See Also: Saicho(encyclopedia)

Saicho (sh)




or Dengyo Daishi

born 767, omi province, Japan
died 822, Hiei-zan

Monk who established the Tendai (Chinese Tiantai) sect of Buddhism in Japan.

Ordained at age 13, he studied in China and returned with the teachings of Tendai Buddhism, which embraced the Lotus Sutra. Unlike other Buddhist sects in Japan, it asserted that the material world could hold meaning and value and that the teachings of the Buddha are accessible to all, not just a select few. Saicho enjoyed favour with the government but often incurred the enmity of the leaders of other Japanese Buddhist sects. The monastery he built on Mount Hiei became one of the great centres of Buddhist learning.