ote on the family and country of the Buddha. He compiled a
catalogue of the Tripitaka, as it was in his time, and collections of
extracts, as well as of documents relating to the controversies
between Buddhists and Taoists.[843] Although he took as his chief
authority the Dharmagupta Vinaya commonly known as the Code in Four
Sections, he held, like most Chinese Buddhists, that there is a
complete and perfect doctrine which includes and transcends all the
vehicles. But he insisted, probably as a protest against the laxity or
extravagance of many monasteries, that morality and discipline are the
indispensable foundation of the religious life. He was highly esteemed
by his contemporaries and long after his death the Emperor Mu-tsung
(821-5) wrote a poem in his honour. The school is still respected and
it is said that the monks of its principal monastery, Pao-hua-shan in
Kiangsu, are stricter and more learned than any other.

The school called Chen-yen (in Japanese Shin-gon), true word, or
Mi-chiao,[844] secret teaching, equivalent to the Sanskrit Mantrayana
or Tantrayana, is the latest among the recognized divisions of Chinese
Buddhism since it first made its appearance in the eighth century. The
date, like that of the translation of the Amida scriptures is
important, for the school was introduced from India and it follows
that its theories and practices were openly advocated at this period
and probably were not of repute much earlier. It is akin to the
Buddhism of Tibet and may be described in its higher aspects as an
elaborate and symbolic pantheism, which represents the one spirit
manifesting himself in a series of emanations and reflexes. In its
popular and unfortunately commoner aspect it is simply polytheism,
fetichism and magic. In many respects it resembles the Pure Land
school. Its principal deity (the word is not inaccurate) is Vairocana,
analogous to Amitabha, and probably like him a Persian sun god in
origin. It is also a short cut to salvation, for, without denying the
efficiency of more laborious and ascetic methods, it promises to its
followers a similar result by means of formulae and ceremonies. Like
the Pure Land school it has become in China not so much a separate
corporation as an aspect, and often the most obvious and popular
aspect, of all Buddhist schools.

It claims Vajrabodhi as its first Patriarch. He was a monk of the
Brahman caste who arrived in China from southern India[845] in 719 and
died i