Hakkyō 八教,the famous doctrinal classification (教判論) of the Tendai school, constitutes the eight classifications of the Buddha’s teaching, which are divided into two categories; four kinds of teaching content (化法四教), and four methods of teaching (化儀四教). The former category consists of Hīnayāna teachings (蔵教), Common teachings (通教), Distinct teachings (別教), and Perfect teachings (円教). The latter category consists of Sudden teachings (頓教), Gradual teachings (漸教), Secret teachings (秘密教), and Indeterminate teachings (不定教). However, Saichō最澄 (767–822), the patriarch of the Japanese Tendai School, deviated from the traditional usage of these teachings and incorporated them with the kehō no ton 化法之頓 (content of Sudden teachings) and kehō no zen 化法之漸 (content of Gradual teachings). Kehō no ton and kehō no zen are synonymous with kyōton 教頓 and kyōzen 教漸,which are terms also used in Saichō’s works.
This paper examines the ideological source of Saichō’s unique usage and his motivation for introducing these phraseologies. I first give an overview of the genealogy of the doctrinal classification of the Sudden and Gradual teachings employed by Chinese Tiantai scholars before Saichō. On one hand, the concept of kyōton is based on Zhanran’s 湛然 (711–782) exegesis of Zhiyi’s 智顗 (538–597) doctrinal classification. In contrast, the concept of kyōzen is newly introduced by Saichō. Second, to clarify how Saichō introduced kyōzen, I focus on the context and the usage of kehō no zen in the first volume of the Shugo kokkaishō 守護国界章 (Essay on Protecting the Nation). In this work, Saichō disputed Tokuitsu’s 徳一 (8–9c) criticism of the Gradual teachings. This indicates that the Gradual teachings are the key issue for Saichō in maintaining his doctrinal legitimacy. Therefore kyōzen is newly introduced by Saichō.
