198 CHAPTER EIGHTmembers of the Southern School, gradually became more conciliatory. Tsung-
rni, for instance, commented that the Ch'an approach of contemplating Bud-
dha-nature and the gradual means of nien-fo were complementary aspects of a
single practice. Thus by the ninth century, the groundwork was being laid for
the later fusion of the two schools.
Pure Land by that time was so fully formed and so widely diffused a move-
ment that it ceased to need great masters. Although the texts of its early patri-
archs were destroyed in the turmoil of 845, the nature of the faith was such
that it had little need for texts. Thus, aside from Ch' an, it was the only move-
ment to survive the suppression relatively intact. Despite T'ang emperors' hav-
ing followed it, nee-Confucian gentlemen, beginning with the twelfth
century, disdained to participate in a cult that was both "vulgar" (because the
common people adhered to it) and "foreign." Their wives, however, contin-
ued to recite "na-mo a-mi-t'ojo" ("Homage to Arnita Buddha") and taught it
to their children. To this day, a shortened version of the phrase "O-mi-t' ojo"
is a common greeting and exclamation among older Chinese. No native Chi-
nese god has ever commanded the universal worship that Arnita has received.
His popularity was so pervasive that by the sixteenth century it had permeated
Ch'an. Even today, the faith is still strong among the vast majority of Chinese
Buddhists, and "na-mo a-mi-t'ojo" is chanted regularly in the daily liturgy of
Ch'an monasteries.8.5.4 The Third Period Sect (San-chieh-chiao)
A related development during this time was the establishment of the Third
Period Sect (San-chieh-chiao). Similar to the Pure Land sect, this movement
assumed the existence of three periods in the survival of Dharma after the
Buddha's Parinirvit;a, and decided that the age of Degenerate Dharma, when
even superficial rituals were no longer observed, had arrived. The school's
founder, Hsin-hsing (540-93), taught that all beings were possessed of the
Buddha-nature, and that all were thus worthy of compassion and respect, re-
gardless of class, sex, or species. Because of the degeneracy of the times, he
and his followers felt that monastic isolation was an obstacle to the practice of
compassion, so their implementation of the Dharma took the form oflavish
donations for the well-being of others. In 620 an "Inexhaustible Treasury,"
patterned after a model in the Vimalakirti-nirde5a Sutra, was established in
Ch'ang-an. Although other Buddhist lay groups in China and Japan had orga-
nized similar credit unions and mutual financing societies, the Third Period
Sect's project assumed enormous proportions. Capital accumulated at a rate;
defYing the ability of accountants to keep track of it. Funds were dispersed for
such projects as temple repair, relief for the sick and homeless, and religious
rituals throughout the empire. According to accounts of the time, loans were.
always repaid when due, even though no interest was charged and no legaV
contracts were required of the borrowers.
The sect's appeal to the oppressed common people is obvious. But for\
those in power, it was a seditious threat because of its teaching that no gov 1 :,
ernment in a time of decay was worthy of respect. Various T' ang emperors'!