentors, a Rabbi and a Muslim cleric.
Like Sandy Jimenez’s other long-running series, Shit House Poet, Marley Davidson moves in and out of time from story to story. Issues begin with a particular year stamped on the first page as opposed to an actual title, with subsequent issues taking place years later without editorial segue or explanation. While foremost an action-adventure series, the stories’ setting in the South Bronx introduces realities and social issues more common in crime stories.
Visual style
Marley Davidson, an independent comic book, was executed with intentionally unsophisticated production means. It has thus far employed artwork that is rendered with only “ball point pens” and without the aid of computer scanning or computer image editing. It has been noted for its “cut out” style achieved by use of unique hand-drawn Xeroxed patterns trimmed to fit in as backdrop elements in the place of screentone or Zip-A-Tone to create different textures.
In other media
After the production of an animated short in 2006, a full-length animated feature was announced as being in pre-production in February 2007.
== References ==
|
given name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Marley"
]
}
|
Marley Davidson (sometimes referred to as "Marley Davidson: Bronx Exorcist") is a fictional comic book character created by writer and comic book artist Sandy Jimenez. It made its first appearance on June 15, 1995 in the self-titled independent comic book Marley Davidson, which chronicled the exploits of a Jamaican ex-priest, operating as an exorcist and monster hunter in New York City.Typical Marley Davidson stories involve classic renditions of undead monsters such as vampires and werewolves as the chief villains and often as agents in conspiratorial plots to undermine and prey upon the poor and the underclass.
Marley Davidson last appeared in the fourth issue of his titular comic book in 1999. A series reboot was advertised in issue #40 of World War 3 Illustrated, to resume the series in late 2010.
Creation and development
According to end notes by the author on the inside back cover of the first issue, Marley Davidson is a spin off of Vladek, Vampire Detective. Though the latter was never published, Marley Davidson was launched by Vampyrotechnic Studios in 1995 out of Wallabout street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Premise
Marley Davidson chronicles the adventures of an exorcist and his team of monster hunters, beginning in a conjectured 1970s New York City where the supernatural is as big a threat to human life as violent crime. The earliest stories in issues 1 and 2 illustrate a hard-scrabble existence, with the protagonists in need of money and support for their war against the undead. Marley Davidson and his team appear to function as mercenaries seeking paying clients, in seeming opposition to the principles and ethics of their mentors, a Rabbi and a Muslim cleric.
Like Sandy Jimenez’s other long-running series, Shit House Poet, Marley Davidson moves in and out of time from story to story. Issues begin with a particular year stamped on the first page as opposed to an actual title, with subsequent issues taking place years later without editorial segue or explanation. While foremost an action-adventure series, the stories’ setting in the South Bronx introduces realities and social issues more common in crime stories.
Visual style
Marley Davidson, an independent comic book, was executed with intentionally unsophisticated production means. It has thus far employed artwork that is rendered with only “ball point pens” and without the aid of computer scanning or computer image editing. It has been noted for its “cut out” style achieved by use of unique hand-drawn Xeroxed patterns trimmed to fit in as backdrop elements in the place of screentone or Zip-A-Tone to create different textures.
In other media
After the production of an animated short in 2006, a full-length animated feature was announced as being in pre-production in February 2007.
== References ==
|
name in native language
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Marley Davidson"
]
}
|
Eupogonius arizonensis is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Knull in 1954. It is known from the United States.
== References ==
|
taxon rank
|
{
"answer_start": [
28
],
"text": [
"species"
]
}
|
Eupogonius arizonensis is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Knull in 1954. It is known from the United States.
== References ==
|
parent taxon
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Eupogonius"
]
}
|
Eupogonius arizonensis is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Knull in 1954. It is known from the United States.
== References ==
|
taxon name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Eupogonius arizonensis"
]
}
|
Colonel Mark Beaufoy FRS (4 March 1764 – 4 May 1827) was an English astronomer and physicist, mountaineer, explorer and British Army officer. His father, Mark Beaufoy (1718–1782), who was originally from Evesham, established a vinegar factory in Lambeth, London.
He was the first-known English climber to make an ascent of a high mountain in the Alps. In 1787, he made an ascent (the fourth) of Mont Blanc. This mountain was an attraction to his fellow countrymen, such as J. D. Forbes (1809–1868), A. T. Malkin (1803–1888), John Ball (1818–1889) and Sir Alfred Wills (1828–1912). He describes his ascent of Mont Blanc:
At last, however, but with a sort of apathy which scarcely admitted the sense of joy, we reached the summit of the mountain; when six of my guides, and with them my servant, threw themselves on their faces and were immediately asleep. I envied them their repose; but my anxiety to obtain a good observation for the latitude, subdued my wishes for indulgence.
He devoted much of his life to naval experiments at the Greenland Dock with James Scott and Captain John Luard of the "Society for the Improvement in Naval Architecture". He published the results of his work in one of the leading scientific journals of the day, The Annals of Philosophy. In 1815 he described a recording tide meter, and in the same article went on to describe the power of the wind on square sails and the resistance to motion both in air and water of different shapes. The paper moved from ship sails to considering the best angle for windmill sails to be set. He supplied Astronomical and Magnetic observations from Hackney Wick (51°32‘40“N, 6.82“W) for many issues. Charles Hutton's 1815 list of England's most notable private observatories included Colonel Beaufoy's.In 1816 Beaufoy published another extensive article based on his experimental work. On the Stability of Vessels was based on 23 different hull forms tested for their resistance to rolling. The article includes an illustration of his apparatus showing a hull form being subjected to a controlled heeling force with a plumb bob and scale to measure the inclination. The various tables of results show the metacentre. The dichotomy between resistance to rolling and sea keeping is discussed.A volume Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments with Numerous Scientific Miscellanies was published posthumously by his son Henry in 1834 (one volume only, called Volume I). Beaufoy also made astronomical observations and advocated other ideas like rifles in the militia and schemes for reaching the North Pole. This volume challenged the existing orthodoxy that the resistance to motion of a vessel was in proportion to her displacement. Chapman had challenged this earlier (1775), but Beaufoy's work was taken up by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as the "square-cube" law. Simply put, if a vessel is doubled in size the resistance to motion quadruples, but the size of engines and the carrying capacity (fuel, cargo) increase eight-fold.He married his cousin Margaretta Beaufoy (died 1800) in a 1784 "runaway" marriage, after which they had a "long sojurn" in Switzerland. They had three sons (Henry, Mark and George) and a daughter; Margaretta took the infant girl Henriette to watch Mark ascend Mont Blanc. She assisted him with mathematical and astronomical calculations.
Beaufoy was commissioned Captain of the Hackney Volunteer Company in 1794 and Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Tower Hamlets Militia in 1797. However, in October 1813 he was court-martialled for the "vexatious and frivolous" disciplining of a junior officer and was relieved of his command in January 1814.
His grandson, Mark Hanbury Beaufoy, was an English vinegar manufacturer and politician. The family firm is now called British Vinegars Limited.
References
Bibliography
Beaufoy, Mark (October 1815), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "Description of an Instrument to measure and register the Rise and Fall of the Tide throughout the whole Flow and Ebb", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VI, no. XXXIV, pp 273 – 281, retrieved 24 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (March 1816), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "On the Stability of Vessels", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VII, no. XXXIX, pp 184 – 204, retrieved 28 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (1834), Beaufoy, Henry (ed.), Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments, with numerous Scientific Miscellanies, vol. I, South Lambeth, Surrey, UK: Privately published by the editor, retrieved 1 September 2020 Only the first of a planned three volumes was published
Clerke, Agnes Mar (1885). "Beaufoy, Mark" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 04. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Garrison, Ervan G. (1998), History of Engineering and Technology: Artful Methods (2nd ed.), CRC Press, ISBN 9780849398100
Hutton, Charles (1815), "English observatories (private)", A Philosophical and Mathematical Dictionary, vol. 2, p. 129, retrieved 9 January 2018
Kerr, Barbara (1974), The Dispossessed: An Aspect of Victorian Social History, London: John Baker, ISBN 0-212-97008-9 discusses the related Thornhill & Beaufoy families and the social changes in Victorian England following the industrial revolution.
McConnell, Anita (January 2008) [2004]. "Beaufoy, Mark (1764–1827)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Major, Joanne; Murden, Sarah (27 November 2017), A Georgian heroine: the intriguing life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs, Pen & Sword History, ISBN 9781473863460
|
occupation
|
{
"answer_start": [
68
],
"text": [
"astronomer"
]
}
|
Colonel Mark Beaufoy FRS (4 March 1764 – 4 May 1827) was an English astronomer and physicist, mountaineer, explorer and British Army officer. His father, Mark Beaufoy (1718–1782), who was originally from Evesham, established a vinegar factory in Lambeth, London.
He was the first-known English climber to make an ascent of a high mountain in the Alps. In 1787, he made an ascent (the fourth) of Mont Blanc. This mountain was an attraction to his fellow countrymen, such as J. D. Forbes (1809–1868), A. T. Malkin (1803–1888), John Ball (1818–1889) and Sir Alfred Wills (1828–1912). He describes his ascent of Mont Blanc:
At last, however, but with a sort of apathy which scarcely admitted the sense of joy, we reached the summit of the mountain; when six of my guides, and with them my servant, threw themselves on their faces and were immediately asleep. I envied them their repose; but my anxiety to obtain a good observation for the latitude, subdued my wishes for indulgence.
He devoted much of his life to naval experiments at the Greenland Dock with James Scott and Captain John Luard of the "Society for the Improvement in Naval Architecture". He published the results of his work in one of the leading scientific journals of the day, The Annals of Philosophy. In 1815 he described a recording tide meter, and in the same article went on to describe the power of the wind on square sails and the resistance to motion both in air and water of different shapes. The paper moved from ship sails to considering the best angle for windmill sails to be set. He supplied Astronomical and Magnetic observations from Hackney Wick (51°32‘40“N, 6.82“W) for many issues. Charles Hutton's 1815 list of England's most notable private observatories included Colonel Beaufoy's.In 1816 Beaufoy published another extensive article based on his experimental work. On the Stability of Vessels was based on 23 different hull forms tested for their resistance to rolling. The article includes an illustration of his apparatus showing a hull form being subjected to a controlled heeling force with a plumb bob and scale to measure the inclination. The various tables of results show the metacentre. The dichotomy between resistance to rolling and sea keeping is discussed.A volume Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments with Numerous Scientific Miscellanies was published posthumously by his son Henry in 1834 (one volume only, called Volume I). Beaufoy also made astronomical observations and advocated other ideas like rifles in the militia and schemes for reaching the North Pole. This volume challenged the existing orthodoxy that the resistance to motion of a vessel was in proportion to her displacement. Chapman had challenged this earlier (1775), but Beaufoy's work was taken up by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as the "square-cube" law. Simply put, if a vessel is doubled in size the resistance to motion quadruples, but the size of engines and the carrying capacity (fuel, cargo) increase eight-fold.He married his cousin Margaretta Beaufoy (died 1800) in a 1784 "runaway" marriage, after which they had a "long sojurn" in Switzerland. They had three sons (Henry, Mark and George) and a daughter; Margaretta took the infant girl Henriette to watch Mark ascend Mont Blanc. She assisted him with mathematical and astronomical calculations.
Beaufoy was commissioned Captain of the Hackney Volunteer Company in 1794 and Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Tower Hamlets Militia in 1797. However, in October 1813 he was court-martialled for the "vexatious and frivolous" disciplining of a junior officer and was relieved of his command in January 1814.
His grandson, Mark Hanbury Beaufoy, was an English vinegar manufacturer and politician. The family firm is now called British Vinegars Limited.
References
Bibliography
Beaufoy, Mark (October 1815), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "Description of an Instrument to measure and register the Rise and Fall of the Tide throughout the whole Flow and Ebb", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VI, no. XXXIV, pp 273 – 281, retrieved 24 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (March 1816), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "On the Stability of Vessels", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VII, no. XXXIX, pp 184 – 204, retrieved 28 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (1834), Beaufoy, Henry (ed.), Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments, with numerous Scientific Miscellanies, vol. I, South Lambeth, Surrey, UK: Privately published by the editor, retrieved 1 September 2020 Only the first of a planned three volumes was published
Clerke, Agnes Mar (1885). "Beaufoy, Mark" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 04. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Garrison, Ervan G. (1998), History of Engineering and Technology: Artful Methods (2nd ed.), CRC Press, ISBN 9780849398100
Hutton, Charles (1815), "English observatories (private)", A Philosophical and Mathematical Dictionary, vol. 2, p. 129, retrieved 9 January 2018
Kerr, Barbara (1974), The Dispossessed: An Aspect of Victorian Social History, London: John Baker, ISBN 0-212-97008-9 discusses the related Thornhill & Beaufoy families and the social changes in Victorian England following the industrial revolution.
McConnell, Anita (January 2008) [2004]. "Beaufoy, Mark (1764–1827)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Major, Joanne; Murden, Sarah (27 November 2017), A Georgian heroine: the intriguing life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs, Pen & Sword History, ISBN 9781473863460
|
military branch
|
{
"answer_start": [
120
],
"text": [
"British Army"
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}
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Colonel Mark Beaufoy FRS (4 March 1764 – 4 May 1827) was an English astronomer and physicist, mountaineer, explorer and British Army officer. His father, Mark Beaufoy (1718–1782), who was originally from Evesham, established a vinegar factory in Lambeth, London.
He was the first-known English climber to make an ascent of a high mountain in the Alps. In 1787, he made an ascent (the fourth) of Mont Blanc. This mountain was an attraction to his fellow countrymen, such as J. D. Forbes (1809–1868), A. T. Malkin (1803–1888), John Ball (1818–1889) and Sir Alfred Wills (1828–1912). He describes his ascent of Mont Blanc:
At last, however, but with a sort of apathy which scarcely admitted the sense of joy, we reached the summit of the mountain; when six of my guides, and with them my servant, threw themselves on their faces and were immediately asleep. I envied them their repose; but my anxiety to obtain a good observation for the latitude, subdued my wishes for indulgence.
He devoted much of his life to naval experiments at the Greenland Dock with James Scott and Captain John Luard of the "Society for the Improvement in Naval Architecture". He published the results of his work in one of the leading scientific journals of the day, The Annals of Philosophy. In 1815 he described a recording tide meter, and in the same article went on to describe the power of the wind on square sails and the resistance to motion both in air and water of different shapes. The paper moved from ship sails to considering the best angle for windmill sails to be set. He supplied Astronomical and Magnetic observations from Hackney Wick (51°32‘40“N, 6.82“W) for many issues. Charles Hutton's 1815 list of England's most notable private observatories included Colonel Beaufoy's.In 1816 Beaufoy published another extensive article based on his experimental work. On the Stability of Vessels was based on 23 different hull forms tested for their resistance to rolling. The article includes an illustration of his apparatus showing a hull form being subjected to a controlled heeling force with a plumb bob and scale to measure the inclination. The various tables of results show the metacentre. The dichotomy between resistance to rolling and sea keeping is discussed.A volume Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments with Numerous Scientific Miscellanies was published posthumously by his son Henry in 1834 (one volume only, called Volume I). Beaufoy also made astronomical observations and advocated other ideas like rifles in the militia and schemes for reaching the North Pole. This volume challenged the existing orthodoxy that the resistance to motion of a vessel was in proportion to her displacement. Chapman had challenged this earlier (1775), but Beaufoy's work was taken up by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as the "square-cube" law. Simply put, if a vessel is doubled in size the resistance to motion quadruples, but the size of engines and the carrying capacity (fuel, cargo) increase eight-fold.He married his cousin Margaretta Beaufoy (died 1800) in a 1784 "runaway" marriage, after which they had a "long sojurn" in Switzerland. They had three sons (Henry, Mark and George) and a daughter; Margaretta took the infant girl Henriette to watch Mark ascend Mont Blanc. She assisted him with mathematical and astronomical calculations.
Beaufoy was commissioned Captain of the Hackney Volunteer Company in 1794 and Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Tower Hamlets Militia in 1797. However, in October 1813 he was court-martialled for the "vexatious and frivolous" disciplining of a junior officer and was relieved of his command in January 1814.
His grandson, Mark Hanbury Beaufoy, was an English vinegar manufacturer and politician. The family firm is now called British Vinegars Limited.
References
Bibliography
Beaufoy, Mark (October 1815), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "Description of an Instrument to measure and register the Rise and Fall of the Tide throughout the whole Flow and Ebb", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VI, no. XXXIV, pp 273 – 281, retrieved 24 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (March 1816), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "On the Stability of Vessels", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VII, no. XXXIX, pp 184 – 204, retrieved 28 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (1834), Beaufoy, Henry (ed.), Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments, with numerous Scientific Miscellanies, vol. I, South Lambeth, Surrey, UK: Privately published by the editor, retrieved 1 September 2020 Only the first of a planned three volumes was published
Clerke, Agnes Mar (1885). "Beaufoy, Mark" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 04. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Garrison, Ervan G. (1998), History of Engineering and Technology: Artful Methods (2nd ed.), CRC Press, ISBN 9780849398100
Hutton, Charles (1815), "English observatories (private)", A Philosophical and Mathematical Dictionary, vol. 2, p. 129, retrieved 9 January 2018
Kerr, Barbara (1974), The Dispossessed: An Aspect of Victorian Social History, London: John Baker, ISBN 0-212-97008-9 discusses the related Thornhill & Beaufoy families and the social changes in Victorian England following the industrial revolution.
McConnell, Anita (January 2008) [2004]. "Beaufoy, Mark (1764–1827)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Major, Joanne; Murden, Sarah (27 November 2017), A Georgian heroine: the intriguing life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs, Pen & Sword History, ISBN 9781473863460
|
family name
|
{
"answer_start": [
13
],
"text": [
"Beaufoy"
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}
|
Colonel Mark Beaufoy FRS (4 March 1764 – 4 May 1827) was an English astronomer and physicist, mountaineer, explorer and British Army officer. His father, Mark Beaufoy (1718–1782), who was originally from Evesham, established a vinegar factory in Lambeth, London.
He was the first-known English climber to make an ascent of a high mountain in the Alps. In 1787, he made an ascent (the fourth) of Mont Blanc. This mountain was an attraction to his fellow countrymen, such as J. D. Forbes (1809–1868), A. T. Malkin (1803–1888), John Ball (1818–1889) and Sir Alfred Wills (1828–1912). He describes his ascent of Mont Blanc:
At last, however, but with a sort of apathy which scarcely admitted the sense of joy, we reached the summit of the mountain; when six of my guides, and with them my servant, threw themselves on their faces and were immediately asleep. I envied them their repose; but my anxiety to obtain a good observation for the latitude, subdued my wishes for indulgence.
He devoted much of his life to naval experiments at the Greenland Dock with James Scott and Captain John Luard of the "Society for the Improvement in Naval Architecture". He published the results of his work in one of the leading scientific journals of the day, The Annals of Philosophy. In 1815 he described a recording tide meter, and in the same article went on to describe the power of the wind on square sails and the resistance to motion both in air and water of different shapes. The paper moved from ship sails to considering the best angle for windmill sails to be set. He supplied Astronomical and Magnetic observations from Hackney Wick (51°32‘40“N, 6.82“W) for many issues. Charles Hutton's 1815 list of England's most notable private observatories included Colonel Beaufoy's.In 1816 Beaufoy published another extensive article based on his experimental work. On the Stability of Vessels was based on 23 different hull forms tested for their resistance to rolling. The article includes an illustration of his apparatus showing a hull form being subjected to a controlled heeling force with a plumb bob and scale to measure the inclination. The various tables of results show the metacentre. The dichotomy between resistance to rolling and sea keeping is discussed.A volume Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments with Numerous Scientific Miscellanies was published posthumously by his son Henry in 1834 (one volume only, called Volume I). Beaufoy also made astronomical observations and advocated other ideas like rifles in the militia and schemes for reaching the North Pole. This volume challenged the existing orthodoxy that the resistance to motion of a vessel was in proportion to her displacement. Chapman had challenged this earlier (1775), but Beaufoy's work was taken up by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as the "square-cube" law. Simply put, if a vessel is doubled in size the resistance to motion quadruples, but the size of engines and the carrying capacity (fuel, cargo) increase eight-fold.He married his cousin Margaretta Beaufoy (died 1800) in a 1784 "runaway" marriage, after which they had a "long sojurn" in Switzerland. They had three sons (Henry, Mark and George) and a daughter; Margaretta took the infant girl Henriette to watch Mark ascend Mont Blanc. She assisted him with mathematical and astronomical calculations.
Beaufoy was commissioned Captain of the Hackney Volunteer Company in 1794 and Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Tower Hamlets Militia in 1797. However, in October 1813 he was court-martialled for the "vexatious and frivolous" disciplining of a junior officer and was relieved of his command in January 1814.
His grandson, Mark Hanbury Beaufoy, was an English vinegar manufacturer and politician. The family firm is now called British Vinegars Limited.
References
Bibliography
Beaufoy, Mark (October 1815), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "Description of an Instrument to measure and register the Rise and Fall of the Tide throughout the whole Flow and Ebb", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VI, no. XXXIV, pp 273 – 281, retrieved 24 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (March 1816), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "On the Stability of Vessels", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VII, no. XXXIX, pp 184 – 204, retrieved 28 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (1834), Beaufoy, Henry (ed.), Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments, with numerous Scientific Miscellanies, vol. I, South Lambeth, Surrey, UK: Privately published by the editor, retrieved 1 September 2020 Only the first of a planned three volumes was published
Clerke, Agnes Mar (1885). "Beaufoy, Mark" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 04. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Garrison, Ervan G. (1998), History of Engineering and Technology: Artful Methods (2nd ed.), CRC Press, ISBN 9780849398100
Hutton, Charles (1815), "English observatories (private)", A Philosophical and Mathematical Dictionary, vol. 2, p. 129, retrieved 9 January 2018
Kerr, Barbara (1974), The Dispossessed: An Aspect of Victorian Social History, London: John Baker, ISBN 0-212-97008-9 discusses the related Thornhill & Beaufoy families and the social changes in Victorian England following the industrial revolution.
McConnell, Anita (January 2008) [2004]. "Beaufoy, Mark (1764–1827)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Major, Joanne; Murden, Sarah (27 November 2017), A Georgian heroine: the intriguing life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs, Pen & Sword History, ISBN 9781473863460
|
given name
|
{
"answer_start": [
8
],
"text": [
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]
}
|
Colonel Mark Beaufoy FRS (4 March 1764 – 4 May 1827) was an English astronomer and physicist, mountaineer, explorer and British Army officer. His father, Mark Beaufoy (1718–1782), who was originally from Evesham, established a vinegar factory in Lambeth, London.
He was the first-known English climber to make an ascent of a high mountain in the Alps. In 1787, he made an ascent (the fourth) of Mont Blanc. This mountain was an attraction to his fellow countrymen, such as J. D. Forbes (1809–1868), A. T. Malkin (1803–1888), John Ball (1818–1889) and Sir Alfred Wills (1828–1912). He describes his ascent of Mont Blanc:
At last, however, but with a sort of apathy which scarcely admitted the sense of joy, we reached the summit of the mountain; when six of my guides, and with them my servant, threw themselves on their faces and were immediately asleep. I envied them their repose; but my anxiety to obtain a good observation for the latitude, subdued my wishes for indulgence.
He devoted much of his life to naval experiments at the Greenland Dock with James Scott and Captain John Luard of the "Society for the Improvement in Naval Architecture". He published the results of his work in one of the leading scientific journals of the day, The Annals of Philosophy. In 1815 he described a recording tide meter, and in the same article went on to describe the power of the wind on square sails and the resistance to motion both in air and water of different shapes. The paper moved from ship sails to considering the best angle for windmill sails to be set. He supplied Astronomical and Magnetic observations from Hackney Wick (51°32‘40“N, 6.82“W) for many issues. Charles Hutton's 1815 list of England's most notable private observatories included Colonel Beaufoy's.In 1816 Beaufoy published another extensive article based on his experimental work. On the Stability of Vessels was based on 23 different hull forms tested for their resistance to rolling. The article includes an illustration of his apparatus showing a hull form being subjected to a controlled heeling force with a plumb bob and scale to measure the inclination. The various tables of results show the metacentre. The dichotomy between resistance to rolling and sea keeping is discussed.A volume Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments with Numerous Scientific Miscellanies was published posthumously by his son Henry in 1834 (one volume only, called Volume I). Beaufoy also made astronomical observations and advocated other ideas like rifles in the militia and schemes for reaching the North Pole. This volume challenged the existing orthodoxy that the resistance to motion of a vessel was in proportion to her displacement. Chapman had challenged this earlier (1775), but Beaufoy's work was taken up by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as the "square-cube" law. Simply put, if a vessel is doubled in size the resistance to motion quadruples, but the size of engines and the carrying capacity (fuel, cargo) increase eight-fold.He married his cousin Margaretta Beaufoy (died 1800) in a 1784 "runaway" marriage, after which they had a "long sojurn" in Switzerland. They had three sons (Henry, Mark and George) and a daughter; Margaretta took the infant girl Henriette to watch Mark ascend Mont Blanc. She assisted him with mathematical and astronomical calculations.
Beaufoy was commissioned Captain of the Hackney Volunteer Company in 1794 and Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Tower Hamlets Militia in 1797. However, in October 1813 he was court-martialled for the "vexatious and frivolous" disciplining of a junior officer and was relieved of his command in January 1814.
His grandson, Mark Hanbury Beaufoy, was an English vinegar manufacturer and politician. The family firm is now called British Vinegars Limited.
References
Bibliography
Beaufoy, Mark (October 1815), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "Description of an Instrument to measure and register the Rise and Fall of the Tide throughout the whole Flow and Ebb", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VI, no. XXXIV, pp 273 – 281, retrieved 24 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (March 1816), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "On the Stability of Vessels", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VII, no. XXXIX, pp 184 – 204, retrieved 28 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (1834), Beaufoy, Henry (ed.), Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments, with numerous Scientific Miscellanies, vol. I, South Lambeth, Surrey, UK: Privately published by the editor, retrieved 1 September 2020 Only the first of a planned three volumes was published
Clerke, Agnes Mar (1885). "Beaufoy, Mark" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 04. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Garrison, Ervan G. (1998), History of Engineering and Technology: Artful Methods (2nd ed.), CRC Press, ISBN 9780849398100
Hutton, Charles (1815), "English observatories (private)", A Philosophical and Mathematical Dictionary, vol. 2, p. 129, retrieved 9 January 2018
Kerr, Barbara (1974), The Dispossessed: An Aspect of Victorian Social History, London: John Baker, ISBN 0-212-97008-9 discusses the related Thornhill & Beaufoy families and the social changes in Victorian England following the industrial revolution.
McConnell, Anita (January 2008) [2004]. "Beaufoy, Mark (1764–1827)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Major, Joanne; Murden, Sarah (27 November 2017), A Georgian heroine: the intriguing life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs, Pen & Sword History, ISBN 9781473863460
|
work location
|
{
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255
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"text": [
"London"
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Colonel Mark Beaufoy FRS (4 March 1764 – 4 May 1827) was an English astronomer and physicist, mountaineer, explorer and British Army officer. His father, Mark Beaufoy (1718–1782), who was originally from Evesham, established a vinegar factory in Lambeth, London.
He was the first-known English climber to make an ascent of a high mountain in the Alps. In 1787, he made an ascent (the fourth) of Mont Blanc. This mountain was an attraction to his fellow countrymen, such as J. D. Forbes (1809–1868), A. T. Malkin (1803–1888), John Ball (1818–1889) and Sir Alfred Wills (1828–1912). He describes his ascent of Mont Blanc:
At last, however, but with a sort of apathy which scarcely admitted the sense of joy, we reached the summit of the mountain; when six of my guides, and with them my servant, threw themselves on their faces and were immediately asleep. I envied them their repose; but my anxiety to obtain a good observation for the latitude, subdued my wishes for indulgence.
He devoted much of his life to naval experiments at the Greenland Dock with James Scott and Captain John Luard of the "Society for the Improvement in Naval Architecture". He published the results of his work in one of the leading scientific journals of the day, The Annals of Philosophy. In 1815 he described a recording tide meter, and in the same article went on to describe the power of the wind on square sails and the resistance to motion both in air and water of different shapes. The paper moved from ship sails to considering the best angle for windmill sails to be set. He supplied Astronomical and Magnetic observations from Hackney Wick (51°32‘40“N, 6.82“W) for many issues. Charles Hutton's 1815 list of England's most notable private observatories included Colonel Beaufoy's.In 1816 Beaufoy published another extensive article based on his experimental work. On the Stability of Vessels was based on 23 different hull forms tested for their resistance to rolling. The article includes an illustration of his apparatus showing a hull form being subjected to a controlled heeling force with a plumb bob and scale to measure the inclination. The various tables of results show the metacentre. The dichotomy between resistance to rolling and sea keeping is discussed.A volume Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments with Numerous Scientific Miscellanies was published posthumously by his son Henry in 1834 (one volume only, called Volume I). Beaufoy also made astronomical observations and advocated other ideas like rifles in the militia and schemes for reaching the North Pole. This volume challenged the existing orthodoxy that the resistance to motion of a vessel was in proportion to her displacement. Chapman had challenged this earlier (1775), but Beaufoy's work was taken up by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as the "square-cube" law. Simply put, if a vessel is doubled in size the resistance to motion quadruples, but the size of engines and the carrying capacity (fuel, cargo) increase eight-fold.He married his cousin Margaretta Beaufoy (died 1800) in a 1784 "runaway" marriage, after which they had a "long sojurn" in Switzerland. They had three sons (Henry, Mark and George) and a daughter; Margaretta took the infant girl Henriette to watch Mark ascend Mont Blanc. She assisted him with mathematical and astronomical calculations.
Beaufoy was commissioned Captain of the Hackney Volunteer Company in 1794 and Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Tower Hamlets Militia in 1797. However, in October 1813 he was court-martialled for the "vexatious and frivolous" disciplining of a junior officer and was relieved of his command in January 1814.
His grandson, Mark Hanbury Beaufoy, was an English vinegar manufacturer and politician. The family firm is now called British Vinegars Limited.
References
Bibliography
Beaufoy, Mark (October 1815), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "Description of an Instrument to measure and register the Rise and Fall of the Tide throughout the whole Flow and Ebb", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VI, no. XXXIV, pp 273 – 281, retrieved 24 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (March 1816), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "On the Stability of Vessels", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VII, no. XXXIX, pp 184 – 204, retrieved 28 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (1834), Beaufoy, Henry (ed.), Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments, with numerous Scientific Miscellanies, vol. I, South Lambeth, Surrey, UK: Privately published by the editor, retrieved 1 September 2020 Only the first of a planned three volumes was published
Clerke, Agnes Mar (1885). "Beaufoy, Mark" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 04. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Garrison, Ervan G. (1998), History of Engineering and Technology: Artful Methods (2nd ed.), CRC Press, ISBN 9780849398100
Hutton, Charles (1815), "English observatories (private)", A Philosophical and Mathematical Dictionary, vol. 2, p. 129, retrieved 9 January 2018
Kerr, Barbara (1974), The Dispossessed: An Aspect of Victorian Social History, London: John Baker, ISBN 0-212-97008-9 discusses the related Thornhill & Beaufoy families and the social changes in Victorian England following the industrial revolution.
McConnell, Anita (January 2008) [2004]. "Beaufoy, Mark (1764–1827)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Major, Joanne; Murden, Sarah (27 November 2017), A Georgian heroine: the intriguing life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs, Pen & Sword History, ISBN 9781473863460
|
relative
|
{
"answer_start": [
3653
],
"text": [
"Mark Hanbury Beaufoy"
]
}
|
Colonel Mark Beaufoy FRS (4 March 1764 – 4 May 1827) was an English astronomer and physicist, mountaineer, explorer and British Army officer. His father, Mark Beaufoy (1718–1782), who was originally from Evesham, established a vinegar factory in Lambeth, London.
He was the first-known English climber to make an ascent of a high mountain in the Alps. In 1787, he made an ascent (the fourth) of Mont Blanc. This mountain was an attraction to his fellow countrymen, such as J. D. Forbes (1809–1868), A. T. Malkin (1803–1888), John Ball (1818–1889) and Sir Alfred Wills (1828–1912). He describes his ascent of Mont Blanc:
At last, however, but with a sort of apathy which scarcely admitted the sense of joy, we reached the summit of the mountain; when six of my guides, and with them my servant, threw themselves on their faces and were immediately asleep. I envied them their repose; but my anxiety to obtain a good observation for the latitude, subdued my wishes for indulgence.
He devoted much of his life to naval experiments at the Greenland Dock with James Scott and Captain John Luard of the "Society for the Improvement in Naval Architecture". He published the results of his work in one of the leading scientific journals of the day, The Annals of Philosophy. In 1815 he described a recording tide meter, and in the same article went on to describe the power of the wind on square sails and the resistance to motion both in air and water of different shapes. The paper moved from ship sails to considering the best angle for windmill sails to be set. He supplied Astronomical and Magnetic observations from Hackney Wick (51°32‘40“N, 6.82“W) for many issues. Charles Hutton's 1815 list of England's most notable private observatories included Colonel Beaufoy's.In 1816 Beaufoy published another extensive article based on his experimental work. On the Stability of Vessels was based on 23 different hull forms tested for their resistance to rolling. The article includes an illustration of his apparatus showing a hull form being subjected to a controlled heeling force with a plumb bob and scale to measure the inclination. The various tables of results show the metacentre. The dichotomy between resistance to rolling and sea keeping is discussed.A volume Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments with Numerous Scientific Miscellanies was published posthumously by his son Henry in 1834 (one volume only, called Volume I). Beaufoy also made astronomical observations and advocated other ideas like rifles in the militia and schemes for reaching the North Pole. This volume challenged the existing orthodoxy that the resistance to motion of a vessel was in proportion to her displacement. Chapman had challenged this earlier (1775), but Beaufoy's work was taken up by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as the "square-cube" law. Simply put, if a vessel is doubled in size the resistance to motion quadruples, but the size of engines and the carrying capacity (fuel, cargo) increase eight-fold.He married his cousin Margaretta Beaufoy (died 1800) in a 1784 "runaway" marriage, after which they had a "long sojurn" in Switzerland. They had three sons (Henry, Mark and George) and a daughter; Margaretta took the infant girl Henriette to watch Mark ascend Mont Blanc. She assisted him with mathematical and astronomical calculations.
Beaufoy was commissioned Captain of the Hackney Volunteer Company in 1794 and Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Tower Hamlets Militia in 1797. However, in October 1813 he was court-martialled for the "vexatious and frivolous" disciplining of a junior officer and was relieved of his command in January 1814.
His grandson, Mark Hanbury Beaufoy, was an English vinegar manufacturer and politician. The family firm is now called British Vinegars Limited.
References
Bibliography
Beaufoy, Mark (October 1815), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "Description of an Instrument to measure and register the Rise and Fall of the Tide throughout the whole Flow and Ebb", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VI, no. XXXIV, pp 273 – 281, retrieved 24 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (March 1816), Thomson, Thomas (ed.), "On the Stability of Vessels", Annals of Philosophy, London: Robert Baldwin, vol. VII, no. XXXIX, pp 184 – 204, retrieved 28 December 2014
Beaufoy, Mark (1834), Beaufoy, Henry (ed.), Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments, with numerous Scientific Miscellanies, vol. I, South Lambeth, Surrey, UK: Privately published by the editor, retrieved 1 September 2020 Only the first of a planned three volumes was published
Clerke, Agnes Mar (1885). "Beaufoy, Mark" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 04. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Garrison, Ervan G. (1998), History of Engineering and Technology: Artful Methods (2nd ed.), CRC Press, ISBN 9780849398100
Hutton, Charles (1815), "English observatories (private)", A Philosophical and Mathematical Dictionary, vol. 2, p. 129, retrieved 9 January 2018
Kerr, Barbara (1974), The Dispossessed: An Aspect of Victorian Social History, London: John Baker, ISBN 0-212-97008-9 discusses the related Thornhill & Beaufoy families and the social changes in Victorian England following the industrial revolution.
McConnell, Anita (January 2008) [2004]. "Beaufoy, Mark (1764–1827)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Major, Joanne; Murden, Sarah (27 November 2017), A Georgian heroine: the intriguing life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs, Pen & Sword History, ISBN 9781473863460
|
languages spoken, written or signed
|
{
"answer_start": [
60
],
"text": [
"English"
]
}
|
Ed Pearlman is a co-founder (together with Don Francisco) of the National Off-Road Racing Association (1966), the first exclusively off-road racing organization, and its first president. The inaugurating event of NORRA was "Mexican 1000 Rally", which has become the Baja 1000. In 1978, he established the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame.Pearlman is an ex-Marine and prior to founding of NORRA he was a florist in San Fernando Valley and a four-wheel-drive buff on weekends.
== References ==
|
family name
|
{
"answer_start": [
3
],
"text": [
"Pearlman"
]
}
|
Ed Pearlman is a co-founder (together with Don Francisco) of the National Off-Road Racing Association (1966), the first exclusively off-road racing organization, and its first president. The inaugurating event of NORRA was "Mexican 1000 Rally", which has become the Baja 1000. In 1978, he established the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame.Pearlman is an ex-Marine and prior to founding of NORRA he was a florist in San Fernando Valley and a four-wheel-drive buff on weekends.
== References ==
|
given name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Ed"
]
}
|
"Baby, Baby My Love's All for You" is a song by Deniece Williams, released as a single in October 1977 by Columbia Records. The song reached No. 13 on the US Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart, No. 5 on the UK Blues & Soul Top British Soul Singles chart and No. 32 on the UK Pop Singles chart.
Overview
"Baby, Baby My Love's All for You" was produced by Maurice White and composed by Verdine White with Robert White. The song also appeared on Williams's 1977 album Song Bird.
Charts
== References ==
|
instance of
|
{
"answer_start": [
80
],
"text": [
"single"
]
}
|
"Baby, Baby My Love's All for You" is a song by Deniece Williams, released as a single in October 1977 by Columbia Records. The song reached No. 13 on the US Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart, No. 5 on the UK Blues & Soul Top British Soul Singles chart and No. 32 on the UK Pop Singles chart.
Overview
"Baby, Baby My Love's All for You" was produced by Maurice White and composed by Verdine White with Robert White. The song also appeared on Williams's 1977 album Song Bird.
Charts
== References ==
|
performer
|
{
"answer_start": [
48
],
"text": [
"Deniece Williams"
]
}
|
"Baby, Baby My Love's All for You" is a song by Deniece Williams, released as a single in October 1977 by Columbia Records. The song reached No. 13 on the US Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart, No. 5 on the UK Blues & Soul Top British Soul Singles chart and No. 32 on the UK Pop Singles chart.
Overview
"Baby, Baby My Love's All for You" was produced by Maurice White and composed by Verdine White with Robert White. The song also appeared on Williams's 1977 album Song Bird.
Charts
== References ==
|
part of
|
{
"answer_start": [
463
],
"text": [
"Song Bird"
]
}
|
Meridemis insulata is a species of moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in India.
== References ==
|
taxon rank
|
{
"answer_start": [
24
],
"text": [
"species"
]
}
|
Meridemis insulata is a species of moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in India.
== References ==
|
parent taxon
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Meridemis"
]
}
|
Meridemis insulata is a species of moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in India.
== References ==
|
taxon name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Meridemis insulata"
]
}
|
Christopher Andrew John Hemming (born 13 April 1966) is a former footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke City and Wigan Athletic. He is known as the first professional footballer to play whilst having a pacemaker.
Career
Hemming was a product of Stoke's youth system and he made his professional debut in the 1983–84 season which came in a 1–0 defeat away at Tottenham Hotspur on 3 March 1984. He played in the awful 1984–85 season which saw Stoke relegated to the Second Division with a record low points tally. Hemming became a useful member of Mick Mills' squad but he made the national sporting headlines when he was fitted with a pacemaker and still managed to continue playing professional football. He played in 106 games for Stoke before joining Wigan Athletic on loan then permanently to Hereford United in 1989. He later went on to play for non-league Merthyr Tydfil, Macclesfield Town and Stafford Rangers.
Career statistics
Source:
References
External links
Chris Hemming at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
Chris Hemming profile at thisnorthernsoul.co.uk
|
family name
|
{
"answer_start": [
24
],
"text": [
"Hemming"
]
}
|
Christopher Andrew John Hemming (born 13 April 1966) is a former footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke City and Wigan Athletic. He is known as the first professional footballer to play whilst having a pacemaker.
Career
Hemming was a product of Stoke's youth system and he made his professional debut in the 1983–84 season which came in a 1–0 defeat away at Tottenham Hotspur on 3 March 1984. He played in the awful 1984–85 season which saw Stoke relegated to the Second Division with a record low points tally. Hemming became a useful member of Mick Mills' squad but he made the national sporting headlines when he was fitted with a pacemaker and still managed to continue playing professional football. He played in 106 games for Stoke before joining Wigan Athletic on loan then permanently to Hereford United in 1989. He later went on to play for non-league Merthyr Tydfil, Macclesfield Town and Stafford Rangers.
Career statistics
Source:
References
External links
Chris Hemming at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
Chris Hemming profile at thisnorthernsoul.co.uk
|
given name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Chris"
]
}
|
Christopher Andrew John Hemming (born 13 April 1966) is a former footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke City and Wigan Athletic. He is known as the first professional footballer to play whilst having a pacemaker.
Career
Hemming was a product of Stoke's youth system and he made his professional debut in the 1983–84 season which came in a 1–0 defeat away at Tottenham Hotspur on 3 March 1984. He played in the awful 1984–85 season which saw Stoke relegated to the Second Division with a record low points tally. Hemming became a useful member of Mick Mills' squad but he made the national sporting headlines when he was fitted with a pacemaker and still managed to continue playing professional football. He played in 106 games for Stoke before joining Wigan Athletic on loan then permanently to Hereford United in 1989. He later went on to play for non-league Merthyr Tydfil, Macclesfield Town and Stafford Rangers.
Career statistics
Source:
References
External links
Chris Hemming at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
Chris Hemming profile at thisnorthernsoul.co.uk
|
languages spoken, written or signed
|
{
"answer_start": [
1014
],
"text": [
"English"
]
}
|
John Peverall (1931 – 3 October 2009) was a British film producer and director. He has served as a producer on films such as The Man Who Fell to Earth and The Deer Hunter and television programmes such as Arthur of the Britons and The Far Pavilions.In 1979, he won an Oscar at the 51st Academy Awards for Best Picture as one of the producers of The Deer Hunter alongside Barry Spikings, Michael Deeley, and the film's director Michael Cimino.
References
External links
John Peverall at IMDb
|
occupation
|
{
"answer_start": [
52
],
"text": [
"film producer"
]
}
|
John Peverall (1931 – 3 October 2009) was a British film producer and director. He has served as a producer on films such as The Man Who Fell to Earth and The Deer Hunter and television programmes such as Arthur of the Britons and The Far Pavilions.In 1979, he won an Oscar at the 51st Academy Awards for Best Picture as one of the producers of The Deer Hunter alongside Barry Spikings, Michael Deeley, and the film's director Michael Cimino.
References
External links
John Peverall at IMDb
|
given name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"John"
]
}
|
Francisco Javier 'Fran' Miranda Mera (born 27 March 1988 in Badajoz, Extremadura) is a Spanish footballer who plays for CD Alcoyano as a midfielder.
External links
Fran Miranda at BDFutbol
Fran Miranda at Futbolme (in Spanish)
Fran Miranda at Soccerway
|
place of birth
|
{
"answer_start": [
60
],
"text": [
"Badajoz"
]
}
|
Francisco Javier 'Fran' Miranda Mera (born 27 March 1988 in Badajoz, Extremadura) is a Spanish footballer who plays for CD Alcoyano as a midfielder.
External links
Fran Miranda at BDFutbol
Fran Miranda at Futbolme (in Spanish)
Fran Miranda at Soccerway
|
member of sports team
|
{
"answer_start": [
120
],
"text": [
"CD Alcoyano"
]
}
|
Francisco Javier 'Fran' Miranda Mera (born 27 March 1988 in Badajoz, Extremadura) is a Spanish footballer who plays for CD Alcoyano as a midfielder.
External links
Fran Miranda at BDFutbol
Fran Miranda at Futbolme (in Spanish)
Fran Miranda at Soccerway
|
position played on team / speciality
|
{
"answer_start": [
137
],
"text": [
"midfielder"
]
}
|
Francisco Javier 'Fran' Miranda Mera (born 27 March 1988 in Badajoz, Extremadura) is a Spanish footballer who plays for CD Alcoyano as a midfielder.
External links
Fran Miranda at BDFutbol
Fran Miranda at Futbolme (in Spanish)
Fran Miranda at Soccerway
|
family name
|
{
"answer_start": [
24
],
"text": [
"Miranda"
]
}
|
Francisco Javier 'Fran' Miranda Mera (born 27 March 1988 in Badajoz, Extremadura) is a Spanish footballer who plays for CD Alcoyano as a midfielder.
External links
Fran Miranda at BDFutbol
Fran Miranda at Futbolme (in Spanish)
Fran Miranda at Soccerway
|
given name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Fran"
]
}
|
Francisco Javier 'Fran' Miranda Mera (born 27 March 1988 in Badajoz, Extremadura) is a Spanish footballer who plays for CD Alcoyano as a midfielder.
External links
Fran Miranda at BDFutbol
Fran Miranda at Futbolme (in Spanish)
Fran Miranda at Soccerway
|
languages spoken, written or signed
|
{
"answer_start": [
87
],
"text": [
"Spanish"
]
}
|
Caleb Scudder (1795 in New Jersey – 1866 in Indianapolis, Indiana) was the third mayor of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, and served from 1851 to 1854 as a member of the Whig Party. Born in New Jersey, Scudder moved at a young age to Dayton, Ohio. He was a cabinet-maker by trade, but also served as a magistrate before his term as mayor.
== References ==
|
family name
|
{
"answer_start": [
6
],
"text": [
"Scudder"
]
}
|
Caleb Scudder (1795 in New Jersey – 1866 in Indianapolis, Indiana) was the third mayor of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, and served from 1851 to 1854 as a member of the Whig Party. Born in New Jersey, Scudder moved at a young age to Dayton, Ohio. He was a cabinet-maker by trade, but also served as a magistrate before his term as mayor.
== References ==
|
given name
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Caleb"
]
}
|
Kang Sang-woo (Korean: 강상우; Hanja: 姜祥佑; born 7 October 1993) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a full-back or winger for Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan.
Club career
Kang joined Pohang Steelers in 2014 as a free agent rookie and go on to make his debut in a AFC Champions League group game on 18 March 2014 against Shandong Luneng Taishan in a 2-2 draw, where he came on as a late substitute. This would be followed by his first starting appearance, which was against Jeju United on 5 July 2014, in a league game that ended in a 0-0 draw. He would become a regular within the team until he was loaned out to Sangju Sangmu, the sports division of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, as part of his military service.
On 15 April 2022, Kang joined Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan. He would make his debut on 5 June 2022, in a league game against Cangzhou Mighty Lions that ended in a 2-1 defeat.
International career
Kang was a member of the South Korea national under-20 team and represented the team at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.He made his debut for South Korea national football team on 9 June 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Sri Lanka.
Career statistics
Club
As of 31 January 2023
Honours
South Korea U-23
King's Cup: 2015Individual
K League 1 top assist provider: 2020
K League 1 Best XI: 2020, 2021
References
External links
Kang Sang-woo at Soccerway
Kang Sang-woo – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)
|
place of birth
|
{
"answer_start": [
66
],
"text": [
"South Korea"
]
}
|
Kang Sang-woo (Korean: 강상우; Hanja: 姜祥佑; born 7 October 1993) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a full-back or winger for Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan.
Club career
Kang joined Pohang Steelers in 2014 as a free agent rookie and go on to make his debut in a AFC Champions League group game on 18 March 2014 against Shandong Luneng Taishan in a 2-2 draw, where he came on as a late substitute. This would be followed by his first starting appearance, which was against Jeju United on 5 July 2014, in a league game that ended in a 0-0 draw. He would become a regular within the team until he was loaned out to Sangju Sangmu, the sports division of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, as part of his military service.
On 15 April 2022, Kang joined Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan. He would make his debut on 5 June 2022, in a league game against Cangzhou Mighty Lions that ended in a 2-1 defeat.
International career
Kang was a member of the South Korea national under-20 team and represented the team at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.He made his debut for South Korea national football team on 9 June 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Sri Lanka.
Career statistics
Club
As of 31 January 2023
Honours
South Korea U-23
King's Cup: 2015Individual
K League 1 top assist provider: 2020
K League 1 Best XI: 2020, 2021
References
External links
Kang Sang-woo at Soccerway
Kang Sang-woo – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)
|
country of citizenship
|
{
"answer_start": [
66
],
"text": [
"South Korea"
]
}
|
Kang Sang-woo (Korean: 강상우; Hanja: 姜祥佑; born 7 October 1993) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a full-back or winger for Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan.
Club career
Kang joined Pohang Steelers in 2014 as a free agent rookie and go on to make his debut in a AFC Champions League group game on 18 March 2014 against Shandong Luneng Taishan in a 2-2 draw, where he came on as a late substitute. This would be followed by his first starting appearance, which was against Jeju United on 5 July 2014, in a league game that ended in a 0-0 draw. He would become a regular within the team until he was loaned out to Sangju Sangmu, the sports division of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, as part of his military service.
On 15 April 2022, Kang joined Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan. He would make his debut on 5 June 2022, in a league game against Cangzhou Mighty Lions that ended in a 2-1 defeat.
International career
Kang was a member of the South Korea national under-20 team and represented the team at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.He made his debut for South Korea national football team on 9 June 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Sri Lanka.
Career statistics
Club
As of 31 January 2023
Honours
South Korea U-23
King's Cup: 2015Individual
K League 1 top assist provider: 2020
K League 1 Best XI: 2020, 2021
References
External links
Kang Sang-woo at Soccerway
Kang Sang-woo – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)
|
member of sports team
|
{
"answer_start": [
1092
],
"text": [
"South Korea national football team"
]
}
|
Kang Sang-woo (Korean: 강상우; Hanja: 姜祥佑; born 7 October 1993) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a full-back or winger for Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan.
Club career
Kang joined Pohang Steelers in 2014 as a free agent rookie and go on to make his debut in a AFC Champions League group game on 18 March 2014 against Shandong Luneng Taishan in a 2-2 draw, where he came on as a late substitute. This would be followed by his first starting appearance, which was against Jeju United on 5 July 2014, in a league game that ended in a 0-0 draw. He would become a regular within the team until he was loaned out to Sangju Sangmu, the sports division of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, as part of his military service.
On 15 April 2022, Kang joined Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan. He would make his debut on 5 June 2022, in a league game against Cangzhou Mighty Lions that ended in a 2-1 defeat.
International career
Kang was a member of the South Korea national under-20 team and represented the team at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.He made his debut for South Korea national football team on 9 June 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Sri Lanka.
Career statistics
Club
As of 31 January 2023
Honours
South Korea U-23
King's Cup: 2015Individual
K League 1 top assist provider: 2020
K League 1 Best XI: 2020, 2021
References
External links
Kang Sang-woo at Soccerway
Kang Sang-woo – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)
|
native language
|
{
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|
Kang Sang-woo (Korean: 강상우; Hanja: 姜祥佑; born 7 October 1993) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a full-back or winger for Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan.
Club career
Kang joined Pohang Steelers in 2014 as a free agent rookie and go on to make his debut in a AFC Champions League group game on 18 March 2014 against Shandong Luneng Taishan in a 2-2 draw, where he came on as a late substitute. This would be followed by his first starting appearance, which was against Jeju United on 5 July 2014, in a league game that ended in a 0-0 draw. He would become a regular within the team until he was loaned out to Sangju Sangmu, the sports division of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, as part of his military service.
On 15 April 2022, Kang joined Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan. He would make his debut on 5 June 2022, in a league game against Cangzhou Mighty Lions that ended in a 2-1 defeat.
International career
Kang was a member of the South Korea national under-20 team and represented the team at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.He made his debut for South Korea national football team on 9 June 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Sri Lanka.
Career statistics
Club
As of 31 January 2023
Honours
South Korea U-23
King's Cup: 2015Individual
K League 1 top assist provider: 2020
K League 1 Best XI: 2020, 2021
References
External links
Kang Sang-woo at Soccerway
Kang Sang-woo – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)
|
family name
|
{
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0
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|
Kang Sang-woo (Korean: 강상우; Hanja: 姜祥佑; born 7 October 1993) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a full-back or winger for Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan.
Club career
Kang joined Pohang Steelers in 2014 as a free agent rookie and go on to make his debut in a AFC Champions League group game on 18 March 2014 against Shandong Luneng Taishan in a 2-2 draw, where he came on as a late substitute. This would be followed by his first starting appearance, which was against Jeju United on 5 July 2014, in a league game that ended in a 0-0 draw. He would become a regular within the team until he was loaned out to Sangju Sangmu, the sports division of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, as part of his military service.
On 15 April 2022, Kang joined Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan. He would make his debut on 5 June 2022, in a league game against Cangzhou Mighty Lions that ended in a 2-1 defeat.
International career
Kang was a member of the South Korea national under-20 team and represented the team at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.He made his debut for South Korea national football team on 9 June 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Sri Lanka.
Career statistics
Club
As of 31 January 2023
Honours
South Korea U-23
King's Cup: 2015Individual
K League 1 top assist provider: 2020
K League 1 Best XI: 2020, 2021
References
External links
Kang Sang-woo at Soccerway
Kang Sang-woo – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)
|
languages spoken, written or signed
|
{
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|
Lyndie Greenwood (born June 6, 1983) is a Canadian actress best known for her recurring role of Sonya on The CW's Nikita and being a series regular cast member of FOX's Sleepy Hollow, playing the role of Jenny Mills in 2013. In 2019, she joined the cast of the Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse in the recurring role of Dr. Elvi Okoye.
Career
Born and raised in Toronto, Greenwood studied dance in school and is also well-versed in martial arts. She attended several voice and musical theater schools in Canada. She began acting training at multiple schools including the Professional Actors Lab, Jason Fraser Studios, Etobicoke School of the Arts and also at University Settlement Drama Group. She attained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto in 2006. Her first role onscreen was in a low-budget Canadian movie Pinkville. She made her television debut on an episode of The Listener. She made many guest appearances on television such as Rookie Blue, Flashpoint, Being Erica, Covert Affairs, Lost Girl and Saving Hope. She has also appeared in minor roles in short-form movies such as Little Phoenix and the Fists of Fury and as Jenn in The Exit, which she claims was her favourite role. She was also cast in This Movie Is Broken. Her career took off in 2011 when she was cast in a recurring role as Sonya on The CW's popular Nikita series. After the success of season 2 of Nikita, she was retained for seasons 3 and 4. In August 2013, she was cast in a recurring role on FOX's Sleepy Hollow. In January 2014, she was promoted to series regular for season 2. In 2019, she was cast in a recurring role as Dr. Elvi Okoye, a biologist working for the Royal Charter Energy (RCE), on the science fiction Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse.She stars in the new 2023 workplace comedy series Shelved on CTV.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
Lyndie Greenwood at IMDb
Lyndie Greenwood on Twitter
|
place of birth
|
{
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|
Lyndie Greenwood (born June 6, 1983) is a Canadian actress best known for her recurring role of Sonya on The CW's Nikita and being a series regular cast member of FOX's Sleepy Hollow, playing the role of Jenny Mills in 2013. In 2019, she joined the cast of the Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse in the recurring role of Dr. Elvi Okoye.
Career
Born and raised in Toronto, Greenwood studied dance in school and is also well-versed in martial arts. She attended several voice and musical theater schools in Canada. She began acting training at multiple schools including the Professional Actors Lab, Jason Fraser Studios, Etobicoke School of the Arts and also at University Settlement Drama Group. She attained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto in 2006. Her first role onscreen was in a low-budget Canadian movie Pinkville. She made her television debut on an episode of The Listener. She made many guest appearances on television such as Rookie Blue, Flashpoint, Being Erica, Covert Affairs, Lost Girl and Saving Hope. She has also appeared in minor roles in short-form movies such as Little Phoenix and the Fists of Fury and as Jenn in The Exit, which she claims was her favourite role. She was also cast in This Movie Is Broken. Her career took off in 2011 when she was cast in a recurring role as Sonya on The CW's popular Nikita series. After the success of season 2 of Nikita, she was retained for seasons 3 and 4. In August 2013, she was cast in a recurring role on FOX's Sleepy Hollow. In January 2014, she was promoted to series regular for season 2. In 2019, she was cast in a recurring role as Dr. Elvi Okoye, a biologist working for the Royal Charter Energy (RCE), on the science fiction Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse.She stars in the new 2023 workplace comedy series Shelved on CTV.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
Lyndie Greenwood at IMDb
Lyndie Greenwood on Twitter
|
country of citizenship
|
{
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509
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|
Lyndie Greenwood (born June 6, 1983) is a Canadian actress best known for her recurring role of Sonya on The CW's Nikita and being a series regular cast member of FOX's Sleepy Hollow, playing the role of Jenny Mills in 2013. In 2019, she joined the cast of the Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse in the recurring role of Dr. Elvi Okoye.
Career
Born and raised in Toronto, Greenwood studied dance in school and is also well-versed in martial arts. She attended several voice and musical theater schools in Canada. She began acting training at multiple schools including the Professional Actors Lab, Jason Fraser Studios, Etobicoke School of the Arts and also at University Settlement Drama Group. She attained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto in 2006. Her first role onscreen was in a low-budget Canadian movie Pinkville. She made her television debut on an episode of The Listener. She made many guest appearances on television such as Rookie Blue, Flashpoint, Being Erica, Covert Affairs, Lost Girl and Saving Hope. She has also appeared in minor roles in short-form movies such as Little Phoenix and the Fists of Fury and as Jenn in The Exit, which she claims was her favourite role. She was also cast in This Movie Is Broken. Her career took off in 2011 when she was cast in a recurring role as Sonya on The CW's popular Nikita series. After the success of season 2 of Nikita, she was retained for seasons 3 and 4. In August 2013, she was cast in a recurring role on FOX's Sleepy Hollow. In January 2014, she was promoted to series regular for season 2. In 2019, she was cast in a recurring role as Dr. Elvi Okoye, a biologist working for the Royal Charter Energy (RCE), on the science fiction Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse.She stars in the new 2023 workplace comedy series Shelved on CTV.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
Lyndie Greenwood at IMDb
Lyndie Greenwood on Twitter
|
educated at
|
{
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751
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}
|
Lyndie Greenwood (born June 6, 1983) is a Canadian actress best known for her recurring role of Sonya on The CW's Nikita and being a series regular cast member of FOX's Sleepy Hollow, playing the role of Jenny Mills in 2013. In 2019, she joined the cast of the Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse in the recurring role of Dr. Elvi Okoye.
Career
Born and raised in Toronto, Greenwood studied dance in school and is also well-versed in martial arts. She attended several voice and musical theater schools in Canada. She began acting training at multiple schools including the Professional Actors Lab, Jason Fraser Studios, Etobicoke School of the Arts and also at University Settlement Drama Group. She attained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto in 2006. Her first role onscreen was in a low-budget Canadian movie Pinkville. She made her television debut on an episode of The Listener. She made many guest appearances on television such as Rookie Blue, Flashpoint, Being Erica, Covert Affairs, Lost Girl and Saving Hope. She has also appeared in minor roles in short-form movies such as Little Phoenix and the Fists of Fury and as Jenn in The Exit, which she claims was her favourite role. She was also cast in This Movie Is Broken. Her career took off in 2011 when she was cast in a recurring role as Sonya on The CW's popular Nikita series. After the success of season 2 of Nikita, she was retained for seasons 3 and 4. In August 2013, she was cast in a recurring role on FOX's Sleepy Hollow. In January 2014, she was promoted to series regular for season 2. In 2019, she was cast in a recurring role as Dr. Elvi Okoye, a biologist working for the Royal Charter Energy (RCE), on the science fiction Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse.She stars in the new 2023 workplace comedy series Shelved on CTV.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
Lyndie Greenwood at IMDb
Lyndie Greenwood on Twitter
|
Commons category
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Lyndie Greenwood"
]
}
|
Lyndie Greenwood (born June 6, 1983) is a Canadian actress best known for her recurring role of Sonya on The CW's Nikita and being a series regular cast member of FOX's Sleepy Hollow, playing the role of Jenny Mills in 2013. In 2019, she joined the cast of the Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse in the recurring role of Dr. Elvi Okoye.
Career
Born and raised in Toronto, Greenwood studied dance in school and is also well-versed in martial arts. She attended several voice and musical theater schools in Canada. She began acting training at multiple schools including the Professional Actors Lab, Jason Fraser Studios, Etobicoke School of the Arts and also at University Settlement Drama Group. She attained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto in 2006. Her first role onscreen was in a low-budget Canadian movie Pinkville. She made her television debut on an episode of The Listener. She made many guest appearances on television such as Rookie Blue, Flashpoint, Being Erica, Covert Affairs, Lost Girl and Saving Hope. She has also appeared in minor roles in short-form movies such as Little Phoenix and the Fists of Fury and as Jenn in The Exit, which she claims was her favourite role. She was also cast in This Movie Is Broken. Her career took off in 2011 when she was cast in a recurring role as Sonya on The CW's popular Nikita series. After the success of season 2 of Nikita, she was retained for seasons 3 and 4. In August 2013, she was cast in a recurring role on FOX's Sleepy Hollow. In January 2014, she was promoted to series regular for season 2. In 2019, she was cast in a recurring role as Dr. Elvi Okoye, a biologist working for the Royal Charter Energy (RCE), on the science fiction Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse.She stars in the new 2023 workplace comedy series Shelved on CTV.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
Lyndie Greenwood at IMDb
Lyndie Greenwood on Twitter
|
family name
|
{
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7
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"text": [
"Greenwood"
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}
|
Lyndie Greenwood (born June 6, 1983) is a Canadian actress best known for her recurring role of Sonya on The CW's Nikita and being a series regular cast member of FOX's Sleepy Hollow, playing the role of Jenny Mills in 2013. In 2019, she joined the cast of the Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse in the recurring role of Dr. Elvi Okoye.
Career
Born and raised in Toronto, Greenwood studied dance in school and is also well-versed in martial arts. She attended several voice and musical theater schools in Canada. She began acting training at multiple schools including the Professional Actors Lab, Jason Fraser Studios, Etobicoke School of the Arts and also at University Settlement Drama Group. She attained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto in 2006. Her first role onscreen was in a low-budget Canadian movie Pinkville. She made her television debut on an episode of The Listener. She made many guest appearances on television such as Rookie Blue, Flashpoint, Being Erica, Covert Affairs, Lost Girl and Saving Hope. She has also appeared in minor roles in short-form movies such as Little Phoenix and the Fists of Fury and as Jenn in The Exit, which she claims was her favourite role. She was also cast in This Movie Is Broken. Her career took off in 2011 when she was cast in a recurring role as Sonya on The CW's popular Nikita series. After the success of season 2 of Nikita, she was retained for seasons 3 and 4. In August 2013, she was cast in a recurring role on FOX's Sleepy Hollow. In January 2014, she was promoted to series regular for season 2. In 2019, she was cast in a recurring role as Dr. Elvi Okoye, a biologist working for the Royal Charter Energy (RCE), on the science fiction Amazon Prime Video series The Expanse.She stars in the new 2023 workplace comedy series Shelved on CTV.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
Lyndie Greenwood at IMDb
Lyndie Greenwood on Twitter
|
given name
|
{
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0
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Stanley Norwood Doust (29 March 1878 – 13 December 1961) was an Australian-born tennis player who captained his nation's Davis Cup team and was winner of the Mixed Doubles Trophy at Wimbledon.
Early years
Doust was born in Newtown, New South Wales, the only son of Isaac Doust, landowner and property developer, and his wife Lucy Ellen (née Dunlop). His elder sister was Edith Lucy Doust (1875–1947), who married Harry Wolstenholme and was an early female graduate at the University of Sydney and tennis player. Living in Marrickville and Wyroolah Dulwich Hill, Doust was educated at Newington College commencing in 1887 at the age of eight. On 18 August 1903, at the Presbyterian Church in Petersham, he married Dorothy Mary Storer.
Tennis career
Doust played in the Australian Open in 1907 and 1908. In 1909 he played Wimbledon in doubles with Harry Parker. In 1913 he was defeated at Wimbledon by Maurice Evans McLoughlin. in the same year he captained the Australian Davis Cup team that won against the United States team with McLoughlin in it. His last major title win was the 1926 British Covered Court Championships mixed championship where he played with Joan Ridley. In his obituary in The Times he is described as; "One of the last of the world's great 'dolly' servers and particularly nimble about the court, he was seen at his best in doubles matches ... he used a well-placed, low-bouncing service that forced his opponent to hit upwards while [he] moved in to volley."A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked Doust as world No. 8 in 1913.
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (1 runner-up)
World War I
Doust served as a lieutenant during World War I.
Journalist
For 31 years from 1920, Doust was the lawn tennis correspondent for the Daily Mail. He died in a London hospital aged 83.
References
External links
Stanley Doust at the Association of Tennis Professionals
Stanley Doust at the International Tennis Federation
Stanley Doust at the Davis Cup
|
place of birth
|
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Stanley Norwood Doust (29 March 1878 – 13 December 1961) was an Australian-born tennis player who captained his nation's Davis Cup team and was winner of the Mixed Doubles Trophy at Wimbledon.
Early years
Doust was born in Newtown, New South Wales, the only son of Isaac Doust, landowner and property developer, and his wife Lucy Ellen (née Dunlop). His elder sister was Edith Lucy Doust (1875–1947), who married Harry Wolstenholme and was an early female graduate at the University of Sydney and tennis player. Living in Marrickville and Wyroolah Dulwich Hill, Doust was educated at Newington College commencing in 1887 at the age of eight. On 18 August 1903, at the Presbyterian Church in Petersham, he married Dorothy Mary Storer.
Tennis career
Doust played in the Australian Open in 1907 and 1908. In 1909 he played Wimbledon in doubles with Harry Parker. In 1913 he was defeated at Wimbledon by Maurice Evans McLoughlin. in the same year he captained the Australian Davis Cup team that won against the United States team with McLoughlin in it. His last major title win was the 1926 British Covered Court Championships mixed championship where he played with Joan Ridley. In his obituary in The Times he is described as; "One of the last of the world's great 'dolly' servers and particularly nimble about the court, he was seen at his best in doubles matches ... he used a well-placed, low-bouncing service that forced his opponent to hit upwards while [he] moved in to volley."A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked Doust as world No. 8 in 1913.
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (1 runner-up)
World War I
Doust served as a lieutenant during World War I.
Journalist
For 31 years from 1920, Doust was the lawn tennis correspondent for the Daily Mail. He died in a London hospital aged 83.
References
External links
Stanley Doust at the Association of Tennis Professionals
Stanley Doust at the International Tennis Federation
Stanley Doust at the Davis Cup
|
place of death
|
{
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|
Stanley Norwood Doust (29 March 1878 – 13 December 1961) was an Australian-born tennis player who captained his nation's Davis Cup team and was winner of the Mixed Doubles Trophy at Wimbledon.
Early years
Doust was born in Newtown, New South Wales, the only son of Isaac Doust, landowner and property developer, and his wife Lucy Ellen (née Dunlop). His elder sister was Edith Lucy Doust (1875–1947), who married Harry Wolstenholme and was an early female graduate at the University of Sydney and tennis player. Living in Marrickville and Wyroolah Dulwich Hill, Doust was educated at Newington College commencing in 1887 at the age of eight. On 18 August 1903, at the Presbyterian Church in Petersham, he married Dorothy Mary Storer.
Tennis career
Doust played in the Australian Open in 1907 and 1908. In 1909 he played Wimbledon in doubles with Harry Parker. In 1913 he was defeated at Wimbledon by Maurice Evans McLoughlin. in the same year he captained the Australian Davis Cup team that won against the United States team with McLoughlin in it. His last major title win was the 1926 British Covered Court Championships mixed championship where he played with Joan Ridley. In his obituary in The Times he is described as; "One of the last of the world's great 'dolly' servers and particularly nimble about the court, he was seen at his best in doubles matches ... he used a well-placed, low-bouncing service that forced his opponent to hit upwards while [he] moved in to volley."A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked Doust as world No. 8 in 1913.
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (1 runner-up)
World War I
Doust served as a lieutenant during World War I.
Journalist
For 31 years from 1920, Doust was the lawn tennis correspondent for the Daily Mail. He died in a London hospital aged 83.
References
External links
Stanley Doust at the Association of Tennis Professionals
Stanley Doust at the International Tennis Federation
Stanley Doust at the Davis Cup
|
sex or gender
|
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452
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|
Stanley Norwood Doust (29 March 1878 – 13 December 1961) was an Australian-born tennis player who captained his nation's Davis Cup team and was winner of the Mixed Doubles Trophy at Wimbledon.
Early years
Doust was born in Newtown, New South Wales, the only son of Isaac Doust, landowner and property developer, and his wife Lucy Ellen (née Dunlop). His elder sister was Edith Lucy Doust (1875–1947), who married Harry Wolstenholme and was an early female graduate at the University of Sydney and tennis player. Living in Marrickville and Wyroolah Dulwich Hill, Doust was educated at Newington College commencing in 1887 at the age of eight. On 18 August 1903, at the Presbyterian Church in Petersham, he married Dorothy Mary Storer.
Tennis career
Doust played in the Australian Open in 1907 and 1908. In 1909 he played Wimbledon in doubles with Harry Parker. In 1913 he was defeated at Wimbledon by Maurice Evans McLoughlin. in the same year he captained the Australian Davis Cup team that won against the United States team with McLoughlin in it. His last major title win was the 1926 British Covered Court Championships mixed championship where he played with Joan Ridley. In his obituary in The Times he is described as; "One of the last of the world's great 'dolly' servers and particularly nimble about the court, he was seen at his best in doubles matches ... he used a well-placed, low-bouncing service that forced his opponent to hit upwards while [he] moved in to volley."A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked Doust as world No. 8 in 1913.
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (1 runner-up)
World War I
Doust served as a lieutenant during World War I.
Journalist
For 31 years from 1920, Doust was the lawn tennis correspondent for the Daily Mail. He died in a London hospital aged 83.
References
External links
Stanley Doust at the Association of Tennis Professionals
Stanley Doust at the International Tennis Federation
Stanley Doust at the Davis Cup
|
country of citizenship
|
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64
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|
Stanley Norwood Doust (29 March 1878 – 13 December 1961) was an Australian-born tennis player who captained his nation's Davis Cup team and was winner of the Mixed Doubles Trophy at Wimbledon.
Early years
Doust was born in Newtown, New South Wales, the only son of Isaac Doust, landowner and property developer, and his wife Lucy Ellen (née Dunlop). His elder sister was Edith Lucy Doust (1875–1947), who married Harry Wolstenholme and was an early female graduate at the University of Sydney and tennis player. Living in Marrickville and Wyroolah Dulwich Hill, Doust was educated at Newington College commencing in 1887 at the age of eight. On 18 August 1903, at the Presbyterian Church in Petersham, he married Dorothy Mary Storer.
Tennis career
Doust played in the Australian Open in 1907 and 1908. In 1909 he played Wimbledon in doubles with Harry Parker. In 1913 he was defeated at Wimbledon by Maurice Evans McLoughlin. in the same year he captained the Australian Davis Cup team that won against the United States team with McLoughlin in it. His last major title win was the 1926 British Covered Court Championships mixed championship where he played with Joan Ridley. In his obituary in The Times he is described as; "One of the last of the world's great 'dolly' servers and particularly nimble about the court, he was seen at his best in doubles matches ... he used a well-placed, low-bouncing service that forced his opponent to hit upwards while [he] moved in to volley."A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked Doust as world No. 8 in 1913.
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (1 runner-up)
World War I
Doust served as a lieutenant during World War I.
Journalist
For 31 years from 1920, Doust was the lawn tennis correspondent for the Daily Mail. He died in a London hospital aged 83.
References
External links
Stanley Doust at the Association of Tennis Professionals
Stanley Doust at the International Tennis Federation
Stanley Doust at the Davis Cup
|
educated at
|
{
"answer_start": [
585
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"text": [
"Newington College"
]
}
|
Stanley Norwood Doust (29 March 1878 – 13 December 1961) was an Australian-born tennis player who captained his nation's Davis Cup team and was winner of the Mixed Doubles Trophy at Wimbledon.
Early years
Doust was born in Newtown, New South Wales, the only son of Isaac Doust, landowner and property developer, and his wife Lucy Ellen (née Dunlop). His elder sister was Edith Lucy Doust (1875–1947), who married Harry Wolstenholme and was an early female graduate at the University of Sydney and tennis player. Living in Marrickville and Wyroolah Dulwich Hill, Doust was educated at Newington College commencing in 1887 at the age of eight. On 18 August 1903, at the Presbyterian Church in Petersham, he married Dorothy Mary Storer.
Tennis career
Doust played in the Australian Open in 1907 and 1908. In 1909 he played Wimbledon in doubles with Harry Parker. In 1913 he was defeated at Wimbledon by Maurice Evans McLoughlin. in the same year he captained the Australian Davis Cup team that won against the United States team with McLoughlin in it. His last major title win was the 1926 British Covered Court Championships mixed championship where he played with Joan Ridley. In his obituary in The Times he is described as; "One of the last of the world's great 'dolly' servers and particularly nimble about the court, he was seen at his best in doubles matches ... he used a well-placed, low-bouncing service that forced his opponent to hit upwards while [he] moved in to volley."A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked Doust as world No. 8 in 1913.
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (1 runner-up)
World War I
Doust served as a lieutenant during World War I.
Journalist
For 31 years from 1920, Doust was the lawn tennis correspondent for the Daily Mail. He died in a London hospital aged 83.
References
External links
Stanley Doust at the Association of Tennis Professionals
Stanley Doust at the International Tennis Federation
Stanley Doust at the Davis Cup
|
occupation
|
{
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80
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|
Stanley Norwood Doust (29 March 1878 – 13 December 1961) was an Australian-born tennis player who captained his nation's Davis Cup team and was winner of the Mixed Doubles Trophy at Wimbledon.
Early years
Doust was born in Newtown, New South Wales, the only son of Isaac Doust, landowner and property developer, and his wife Lucy Ellen (née Dunlop). His elder sister was Edith Lucy Doust (1875–1947), who married Harry Wolstenholme and was an early female graduate at the University of Sydney and tennis player. Living in Marrickville and Wyroolah Dulwich Hill, Doust was educated at Newington College commencing in 1887 at the age of eight. On 18 August 1903, at the Presbyterian Church in Petersham, he married Dorothy Mary Storer.
Tennis career
Doust played in the Australian Open in 1907 and 1908. In 1909 he played Wimbledon in doubles with Harry Parker. In 1913 he was defeated at Wimbledon by Maurice Evans McLoughlin. in the same year he captained the Australian Davis Cup team that won against the United States team with McLoughlin in it. His last major title win was the 1926 British Covered Court Championships mixed championship where he played with Joan Ridley. In his obituary in The Times he is described as; "One of the last of the world's great 'dolly' servers and particularly nimble about the court, he was seen at his best in doubles matches ... he used a well-placed, low-bouncing service that forced his opponent to hit upwards while [he] moved in to volley."A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked Doust as world No. 8 in 1913.
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (1 runner-up)
World War I
Doust served as a lieutenant during World War I.
Journalist
For 31 years from 1920, Doust was the lawn tennis correspondent for the Daily Mail. He died in a London hospital aged 83.
References
External links
Stanley Doust at the Association of Tennis Professionals
Stanley Doust at the International Tennis Federation
Stanley Doust at the Davis Cup
|
Commons category
|
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1823
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Stanley Norwood Doust (29 March 1878 – 13 December 1961) was an Australian-born tennis player who captained his nation's Davis Cup team and was winner of the Mixed Doubles Trophy at Wimbledon.
Early years
Doust was born in Newtown, New South Wales, the only son of Isaac Doust, landowner and property developer, and his wife Lucy Ellen (née Dunlop). His elder sister was Edith Lucy Doust (1875–1947), who married Harry Wolstenholme and was an early female graduate at the University of Sydney and tennis player. Living in Marrickville and Wyroolah Dulwich Hill, Doust was educated at Newington College commencing in 1887 at the age of eight. On 18 August 1903, at the Presbyterian Church in Petersham, he married Dorothy Mary Storer.
Tennis career
Doust played in the Australian Open in 1907 and 1908. In 1909 he played Wimbledon in doubles with Harry Parker. In 1913 he was defeated at Wimbledon by Maurice Evans McLoughlin. in the same year he captained the Australian Davis Cup team that won against the United States team with McLoughlin in it. His last major title win was the 1926 British Covered Court Championships mixed championship where he played with Joan Ridley. In his obituary in The Times he is described as; "One of the last of the world's great 'dolly' servers and particularly nimble about the court, he was seen at his best in doubles matches ... he used a well-placed, low-bouncing service that forced his opponent to hit upwards while [he] moved in to volley."A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked Doust as world No. 8 in 1913.
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (1 runner-up)
World War I
Doust served as a lieutenant during World War I.
Journalist
For 31 years from 1920, Doust was the lawn tennis correspondent for the Daily Mail. He died in a London hospital aged 83.
References
External links
Stanley Doust at the Association of Tennis Professionals
Stanley Doust at the International Tennis Federation
Stanley Doust at the Davis Cup
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sport
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Stanley Norwood Doust (29 March 1878 – 13 December 1961) was an Australian-born tennis player who captained his nation's Davis Cup team and was winner of the Mixed Doubles Trophy at Wimbledon.
Early years
Doust was born in Newtown, New South Wales, the only son of Isaac Doust, landowner and property developer, and his wife Lucy Ellen (née Dunlop). His elder sister was Edith Lucy Doust (1875–1947), who married Harry Wolstenholme and was an early female graduate at the University of Sydney and tennis player. Living in Marrickville and Wyroolah Dulwich Hill, Doust was educated at Newington College commencing in 1887 at the age of eight. On 18 August 1903, at the Presbyterian Church in Petersham, he married Dorothy Mary Storer.
Tennis career
Doust played in the Australian Open in 1907 and 1908. In 1909 he played Wimbledon in doubles with Harry Parker. In 1913 he was defeated at Wimbledon by Maurice Evans McLoughlin. in the same year he captained the Australian Davis Cup team that won against the United States team with McLoughlin in it. His last major title win was the 1926 British Covered Court Championships mixed championship where he played with Joan Ridley. In his obituary in The Times he is described as; "One of the last of the world's great 'dolly' servers and particularly nimble about the court, he was seen at his best in doubles matches ... he used a well-placed, low-bouncing service that forced his opponent to hit upwards while [he] moved in to volley."A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked Doust as world No. 8 in 1913.
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (1 runner-up)
World War I
Doust served as a lieutenant during World War I.
Journalist
For 31 years from 1920, Doust was the lawn tennis correspondent for the Daily Mail. He died in a London hospital aged 83.
References
External links
Stanley Doust at the Association of Tennis Professionals
Stanley Doust at the International Tennis Federation
Stanley Doust at the Davis Cup
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given name
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Kaude is a village in Jõgeva Parish, Jõgeva County in eastern Estonia.
== References ==
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country
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{
"answer_start": [
62
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"text": [
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Kaude is a village in Jõgeva Parish, Jõgeva County in eastern Estonia.
== References ==
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instance of
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{
"answer_start": [
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"text": [
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Kaude is a village in Jõgeva Parish, Jõgeva County in eastern Estonia.
== References ==
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native label
|
{
"answer_start": [
0
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"text": [
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