The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1330 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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). After Hui-kuo's untimely death in 805, K
kai decided to return to Japan and to establish esoteric Buddhism there. He arrived back in 806 with over 200 religious objects from China, including scriptures, ritual implements, icons, and ma
ala.
K
kai gradually emerged as one of two eminent Buddhist masters in Japan. The other was
Saich
(767–822), the founder of the
Tendai
school. K
kai's greatest benefactor was Emperor Saga (786–842) who, like K
kai, was a master calligrapher. In 816 Saga granted K
kai Mount
K
ya
as a mountain retreat for the exclusive practice of esoteric Buddhism, and in 823 gave him jurisdiction over T
ji, an imperial temple in Ky
to. These became the centres of the Shingon school. By the time of K
kai's death, in 835, Shingon was a fully recognized school of Buddhism, and esoteric ritual pervaded Japan's religious establishment.

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