Encyclopedia of Buddhism

TACHIKAWARYU

Tachikawaryu
is the name of a subschool of Shingon
Buddhism, one of the two Japanese schools of tantric
Buddhism. Probably founded by Ninkan, who was ac-
tive in the early twelfth century, Tachikawaryu
seems
to have continued into the seventeenth century. The
epithets often associated with it, “perverse teaching” or
“perverse school,” imply that this subschool taught a
set of doctrines and rituals that were strongly sexual-
ized. Tachikawaryu
was denounced by Yu
kai (1345–
1416) and other representatives of the Buddhist or-
thodoxy during the Middle Ages, and most of the texts
associated with the school are now lost. However, ex-
amination of the few extant texts that can be traced
back to Tachikawaryu
reveals that its teachings were
not very different from those of the other Shingon sub-
schools. In addition, a close reading of Shinjo
’s Juho
-
yo
jin shu
(Circumspect Acceptance of the Dharma,
1268), the earliest text that is commonly believed to be
a denunciatory account of Tachikawaryu
practices, re-
veals that the sexual rituals described are not said to
pertain to Tachikawaryu
. Shinjo
speaks simply of
“these rituals,” without naming them.

It is possible to distinguish at least two levels of sex-
ual doctrines and rituals in medieval Japanese religion.
First, in every lineage of what is usually called kenmitsu
Buddhism, sexual elements were widely spread and
practiced, at least in a metaphorical way. Tachikawaryu

may well be counted as one of these lineages, although
there were certainly more purist tendencies in each lin-
eage. Second, the rituals described by Shinjo
may have
been taught and practiced only in a particular segment
of this general movement. The rituals imply not only
sexual intercourse, but also ritual use of a human skull.

See also:Exoteric-Esoteric (Kenmitsu) Buddhism in

Japan; Japan; Kamakura Buddhism, Japan; Shingon

Buddhism, Japan; Shinto
(Honji Suijaku) and Bud-

dhism

Bibliography

Kock, Stephen. “The Dissemination of the Tachikawa-ryu
and

the Problem of Orthodox and Heretic Teaching in Shingon

Buddhism.” Studies in Indian Philosophy and Buddhism,

Tokyo University, 7 (2000): 69–83.

Sanford, James. “The Abominable Tachikawa Skull Ritual.”

Monumenta Nipponica46, no. 1 (1991): 1–20.

NOBUMIIYANAGA

TAIWAN

Scholars can document the existence of Buddhism in

Taiwan only from the migration of Chinese fleeing to

the island after their failure to restore the fallen Ming

dynasty in 1662. The “Southern Ming” court ruled Tai-

wan until the Qing dynasty captured the island in 1683.

The subsequent history of Buddhism in Taiwan falls

into three periods delimited by the three political

regimes that followed: Qing rule (1683–1895); Japan-

ese viceroyalty (1895–1945); and Han Chinese rule

(1945–present).

The Southern Ming/Qing dynasty period

Chinese and Japanese scholars agree that knowledge

and practice of Buddhism during this time was rela-

tively unsophisticated. Taiwan was a land of pirates,

typhoons, plagues, and headhunting natives, and did

not attract China’s social elite. Many of the “monks”

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