Shunjō from the Southern Song and Efforts towards a Religious Revival of Precepts in Nara Buddhism

Abstract

The monk Shunjō 俊芿 (1166–1227) studied in the Southern Song for 12 years. Before studying abroad he studied Tendai in Japan. Shunjō introduced the Tendai Perfect Precepts (Enkai 円戒) to the Southern Song Buddhist community. In the Tendai ordination, the question-and-answer of whether it is possible for one to uphold the three-fold śīla is the formal act (karman). That method was called the three-fold acts (sanju konma 三聚羯磨). Unexpectedly, the Tendai Perfect Precepts were accepted in the Southern Song Buddhist community. After Shunjō returned to Japan, the three-fold act was adopted as the Nara Buddhist ordination, upon which Kakujō 覚盛 (1194–1249) transformed the method of Tendai ordination into the tsūju 通受 or comprehensive ordination of Nara Buddhism.