the Vajras ́ekhara(Vajra Pinnacle), sutras that exem-
plify the kriya(action [i.e., rite]) and carya(ritual per-
formance) stages according to the later classification of
Esoteric Buddhism. In other words, the school focused
on the initial or preliminary stages of practice in ac-
cordance with mature Tantric Buddhist doctrine. The
antinomian practices commonly associated with the
later Tantric tradition, including meat-eating, the
drinking of alcohol, and ritual sex (i.e., the conscious
breaking of the conventional Buddhist PRECEPTS), were
not practiced by the teachers of the Zhenyan school.
However, in the ritual cycles relating to the Vajrasattva
cult as propagated by Amoghavajra, there is evidence
of tendencies toward antinomianism.
The centers of Zhenyan Buddhism were situated in
the twin capitals of Chang’an and Luoyang, and in-
cluded a series of famous monasteries such as An-
guosi, Da Xingshansi, and Qinglongsi. During the late
eighth and early ninth centuries, Mount Wutai in
Shanxi province, with its hundreds of monasteries and
hermitages, was a flourishing center of Zhenyan Bud-
dhism. It was during this period that the Japanese
monks SAICHO(767–822), the founder of the Japanese
Tendai (Chinese, Tiantai) school, and KUKAI(774–
835), who established Zhenyan in the form of SHIN-
GONBUDDHISMin Japan, studied under Esoteric Bud-
dhist masters in China.
The Huichang persecution of Buddhism of 844 to
845 destroyed most of the important Buddhist monas-
teries in Chang’an and Luoyang, and, while it seriously
crippled the Zhenyan school, it did not cause lasting
damage to the development of Esoteric Buddhism in
China. Although the Zhenyan tradition declined, Eso-
teric Buddhist practices in nonsectarian and more
unstructured forms continued to flourish in the
provinces. In particular, Sichuan in the southwestern
part of China saw the rise of a strong Esoteric Buddhist
tradition that continued well into the Southern Song
dynasty (960–1279). Yunnan, which at that time was
ruled by the Dali kingdom (937–1253), also saw the
rise of a distinct form of Esoteric Buddhism that in-
corporated influences from China, Tibet, and Burma.
During the early Song, a new wave of translations of
Buddhist scriptures introduced the first full-fledged
tantras to Chinese soil, including the Mañjus ́rlmulakalpa
(Fundamental Ordinance of Mañjus ́rl), the Hevajra-
tantra(Tantra of Hevajra), and the Guhyasamaja-tantra
(Tantra of Guhyasamaja). However, it appears that the
antinomian practices expounded in these scriptures did
not win many adherents among the Chinese Buddhists.
In contrast, the Tanguts, a people of Tibeto-Burmese
stock, who had founded the Xixia dynasty (1038–1223)
in present-day Ningxia and Gansu provinces, followed
a mixture of Sino-Tibetan Buddhism that included Es-
oteric Buddhism in its Tantric form. Here the higher
yoga and annuttarayogatantras were taught. Tibetan
lamas served as imperial preceptors to the Tangut rulers.
During the Yuan (1260–1368) and early Ming
(1368–1644) dynasties, Esoteric Buddhism in the form
of Tibetan Lamaism was introduced in China, where it
remained influential for several centuries. Under the
Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Lamaism became the offi-
cial religion of the Manchu rulers, who favored a suc-
cession of important lamas from Tibet and Mongolia.
During this period, a number of important Tibetan and
Mongolian tantric texts were translated into Chinese.See also:China; Daoism and Buddhism; Esoteric Art,
East Asia; Exoteric-Esoteric (Kenmitsu) Buddhism in
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