BUDDHISM IN JAPAN10.3 The Importation of Chinese Buddhism
245Under Emperor Temmu (r. 672-86), a Chinese form of government was in-
stituted, including laws for the support and control of religion. As a result,
Buddhist temples came under the jurisdiction of the Department ofKami M-
fairs, and tight control was exerted over who could obtain ordination and
where. This was to ensure that Buddhism would not develop into a force in-
imical to the state interests.
Meanwhile, a number of Chinese Buddhist schools had been imported to
Japan, with little or no modification. In 625, a Korean monk who had studied
in China introduced the study of Madhyamika (Three Treatise; in Japanese,
Sanron) and the Satyasiddhi Gojitsu) treatise (see Section 8.4.2). In 658, two
Japanese monks who had studied under Hsiian-tsang (see Section 8.5) intro-
duced the study ofVasubandhu's Abhidharmakosa (Kusha). Another Japanese
monk went to China in 653, studied the Fa-hsiang (Hosso) teaching under
Hsiian-tsang for more than ten years, and then introduced it to Japan. Other
Koreans as well as Japanese returned from China and reinforced the initial
transmissions. Kusha, Jojitsu, and Sanron were never more than curriculum
subjects, but Hosso became a wealthy, politically influential sect and has main-
tained an institutional existence to the present day.
In 710 the imperial court was moved to Heijo-kyo (Capital of the Peace-
ful Citadel) at present-day Nara, where a city based on the design of the Chi-
nese capital at Ch'ang-an had been laid out. The Hua-yen (Kegon) school
was introduced from China by several teachers-Korean, Chinese, and In-
dian-and rapidly acquired great influence (see Section 8.5.2). The Hua-yen
worldview was adapted to political ideology by equating Vairocana, the Cos-
mic Sun Buddha, with the emperor, whose uji claimed to be descendants of
the sun. The fourth Dharma-realm, that of the unimpeded interpenetration
of phenomena, was made the model for Japanese society, in hopes that the
various ujis would interact harmoniously. Kegon, like Hosso, has continued as
a sect up to the present.
Throughout the Nara period, the number of Buddhist temples continued
to proliferate. In 7 41, every province was ordered to construct a temple and
pagoda with at least 20 monks and 10 nuns. In 752, Todai-ji (Great Eastern
Temple), the largest wooden structure in the world today, was designated the
head temple in Nara. Two years later, the Chinese Vinaya master Ganjin es-
tablished an ordination center there. In keeping with the laws passed under
Emperor Temmu, the government permitted ordinations only at approved
centers, which were intentionally kept limited to a few. Although the purpose
of this restriction was to keep tight rein on the Sangha, in practice it led to
strongly organized sects, with branch temples in the provinces dependent on
the head temple to provide properly ordained monastics, whereas the head
temple was dependent on the local temples for income.