国際仏教学大学院大学研究紀要
第 14 号（平成 22 年)

Journal of the International College
for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies
Vol. XIV, 2010

Transmission and Creation: Ordinations for
Nuns in Ancient and Early Mediaeval Japan
Florin Deleanu

国際仏教学大学院大学研究紀要第 14 号

平成 22 年 5 月

1Transmission and Creation: Ordinations
for Nuns in Ancient and Early Mediaeval Japan
Florin Deleanu
I

Prefatory Remarks

Hardly could have anyone imagined at the end of the 6th century C.E., when
the first Japanese Buddhist nuns took the vows, that the fate of their
institutions would be so stormy for the next seven centuries. Swirling
between ups of lavish Court sponsorship and downs of disheartening
neglect from state authorities, their history commenced in a very
promising manner, then dangerously dwindled to near-extinction, and later
recreated itself almost miraculously. One of the aims of the present essay is
to outline this impressive story, but what underlies it is more than a mere
intention to offer a birdʼs-eye view of the ecclesiastical and social history of
the Japanese nuns between the 6th and the 13th century.1 A basic and
1

The birdʼs-eye view which this essay also attempts is far from being exhaustive

in its examination of primary sources and coverage of secondary literature. As far as
the latter is concerned, the following studies are particularly noteworthy: Ishida
1978, Hosokawa 1987, Ushiyama 1990, Matsuo 1995, Groner 2002 (certainly the mostoutstanding contribution in English on the fate of the Japanese nuns between 8th andthe 10th centuries). The following two collections of studies represent excellent
contributions dealing with various aspects of the history of nuns from Ancient toPre-modern times: Ōsumi and Nishiguchi ed. 1989 (in Japanese) and Ruch ed. 2002
(in English―a superb scholarly achievement). The more general problem of thehistory of precepts and ordinations, mainly for monks, in Ancient and Mediaeval
Japan is treated in Tokiwa Daijō 1943 (an old but still very useful study) and Ishida[1963] 1976 (the unrivalled ʻclassicʼ in this field). A rather brief but very lucid
presentation of Kakujōʼs and Eisonʼs contribution to the revival of the Risshū 律宗 orJapanese Vinaya School and ordinations is Minowa 2004.

2

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

simple question actually binds these seven centuries together into a moreor less coherent whole: when were the first full ordinations for Japanesenuns performed? The intricacies and mistiness of the answer is what takes
such a long span to cover.
Before we embark upon this journey of lofty aspirations and worldly
ambitions, ecclesiastical creativity and bureaucratic obtuseness, let us
briefly remind ourselves what a full ordination is. The traditional Buddhist
society is divided into seven assemblies (Skt. sapta naikāyikāh; Ch. 七衆)
̇consisting of (1) fully ordained monks (bhiksu; 比丘), supposed to observė
250 precepts; (2) fully ordained nuns (bhiksunī; 比 丘 尼), expected tȯ ̇
observe 348 precepts; (3) novice monks (śrāmanera; 沙 彌), required tȯfollow ten precepts; (4) probationary nun (śiksamānā; 式叉摩那), similarly,̇̇
six precepts; (5) novice nuns (śrāmanerikā; 沙彌尼), likewise, ten precepts;̇(6) lay man (upāsaka; 優婆塞); and (7) lay women (upāsikā; 優婆夷)―thelast two categories ideally leading lives governed by five precepts.2
A lay man or woman desiring to join the Holy Order is first expected togo through a period of novitiate, which corresponds to classes (3) to (5) inWhile the number of precepts for the last five classes is similar in all Buddhist
schools, the number of precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns differ according
to the Vinaya tradition. The numbers given above are based on the Fourfold Vinaya
2

四 分 律, a text extant only in Chinese translation and representing the monastic
tradition of the Dharmaguptaka school 法 藏 部. This actually became the mostpopular monastic code in China and Japan. For more details, see below, especiallynote 66.
The word vinaya (same form in Pali, Classical Sanskrit, and Buddhist Hybrid
Sanskrit) is mainly used in Buddhist literature in the sense of ʻnorm of conductʼ,ʻmoralityʼ, ʻpreceptsʼ, and as a genre, it refers to the ʻcode of monastic discipline andproceduresʼ. (Needless to say, this will also be the meaning with which I employ theterm in this essay.) Let us, however, add that in many ancient Indic languages,
Classical Sanskrit included, the lexeme has a wider semantic sphere: from ʻremovalʼ
to ʻtamingʼ, ʻ (good-)breedingʼ, ʻeducationʼ, etc. (for the usage and meaning of theword in Indian sources, see Hara 2004).

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

3

the enumeration above. Having successfully completed it, the novice may
seek full ordination. In the case of a male postulant, the status of fully
ordained monastic is granted by a congregation of ten qualified monks. For
female postulants, a dual ordination is stipulated. First, ten qualified nuns
conduct a ritual of admission into the Order. This preliminary part of theordination is technically known in Sanskrit as the brahmacaryopasthāna orʻceremony [for achieving] pure conductʼ and is usually referred to in
Chinese sources as 本法 (Ch. benfa; Jp. honbō)(literally, ʻroot-factorʼ) or 本
事 (benshi; honji)(literally, ʻroot-factʼ). This is followed by a second
procedure, this time carried out by ten monks who give the final validationof the nunʼs ordination.3 The Vinaya or the Code of Monastic Discipline
stipulates detailed provisions for each step of the entire process.4 These
rules and regulations as well as their interpretation, hopelessly ample andcomplex, may seem unessential to a modern mind, but in a traditional
environment, they are regarded to be the Buddhaʼs own word or inspiredby Him. Following and implementing them is a sacred duty for the Holy
Community as well as for any individual deciding to join its ranks.
Furthermore, ordination in accordance to Vinaya constitutes not only areligious and social recognition of oneʼs admission into a lineage presumably
stretching back to Lord Buddha Himself but also a gate granting fullmonastic rights. And the latter signify, inter alia, full access to spiritual
education and praxis, the very raison dʼêtre of the entire monastic life―atleast, ideally speaking.5
Ten is the quorum stipulated by the Fourfold Vinaya. Traditions such as the
Mūlasarvāstivāda require twelve monks for the second part of the ordination (see3Wei-chun 2007; Huimin Bhiksu 2007; etc.).
̇
4 For more technical details and primary sources concerning the dual ordination,
see note 36 below.
5 Though the usage of ʻfullʼ in collocation with the noun ʻordinationʼ or the verb ʻtoordainʼ is rather common in Buddhist studies, there is good reason to question its
semantic appropriateness. The main controversial issue is the fact that we have no4Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

straightforward contrasting phrases such as ʻpartial ordinationʼ or ʻhalf ordinationʼ. If
one takes the view that language and style should be logical to the last detail, thenʻfullʼ admittedly has no place in such a collocation. In spite of some reservations, I find,nevertheless, that adding the qualification ʻfullʼ to ʻordinationʼ confers more stylisticalprecision. This is the main reason for my employment of the phrase to refer to what
traditional sources call upasampad (Skt.), upasampadā (Pali as well as some BuddhisṫHybrid Sanskrit varieties),(1) bsnyen par rdzogs pa (Tib.), 具足戒 (Ch. juzu-jie; Jp.
gusoku-kai), etc. I think it better differentiates the formal state in which a monastic is
supposed to observe the entire set of precepts and rules of discipline (i.e. 250 formonks, 348 for nuns, according to the Fourfold Vinaya) from the novitiate in which
only a limited number of precepts (ten or six) are to be followed. In this sense, ʻfull
ordinationʼ can be contrasted to ʻinitiation into novitiateʼ. This form of joining theOrder as an apprentice or probationer could be, after all, described as a preliminary
ordination. If a traditional term is required for the latter, then this will be ʻgoing forthʼor ʻleaving the household [or: lay] lifeʼ (Skt. pravrajyā; Ch. 出家).
One must, however, add that the latter lexeme is itself far from being
semantically monolithic. Especially the Chinese binome 出家 (Ch. chujia; Jp. shukke),
literally meaning ʻleaving the houseʼ, is employed as a general term denoting thejoining or the state of monastic life, whether as a novice or a fully ordainedmonk/nun. In this sense, it is contrasted to the state of lay followers, usually called 在
家 (Ch. zaijia; Jp. zaike), literally ʻbeing at homeʼ (see Nakamura 1981, s.v. 出家).
Furthermore, especially in early Buddhist sources, it refers to the simple act ofabandoning the lay life for the pursuit of ascetic practices (e.g. agārasmā anagāriyaṁpabbajati in the Dīghanikāya vol. I, p. 160), often set in the solitude of the wilderness
or amongst other renunciants and not necessarily implying a formal ceremony. Thisis the way the future Buddha himself began his own path of spiritual quest, and in theearliest years of the Saṅ gha, admittance to the community appears to have been
made by a simple act of taking the three refuges (saranagamanehi upasampadā), aṡactually stated in the Pali Vinayapitaka (vol. I, p. 56). The same source tells us thaṫ
later the Buddha abolished this ʻfast-trackʼ ordination and set a more complex andformal ceremony through the procedure of four announcements (ñatticatutthena
kammena upasampādetum)(ibid.), which consists in a motion and one resolutioṅ
repeated three times. (For a comparative study of this procedure in Chinese and Pali
sources as well as its history in China, see Shi Huimin 1996.) No mention is made inthis passage whether the postulant should be required a formal period and/or
ceremony of novitiate, though in a different context, the same Vinayapitaka details
̇Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

5

Now to return to the history of the full ordinations for nuns in Japan,
there are quite a few details which remain (at least, to me) rather obscure.
We know for sure that female monastics and convents made theirappearance very early in Japanese history and thrived for a while under
the auspices of the Court. What is less clear, actually quite unclear, iswhether these ʻmonasticsʼ were proper bhiksunīs ordained according to thė ̇
orthodox Vinaya procedures and legitimate lineages.
However, irrespective of their orthodoxy and legitimacy, the numberof female monastics and nunneries kept on increasing until around the
middle of the 8th century when the situation began changing for the worse.
how the Buddha set the ten rules of training for novices (vol. I, p. 83-84).
On the other hand, the Vinayasūtra and Vinayasūtravrtti, composed by the greaṫ
Vinaya expert Gunaprabha (fl. 5th century C.E.?), speaks of an old procedurė(purākalpa) in which no difference was made between ʻgoing forthʼ (pravrajyā) andʻfull ordinationʼ (upasampad).A procedure of four announcements (jñapticaturtha)
was enough to confer a new comer who had abandoned the household life
(pravrajita) the state of full member of the monastic community. Mais où sont neiges
d’antan? …. This was possible, Gunaprabha adds, in times of yore when men werė
holy by nature (Vinayasūtra cum Vinayasūtravrtti, p. 5). Later, a new and morėcomplex set of rules had to be devised, and this led to the ʻcurrent procedureʼ
(vartamānakalpa) requiring a period of novitiate during which the preceptor(upādhyāya) must check the discipleʼs purity (ibid.)(see also Introduction to
Vinayasūtra cum Vinayasūtravrtti, pp. XXV-XXVI).
̇
In a full-fledged monastic institution, whose framework was defined by strict
and complex regulations, ʻgoing forthʼ (pravrajyā) came to refer to initiation into
novitiate, a state which implied a formal procedure and had its well-defined set ofprecepts. This was and continues to be a ʻpartial ordinationʼ, so to speak, and only asuccessful completion of the novitiate can lead to ʻfull ordinationʼ (upasampad).
̇Finally, I must once again stress that the issue of the semantic suitability of thephrase ʻfull ordinationʼ is far from simple. My usage stems, therefore, mainly fromstylistic preferences rather than being based on strong linguistic grounds.
(1) In the Bhiksunīvinaya, for instance, we see forms as diverse aṡ ̇upasampad, upasampadam, and upasampadā used side by side (seė̇̇̇Roth ed. 1970, pp. 347-348, for a list of such occurrences).

6

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

The threat came from two different angles. The first inauspicious wind
started to blow from the Court and state authorities who reduced
substantially their support for nuns and nunneries. This meant that even if
there had been a legitimate lineage of fully ordained female monastics inthe first two centuries of Buddhism on Japanese soil, it later and graduallybecame more and more difficult to find the quorum needed for carrying out
ordinations according to the Vinaya procedures. The second threat camefrom inside the Buddhist community itself, or to be more precise, from its
male half, socially and institutionally dominant. The exact nature of theearliest ordinations and lineages of Japanese monks is not much clearer
either. We know, however, that the need for Vinaya orthodoxy within theranks of the Saṅ gha grew as the amount of knowledge and understandingof Buddhism increased over the decades. By the middle of the 8th century,
sustained efforts to introduce a lineage of legitimate bhiksu ordinations
̇from China finally bore fruit in the arrival and activities of the famous
scholar-monk Jianzhen (Jp. Ganjin) 鑑眞 (688-763). Nothing of the kind, orat least of equal success, was, however, undertaken for the female half of
the Order.
The situation did not change much after Saichō 最澄 (767-822), thefounder of the Japanese Tendai school 天台宗, came to stress the formula of
Mahāyāna ordination based on the Bodhisattva precepts expounded in The
Brahmā’s Net Sutra 梵網經. Actually, women were not even allowed, letalone encouraged, to take the vows on Mt Hiei, the headquarters of the newschool. It was only later in the Heian period when they began to avail
themselves of this new procedure. Furthermore, the Mahāyāna ordination
added extra confusion as to what the requirements of a monastic status
meant: were the Bodhisattva precepts alone sufficient for a follower of theGreat Vehicle to be declared a full-fledged monk or nun? How should one
regard the old Vinaya procedure, which basically reflects a ʻLesser Vehicleʼ
(Hīnayāna) ideological framework, and its legitimacy? Such questions

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

7

concerned monks and nuns alike, but female monastics, already in a sociallyand institutionally much weaker position, were affected in a more profoundway.
For the clear birth of the bhiksunī Order, we actually have to wait until̇ ̇
the 13th century when a group of creative and intrepid monks led by Eison
叡尊 (1201-1290) set up the institutional framework for ordaining nuns.
This was an act of bold interpretation rather than a transmission, but it
proved successful for centuries to come. What under more generous
conditions could have been a straightforward and orthodox process of
passing the Torch of Monastic Law from one generation to the otherturned out to be a long and meandering path. This is a saga in its own right,
albeit little noticed, and it doubtless requires a treatment proportionate toits impressive scale and depth. Admittedly, I am not the ideal guide fortaking the reader along this ragged path, let alone for pointing to all its
narrow, winding trails. I, nonetheless, trust that this modest essay will
succeed in giving a rough, yet coherent, picture of how the main threads ofour story unfold.
II

Auspicious Dawn

There is some irony in the fact that in contrast to the less prominent andoften neglected role of nuns in the history of Japanese Buddhism, the first
inhabitant of the Land of the Rising Sun to become a monastic was awoman. It was in the 13th year of Emperor Bidatsuʼs 敏達天皇 reign, i.e. 584
C.E., when a young girl named Shima 嶋 took the decisive step ofrenouncing lay life and devoting herself to the Buddhist path. Many details
remain shrouded in the mist of times, but a sketchy reconstruction of the
crucial event is possible.
Let us first see the earliest and probably most reliable account givenby the Nihon shoki 日 本 書 紀 or Chronicles of Japan, the oldest official

8Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

history of the country completed in 720.6 According to it,7 Soga no Umako
no Sukune 蘇 我 馬 子 宿 禰,8 Grand Minister 大 臣 and leader of the proBuddhist faction at the Court, came into possession of two sacred images.
This prompted him to look for spiritual practitioners (修行者 okonahihito)
capable and qualified to worship them. The range of choice was far fromwide. The only person able to assist was Hyepʼyǒn 惠 便 (Jp. Eben), a
former Korean monk who had settled in Japan.9 Exceptional circumstances
6 For the Nihon shoki, I make use of the annotated edition compiled by Sakamoto
Tarō et al. (1965). The original text is written in Classical Chinese, but this edition isaccompanied by the traditional translation into Classical Japanese (kundoku 訓讀).
The latter is based on early manuscripts, preference being given to the oldest extant
versions. In the case of Scroll XX, from which most of the quotations in this paper are
made, the kundoku follows the so-called Maeda Manuscript 前田本 which was dates
back to the late Heian period 平安後期, i.e. from around the second half of the 11th
century to the 12th century (see Nihon Shoki, vol. I, Introduction, pp. 48-52). The
Japanese pronunciation of many of the Chinese characters from this work reflects,
therefore, fairly old readings (albeit not contemporaneous with the events
described).
It must be added here that in quite a few instances, I also note the classicalJapanese reading of the Chinese characters, i.e. the so-called rekishiteki kana zukai 歷
史 的 假 名 遣 or ʻhistorical kana-syllabary usageʼ, which basically reflects thepronunciation before and around the Mid-Heian 平 安 中 期 period (from the 10th
century to the first half of the 11th century). In order to distinguish it from themodern pronunciation 現 代 仮 名 遣, I usually refer to it as ʻClassical Japanese
pronunciationʼ or ʻClassical Japanese spellingʼ.
7 The main part of the account is found at Nihon shoki vol. 2, pp. 148-149. For an
English translation, see Aston tr. [1896] 1972, vol. 2, p. 101.
8 The name is also read ʻSoga no Mumako no Sukuneʼ (cf. Aston tr. ([1896] 1972,
vol. 2, p. 101).
9 The Nihon shoki calls him ʻKoma no Ebinʼ 高麗の惠便 (Nihon shoki vol. 2, pp.
148-149), suggesting that he was a native of Koryǒ 高麗. The only things which thetext tells about his background is that he was a ʻmonk who had returned to secularlifeʼ 僧還俗 and that he was a resident of the ʻLand of Harimaʼ 播磨國 (ibid.)(locatedin the Southwest of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture 兵庫県).

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

9

asked, however, for extraordinary means. Although Hyepʼyǒn had returned
to secular life, he was declared ʻpreceptorʼ (師 norinoshi) and requested toordain Shima, the daughter of Shime Dachito10 令度司馬達等女嶋.11
Shima, aged eleven at that time,12 assumed the monastic name Zenshin
善信.13 She was joined in her pious act by two other girls, Toyome 豐女 and10 I follow here the Maeda Manuscript reading adopted by the editors of the Nihon
Shoki. Aston tr. ([1896] 1972, vol. 2, p. 101) reads ʻShiba Tattōʼ, as do many othermodern secondary sources. Ōsumi (2002, XXX) also mentions the reading ʻShima
Tachitoʼ. Whatever the exact pronunciation may have been, the surname ʻShibaʼ 司馬
suggests a naturalised Chinese family (see Nihon shoki, vol. II, p. 148, n. 7). The only
detail which the Nihon shoki mentions about him is that he was one of the two people
sent by the Grand Minister to look for spiritual practitioners (see above). Thissuggest that he must have been a Buddhist follower himself, or at least ready toembrace the new faith, and had thus gained the trust of an exalted personage like
Soga no Umako. See also note 14 below.
むすめ
11 The kundoku reading in the Maeda Manuscript goes as follows: 司馬達等の 女
しま
いへで
嶋を 度 せしむ. (Nihon shoki vol. 2, pp. 148).
12 Aston tr. ([1896] 1972, vol. 2, p. 101, gives Zenshinʼs age as ʻtwelveʼ (which may
have been the reading of the edition adopted for his translation?). The Nihon shoki
vol. 2, pp. 148-149, however, clearly reads: 年十一歳 (kundoku reading: toshi towo
amari hitotsu)(which appears written as interlinear commentary) ʻ[being] elevenyears of ageʼ.
13 The name literally means ʻGood Faithʼ. The Nihon shoki gives no explanation forthe choice of this name, but if a rationale deeper than its plain denotation was behind
it, it may have been connected to a tradition referring to a so-called ʻGood Faith
Bodhisattvaʼ 善 信 菩 薩. The Japanese scholar-monk Gyōnen 凝 然 (1240-1321)
mentions ʻthe twenty-four precepts of a [/the?] Good Faith Bodhisattvaʼ 善信菩薩二十四戒, which according to him are expounded in the Good Faith Bodhisattva Sutra
善信菩薩經. Gyōnen then adds, ʻa [/the?] Good-Faith Bodhisattva is a lay womenʼ 善
信菩薩是在家女人也 (T74. 8a21-24). As far as I know, there is no extant sutra bythis name. (The only remote possibility is that it might refer to the Shan xing nü jing
善信女經, a lost apocryphal text, already considered spurious by the Chu sanzang ji ji
出 三 藏 記 集;see T 55. 38b25). The twenty-four precepts of a [/the?] Good-Faith
Bodhisattva 善信菩薩二十四戒 also appear mentioned in the Guanding bachu guozui
shengsi deduo jing 灌頂拔除過罪生死得度經 (T21. 534b5), an early esoteric sutra,

10Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

Ishime 石 女, who became Nun Zenzō 禪 藏 尼 and Nun Ezen (ClassicalJapanese reading: Wezen) 惠善尼 respectively.14 They are referred to as
Zenshinʼs ʻdisciplesʼ (弟子 deshi).15 The text does not give any details about
how this ʻordinationʼ took place. The verb used in the original is 度 (Ch. du;Jp. do), literally meaning ʻto go acrossʼ. In such contexts, the verb is rather
ambiguous because it may refer to either ʻgoing forthʼ (pravrajyā) into thehomeless state of mendicant, which in a full-fledged monastic environment
amounts to being accepted into novitiate, or to becoming an ʻordainedʼ(upasampanna) monk or nun.16 The classical Japanese reading of thėChinese character 度 in the kundoku 訓讀 of the Maeda Manuscript 前田本
is ihede or ʻleaving the house[hold life]ʼ.17 Its most likely interpretation inthis context is that Shima and the other two girls received the ten precepts
for novice nuns (śrāmanerikā) or (/and?) the six precepts for probationarẏnuns (śiksamānā).18̇̇
but without any further details. Cf. also T41. 455b15.
14 It is noteworthy that Toyome was the daughter of a naturalised Chinese, andIshimeʼs father appears to have been a naturalised Korean from the Kingdom of
Paekche 百濟.
15 All these events are described taking place is the 13th year of Emperor Bidatsuʼsreign, i.e. 584 C.E.
16 The concrete meaning of ʻgoing acrossʼ 度 in a Buddhist context is that ofcrossing the sea of ignorance and affliction to the other shore of Awakening andNirvana (see Furuta Shōkin et al. eds. 1988, s.v. 得度). For technical details connectedto ʻgoing forthʼ and ʻordinationʼ, see note 5 above.
17 For this manuscript, see note 6 above.
18 In Vinaya terms, eleven years of age was enough to qualify Shima for becoming
a novice (śrāmanerikā). The Fourfold Vinaya lists three conditions necessary for ȧ
child to be allowed to go forth 出家:being able (1) to chase away a crow 能驅烏; (2)to keep the monastic precepts 能持戒; and (3) to eat only one meal a day 能一食 (seeT 22. 810c24-811a3). The ability of chasing crows away, taken as a basic criterion formonastic eligibility, is seen in a variety of Vinaya sources (cf. T 22. 117a-b; T 22. 216c;
T 22. 461b; T 24. 415b; T 24. 484c; T 24. 600b; T 24. 619a; etc.). Some texts are more
specific about the precise age beginning with which this condition can be applied, i.e.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

11

7 years old (cf. T 22. 461b; T 24. 415b; T 24. 484c; T 24. 600b; etc.). The reason for thisrather peculiar criterion is spelled out in a Mūlasarvāstivādin source: such an ability
was needed for keeping watch over the crops owned by the Saṅ gha and chasingaway the ubiquitous avian intruders (能爲衆僧 看守穀麥，驅烏鳥者，亦與出家。T
24. 600b.)
As for the minimum age of probationary nuns (śiksamānā), this appears to havė̇been ten (see note 26 below).
Another possibility would be that the so-called ʻgoing forthʼ refers here to theadministration of the five precepts to be observed by lay men (upāsaka) and women(upāsikā). Though not impossible and actually easier to explain in terms of strict
Vinaya procedures, this interpretation is, however, less likely. Any lay man andwoman could and actually should receive the five precepts, and at least that much
must have been known to Soga no Umako. If he had needed only lay persons
committed to the five precepts, the Grand Minister could have done this himself or
could have asked members of his immediate family to do so. Furthermore, he seems
to show great respect and care for the three ʻnunsʼ, much more than one would
display to laywomen. Soga no Umako reveres them in accordance with the Buddhist
Law 依佛法崇敬 and orders offerings of food and robes 令供衣食 for them. He alsobuilds a Buddha Hall (佛殿, Classical Japanese spelling: hotoke no ohotono), in which
he places Maitreyaʼs image, and asks the ʻnunsʼ to come for what appears to be a
ceremony of religious observance (大會設齋, kundoku reading: daiwe no wogami su)(Nihon shoki, vol. II, pp. 148-149). The latter most likely refers to the important
Buddhist ceremony known in Pali as uposatha, in Sanskrit as upavastha, and in
Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit as (u)posadha. (On the history of uposatha, seėGangopadhyay 1991; Daswani 2006, 106-108; etc.)
Finally, let us also add that according to the Gangō-ji garan engi 元興寺伽藍縁起, the young ʻnunsʼ later received the six precepts for probationary nuns in Korea. A
slightly different scenario is suggested by the Risshū kōyō 律宗綱要 which tells usthat they received both the ten precepts for novice nuns or the six precepts forprobationary nuns. More about these accounts and texts will be said below, but here
it suffices to mention that even if their information is accurate, it would not invalidate
my conjecture, i.e. receiving the ten precepts for novice nuns or (/and?) the six
precepts for probationary nuns at the time of the girlsʼ initiation into novitiate. This
was, first and foremost, a symbolic act: a ceremony marking the partaking of thesacredness of the new religion. As far as detailed Vinaya regulations wereconcerned, even if they were known to those involved in the process, they must have

12Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

This is also apparent from the fact that the three girls later requested
Soga no Umako to allow them to travel to the Korean Kingdom of Paekche
百濟國 for ordination.
The nun Zenshin and [the others] said to the Grand Minister,ʻThe precepts represent the foundation of the path ofmonastic life.19 [We] beg [for permission] to head for
Paekche in order to study and receive the precepts.ʼ20(善信阿尼21 等謂大臣曰：「出家之途 以戒爲本。願向百濟 令been of secondary importance. The very fact that this initiation into novitiate was
performed by an ex-monk makes the whole act quite controversial in terms of Vinaya
provisions (to say the least!). Later, the young ʻnunsʼ and/or their Korean hostmonastery may have felt that a proper ceremony, albeit partly redundant, would be
not only desirable but actually necessary. Cf. also note 40 below.
19 Ch. 出家之途 literally translates as ʻthe path of leaving the householdʼ.
20 The Gangō-ji garan engi (2a3-4) gives the same account but with a different
wording:「傳聞，出家之人以戒爲本。然無戒師。故度百濟國欲受戒。」.
21 The Chinese character 阿 used as a suffix attached to terms denoting family
relations (e. g. ʻmotherʼ 阿母, ʻelder sisterʼ 阿姉, ʻelder brotherʼ 阿兄, etc.), titles, orproper names is well-attested from the time of the Eastern Han 東漢 (25-220 C.E.)
Dynasty onwards. Originally, it appears to have been employed only for women, andthough later it started to be used for men, too, the prefix continued to be more
frequently seen attached to female terms, titles, or names (see Ōta 1988, 15). Its basic
function appears to be that of adding a nuance of familiarity in addressing someone
or a diminutive connotation (see Morohashi [1955] 1976, vol. 11, s.v.). The prefix isalso used in Chinese translations of Buddhist texts dating to an early period (see Ōta
1988, 15, for one example). We actually find 阿 attached to 姨, i.e. ʻauntʼ, in the
Fourfold Vinaya as a form of address to the preceptor by a novice nun. Thus, 我阿姨(T 22. 922c26, and passim) appears to mean something like ʻmy good aunt[-liketeacher]ʼ.
In Classical Japanese sources, 阿 employed as prefix is pronounced /o/and
appears attached mainly to the names of women and children. In our passage,
however, the Maeda Manuscript reading of 阿尼 is just /ama/, which is not different
from the regular Japanese pronunciation for ʻnunʼ (usually written only with one

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

13

學受戒法。
｣ Nihon shoki vol. II, pp. 162-163)22
The argument appears to have been persuasive enough to convince Sogano Umako to grant permission in 588.23
Unfortunately, the Chronicles of Japan does not say anything about
their monastic training in Paekche.24 We only know that the three nuns
retuned to Japan two years later. If we think along the lines of standard
Vinaya procedures, these two years must have represented the period
usually required for a probationary nun (śiksamānā).25 Theoreticallẏ̇
Chinese character, i.e. 尼). Nonetheless, the authors of the original must haveintended a certain nuance, probably something like ʻgood nunʼ or ʻlittle nunʼ (thelatter would thus be alluding to the fact that Zenshin was still a young girl).
22 The punctuation in this and most of the originals cited in this essay belongs tome. With the exception of Tibetan, I have adopted modern punctuation rules for allclassical languages cited here.
23 Nothing is said in the Chronicles of Japan about why women, instead of men or amixed group, were chosen to become the first monastics and were sponsored by thestate for such an important (as well as expensive) enterprise as studying abroad. As
pointed out by a number of scholars (Sakurai 1974; Okada 1982, 49-51; Ōsumi 2002,
XXXI; etc.), this seems to have been connected to the predominant role which
women appear to have played in the pre-Buddhist, native religion of Japan. Women
acting as shamanic mediums, called miko (written in Chinese characters as 巫女 or神 子), were regarded as the main intermediaries between the sacred and the
profane. According to Shimonaka ed. [1937] 1986, 1315, in ancient times, womenactually appear to have been the sole ʻprofessionalsʼ worshipping the Gods, men
being de facto barred from this function. This predominant role of women in old
Shinto 神道 practices and institutions seems to decline in the second half of the 8th
century, and from around the beginning of the 9th century, male priests start toreplace women as the main intermediaries between the Gods and the humans (seeTakatori 1979, 266-267; Okada 1982, 48). Although mikos have continued to be an
important part of the Japanese religious life to this day, their position has beenrelegated to secondary functions (see also section V below).
24 For the early history of the monastic discipline on the Korean Peninsula, seeChʼae 1977.

14

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

speaking, the successful completion of this apprenticeship entitles one toreceive full ordination―presumably, the ultimate aim of the young
Japanese renunciants. Here, however, we stumble upon another Vinaya
technicality which may have precluded them from achieving this objective.
According to most monastic codes, including the Fourfold Vinaya, full
ordinations for both men and women are granted only if the postulant istwenty years of age or above.26 We remember that Zenshin was eleven at
25 On the Fourfold Vinaya rules concerning a probationary nun, see T 22. 756b7-9.
See also Satō [1972] 2003, pp. 354-355, for explanation and other Vinaya parallels.
26 Being under the age of twenty is one of the so-called impediments or stumblingblocks (Pali, antarāyikā dhammā; Skt. antarāyikā dharmāh; Ch. 障法), i.e. conditions
̇
which disqualify a woman (and in this particular case, a man, too) for ordination. The
list of impediments in the Pali Canon is found at Vin II 271-272. (For a modern
discussion of these impediments, see Horner 1930, 145ff.; especially pp. 149-151). The

check as to whether the postulant meets these conditions or not, which usually takes
the form of a series of questions, is a part of the ordination procedure of most Vinaya
traditions (for the Fourfold Vinaya, see T 22. 924c-925a). One of the questions put
the ordinand is, ʻAre you full twenty years of age or not?ʼ (年滿二十不？, Fourfold
Vinaya, T 22. 924c17).The act of ordaining a woman under the age of twenty actuallyconstitutes an offence requiring expiation (Pali, pācittiya; Ch. 波逸提)(see Fourfold
Vinaya, ʻif a bhiksunī knowingly performs full ordination for [a woman who] has noṫ ̇reached the age of full twenty, this is an offence requiring expiationʼ 若比丘尼 知年不滿 二 十，與 授 具 足 戒 波 逸 提。T 22. 756a4-5; for other Vinaya parallels and a
discussion, see Hirakawa [1998] 2000, 578-579). The same actually holds true formen, and the rule further stipulates that the ordination of the monk under twenty
becomes invalid (see T 22. 1027b20-22; also 679c-680c; etc.; cf. Satō [1972] 2003, 200201).
However, female monastics can benefit from a special clause: women who had
been married are allowed to be ordained as early as the age of twelve, after, ofcourse, having undergone a period of apprenticeship as probationary nuns for two
years (Fourfold Vinaya: 若比丘尼 度曾嫁婦女，年十歳，與二歳學戒，年滿十二，聽與受具足戒。若減十二 與受具足戒者，波逸提。T 22. 1037c3-5; cf. Satō [1972]
2003, 356-357). The age of twelve and ten respectively may seem surprising to us,
but set against its historical background, it becomes fully understandable. The
system of child marriage for girls, sometimes decided as early as the time of birth orTransmission and Creation (Deleanu)

15

the time of (what appears to have been) her initiation into novitiate, whichmeans that by 590 she must have been seventeen or eighteen years old.27
This is a serious flaw in the picture of Zenshin being the first bhiksunī, anḋ ̇
therefore the first fully ordained monastic, on Japanese soil.28 Later sources,
two of which will be discussed below, may have sensed the inconsistency,
and the picture which they offer is ʻslightlyʼ retouched, subtly enough toconform to all Vinaya niceties. Their reliability is, however, not beyond
doubt, and a certain degree of data ʻmassageʼ may have been involved.
For the moment, let us, however, focus upon the testimony of theChronicles of Japan, which probably remains our most reliable source forthese events. The Nihon shoki itself does not give any clue about theecclesiastical status which the three ʻnunsʼ had upon their return to Japan.29
even while during the motherʼs pregnancy, has a long history in India, having been
more of a rule than an exception for centuries (see Bhandarkar 1893). The
termination of the marriage may have been brought by the husbandʼs death (even if
the marriage had not been consummated) or, less frequently, through divorce, which
as a rule could be effected only by the husband under certain conditions (see Manu’s
Code of Law Ch. IX, §§ 80-82, 194 and 760-761). Young girls in such a situation
appear to have been deemed mature enough for the rigours of full monastic life, andthe minimum age was therefore lowered considerably. This special clause appears tohave been exploited in Gyōnenʼs account of the event (see below).
27 The Nihon shoki does not say anything about her companionʼs age, but since
they are called Zenshinʼs ʻdisciplesʼ 弟子 (see above), they could not have been mucholder than her.
28 One could, nonetheless, imagine that since the act of ordaining a nun before theage of twenty is only an offence requiring expiation, a relatively light punishment in
Vinaya terms, some Korean monastic community may have performed ordinations
for their less fortunate co-travellers on the Path out of sheer bodhisattvic compassion
or as a skilful means. However, even if some compassionate nuns and monks decided
for such a course of action and took upon themselves the task of later confessing theirregularity in monastic procedures, we are still faced with the Vinaya stipulation
declaring such ordinations null and void (see note 26 above). More importantly, sucha scenario remains mere speculation as no source corroborates or even suggests it.

16Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

The only relevant things added by the Chronicles of Japan (vol. II, pp. 168169) are that Zenshin and her companions took their abode in Sakurai
Temple 櫻井寺 and in the course of the same year, i.e. 590, three other
women and eight men renounced lay life. As no mention is made about
these postulants heading for the Korean Peninsula or of any monastics fromthe Continent being present at the ceremony, the most straightforward
interpretation would be to assume that they took the tonsure under the
29 Zenshin and her companions are qualified here as 學問尼, which is read by the
Maeda Manuscript as mononarahi no ama. It is not very clear to me how 學問,

usually meaning ʻstudyʼor ʻlearningʼ, should be construed here. Aston (tr. [1896]
1972, 118) renders 學問尼 here as ʻstudent nunsʼ. To be sure, the binome 學問 may
also refer to the process or period of oneʼs pursuing his/her studies as a disciple. And
this might be the nuance implied by the Japanese reading mononarahi as well,though this word itself is far from being crystal-clear. If this is the sense intended
here, then Zenshin and her companions were not―or at least were not considered by
the authors of the Nihon shoki as―full-fledged nuns. And if this was meant to refer totheir monastic status, then ʻnovice nunsʼ would be the meaning, which would also
imply that at they were not ordained as bhiksunī s (at least, not at this stage).
̇ ̇However, this is not the only possible interpretation. Ch. 學問 more often tends torefer to a state in which one has already accumulated a certain (usually,
considerable) amount of scholarly (or in this case, religious) knowledge and training.
At any rate, the Chinese binome does imply that the person qualified by it isengaged in the pursuit of studies, secular or ecclesiastical, on a permanent basis. Thisis also the sense which Nakamura (1981) gives to the words 學問尼 and 學問僧,
which are explained as referring to nuns and monks respectively studying or having
studied abroad. (For both entries, Nakamura adduces examples from the same
Nihon shoki, which means that he had in mind Japanese monastics engaged instudies and training on the Continent.)
The most probably rendering of 學問尼 is thus ʻnun in pursuit of [religious]
studies [/training]ʼ, an epithet probably implying in our context that the nuns havealready attained a certain level of achievement, at least above that of mere beginner.
Their ecclesiastical status in Vinaya terms does not, however, appear to be impliedby the qualification 學問, which thus does not give in itself any clue on whether
Zenshin and her companions had been ordained in Korea.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

17

guidance of Zenshin and/or the other two ʻnunsʼ. In Vinaya terms, provided
they were scrupulously followed, this abandonment of lay life must haveamounted to the administration of the ten precepts for novice monastics.30
No mention is made as to whether these fresh renunciants were later
ordained as bhiksus and bhiksunīs.31
̇̇ ̇
The Nihon shoki is not the only source describing the origin of themonastic institutions on Japanese soil. The story of Zenshin and hercompanions is told in a few other writings, some of which provide further
30 The terms used by the Nihon shoki are, once again, rather ambiguous. It speaksof the ʻnuns who have become monastics [literally, have crossed over]ʼ (度せる尼,

kundoku reading: ihede seru ama)(on 度, see explanations above as well as note 16),
while the verb used for the men is ʻabandon the lay lifeʼ (出家す, kundoku reading:ihede su).
31 We also know from the statistical data compiled by the Japanese scholar
Ushiyama (1990, 16) that a number of 12 nuns were allowed to receiveʻextraordinary ordinationsʼ (臨時度 rinji-do) between 590 and 609 (on this system,
see Section III below). The figures, however, do not tell us if Zenshin and/or hercompanions played any role in these ordinations.
Let us also add that even if Zenshin and her companions had been ordained as
bhiksunīs in Korea, they could not have conducted ordinations as preceptors
̇ ̇
immediately. Most monastic codes stipulate that only nuns who have beenthemselves ordained for at least twelve years can perform ordinations, failing which
they would commit an offence requiring expiation (Fourfold Vinaya: 若比丘尼 年未滿十二歳，授人具足戒者 波逸提。T 22. 761c4-6; see also Hirakawa [1998] 2000,
584- 585, for parallel sources and discussion). Besides, a nun is not permitted to
conduct ordinations for more than a person per year (Fourfold Vinaya: 若比丘尼 不滿一歳，授人具足戒者 波逸提。T 22. 764b2-3; see also Hirakawa [1998] 2000, 599605, for parallel sources and discussion), which may have added further
complications in such a tiny monastic community. All this holds, however, true only if
Vinaya provisions were followed scrupulously. And once again, we should rememberthat the offence requiring expiation is quite light, and to all intents and purposes, amonastic may assume the responsibility and go on with such irregular ordinations
without risking expulsion from the community. Nevertheless, this remains a mere
speculative possibility with no evidence to support or suggest it.

18

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

and sometimes rather different details.32 We shall have a brief look at only
two of them, emphasising the main points of divergence with the testimony
given by the Chronicles of Japan.
The first one will be the Gangō-ji garan engi 元 興 寺 伽 藍 縁 起 or
Chronicles of the Gangō Monastery (pp. 1-2). This is an ecclesiastical text
written in 1165, i.e. more than four centuries after the Nihon shoki.
Although it apparently makes use of earlier documents,33 some of its
information seems to have been doctored in the light of a better
understanding of the Buddhist teachings in general and Vinaya regulations
in particular.
One important difference is that Zenshin is said to have been
seventeen years old at the time of her initiation into novitiate (Gangō-ji
garan engi, 1c9).34 This would actually solve the Vinaya inconsistency
which the account of the Nihon shoki would create if we suppose that
Zenshin had been ordained in 590, to wit, before the age of twenty. On theother hand, if we follow the Gangō-ji garan engi, Zenshin would have been
twenty-three or twenty-four when she received full ordination on the
Korean Peninsula (see below).
Another unique detail is the presence of an old bhiksunī named Hōmyō̇ ̇
法明 (or ʻBeommyeongʼ, in Korean pronunciation), who was also involved in
the training of the three nuns. The wording of the Gangō-ji garan engi is notvery clear,35 but one possible way of construing it is that the old nun, too,
was of Korean origin and had returned to secular life like Hyepʼyǒn. The
32 For an excellent examination of these sources, see Ishida [1963] 1976, 1-3.
33 See Ono ed. 1964, vol. 2, p. 207.
34 These events are said to take place in the Year of the Yin-Water Rabbit 癸卯(Gangō-ji garan engi 1c5), i.e. 583, which is one year earlier than the date given by
the Nihon shoki.
35 Gangō-ji garan engi (1c8-9): 但是時 針間國有 脱衣高麗老比丘，名惠便，與老比丘尼，名法明。

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

19

Chronicles of the Gangō Monastery is not more generous in details as to theceremony which marked the girlsʼ abandonment of lay life 出家. What the
text adds, however, is that they studied the Buddhist teachings underBeommyeong (/Hōmyō)(三女等 就法明 受學佛法。Gangō-ji garan engi,
1c10-11).
The Gangō-ji garan engi depicts Zenshin as being fully aware of therequirement for dual ordination.36

36 The requirement for dual ordination (known in Chinese sources as 二部僧得 erbu seng de or 二部僧具足 er bu seng juze) can be seen in several Vinaya regulations.

It is actually one of the eight weighty rules (or: eight rules of reverence)(Pali, attha
̇̇
garudhammā; Skt. astau gurudharmā; Ch. 八重法 ba zhong fa or 八敬法 ba jing fa).
̇̇
According to the Fourfold Vinaya, this is the fourth of the weighty rules (式叉摩那學
戒已，從比丘僧乞受大戒。此法應尊重恭敬讚歎。盡形壽不得過。T 22. 923b8-10).
Cf. also 若比丘尼 僧不聽而授人具足戒者 波逸提。T 22. 761b2-3). See also Satō[1972] 2003, pp. 278-279. For the attha garudhammā in the Pali Vinaya, see Vin Iİ̇255-256. For the astau gurudharmā in the Mahāsām
̇ ghika Vinaya, see Roth ed. 1970,̇̇
17- 18. On a detailed discussion of the attha garudhammā in the Pali Canon, seė̇Horner 1930, 118ff. For a more recent analysis, see Hüsken 2007.
In the Fourfold Vinaya, the actual procedure for dual ordination is detailed in
the Bhiksunīskandhaka 比 丘 尼 揵 度 (T22. 922c6ff.). For the Japanese kundoku̇ ̇translation of this chapter, see KIK-DhVin, vol. 4, pp. 8ff. (see also T 22. 756c-758c;etc.).
On the various types of ordination for nuns, see Hirakawa 1999-2000, vol. 2, 162166. See also Hirakawa 1998, 87-89. The history of the ordination is examined by
Bhikkhunī Juo-Hsüeh Shih 2000, 345-405. The upasampadā ceremony in Pali sources
is presented in detail in Horner 1930, 138ff. A very good discussion of the dual
ordination is also found in Huimin Bhiksu 2007. See also Shih 2007 (touching upon thėrequirement of dual ordination in various Vinaya traditions) and Wei-chun 2007 (fora presentation of the Mūlasarvāstivāda bhiksunī ordination).
̇ ̇
The act of ordaining a female postulant without the approval of a bhiksu
̇congregation actually constitutes an offence requiring expiation (pācittiya)(Fourfold
Vinaya: 若比丘尼 年滿十二歳，衆僧不聽，便授人具足戒者 波逸提。T 22. 762a7-8;
see also Hirakawa [1998] 2000, 585-587, for parallel sources and discussion).

20

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

The three nuns said to the officials, ʻThere are only six monks
who have come [to this country],37 [which is] not enough[for the quorum] of twenty masters [i.e. ten bhiksunīs anḋ ̇
ten bhiksus]. Therefore, we still wish to go over to the Land
̇of Paekche and receive the precepts.ʼ
ニ ク(三尼等官白：「但六口僧耳來，不具廿師，故猶欲度百濟國受戒。」 2a24-25).38
Their wish granted, the nuns headed for the Korean Peninsula. What isinteresting here, and again different from the Chronicles of Japan, is that
the Gangō-ji garan engi records their number as five. The text says, ʻin all,キ

five nuns were sent [to Paekche]ʼ (合五尼等遣。2b1-2),without actually
explaining the divergence between this figure and the ʻthree nunsʼ
mentioned in the previous passages.39

37 This is a detail which is not recorded in the Nihon shoki. The Risshū kōyō 律宗綱

要 (T 74. 17c3-8), on the other hand, likewise mentions the arrival of six monks from
Korea. The latter text, however, may have been influenced by the Gangō-ji garan
engi (for more details, see below).
38 The okurigana 送り假名, i.e. the kana 假名 notation added to Chinese charactersto indicate the Japanese pronunciation of their endings, belongs to the original.
39 Note the usage of 等 here as well as in the immediately preceding passages
speaking of the three nuns. There is a certain ambiguity in the usage of 等 inClassical Chinese. Placed after one or more nouns, the word often means ʻetc.ʼ, ʻand soonʼ. Closely linked to this open series meaning, it can be employed as a plural markera usage frequently seen after pronouns or in Buddhist translations rendering
Sanskrit plurals. But 等 can also be construed as marking a close series or end of an
enumeration (ʻitems such as …ʼ), therefore not implying any further members (cf.
Nakamura 1981, s.v.). A definitive conclusion is difficult to draw for many contexts,
including the one under discussion here. Therefore, 等 in 三尼等 can be interpreted
as ʻthe three nunsʼ (end of enumeration as well as plural marker enforcer) or ʻthreenuns [who first received the precepts], and so on [i.e. two more nuns who joined
them later]ʼ. The latter would be in tune with the 合五尼等遣 sentence.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

21

Upon their return to Japan, they duly report to the officials the maincourse of their ecclesiastical training on the Continent:
In the Year of the Yang-Earth Monkey [i.e. 588], we went [toPaekche] and received the six precepts [for probationarynuns]. In the third month of the Year of the Yin-Earth Cock[i.e. 589], we took the great precepts [for fully ordainednuns].40

テ(戊申ノ年往，即受六法戒。己酉年三月 受大戒。41 2b9-10).
If we believe the account given by the Gangō-ji garan engi, Zenshin and her
four companions were properly ordained as bhiksunīs in Korea. Furtḣ ̇ermore, ʻfive nunsʼ can account for the fast pace of the impressive growth in
the number of nuns over the next decades. Five bhiksunīs is actually thė ̇quorum for carrying full ordinations in remote regions where securing thenumber of ten witnesses is not possible. This also confers full legitimacy tothe bhiksunī lineage commenced by Zenshin and her companions.
̇ ̇However, we have to stress again the uncertainty surrounding thehistorical reliability of the picture offered by the Gangō-ji garan engi.42
40 This would have been, however, rather irregular in Vinaya terms. Usually, aprobationary nun is required to spend a period of two years before full ordination(see note 26 above). But perhaps in this particular case, the fact that the Japanesemonastics had already been initiated into novitiate in 583/584 may have been
regarded as having fulfilled this requirement about the minimum period ofapprenticeship. See also the Risshū kōyō 律宗綱要 below. Cf. also note 18 above.
41 The binome 大 戒 ʻgreat precept(s) ʼ is often used in Chinese translations ofmonastic codes and Vinaya exegetical literature for the precepts taken by a monk or
nun at the time of full ordination, being equivalent to the (Ch.) juzu-jie/ (Jp.) gusokukai 具足戒 (see the frequent usage of the binome in the Bhiksunīskandhaka 比丘尼揵̇ ̇
度 in the Fourfold Vinaya, T 22. 923b9, etc.; cf. Nakamura 1981, s.v.).
42 Whether entirely trustworthy or not, the Gangō-ji garan engi (2b-c) continues
its account of Zenshinʼs activities in more detail than the Nihon shoki.

22Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

The second source to which we turn our attention now is the Risshūkōyō 律宗綱要 or Compendium of the Vinaya School written by the erudite
scholar-monk and historiographer Gyōnen 凝 然 (1240-1321). In thisaccount, Zenshin is presented as the ʻwife of Shimaʼ 斯末妻, and the othertwo girls are likewise qualified as ʻwivesʼ 妻 (T 74. 17b27-28). The
implication, of course, is that before abandoning lay life, the young
monastics had been married. This may look like a trivial detail for the mainthread of our story, but in Vinaya terms, it is makes a huge difference.
Being widowed or having obtained divorce from her husband entitles awoman to full ordination as early as the age of twelve.43 However, as
43 See note 26 above. Nothing is said, however, if the three women were divorcees

or widowed. Neither are we told anything about their age. Actually, closely linked tothis is the issue of the marriageable age for a girl in Ancient Japan. The historicalbackground is quite intricate, and I am far from being prepared to tackle the matterwith sufficient competence. However, what I can say―very tentatively indeed!―isthat further doubts as to the historical reliability of this detail arise if we assume that
Zenshinʼs age was eleven as recorded in the Nihon shoki. According to Article 24 ofthe ʻFamily Regulationsʼ 戸令 in the Yōrō Code of Criminal Laws and Administrative
Regulations 養老律令 (compiled from 718 to 720 and enacted in 757), ʻmen of fifteen
and above and girls of thirteen and above are allowed to marryʼ (凡男年十五，女年
十 三 以 上 婚 嫁 聽。Rituryō, 233). The age here must apparently be calculated
according to the Japanese counting system (the so-called kazoe doshi 數え年) which
regards an infant at birth as one year old (see notes to Article 24, in Rituryō, 233).
This would mean that the nubility age for girls stipulated by the regulation above
should be construed as the thirteenth year of life, i.e. twelve years old and above. The
practice is also seen in the so-called mogi no gi 裳着の儀 or the traditional ceremonyof a girlʼs coming-of-age which starts from the Heian period and continues to the LateMediaeval Age (16th century). The ceremony would usually be performed between
the age of twelve and fourteen (see Suzuki 1991, 5-6).
One should, however, add here that the Yōrō Code of Criminal Laws andAdministrative Regulations was patterned upon similar Chinese codes and its
stipulations did not always reflect ground realities, so to speak, of the Japanesesociety. Actually, many of its regulations were not rigorously applied, especiallywhen they tended to come into conflict with native Japanese customs and practices

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

23(see Suzuki 1991, 82-83; 95-97; one of the articles Suzuki mentions as not agreeing
with pre-existing customs is the above mentioned Article 24, though no further
details are given). It is hard to say how relevant this code as well as similar ones predating it by several decades, often based upon Confucian ideals rather than de facto
realities, is to determining whether Zenshin, who lived in second half of the 6th
century, could have been married.
Actually, the dominant, though not unique, form of marriage in pre-Nara Japan
appears to have been the so-called tsumadoi-kon 妻問婚 (also written 妻訪婚; on the
difference as to the usage of Chinese characters, see Suzuki 1991, 32-33) or duolocal
marriage. This meant that the husband and wife did not co-habitate, and the former
would usually visit his wife occasionally. Actually, such a visiting husband would
often frequent more than one wife, and sometimes the wife, too, would accept visitsfrom more than one partner (see Aoki et al. 1992-1994, vol. III, pp. 456-457; Sekiguchi
1993; Suzuki 1991, 26ff.; etc.) I could not find any record concerning the nubility age
in this type of marriage, which actually seems to have been rather loose in its rules,
but as far as I can understand, it would have been pretty pointless to visit a partner
before she reached the age of fertility. As procreation (along with its accompanying
pleasures) seems to have been the major aim in such a relation, a girl eleven years
old or younger, like Shima, would have been a rather unlikely ʻwifeʼ even in the caseof a duolocal marriage.
Other varieties or subvarieties of marriage did also exist, but once again, there isno evidence that early age was a rule in any of them. One could think here of amarriage of convenience (known in Japanese as seiryaku kekkon 政略結婚), in whichcase the age could be younger than twelve. The practice is, however, attested fromthe Nara period on and becomes fairly common in mediaeval times amongst theupper classes. Even it existed in Zenshinʼs age, it would be rather strange for a
relatively low-ranking clan like Shima to marry their daughter to another family forsocio-political interests.
One could also surmise a form of engagement, and indeed its existence inancient time is attested in a few historical documents (see Sekiguchi 1994, vol. II, pp.
280ff; cf. also Article 26 of the ʻFamily Regulationsʼ in the Yōrō Code of Criminal
Laws and Administrative Regulations, where engagement is referred to as teikon 定婚; Ritsuryō, p. 233, and n. 26b, p. 563). But even if we suppose that Shima may havebeen betrothed to another man at an early age, serious doubts still remain as to why
Gyōnen should have used the word ʻwifeʼ 妻 in such a case. Last but not least, wemust remember that there is no hint at the source(s) on which his piece of24Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

pointed out by the Japanese scholar Ishida Mizumaro ([1963] 1976, 2),
Gyōnen appears to have deliberately used the Chinese character 妻 insteadof 賣 found in a very similar passage in the Gangō-ji garan engi. The latterrecords Zenshinʼs lay name as 斯末賣 (1c9),44 a transcription using Chinesecharacters which reads /Shima-me/, i.e. ʻShima [family] woman/girlʼ.
To be sure, the old Japanese word me, basically meaning ʻwomanʼ, hasa large variety of connotations. When a Chinese character is used to writeit, the most usual one is 女 ʻwomanʼ, but other graphemes can also be
employed, one of them being 妻.45 The usage of the latter character is,
however, restricted to instances when the woman in case is married,
therefore, meaning ʻwifeʼ. It is quite unlikely that a scholar of the breadthand depth of Gyōnenʼs learning would have ʻinnocentlyʼ used 妻 primarily
information is/are based, which makes it all the more doubtful. (Of course, if one
adopts the age of seventeen as presented in the Gangō-ji garan engi, there is no need
to worry about Zenshinʼs nubility, but then neither do we face any Vinayic necessity
to have her married before her renouncement of lay life.)
One final detail: assuming that marriage would have been possible at a prepuberty age and Shima had indeed been a ʻwifeʼ, could she have obtained a divorce?
Apparently, yes. According to Confucian-inspired legal provisions (see Articles 26
and 28 of the ʻFamily Regulationsʼ in the Yōrō Code of Criminal Laws andAdministrative Regulations, Ritsuryō, p. 233-234; see also Suzuki 1991, 86-93),
divorce was usually the husbandʼs prerogative, but in real life, especially under the
duolocal system and even later in the Heian period (when the custom still continues
to be seen in one form or another), the husbandʼs failure to continue to visit his wife(referred to as yogare 夜枯れ ʻnight withering away [of the husbandʼs visits], yogare
夜離れ ʻnight separationʼ, or tokosari 床去り ʻleaving the [conjugal] bedʼ) meant a defacto termination of the marriage (see Aoki et al. 1992-1994, vol. III, pp. 456-457;
Suzuki 1991, 97-98; etc.). One could also conjecture that the Grand Minister of Japan
would and could have asked the husband to divorce Shima if he really deemed it
necessary to have her join the Order. Alternatively, the husbandʼs death would havegiven Shima the freedom to take the vows without any legal or social worries.
44 See also 島賣 Shima-me at ibid., 1c12 (interlinear commentary).
45 See Nihon kokugo daijiten, s.v.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

25

for its phonetic value, i.e. for noting the pronunciation me and intending a
non-specific sense of ʻwomanʼ.46 It is more probable that Gyōnen may haveallowed himself a bodhisattvic ʻlicenceʼ (or relied upon an earlier tradition?)and corrected what appeared to him and, for that matter, to any student of
Vinaya literature, a clear inconsistency: Zenshin would have been too
young for full ordination if she had been only eleven in 584, to wit, at thetime of her initiation into novitiate.47
Actually, Gyōnen, too, clearly states that the three ʻnunsʼ received full
ordination in the Kingdom of Paekche. According to the Risshū kōyō (T 74.
17b-c), several monastics from the Korean Peninsula were present in Japanaround the time when Zenshin and her companions decided to take thetonsure.48 Their intention to formally join the Order could not, however, be
granted in their land of birth, because, as a Korean envoy-monk 使 僧
explains, ʻwithout the two congregations [of monks and nuns], receiving
the nun [ordination] is not possibleʼ (以無二衆, 故尼受不能.T 74. 17b29-c1).
Therefore, in the Year of the Yang-Earth Monkey [i.e. 588],
the three nuns went of the Land of Paekche. In that year, theyreceived the ten precepts [for novice nuns][as well as] thesix precepts [for probationary nuns].49 In the third month of
46 One could also imagine here a case of aberratio oculi, either attributable toGyōnen himself or to an earlier scribe of the Gangō-ji garan engi manuscript on
which the Master relied. Though not completely impossible, the characters 妻 and 賣
are, however, only remotely similar, and the aberratio must be qualified as quite
gravis!
47 This, of course, is the year given by the Nihon shoki. Gyōnen does not refer tothis source, but its tradition would arguably have been familiar to many of theeducated readers of his age.
48 Let us note that Gyōnen speaks only of three girls, not five like the Gangō-ji
garan engi (see above).
49 The Gangō-ji garan engi mentions only the six precepts (see above).

26

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

the following year, the Year of the Yin-Earth Cock [i.e. 589],
they took the precepts for fully ordained [nuns].50 [And]next year, the Year of the Yang-Wood Dog [i.e. 590], they
returned to our country.
(三尼即以此，戊申之年 度百濟國。其年受十戒，六法。明年
己酉三月 受具足戒。明年庚戌 即還本朝。T 74. 17c1-3)
Whether the whole account is trustworthy or not remains acontroversial issue. Few monastics could vie with Gyōnen in his
encyclopaedic knowledge of Buddhist doctrines and history, but in terms ofscholastic affiliation, he basically followed Kegon 華嚴宗 and Vinaya 律宗
agendas. By the time when he wrote the Risshū kōyō in 1306, he hadalready become the elder 長老 in charge of the ordination platform 戒壇院
of the Tōdai Monastery 東大寺 in Nara 奈良.51 Actually, the main purport of
the text itself is to prove the orthodoxy of the Japanese Vinaya tradition.52
Although, on the whole, it is a valuable source, one cannot deny a certain
degree of ʻretouchingʼ the large picture. A modest, non-orthodox dawn of
the Japanese Saṅ gha was not enough, even if this meant immense
dedication and effort on the part of three young girls and those who
supported them. The rays of the dawn had to be in line with all the detailsof the Vinaya, and Gyōnen (as well as the authors of texts like the Gangō-ji
garan engi) apparently tried to make this alignment smooth throughvarious strategies.
In the end, it is difficult to draw a definitive conclusion as to themonastic status gained by Zenshin and her companions as well as towhether they contributed, together with other monastics, to the

50 See notes 18 and 40 above.
51 On the ordination platform, see Section IV below.
52 See Ono ed. 1964, vol. 11, pp. 208-209.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

27

establishment of a legitimate lineage of nuns on Japanese soil. Theirachievement as the first Japanese Buddhist monastics, whatever this may
have meant in Vinaya terms, remains, however, a landmark event whichneeds no further embellishments.53
III

Growing ʻOut of Wedlockʼ?

The legitimacy of the monastic lineage(s) will actually be the question
which continues to haunt us throughout most of the period we cover here.
And it also seems to have haunted many of the players involved in theactual events. The importance of legitimacy and orthodoxy was a matter
which gradually came to captivate the minds and hearts of ever larger
sections of the Japanese clergy during the 7th and 8th centuries. This does
not mean that Buddhist institutions came to a halt. Regardless of thelegitimacy of its ʻordinationsʼ, the Japanese Saṅ gha actually kept on
expanding at a rapid pace. A census carried out in 624 reveals that no lessthan 46 Buddhist temples had already been established. The number ofʻmonksʼ is recorded to have risen to 816 and that of ʻnunsʼ to 569 (Nihon
shoki, vol. II, pp. 210-211). Obviously, the strong pro-Buddhist policy forgedahead by Prince Shōtoku 聖德太子 (574-622) had borne fruit. However,the flourishing of a Saṅ gha sponsored by the Court and a few powerfularistocratic clans had its pitfalls. Especially in a cultural milieu not fully
familiar with the Buddhist thought and institutions, recognition andsupport given by the Court and nobility may easily trigger a generalmisconception of orthodoxy―a misconception which leads to ignoring or
treating lightly the importance of Vinaya-sanctioned lineages.
53 Let us, however, remember that in all likelihood, the three girls were not purely

ethnic Japanese, as their families seem to have been of Chinese and Korean origins.
However, seen against the historical background of the epoch, this is probably lessimportant, and in socio-cultural terms, they can be regarded as Japanese.

28

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

The paucity of written materials prevents us from drawing definitive
conclusions concerning the existence of long-lasting lineage(s) of fully
ordained monks and nuns in this age. As far as I am aware of, there are nosources supporting their existence, though, to be fair, there is no compelling
evidence to rule them out either. It is largely a matter of conjecture, but it
seems more plausible to suppose that the earliest ordinations may have notbased upon orthodox lineages, i.e. not performed by quorums entirely
consisting of nuns and monks themselves ordained according to proper
Vinaya provisions. A local ad-hoc lineage may have been initiated by
Zenshin and her two companions as early as the end of the 6th century.54
Likewise, other lineages may have been begun by non-orthodox ʻquorumsʼ
sometime during the 7th century. Or they may have commenced as a resultof one or more acts of self-ordination, a peculiar formula of joining the Orderwhich was, as we shall see below, accepted by at least a part of the clergy
as a legitimate option.
No matter how a lineage began, once accepted by the Court andgovernment as such, it gained official recognition. Even if aware of the non54 But if we accept the Gangō-ji garan engi account, then the number of five nuns is

no longer a problem. Generally, most Vinaya traditions stipulate that in remoteregions, defined as those areas outside the Central Lands [of India](Skt. Madhyadeśa;Ch. 中國 Zhongguo), i.e. usually referring to the Upper and Middle reaches of theGanges, the quorum needed for ordinations becomes five monks (as well as five nuns
for bhiksunīs) instead of ten (see, for instance, the Fourfold Vinaya: 是中五人僧者 在̇ ̇
中 國，除 受 大 戒，出 罪，餘 一 切 如 法 羯 磨 應 作。T 22. 886a25-26). The Chinese
Buddhists were clearly aware of this (e. g. 若有中國十人，邊地五人，如法受戒。(T40. 5c8-9), in Daoxuanʼs Sifen lü shan fan bu que xingshi chao 四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔),
as most probably were the Korean and Japanese scholar-monks.
Once again, however, we must stress that the Gangō-ji garan engi account is not
the most reliable witness. Furthermore, even if this was the case, there is noevidence that such a legitimate lineage continued. Later events, especially in the 8th
century, would rather show that nuns did not (and actually could not?) make any
claim at having inherited such a lineage.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

29

orthodoxy of the practice, the state authorities must have accepted it as anecessary means to implement their plans to control a unified andcentralised Saṅ gha. It is unclear whether this is how things actually
happened, but if this is a scenario close to reality, we may further surmisethat such ordinations were not condoned indiscriminately. Once thenumber necessary for a regular quorum was secured, no matter how
unorthodox the ordination of its own members may have been, futureordinations could be carried out according to proper Vinaya regulations.
Such a lineage may have been, so to speak, a child born out of the wedlockof state-sponsored legitimacy and non-orthodox monastic procedures. But it
was a child who would steadily, even vigorously, grow for more than one
and a half centuries as far as ʻnunsʼ were concerned and even longer forʻmonksʼ. It must be stressed, however, that this remains a highly
conjectural scenario.
Let us now have a look at some of the main facts. As the bhiksunī̇ ̇history is closely entwined with that of the monks, a few words on thebhiksu ordinations are also necessary. This process is better documented,
̇though many details remain open to questions and further scrutiny. What is
known with certainty is that in 754 the Chinese master Jianzhen (Jp.
Ganjin) 鑑 眞 (688-763) and a group of his disciples established anorthodox lineage of fully ordained monks.55 Once again, we must
remember, this does not meant that the preceding century had witnessed aperiod of decline in the number and institutions of the Japanese Saógha. On
the contrary, the Buddhist Order had continued to grow and become
increasingly integrated into the state apparatus.
Amongst the decrees promulgated during the Taika 大化 Reform, a
55 There is an impressive literature on Jianzhen and his impact on Japanese

Buddhism. A brilliant historical analysis is found in Sakuma 1983, 242-262. Ishida[1963] 1976, 55-103, too, offers an excellent discussion of Jianzhen, including many ofthe doctrinal aspects of his Vinaya transmission.

30

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

long series of political actions initiated in 645 in order to create a centralised
Japanese state, we find an Edict concerning Monks and Nuns 僧尼令. Thisact, first issued in 702 and containing 27 articles, sets the generalframework for the organisational and penal control of monastics.56 Its main
source was the Regulations for Taoist and Buddhist Clergy 道 僧 格, aChinese code of legal provisions compiled in its final form and issued in
637.57 Influences from other Chinese legal codes are also discernable, and it
appears that the Vinaya literature was likewise consulted to some extent.
Quite a few of the articles are actually monastic prohibitions made into
legal provisions and entailing penal punishment.58 For instance, according
to Article Seven of the Edict, ʻif a monk or nun partakes of liquor, meat, or
the five pungent vegetables [i.e. onions, leeks, scallions, garlic, andchives],59 [he or she must serve] 30 days of forced labourʼ (凡僧尼飲酒，食宍，服 五 辛 者，卅 日 苦 使。Ritsuryō, p. 218) ―a law which, by the way,might bring substantial state revenues if still enforced in modern-day Japan….60 This looks more or less like government-enforced Vinaya and showsthat the Saṅ gha had become incorporated into the official institutions of thecountry. But this integration into the state apparatus also meant the loss ofthe monastic rights to exercise full control over its own organisation and
56 The extant text of the edict represents the emended version dating to 718 (seeIshida [1963] 1976, 14).
57 On this code, see Kamata 1994, 189-197 (also containing a bibliography of themain Japanese studies on the subject, p. 203). The date of its compilation andpromulgation are far from certain (see Kamata 1994, 190). On the Dao seng ge in thecontext of the Tang political history, see Weinstein 1978, 17-22.
58 An excellent analysis of the sources of the Edict is found in Ishida [1963] 1976,
14-24.
59 On the five pungent or alliaceous vegetables in Vinaya literature as well as in
Chan 禪 monastic codes, see Yifa 2002, 55-56. The Brahmā’s Net Sutra prohibits
them to all those who take the bodhisattva vows (see Ishida [1971] 2002, 141-142).
60 On the parallels in Vinaya literature and legal codes, see Ishida [1963] 1976, 16,
and Ritsuryō 543-544.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

31

regulations.
The state jurisdiction over the Saṅ gha did not stop here. A series offurther measures led to the creation of a framework of legislative andbureaucratic control on the ordination procedure as well as number ofsubjects (i.e. tax-payers!) joining the ranks of the Holy Order. The central
government came thus to decide the number of officially recognisedmonastics. This first took the form of state-sponsored ʻextraordinary
ordinationsʼ (臨 時 度 rinji-do) and later led to setting quotas of yearly
ordinands (年分度者 nenbun dosha).61 The first measures of the kind weretaken as early as 696, but the full-fledged system would come to completionin 798, after a century of modifications and revisions. The regulations
concerning the conditions and exams for ordination eligibility were
promulgated in 734. The eligibility was based on the applicantsʼ successful
completion of three years of novitiate, called ʻpure practiceʼ 浄行, and theresults of exams testing the ability to chant by heart a part of the Lotus
Sutra (Skt. Saddharmapundarīkasūtra; Ch. 妙法蓮華經) or the Scripture oḟ̇the Golden Light (Skt. Suvarnabhāsottamasūtra; Ch. 金光明最勝王經).62̇In a typical procedure, successful candidates would have theapplications screened by officials and high-ranking monks. Those allowed
to take the tonsure were first issued an ʻordination [-eligibility] certificateʼ(度牒 dochō), which actually represented a governmental act (公驗 kugen).
After the ordination proper, the postulants were issued a ʻprecept
certificateʼ (戒牒 kaichō), sealed and signed by the quorum of ten masters
十師 who had administered the precepts (具足戒 gusoku-kai). The bearerof a ʻprecept certificateʼ would be recognised as an officially ordained monkor nun (官僧尼 kansōni) and was permitted to take residence in statesponsored monasteries (國 分 寺 kokubun-ji) or convents (國 分 尼 寺
61 More on the system of yearly ordinations will be said in Section V below.
62 See Ushiyama 1990, 14-15.

32

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

kokubun niji).63
It seems that the ordination ceremony itself followed the Fourfold
Vinaya.64 But this does not automatically mean that those conducting
ordinations before Jianzhenʼs arrival to Japan were themselves ordained
according to a legitimate lineage. Once again, it must be stressed thatJapanese novices sent by the Court to Korea or China may have beenordained there or monks from the Continent may found their way to Japan
in numbers large enough to provide quorums required for full ordinations.65
63 Many of the bureaucratic measures and institutions actually had parallels in
China, which basically was the source and model of Japanʼs efforts to create a central

and efficient state. For the state control of Buddhism in Tang China, see Kamata
1994, 145ff., as well as Weinstein 1987 (the best monograph in English dedicated tothis subject as well as a marvellous piece of historical writing in general).
Sakuma 1983, 1-34, offers an excellent survey and discussion of the official
monks and nuns, state regulations concerning ordination, monastic hierarchies, etc.
The problem of nuns and nunneries in Nara Period is discussed in Ikehara 1980, 547566. The history of the famous Hokke-ji, established during the same period, is traced
from its origins to modern times in Ikeda 1986 (some details will also be presented
below). See also Ushiyama 1990, 14-19; Groner 2002, 66-67; Furuta Shōkin et al. eds.
1988, s.v. 得度，度牒; etc.
Let us also add that not state-sponsored ordinations did not encompass monks
僧 and nuns 尼 only. Novices (沙彌 and 沙彌尼) also appear amongst the titles used
in official documents of the kind (see Groner 2002, 67).
64 See Groner 2002, 67.
65 See, for instance, the large delegation of monastics dispatched by Emperor
Kōtoku 孝德天皇 to China in 648 (Nihon shoki, vol. II, 318-319). If assume that all ofthem had been ordained in Chinese monasteries, then the quorum would have been
available. The Chronicles of Japan does not say, however, anything to this effect. The
Nihon shoki also contains evidence of many foreign monastics, mainly from the
Korea Peninsula, visiting or residing in Japan. But again, no mention is made of suchmonks and nuns being gathered in quorums necessary for establishing orthodox
lineages of ordinations. We also remember that the Gangō-ji garan engi and the
Risshū kōyō mention six monks from the Korean Peninsula at the time when Zenshin
and her companions were novices (see Section II above), but in this case, too, there isTransmission and Creation (Deleanu)

33

Such isolated instances may have indeed existed, but to the best of myknowledge, there is no clear testimony of a continuous lineage. What we
actually witness within the Japanese Saṅ gha of this period is a growing
awareness of the fact that monastic institutions, even when sponsored by
the state and aristocracy, need to be based on strict Vinaya rules as well as
on legitimate lineages.
Already in the second half of the 7th century, the Fourfold Vinaya
began to be studied in earnest by Japanese monks. This came as a naturalreflection of the fact that the text had attained the status of main Vinaya
authority in China.66 We see a number of scholar-monks sent to study
Buddhism in China also writing commentaries on this text or on theexegetical literature of the Vinaya school 律宗. The first one appears tohave been Dōkō 道光 (d. 694) who authored the E Shibun ritsu shō sen
rokumon 依四分律抄撰錄文 and also brought to Japan the Sifen lü xingshi
no record of them being actively involved in ordinations.
66 By the 7th century, the Fourfold Vinaya, originally the monastic code of theDharmaguptaka school, had become the main Vinaya authority in China. On its
history in the larger context of the development of the Vinaya school, see Kamata
1999, 695ff. On a traditional account on the importance of the Fourfold Vinaya, see
Gyōnenʼs Hasshū kōyō, pp. 134-135.
In its entirety, the Fourfold Vinaya survives only in Chinese rendering, i.e. Si fenlü 四 分 律 (T No. 1428, Taishō Canon, vol. 22, pp. 567ff.), in 60 scrolls 六 十 卷,translated by Buddhayaśas 佛陀耶舍 and Zhu Fonian 竺佛念 between 410 and 412.
As far as I know no extant manuscripts in Sanskrit or any other Indic language exist
for the entire text (see Yuyama 1979; Nakamura [1980] 1989; Prebish 1994).
Recently, the discovery of some Sanskrit fragments has been reported (see Chung
and Wille 1997). The Chinese translation of the text is discussed in Hirakawa 19992000, vol. 1, pp. 138-142. In English, we owe to Ann Heirman (2002) a remarkablestudy on this text, accompanied by a partial translation.
It is noteworthy that although throughout the history of Japanese Buddhism,
the Fourfold Vinaya was the most widely used of all the Śrāvakayānika Vinayas, inthe Edo period we witness a revival of the interest in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya.
For this latter development, see the very stimulating contribution of Clarke (2006).

34

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

chao 四分律行事抄, a fundamental text by Daoxuan 道宣 (596-667). The
trend continued, and by the middle of the 8th century we find no less thanfifteen commentaries on the Fourfold Vinaya written by Japanese monks.67
This scholarly interest must have triggered a growing awareness thata valid ordination can be conferred only by a quorum of monastics who
have themselves been ordained in conformity with all the provisions of the
Vinaya literature. By the middle of the 8th century, the need to establish an
orthodox lineage was felt more than ever, and this lead to the decision toimport it from China. If one or more legitimate lineages of Japanese bhiksus
̇and bhiksunīs had existed, such a need would have been quite superfluous.
̇ ̇
Its absence as well as the use (or rather abuse?) of ordination alternatives,
quite controversial to many of the Vinaya traditionalists, explains why sucha decision received an enthusiastic support from large sections of theclergy and eventually from the Court itself.
IV

Traditionalists versus Pragmatists68

This alternative, which further complicated the picture, stemmed from thefact that quite a few Japanese monastics, following in the footsteps of theChinese tradition, did not regard the Fourfold Vinaya as the only source ofscriptural legitimacy in matters of ordination. In a climate of increased
commitment to Mahāyāna ideals, at least two other texts came tocommand great, sometimes even exclusive, respect. One was the
Yogācārabhūmi 瑜 伽 師 地 論 or The Foundations [/Stages] of Spiritual
Practice, especially its Book XV titled the Bodhisattvabhūmi 菩薩地 or The
Foundations of the Bodhisattva[ʼs Path].69 The other was the Fan wang jing
67 See Ishida [1963] 1976, 25-31.
68 For more details on the history of the institutions and ordinations for nuns

during the Nara and Heian periods, the reader is referred to Paul Gronerʼsoutstanding study (2002).

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

35(Jp. Bon mō kyō) 梵 網 經 or The Brahmā’s Net Sutra.70 These two
scriptures affected the very definition of the concept of ordination. Directly
or indirectly, they opened the possibility for so-called ʻprivate ordinationsʼ(Jp. 私度 shido, 自度 jido, or 度 do) and ʻself-ordinationsʼ (Jp. 自誓受戒 jisei
jukai, literally, ʻreceiving the precepts by taking vows by oneselfʼ). The
former were ceremonies in which the ordinand received the precepts
directly from a teacher in a monastic or sometimes even lay environment.
More often than not, these were the Bodhisattva precepts 菩 薩 戒administered according to The Brahmā’s Net Sutra. Privately ordained
devotees were usually referred to as shami (沙彌＝śrāmanera) or shamini̇(沙彌尼＝śrāmanerikā), i.e. ʻnovicesʼ.71̇ʻSelf-ordinationsʼ could similarly be public or private acts. The latter
necessitated no teacher or Saṅ gha members to witness the ʻordinationʼ. In
such sui generis rituals, the would-be ʻmonkʼ or ʻnunʼ would solemnly
declare his or her intention to observe (a certain type of) Buddhist
discipline, more often than not, the Bodhisattva precepts. Outwardly, thiswas usually marked by shaving oneʼs head and donning the robes.72 Though
69 The word °bhūmi in the title of the two works can mean and was traditionallyconstrued as ʻfoundationʼ as well as ʻstageʼ or ʻlevelʼ (see Deleanu 2010 forthcoming,
note 60). See below for more details about the texts.
70 The text (T No 1484) presents itself as a sutra and is traditionally considered tohave been translated into Chinese by Kumārajīva 鳩摩羅什 at the beginning of the
5th century. Most Buddhist scholars nowadays regard it as an apocryphal scripturecompiled in China in the 5th century, though it makes uses of materials from Indiansources (see Ishida [1971] 2002, 11-20). (It thus belong to a sizeable category of
Buddhist texts which could be called Sino-Indian or Sino-Serindian hybrid
scriptures.) The Brahmā’s Net Sutra would later become the sole source of authority
for ordination in the Tendai school 天台宗. More on the latter development will besaid below.
71 See Groner 2002, 67.
72 Sometimes even shaving oneʼs head and donning the Buddhist robes were notconsidered essential.

36

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

usually not accepted by state authorities as proper monastics, privately
self-ordained persons came, nonetheless, to be socially regarded as religious
figures.
This also came to be reflected in the semantic fate of the Japaneseword ama 尼,73 conventionally rendered as ʻnunʼ. The term came toencompass a wide range of meanings in the Japanese society: from a pious
woman leading a virtuous life and practising her faith in a household
environment to a fully ordained bhiksunī.74 The former type, often referreḋ ̇
to (almost oxymoronically) as a ʻhome nunʼ (家の尼 ie no ama),75 actually
73 No doubt, the etymology of the word is Indic. It seems to reflect a Middle-Indic

term like *amma (cf. Pali ammā, voc. amma), equivalent of the Sanskrit ambā. The
pronunciation ama for the Chinese character 尼 is old and most probably comes fromthe Korean Peninsula via China and Central Asia. The fact that the character 尼 was
pronounced ama is attested in a number of old documents. It was, no doubt, read soin the Heian period, and probably goes back one or two centuries earlier. The Maeda
Manuscript of the Nihon shoki, which notes the pronunciation as ama, dates to thelatter half of the Heian period (see note 6 above), but its readings most likely reflect
an earlier tradition. The word あま (i.e. in hiragana which leaves no doubt as to thepronunciation) is also seen literary works such as the Ise monogatari 伊勢物語, Genjimonogatari 源 氏 物 語, etc. written in the mid-Heian period (see Nihon kokugo
daijiten, s.v.).
The Japanese scholar-monk Chinkai 珍海 (1091-1152) is clearly aware of the
Indian etymology of the word. In the Bodai shin shū 菩提心集, he writes: ʻIn India,
they call [a nun] ama 阿摩; in China, they call [her] “mother” 母 [Chinkai uses here
the Chinese character];here [i.e. in Japan],[we] call [her] “mother” はは [now heemploys hiragana]. Furthermore, one calls a bhiksunī “mother” out of respect, jusṫ ̇like one respectfully calls a woman “elder sister” (天竺には《阿摩》といふ。唐には《母》といふ。此には《はは》といふ。然も比丘尼を敬ひて《はは》といふ。女を敬ふには《姉》といふがごとし。Jōdoshū zenshū 15. 25b-26a).
74 On these types of ordination, see Groner 2002, 66-70; Furuta et al., eds. 1988; etc.
75 See Groner 2002, 90. The term ʻhome nunʼ (家の尼 ie no ama) is also found in the
Konjaku monogatari 今昔物語. For example, Tale 27 of Scroll XXIV (vol. IV, pp. 31731), is titled Ōe no Asatsuna no ihe no ama 大江朝網家尼 or The Home Nun of theHouse of Ōe no Asatsuna (my underlining). The character giving the name of theTransmission and Creation (Deleanu)

37

became an increasingly frequent pattern of religiosity during the Heian 平
安 period (794-1185/1192).76
More importantly, an act of self-ordination could also take place in amonastic environment. This actually seems to have gained clear
ecclesiastical acceptance in the first half of the 8th century and may also
have been at the origin of one or more lineages of ordination before
Jianzhenʼs arrival.77 Such monastic self-ordinations appear to have been
considered a valid, or at least acceptable, formula especially when no
legitimate lineage was readily available. Once the lineage was thus
established, the standard Vinaya procedure could be implemented. Thispattern of ʻself-ordinationʼ was probably used only on a limited scale in themonastic environment, but its presence seems undeniable. It is actually theexistence of such a tradition, coupled with the growing awareness of theneed of an indubitably legitimate lineage of ordinations, that would
precipitate the events around middle of the 8th century when Master
Jianzhen was invited to Japan.78 And by this time, not only a handful ofstory is a former servant who used to do needlework and washing (物張 monohari)for the late Ōe no Asatsuna 大 江 朝 網 (886-957), a noble man famed for his
knowledge of Chinese learning 漢學, calligraphy, poetry, etc. Nothing is said of her
ʻordinationʼ, but the impression one gets from the tale is that this is a retired woman
who has chosen or had no other alternative but to continue to live in the remains ofher former masterʼs house.
76 The indecision as to the end of the period comes from the date when Minamoto
no Yoritomo 源頼朝 (1147-1199), the founder of the Kamakura military government
鎌倉幕府, came to assume actual control over the state. Though nowadays 1185
appears to be the more widely favoured date, 1192, the year when Minamoto no
Yoritomo was officially appointed by the Emperor as shōgun 將軍, is still acceptedamongst historians.
77 Another alternative could have been receiving the precepts from a monk or nun
ordained on the Continent or from a monastic of Korean or Chinese origin in a
private ordination ceremony.
78 Jianzhen (Jp. Ganjin) has been an iconic figure in the history of Japanese38Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

Buddhist scholars but also the central government started to show support
for the introduction of such a lineage.
The efforts and dedication of Jianzhen and his disciples would come asa crucial event finally conferring full legitimacy to the Japanese Saṅ gha.
Even if this was not the first instance of an orthodox lineage on Japanesesoil, it surely was the most widely-known and publicised of all attempts, andone having lasting effects. True, it does not mark the birth of the Buddhist
establishment in Japan, but it does constitute its clear birth certificate,belated as it may be. Odd as it may sound, it brought legitimacy not to anincipient tradition but to already flourishing monastic institutions.
Even an ecclesiastical historiographer as Gyōnen, more often than notquite eager to stress the legitimacy of the Japanese Saṅ gha, openly admits
this. After giving an account of Zenshin and the beginnings of the monastic
tradition in the Land of the Rising Sun, Gyōnen says:
After that, [the number of] monks and nuns gradually
increased filling the [entire] country. Nonetheless, [since][the necessary] conditions [could] not [be] satisfied
completely, no ordinations could be performed.
The monks who came from abroad to this land were all[properly ordained] bhiksus in the [ir own] countries.
̇However, in this country, they could not bestow the precepts
Buddhism and culture. The scholar-monk was himself trained and became an
authority in the Vinaya school. Having been invited to the Land of the Rising Sun by
two Japanese monastics, Yōei 榮叡 and Fushō 普照, Jianzhen attempted the voyage
no less than five times. After twelve years of frustration and failures, he finallyreached Japan, but his determination had already taken a heavy toll on the Masterʼshealth. By this time, he was a blind man. This, however, did not deter him fromconducting ordinations and spreading the teachings and path of Buddhism foranother nine years in Japan (on Jianzhen, see Ishida 1958; Andō 1989; etc.). See also
note 82 below.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

39

for full ordination.
(厥後僧尼 漸多滿國。然而諸縁不具，無行受戒。他國來朝之
僧 皆彼國比丘僧。但於此國 不能授具。Risshū kōyō, T 74.
17c9-11)79
Gyōnen concludes that in more than two hundred years from the timeof Emperor Kinmei 欽明天皇 (r. 539-571) to the reign of Empress Kōken
孝 謙 天 皇 (r. 749-758), ʻ [proper] Vinaya [ordinations] had not beentransmitted to this countryʼ (此 國 戒 律 未 傳.T 74. 17c21).80 As to themethods used during these two centuries for admitting new members into
the Order, the scholar-monk mentions receiving the precepts fromother(s) 從他受 and self-ordinations 自誓受 (T 74. 17c12-14).81 The former
does not seem to refer to orthodox ordinations, and obviously neither do thelatter. In Gyōnenʼs eyes, the first orthodox Vinaya-stipulated ordinations
and lineage had doubtless been introduced by Jianzhen and his disciples.82
The practice of self-ordinations actually turned out to be a thorny issue
between the members of the old Japanese Saṅ gha and the newly arrived
79 On Gyōnen and this text, see Section II above.
80 According to the Nihon shoki (vol. II, 100-103), it was in the 13th year ofEmperor Kinmeiʼs reign, i.e. 552, that Buddhism in the form of images, scriptures, etc.
sent by the king of Paekche was introduced to Japan. This is the most wide-spreadtheory, but not the only one (see Hayami [1986] 2005, 16-27.)
81 The precepts received from other(s) appear to have been the ʻthree categories[of pure precepts]ʼ 三聚, thus being based on the Yogācārabhūmi tradition. As forthe self-ordinations, Gyōnen refers to the Sutra on Divining and Discerning Good and
Bad Karma (see below). In this context, he also mentions the ʻmethod of inclusive
receiving [of the precepts]ʼ 菩薩通受方軌 (T 74. 17c12-14). On all these methods,
see below.
82 In the Risshū kōyō, Gyōnen gives a detailed account of Jianzhenʼs activities aswell as the events leading to them (T 74. 17ff.). In his famous Hasshū kōyō (pp. 140141), too, the scholar-monk starts his history of the transmission of the Vinaya
tradition with Jianzhen.

40Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

Chinese monastics. Situo 思託 (Jp. Shitaku), one of Jianzhenʼs leading pupils
who accompanied his master to the Land of the Rising Sun, expresses thissituation straightforwardly when describing the Japanese monastics as
being ʻwithout [properly received?] precepts and not knowing the origins[i.e. lineage] of the transmission of the preceptsʼ (無戒，不知傳戒來由.
Nihon kōsō den yōmon shō 日本高僧傳要文抄 ; in Bukkyō zensho Vol. 101, p.
69a). Furthermore, Situo states that Japanese monks like Shichū 志 忠,
Reifuku 靈福, and Kenkyō 賢璟 (705-793) tried to defend the legitimacy ofself-ordinations by making appeal to the Sutra on Divining and Discerning
Good and Bad Karma 占察善惡業報經 (Ch. Zhan cha shan e ye bao jing; Jp.
Sen zatsu aku gō hō kyō).83 This is how Situo describes the dispute with thepartisans of self-ordinations:Amongst these, Shichū, Reifuku, and Kenkyō cited the Zhancha jing, [saying that] self-ordinations are permitted. [I,Situo] adducing the Yogācārabhūmi, Viniścayasaṁ grahanī,̇
Scroll LIII, rebuked [them] with the following words: ʻ[In thecase of] various [Bodhisattva] precepts, it is permissible toreceive them by taking the vows by oneself. [However,] as
far as the Śrāvaka[yāna] moral restraint is concerned,84 it
83 The scripture is included in the Taishō Canon (T No. 839, vol. 17). The title ismainly known in its abridged form, i.e. (Ch.) Zhan cha jing; (Jp.) Sen zatsu kyō whichis also used in the quotation below.
84 Ch. 律儀 is most probably used here and in many other instances as a binome
meaning ʻmoral restraintʼ and basically referring to the Buddhist precepts, whether
taken by monastics or lay followers. In Buddhist translations, it frequently renders
Skt. samvara or ʻrestraintʼ, a term often, though not always, referring to the moral̇
restraint which the precepts should have on oneʼs mind, words, and bodily acts. Ch.
律儀 is certainly used as a rendering for samvara in Xuanzangʼs translation of thė
Yogācārabhūmi 瑜伽師地論. In the Śrāvakabhūmi 聲聞地, for instance, we see it usedboth for moral restraint (śīlasamvara, rendered as 戒律儀)(Śrāvakabhūmi, 62ff.) anḋTransmission and Creation (Deleanu)

41

does not allow receiving [precepts] through [an act of]
taking the vows by oneself. If [taking the precepts by]
oneself were allowed, such moral restraint would have no[consistent and/or common] model whatsoever.ʼ85 Shichū,
Kenkyō, and the others shut their mouths, being un[able] togive a reply. They all [just] took their robes and alms bowls[as required by the ordination ceremony] and received theprecepts [from Jianzhen and his disciples].
(其中志忠，靈福，賢璟引『占察經』，許自誓受戒。便將『瑜
伽論・決擇分』五十三巻詰云：“諸戒容自誓受，唯聲聞律儀
不容自誓受。若容自者，如是律儀 都無軌範。
”志忠，賢璟等
杜口，無對，備以衣鉢 受戒。Nihon kōsō den yōmon shō; in
Bukkyō zensho Vol. 101, p. 69a)
Does the Sutra on Divining and Discerning Good and Bad Karmaallow self-ordinations when a precept-master and/or the quorum of monks
are not available, as argued by the Japanese opponents? Apparently it does:
Furthermore, in future ages, [there will be] various sentient
beings [who] will seek to go forth [or] have already gone
forth. If they are unable to obtain [i.e. meet with the chance
restraint of senses (indriyasamvara＝根律儀)(ibid., 100ff.). In the Bodhisattvabhūmi̇菩薩地, samvara＝律儀 is mainly used in the sense of moral restraint (e. g. BoBh-W
̇
42, 22-23; 180, 11-12; see also saṁ varaśīla in the passages cited below). Situo, who
explicitly refers to the Yogācārabhūmi here, must have used the word in a similar
sense, in our context, more precisely for the precepts which the Vinaya literatureclearly prescribes for monastics. (For the importance of samvara in Vinaya theorẏand practice, especially in Gunaprabaʼs interpretation, see Nakagawa 2009.)
̇
Another difficulty of the phrase 唯聲聞律儀 is presented by 唯 which I take as a
topicaliser of the subject, here 聲聞律儀 (on this usage of 唯, see Duan 1992, 919).
85 See the Yogācārabhūmi quotation below.

42Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

of] a good precept-master and a pure assembly of monks, andtheir minds doubt and worry whether they can [ever]receive the precepts according to the Dharma, then they canjust practise and generate the unsurpassed resolve to[attain] Awakening [bodhicitta], and cleanse their bodily,verbal, and mental [acts]. Those who have not gone forth yetshould shave their heads, don the robes, and take the vows as[explained] above. Taking the vows by oneself and receiving
the three categories of precepts of the Bodhisattva moral
restraint is called the complete acquiring of the prātimoksa
̇[i.e. monastic precepts]. The holy names of those who go
forth [in this manner] are [to be known as] bhiksu anḋbhiksunī.
̇ ̇(復次未來世 諸衆生等，欲求出家 及已出家。若不能得 善好
戒師 及清 淨僧衆，其心疑惑 不得如法 受於禁戒者，但能學發 無上道心，亦令 身口意 得清淨已。其未出家者 應當剃髮
被服法衣 如上立願。自誓 而受 菩薩律儀 三種戒聚，則名具獲 波羅提木叉。出家之戒名 爲比丘 比丘尼。T 17. 904c1118)
The main problem, however, is that the sutra appears to be an
apocryphal scripture compiled in China. And its spurious nature hadalready been pointed out in its own native land, which made its authority amatter of debate in ecclesiastical circles.86 Situo most probably knew about
this, but he did not make the scripture itself the target of his attack. Instead,he chose to refute his Japanese opponents by making appeal to anindisputable authority, i.e. the Yogācārabhūmi. This encyclopaedic treatisechiefly dedicated to the exposition of the doctrines, psychology, and praxis
86 See Ikehira 2000; Furuta et al., eds. 1988, s.v.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

43

of Buddhist spiritual cultivation also played a major role in the history of
morality and monastic codes throughout Asia.87 Its teachings would affectvarious traditions in different ways, and their interpretation would often be
open to debate. However, its imprint on the development of monastic
institutions is undeniable. As we shall see below, later at the beginning of
the Japanese Middle Ages, it would also influence the revival of theordination lineages of monks, in a direct way, as well as of nuns, in an
indirect manner.
The Yogācārabhūmi also speaks of three categories of precepts, but its
definition and, more importantly, its interpretation appear rather different
from the Sutra on Divining and Discerning Good and Bad Karma. These
are first defined in the Bodhisattvabhūmi 菩 薩 地, Book XV of the
Yogācārabhūmi, in connection to the so-called ʻentire [set of] Bodhisattva
preceptsʼ (Skt. bodhisattvasya sarvaśīlam; Ch. 菩薩一切戒):
To sum up, [moral] precepts are threefold: [1] restraining
precepts, [2] precepts comprising wholesome factors, and[3] precepts [consisting] in acts for the benefit of all[sentient beings].
(Sanskrit original: śīlam
̇ samāsatas trividham: saṁ varaśīlam
̇kuśaladharmasaṁ grāhakaṁ śīlaṁ sattvārthakriyāśīlam
̇ ca.
BoBh-W 138, 23-24; BoBh-D 96, 8-9;
Xuanzangʼs Chinese translation: 略説三種：一、律儀戒；二、
攝善法戒；三、饒益有情戒。T 30.511a15)
The text then proceeds to describe each of the three categories:
87 The influence of the Yogācārabhūmi in East Asia is well-known. A part of thishistory is also touched upon in the present essay. One should not forget, however,that the text also played an important role in the history of the Mahāyāna monastic
morality in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism (see Fujita 2009).

44

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)[1] The Bodhisattvaʼs restraining precepts refer to theundertaking of moral restraint [according to the Śrāvakayāna] prātimoksa [i.e. precepts as prescribed for each] oḟthe seven assemblies.88(Skt.: tatra saṁ varaśīlam
̇ bodhisattvasya yat saptanaikāyikaṁ
prātimoksasam
̇ varasamādānam. BoBh-W 138, 24-25; BoBh-D
̇96, 10-11; Ch.: 律儀戒者：謂諸菩薩所受七衆別解脱律儀。T
30. 511a16)89[2] The precepts comprising wholesome factors refer to the[fact that] after undertaking the restraining precepts, thebodhisattva accumulates wholesome [factors] for [theattainment of] the Great Awakening through bodily, verbal,
and mental [acts].90(Skt.: tatra kuśaladharmasaṁ grāhakaṁ śīlam yat kiṁ ciḋ
bodhisattvah śīlasam
̇ varasamādānād ūrdhvam
̇ mahābodhāyȧkuśalam ācinoti kāyena vācā manasā91. BoBh-W 139, 1-3;
BoBh-D 96, 13-14;
Ch.: 攝善法戒者：謂諸菩薩受律儀戒後，所有一切爲大菩提，由身語意積集諸善。T30 511a21-22)

88 That is, monks, nuns, novice monks, probationary nuns, novice nuns, lay malefollowers, and lay female followers (see Section I above).
89 In the Śrāvakabhūmi (62, 18-19), Book XIII of the same Yogācārabhūmi, one of
the explanations given for śīlasamvara is that of prātimoksasamvara or the set oḟ̇̇
moral precepts to be observed by each of the seven assemblies of Buddhist followers(saptanaikāyikam śīlam).
̇̇
90 This is pan-Buddhist classification of human acts. For this taxonomy in Vinaya
literature, see Shōno 2009.
91 BoBh-W omits manasā.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

45[3] What are the Bodhisattvaʼs precepts [consisting] in acts
for the benefit of all [sentient beings]? It should be known
that briefly [speaking], they represent the eleven aspects [ofaltruistic behaviour].92(Skt.: tatra katamad bodhisattvasya sattvānugrāhakaṁ śīlam?
tat samāsata ekādaś’ ākāraṁ veditavyam. BoBh-W 140, 4-5;
BoBh-D 97, 9-10;
Ch.: 云 何 菩 薩 饒 益 有 情 戒？ 當 知 此 戒 略 有 十 一 相。T 30.
511b13)93
The Bodhisattvabhūmi does not include any concrete provisions as to
how these precepts relate to each other or how the ordination of a wouldbe Bodhisattva should be conducted. The most plausible interpretation is, I
believe, to assume that a devoted Mahāyāna practioner must first be
ordained as a traditional bhiksu or bhiksunī and then should also take thė̇ ̇
Bodhisattva vows. This is in line with the basic stance of theBodhisattvabhūmi, i.e. espousing Mahāyāna ideals and yet maintaining animportant dose of Śrāvakayāna practices and doctrines. In different
manners and to various extents, the same attitude can be said to underlie
more or less the whole of the Yogācārabhūmi. This inclusivistic attitude
appears to be also reflected in its concept of threefold precepts.94
One cannot, however, rule out the semantic possibility of construing
the passage in different way, whether or not in tune with the original
intentions of the author(s) of the Bodhisattvabhūmi. Such a reading (or92 Theseeleven aspects are listed in the passage immediately following ourcitation, and include such acts as affectionate talk, charitable actions, etc.
93 These three categories of precepts are traditionally explained as ʻthe gate tostopping the evilʼ 止惡門, ʻthe gate to cultivating the goodʼ 修善門, and ʻthe gate topromoting the goodʼ 勸善門 respectively.
94 For a discussion on the history of the Yogācārabhūmi, see Deleanu 2006, 147ff.

46Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

mis-reading?) would imply that since the ʻentire set of Bodhisattva
preceptsʼ includes the traditional Śrāvakayāna Vinaya, taking theBodhisattva precepts alone is sufficient to ensure a status identical or atleast equal to that of a fully ordained monastic. And this is precisely how
the passage seems to have been interpreted by some sections of theJapanese clergy.
The authors of the later portions of the Yogācārabhūmi itself, probably
aware of such a hermeneutical danger, appear intent to straighten out thispossible source of confusion. A passage in the Viniścayasaṁ grahanī,95̇which Situo most likely had in mind when rebuking his opponents,96 states
the following:
One [may] receive [the precepts of] moral restraint fromother [ordained monastics][and at the same time] by[committing] oneself [to them].97 Or one [may] merely
95 The Viniścayasaṁ grahanī is the auto-commentarial section of the Yogācārabhū-̇mi, which glosses and elaborates upon its previous Books. Historically, much of it
seems to be later than most of the other parts of the Yogācārabhūmi. It mostprobably assumed its present form in the latest stages of compilation of thisencyclopaedic treatise (see Deleanu 2006, 147ff.).
96 See Ishida [1963] 1976, 32-33.
97 My admittedly tentative understanding of this first alternative is that a
postulant receives the precepts from a quorum of monastics and at the same timehe/she commits himself/herself to them, i.e. consents to observe the prātimoksa
̇
precepts ʻby his ownʼ (Ch. 由自; Tib. rang) will. The Chinese wording juxtaposes thetwo: 由他由自, i.e. ʻby/through othersʼ 由他 and[?] ʻby oneselfʼ 由自. The Tibetan
rendering here reads: gzhan las sam rang yang len par byed (for entire Tibetan
passage, see note 102 below), connecting gzhan las ʻfrom othersʼ and rang ʻoneselfʼ bysam. Let us note that the alternative conjunction ʻam (here assuming the form sam
due to the euphonic addition of the coda of the preceding syllable) may also have thesemantic value of ʻandʼ (see Beyer 1992, 285), which I think fits better here. If we do
not construe the sentence in this way, it would be rather difficult to understand why
this alternative is contrasted to that in the next sentence, which most likely refers toTransmission and Creation (Deleanu)

47

receive spontaneously [the precepts by taking the vows] by
oneself alone.98 [The latter type, however,] excludes thebhiksu moral restraint.99 Why? Because the bhiksu [preceptṡ̇of] moral restraint cannot be received by all [sentient beings
as there are qualifications required for this].100 If one does notindeed receive the bhiksu [precepts of] moral restraint froṁ
other [ordained monastics], then no matter whether one
would be qualified to go forth or not, merely by formulating
the wish to go forth, he/she could spontaneously go forth inaccordance to this wish. Thus there would be neither a model[or: standards] for the Holy Teaching, nor would there be [away for] clearly knowing [which is] the well-spoken Dharma
and Vinaya [of the Buddha].101 Therefore, the bhiksu
̇the practitionerʼs taking the vows by oneself alone.
98 Ch. 自然受 is glossed upon by Saeki, the Japanese translator of KDK-YoBh (vol.
7, p. 721, n. 8) as ʻreceiving of the precepts in oneʼs own pure mind without relying ona precept-masterʼ. The Tibetan translation of the phrase is rang kho na las len parbyed, corresponding to something like Skt. *svaivasamādāna or *svayam eva
samādānam)(for entire Tibetan citation, see note 102 below). (See also rang gis yangdag blang ba, D Zhi 29b1,＝Skt. *svasamādāna or *svayam
̇ samādānam?). I take 一 in
the Chinese translation to mean here ʻaloneʼ, ʻby oneselfʼ (for this nuance, see
Morohashi [1955] 1976, vol. 1, s.v.).This is also the reading suggested by thetranslators of the KDK-YoBh (vol. 7, p. 721), i.e. ひとり, as well as, most likely, by the
KIK-YoBh (vol. 4, p. 2). It thus appears to emphasise 唯, and may reflect a Skt. eva(cf. Tib. kho na).
99 Although the original does not say anything about nuns, I think that it is safe toassume that the same applies to bhiksunī precepts.
̇ ̇
100 ʻSentient beingsʼ 有情 is also inserted between brackets by the translators of
the KIK-YoBh (vol. 4, p. 3).
101 Tib. renders rather differently: de dag thams cad kyis bstan pa brtan par
mi’gyur zhing｜ legs par gsungs pa’i chos’dul ba nyid kyang med par’gyur pas｜ de’iphyir dge slong gi sdom pa ni rang la rag lus pa kho na ma yin no‖(for entire Tibetan
citation, see note 102 below) ʻbecause all these [people who have gone forth by their

48

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)[precepts of] moral restraint are not [included in] themeaning [covered by] spontaneous receiving [of theprecepts].
(此中或有 由他由自 而受律儀。或復有一 唯自然受，除苾芻
律儀。何以故？由苾芻律儀非一切堪受故。若苾芻律儀 非要從他受者，若堪 出家，若不堪出家，但欲出家者，便應一切隨其所欲，自然出家。如 是聖教 便無軌範，亦無善説 法毘柰耶 而可了知。是故苾芻律儀 無有 自然受義。T 30. 589c2228)102
In spite of some diehard defenders of self-ordinations,103 Jianzhenʼsefforts to introduce an orthodox Vinaya lineage were successful. A largepart of the Japanese clergy was re-ordained. This, however, applied tomonks only. Unfortunately, from the very beginning, the Chinese monastics

own wish and vows] would make the Teaching [of the Buddha] unstable [Skt.
*adhīra, *adrdha; or: non-lasting (Skt. *asthira)] and even the well-spoken Dharmȧ̇and Vinaya would exist no [more], therefore the bhiksu [precepts of] moral̇
restraint of are not [received] by oneself alone.ʼ
102 There is no extant Sanskrit original for this passage. Apart from some mattersof detail, most of which have been touched upon above, the Tibetan translation isbasically the same as the Chinese version. It runs at follows: de la de dag las la la ni
gzhan las sam rang yang len par byed do‖ de dag las la la ni rang kho na las len parbyed de dge slong gi sdom pa ni ma gtogs so‖ de ci’i phyir zhen na｜ ’di ltar dge slong
gi sdom pa ni thams cad kyis yang dag par blang bar’os pa ma yin pa’i phyir te｜ de lagal te dge slong gi sdom pa gzhan las nges par blang ba ma yin par gyur na｜ de la gang
dag rab tu’byung bar’os pa dang | gang dag rab tu’byung bar’os pa ma yin pa rang la
rag lus pa’i rab tu’byung bas rab tu’byung ba de dag thams cad kyis bstan pa brtan par
mi’gyur zhing｜ legs par gsungs pa’i chos’dul ba nyid kyang med par’gyur pas｜ de’iphyir dge slong gi sdom pa ni rang la rag lus pa kho na ma yin no‖(D Zhi 29a5-7).
103 According to the Tōdai-ji yōroku 東大寺要録, the monk Hōjaku 法寂 of Kōfukuji 興福寺 was so upset that he stood up and shouted wild words of abuse at the
Chinese masters (有興福寺僧法寂 起立大叫麤言). See Sakuma 1983, 254.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

49

as well as the Japanese Court and the pro-(re)ordination faction of the
Buddhist church seem to have focused their efforts upon establishing solely
a bhiksu lineage. Only three nuns accompanied Jianzhen to Japan, whicḣ
made it impossible to perform proper bhiksunī ordinations.104
̇ ̇
Fajin 法進 (Jp. Hōshin), one of Jianzhenʼs disciples who would later
become the main precept-master (戒 和 上 kai-wajō) of the ordination
platform at Tōdai-ji 東大寺戒壇院, authored a manual on the Procedures ofBestowing the Precepts 授 戒 方 軌, which is said to have devoted two
chapters to the bhiksunī ordination. The chapters are, however, no longeṙ ̇
extant,105 which makes it hard to ascertain if they included any special
provisions for bhiksunī ordinations conducted under special circumstances.
̇ ̇
More importantly, there remains some doubt as to whether Fajin actually
managed to write the chapters or not. However, as argued by Ishida
Mizumaro (1978, 2), even if he did, their content could not have beendifferent from the basic Vinaya rules of dual ordination requiring thequorum of ten nuns and ten monks. Furthermore, the fact that one of
Jianzhenʼs disciple may have written on bhiksunī ordination does noṫ ̇change the basic picture: nuns were excluded from Jianzhenʼs crucial act ofinvesting the Japanese Saṅ gha with Vinaya legitimacy. This fact, coupledwith a few other historical changes, marked a sad twist in the fate of nuns
for the next centuries.106
104 See also Groner 2002, 75; Ishida 1978, 2.
105 See Ishida 1978, 1-2.
106 Another testimony, rather controversial, is brought by the usage of pairs likedaini (kō) /ōama (gimi) 大尼 (公), literally ʻgreat (venerable) nunʼ and shōni (kō)/koama (gimi) 小尼 (公), literally ʻlittle (venerable) nunʼ. We find them in the Shoku
Nihongi 續日本紀 or Sequel to the Chronicles of Japan as well as in a number of old
documents in the Shōsō-in Collection 正倉院文書. According to Ikeda Shunpō (1980,
556-559) and Ushiyama Yukio (1990, 7-8), two eminent scholars in this field of
research, the terms are connected to monastic hierarchies. The former would thus
be a polite form of address, something likeʻ (venerable) superior nunʼ. Indeed such a50Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

V

The Dark Interlude

Regardless of the legitimacy of their lineage, the nuns continued to prosper
under the patronage of the Court and nobility for almost 150 years after
Zenshinʼs pioneering act. This support began, however, to decrease by the
middle of the 8th century and reached a low ebb in the Heian period. By theusage can be ascertained in the literature of the age. In The Tale of Genji 源氏物語,
the most likely interpretation for 大尼君 ō-amagimi (Classical Japanese spelling:
oho-amagimi) appears to be that of a polite term and form of address for arespectable nun. For instance, in Chapter Spring Shoots I 若菜上 (Genji monogatari,vol. III, p. 278), we find such an occurrence which Tyler (tr. 2001, 607) aptly, I think,renders as ʻvenerable nunʼ. Here the word is employed for the grandmother of
Akashi no Nyōgo 明石女御, the Heir Apparentʼs Consort. She is an elderly nun in her
mid-60s and obviously enjoys a high social standing.
This is one semantic possibility but not the only one. The terms are actually
explained by the Koji ruien (p. 677) as follows: ʻdaini [literally, ʻgreat-nunʼ] issomeone having received the precepts according to the Dharma [i.e. full
ordination];shōni [literally, ʻlittle-nunʼ] is someone who is not like thatʼ (大尼ハ如法ノ受戒ヲ爲シシモノ、小尼ハ然ラザルモノナリ。). The editors of the Koji ruien, ahuge Japanese encyclopaedic thesaurus compiled between 1896 and 1914, do notmention any traditional source to substantiate their conjecture, but one cannot deny
the fact that the pair 大 尼 and 小 尼 seems to have also been used, at leastoccasionally, in the sense of ʻordained nunʼ and ʻnovice nunsʼ. For example, in the 13th
century, Eison writes in his Kan jin gaku shō ki 感身學正記 (p. 23), about the Sixteen
Arhats who ʻbemoan the fact that the assemblies of bhiksunīs and śrāmanerikāṡ ̇̇[literally, ʻgreat [and] little nunsʼ] have not been entirely re-establishedʼ (悲大小尼
衆 都未再興。; more on this passage will be said below). Likewise, in the Ju bosatsukai yōi kikigaki 授菩薩戒用意聞書, which collects Eisonʼs teachings as recorded byhis disciple Kyōki 教基 in 1290, the term 大尼 ʻgreat nunʼseems to be contrasted withshikishani 式叉尼, i.e. śiksamānā, and appears akin to daisō 大僧 ʻgreat monkʼ, mosṫ̇
probably meaning a fully ordained bhiksu (e.g. 大僧、大尼、式叉尼等の時も之に准̇
ず。cited after Minowa 2004). However, this detail, even if we adopt the latterinterpretation, equally fails in telling us whether these ʻsuperior nunsʼ were ordained
according to a legitimate lineage.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

51

end of the epoch, state-sponsored full ordinations had come to an end
altogether, and contemporary documents clearly testify to the fact that theremaining ʻnunsʼ were, technically speaking, merely novices.107 So how did
this all happen?
The first half of the Nara period (710-784) represents an age of
unprecedented prosperity which saw large numbers of officially ordainednuns as well as the establishment of state-sponsored convents. In many
ways, this was a natural continuation of the earlier policy of the Court, but it
also owed substantially to one single personage: Empress Kōmyō 光明皇后
(701-760), a devout Buddhist who put much of her energies and personal
wealth to support the Dharma in general and nuns in particular.108 Her
death in 760 gave a serious blow to the state-sponsored ordinations andinstitutions for nuns. And this could not have come at a worse time. The
second half of the 8th century witnessed a fundamental change in the placeof women in the Japanese society. But before we say a few words on the
background of this paradigm shift, let us look at some of the symptoms ofthis change in the Buddhist community.
One clear sign was the dramatic decline in the numbers of nuns
allowed to benefit from state-sponsored ordinations. Surviving historical
records give us a pretty good image of the change in the figures of women
allowed to become nuns in extraordinary ordinations (臨時度 rinji-do). In
the Nara period, these usually were ceremonies conducted under the
auspices of the Court on special occasions, especially for generating
religious merit for the health of the Emperor or Empress. During the Heianperiod, on the other hand, the edicts for extraordinary ordinations tend to
become personalised, i.e. noting the name of the person(s) who is/are

107 See Chinkaiʼs 珍海 citation at the end of this section.
108 For her role in the patronage of Buddhism in general and nuns in particular, see

Groner 2002, 76-77.

52

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

granted permission to be ordained or entrusted with the right to ordain
others.109 According to the statistical data prepared by the Japanesescholar Ushiyama Yoshiyuki (1990, 15-16) for the period between 590 and
889, the clearly identifiable cases of women allowed to be ordained on suchspecial occasions show steadily dwindling numbers.110
What about the system of yearly ordinands commenced at the end of
the 8th century?111 Here the situation seems even bleaker. From the very
beginning, the scheme was apparently designed for male monastics only.
No provisions or cases of women allowed to become nuns 尼 as part of theyearly ordination system can actually be found in historical sources.112 By
the 10th century, legal documents appear to refer only to the possibility ofnovice women 沙彌尼 being allowed to join the Order in extraordinary
ordinations.113
Other symptoms of the decline become increasingly discernable, too.
The year 727 seems to be the last time recorded in official histories when
300 nuns are invited together with 600 monks to chant Buddhist scripturesat the Court (Shoku Nihongi 續日本紀・神亀四年二月辛酉條). Ten years
later, an entry in the same Shoku Nihongi mentions only 600 monks being
invited for a similar ceremony (續日本紀・天平九年五月甲戌朔條). Occasionally, we see nuns summoned to the Court, but this is no longer a
109 See Ushiyama 1990, 14-15.
110 Actually, in the statistics prepared by Ushiyama (1990, 16), the figures forclearly identifiable cases of extraordinary ordinations for nuns come to an end after
829. The tables also contain, however, numbers for extraordinary ordinations inwhich the gender of the ordinand is not ascertainable. Besides, as argued below, we
can see examples of provisions for extraordinary ordinations of novice nuns as late as
the 10th century.
111 For this system, see section III above.
112 See Ushiyama 1990, 15-19.
113 See Ushiyama 1990, 18-19. The Japanese scholar refers to provisions in theEngi shiki 延喜式, a code of laws and regulations compiled in 927 and enforced 967.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

53frequent occurrence. Equally telling, when such events take place, the scale
is far more modest and does not involve the company of male monastics as
it happened in previous decades. In 773, for instance, a congregation of nuns
only performed a funeral service for the late Empress Shōtoku 德天皇.114
And this was, most probably, because the ceremony was dedicated to thememory of an August Monarch sharing the same gender with nuns.
The situation did not change much in the Tendai school 天 台 宗
introduced by Saichō 最澄 (767-822) at the beginning of the Heian period.
Its ordination formula, based on the Bodhisattva precepts as expounded in
The Brahmā’s Net Sutra 梵 網 經, was permeated with high Mahāyāna
ideals. Maybe too much of a modern paradigm of values underlies myjudgement, but I cannot help feeling that such noble principles could andshould have opened the doors to men and women alike. In many ways,
however, it proved to be even more exclusively tailored to serve the needsof male practitioners. To start with, the ordination platform 戒壇 built on
Mt Hiei 比叡山, the headquarters of Saichōʼs new school, was inaccessible
to female aspirants. Women were not even allowed to set foot on the sacred
mountain. Neither are there any special provisions concerning nuns in the
Sange gakushō shiki 山家學生式, the Tendai ordination manual.
One must be, however, fair and add that later illustrious figures suchas Ennin 圓 仁 (794-864), one of the Japanese Tendai Patriarchs,
endeavoured to establish an ordination platform for Bodhisattva nuns 菩薩
尼戒壇. Sadly, his efforts ended in failure.115 However, mainly due to thestrong links of the Court and aristocracy with the Tendai school, the114 See the 寶亀四年七月庚子條 entry in the Sequel to the Chronicles of Japan 續日

本紀.
115 See Ishida 1978, 3-4. The newly established Shingon 眞言宗 school was not

more generous in this respect. Not unlike the Tendai tradition, the exponents of thistradition also ʻbarred women from their main monastery complexes andconsequently were not concerned with female yearly ordinandsʼ (Groner 2002, 71).

54

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

centuries following Saichōʼs death saw a number of women, especially of
noble extraction, being allowed to become nuns in the new tradition. The
ordination procedure detailed in the Shukke sahō 出家作法, a manual of theManshu Monastery 曼 殊 院, shows that the female ordinands took theBodhisattva precepts of The Brahmā’s Net Sutra.116 It is noteworthy,
however, that the ordinations for women did not take place on Mt Hiei
proper but in Manshu Monastery which is situated at the foot of themountain.
The fate of the surviving nunneries affiliated to other schools was not
any better. Another mark of their institutional decline is seen in theincreasing threat of losing autonomy and control over inner organisation.
Around 751, a new post of ʻsuperintendentʼ (鎮 chin or 寺鎮 jichin) was
officially created. This position became the prerogative of monks and wasgiven increasingly higher authority until it became stronger than any of theexiting monastic ranks in nunneries. The affairs of many convents became
thus de facto run by monks.117 In quite a few cases, such social changes
ultimately led to the loss of autonomy, and many nunneries became
degraded to the status of subordinate temples 末寺.
The continuous weakening of official support and deterioration in thesocial status of female monastics does not, however, reflect a drop in thewomenʼs religious fervour and dedication. The historical documents andliterature of the Heian period actually abound in records and stories ofwomen who took the tonsure 落飾 (literally, ʻdrop oneʼs [hair] ornamentsʼ),トハ

116 See Shukke sahō (pp. 24-25): 次可奉授三聚浄戒ヲ。攝律儀戒 者 是繼一切ノ惡ヲ也。則十重四十八輕等ノ一切律儀。(The Shukke sahō Manuscript uses a numberof allographs which could not be reproduced on my computer; standard traditional
Chinese characters have been used accordingly). See also Shirato 1978, 163. An
excellent analysis of the text is found in Shirato 1978 as well as in the Introduction to
the Shukke sahō by the same author.
117 See Ishida 1978, 19-29.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

55

full or partial,118 and embarked upon the path of spiritual cultivation,
whether this meant dwelling in a convent or still continuing to live in a lay
environment. The latter represent privately ordained nuns,119 and in someextreme cases, the change in their outward appearance was not evennecessarily accompanied by receiving any sort of precepts.120 The mostusual pattern of private ordinations implied, however, a ritual act of taking
the precepts, whether the Bodhisattva precepts, as in the Shukke sahō,121 or
the ten novice precepts 沙彌十戒, as in the Nyōin go-shukke burui ki 女院御出家部類記,122 or apparently only the five lay precepts like Lady Murasaki
紫 の 上 in The Tale of Genji 源 氏 物 語, the heroine of the unsurpassed
masterpiece of the Heian literature.123
118 On the various forms which the tonsure took in this period, see Katsuura 2002.
119 For this system, see section IV above.
120 As can be seen in the case of Fujiwara Senshi 藤原詮子 (967-1006) (see Ishida

1978, 5).
121 This is the ordination manual of the Manshu Monastery 曼殊院 (see above).
122 See Nishiguchi 1992, 88. The text reads: 沙彌十戒を授ける, but no doubt, 沙彌尼
十 戒 is meant. Nishiguchiʼs outstanding contribution (1992) offers many othersimilar examples in the Heian literature and historical records.
123 For such examples, see Ishida 1978, 5-6. Speaking of Lady Murasaki, one must
note, however, that the context is rather intricate and at least this case is difficult to
be classified as a proper ordination. Let me outline the context in very broad lines.
Lady Murasaki has been seriously ill as the result of what is believed to be possession
by evil spirits (物の怪 mononoke). The noble lady is actually one step away fromdeath when almost miraculously she manages to come back to life 生き出で給ひて.
Prince Genji, her husband and main character of the novel, is still very worried that
her condition might deteriorate again, and commissions whatever skilful religious
services he can find い み じ き 法 ど も を 盡 く し て for her recovery. It is at thisjuncture that Genji recalls of Lady Murasakiʼs wish to join the Holy Order. ʻAs she
ardently hoped to take the tonsure, [Genji] thought that the power of the precepts
verily [might help her recover]. He snipped [a lock of] her hair as a token [of the
み ぐし
tonsure] and made her receive the five precepts.ʼ 「( 御髪おろしてむ」と、せちに思したれば、「忌むことの力もや」とて、御いただき、しるし許はさみて、五戒許、受けさせたてり給ふ。(Genji monogatari, Chapter Spring Shots II 若菜下, vol. III, p.

56

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

385). (My translation differs in some details from Tyler tr. 2001, 656). In the end, theprayers, religious services, and the act of having received the precepts come to bear
fruit at least partially since Lady Murasakiʼs life is saved but the recovery is notcomplete.
What further complicates Lady Murasakiʼs case is that after her recovery, she
continues to lead a regular lay life. On the other hand, she also continues to nourish
the hope of becoming ordained. Her wish is finally (and sadly!) granted in a
ceremony ordered by Prince Genji after her death, which in the novel, takes place in
the Chapter on the Noble Teaching 御法 ʻMinoriʼ (on this series of events, see also
Kudō 1994, 108-112). Seen in this perspective, the five precepts received during her
illness do not seem to represent an act of proper ordination. Kudō Shigenori (1994,
111-112) argues that since Lady Murasaki receives only the five precepts, whichbasically mark her commitment to the morality of a lay female follower (upāsikā; 優婆 夷), this understandably has no bearing on Lady Murasakiʼs conjugal life with
Prince Genji. Such acts were apparently performed in the epoch when one needed
the sacred protection of the Buddha(s) in times of crisis.
The Japanese scholar adduces here an extra example from actual history (albeit
as reported by the same person who wrote The Tale of Genji). The Murasaki
Shikibu Diary 紫 式 部 日 記, which notes facts and episodes of the life at Court
between 1008 and 1010, a period when the author served Empress Akiko 中宮彰子
(alias Fujiwara no Shōshi/Akiko 藤 原 彰 子, 988-1074), contains a rather similar
episode. In order to facilitate her safe delivery, the Empress has a lock of hair on thecrown of her head snipped and receives the precepts (御頂きの御髮下ろしたてまつり、御忌む事受けさせたてまつりたまふ。Murasaki Shikibu nikki). The word 御忌
む, literally meaning ʻabstainingʼ (with honorific prefix) denotes here the precepts(cf. Satō Kenzō et al. tr. 1954, 217, which renders 御忌む as 御戒), most probablyreferring to the five precepts for lay followers.
In broad lines, I do agree with Kudōʼs explanations, but what makes Lady
Murasakiʼs and Empress Akikoʼs acts rather special (at least when seen from a
Vinaya perspective) is not that a lay woman takes the five precepts and continues tohave a more or less normal life (of course, ideally within the moral framework set bythese very norms). It is not even the worldly wish for health or safe delivery. It israther that such acts were accompanied by what appears to be a ritual tonsure,albeit in a symbolic form of cutting only an insignificant part of the hair. As far as I
know, this is not required by Vinaya regulations, and the tonsure usually marks oneʼs
renouncing worldly desires altogether. Such acts represent, I assume, theTransmission and Creation (Deleanu)

57

Time and space do not allow a detailed discussion of the reasons lying
behind this drastic change in the fortunes of nuns. Suffice it to mention only
the broad lines of the process. In many respects, the 8th century appears tohave been an axial period in Japanese history marking a departure fromearlier cultural paradigms. Prior to the reforms which changed Japan into acentralised state with a bureaucratic apparatus modelled on Tang China,
women had enjoyed a higher status, especially in religious life, often
reflected in their roles as miko 巫女 or shamanic mediums. The fact thatthe first monastics were nuns as well as the early growth of the bhiksunī̇ ̇order was most likely not completely unrelated to the shamanic role ofwomen.124 The steady influx of Chinese institutions, predominantly basedon Confucian ideology, had a strong impact on the way women, including
nuns, were viewed in society. Confucianism, however, is not the sole
ʻculpritʼ. Buddhism, or to be more precise, a certain strand of Buddhist
ideas, also contributed to a growing misogynist culture. This trend
increases more markedly from the Kamakura period on, when the
Confucian ʻthree obligationsʼ 三 從 become associated with the Buddhist
ʻfive obstaclesʼ 五障, or ʻfive sinsʼ 五罪, i.e. women cannot be born as Brahmā
梵天, Indra 帝釋天, Māra 魔羅, a world-ruling king (cakravartin) 轉輪聖王,and a Buddha 佛身. Last but not least, such influences as Taoism, Yin-yang
magic practices (陰陽道 Ch. yinyangdao; Jp. onmyōdō), and Korean folk
beliefs introduced or emphasised existing views which linked women toblood pollution and an inferior position on the hierarchy of spiritualvalues.125
combination of ritual ordination and taking the five precepts, the minimum moral set
which would not preclude one from living a normal life. This combination must havebeen deemed stronger in generating the merit necessary for fulfilling oneʼs wishes,
especially in times of serious crisis.
124 See also note 23 above.
125 This issue has been dealt with in a variety of modern studies. Suffice it to58

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

One should add to this paradigm shift in the Japanese ethos at least
three direct historical reasons for the decline. The first one was, as we haveseen, the loss of a strong and consistent supporter in the person of Empress
Kōmyō. The second reason was the unfortunate decision of Jianzhen
and/or his Japanese patrons not to initiate a legitimate lineage ofordinations for nuns, too. Last but not least, the alternative of private
ordinations and self-ordinations introduced a more democratic and readily
available path, but one which contributed to the erosion of the monastic
system of traditional ordination as well as of some of its accompanying
benefits, first and foremost, spiritual practice in officially sponsoredconvents.
Against this complex social, political, and cultural background, theview that nuns are inferior to their Dharma brothers gradually became
prevalent. And this had a direct impact on the monastic institutions as well.
By the end of the period, state-sponsored ordinations for nuns, whatever
their content may have been, appear to cease altogether. Writing in thefirst half of the 12th century, the Sanron 三論 scholar-monk Chinkai 珍海(1091-1152)126 clearly states in his Bodai-shin shū 菩提心集 or Collection of[Writings on] the Resolve of Awakening that the only ʻnunsʼ existing at thattime were novices.127
mention here Groner 2002, 72-75; Ushiyama 1990, 46-53; Nagata 2002; and Yoshida
2002.
A decline in the position of women, similarly beginning in late Nara Period andearly Heian Period, is also discernable in the Shinto institutions (see Nishiguchi 2006,
61-78, though Nishiguchiʼs interpretation is rather unique in several respects). For
the decline of the role of women in Shinto institutions, see also Takatori 1979, 266267.
126 Chinkai authored not only works on Sanron (Sino-Japanese Madhyamaka)philosophy. He was also versed in Buddhist logic 因明, Tantric Buddhism 眞言, andPure Land 浄土. See Furuta et al. eds. 1988, s.v.; etc.
127 Cf. Groner 2002, 89.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

59

Question: ʻHow many precepts do those who go forth take?ʼ
Answer: ʻNovice monks (śrāmanera) and nuns (śrāmaneri̇̇kā) take ten precepts. Probationary nuns (śiksamānā)̇̇practise six precepts. Fully ordained monks (bhiksu) takėand keep 250 precepts, [while] fully ordained nuns (bhiksu̇nī) take and keep 500 precepts.128 But the [so-called] nuns oḟ
our age129 are [strictly speaking] novices. There are no fully
ordained nuns. [Only] after ascending the ordination
platform is [one] called ʻfully ordained nunʼ. But [nowadays]
there are only so-called novice nuns who take the ten
precepts.ʼ
(問：「出家の人はいくらの戒をか受る？」答：「沙彌と沙彌
尼とは十戒を受く。さきあまは六の戒を習ふ。比丘は二百五十戒、比丘尼は五百戒を受け持つ。しかるに此世の尼はこれ沙彌尼なり。比丘尼はあらず。戒壇に登りて後に比丘尼といふなり。然れば只十戒を受けたる沙彌尼の尼とてあるなり。
」
Jōdo-shū zensho, vol. 15, p. 525b)
VI

Generating Transmission under Sacred Inspiration

Hardly could have Chinkai foreseen that his assessment would become amere piece of history in less than one century. The fresh winds of reformand creativity which swept at the beginning of the Japanese Middle Ages
would affect the monastic ordinations in a dramatic way. And it would be
128 In reality, the number of precepts for nuns in the Fourfold Vinaya is 348, but inJapan, the fact that this is larger than the number of precepts for monks has often
been hyberbolically stated to be 500.
129 Groner (2002, 89), who also translates this passage, takes 此世 to mean ʻthisrealmʼ. This is a possible sense, but I think that the meaning of ʻageʼ or ʻperiodʼ ismore appropriate here.

60

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

both monks and nuns who would benefit from this new spirit. During the
Heian period, the bhiksu ordinations initiated by Jianzhen had become more
̇or less a mere formality which could hardly claim to stand for an orthodox
monastic institution.130 Adding to this, the new formula of ordination
introduced and strongly advocated by Saichō had gained the support oflarge sections of the clergy as well as the aristocracy. Though not officiallysanctioned by the old monastic authorities in Nara, these new ordinations
conducted by the Tendai school had the additional advantage of claiming
indisputable Mahāyāna spirit.131
Following in the footsteps of the Chinese and Korean traditions,Japanese Buddhism has tended from its very beginnings to regard theideals of the Great Vehicle as the only ones truly worth espousing andpractising. On a limited scale, recognisably ʻHīnayānaʼ doctrines and texts
such as the famous Abhidharmakośabhāsya (俱 舎 論 Ch. Jushe lun; Jp.
̇Kusha ron) have been the object of intense monastic study and exegesis.
Yet, without a strong Śrāvakayāna monastic presence like on the Indian
Subcontinent, such interests remained confined to scholarly education andstudy. True, the ordinations based on the Fourfold Vinaya could claim
legitimacy, but at the same time, they carried the potential stigma ofstemming from a ʻLesser Vehicleʼ tradition. In spite of the controversial
nature of Saichōʼs ordinations in terms of traditional Vinaya thinking, there
was no doubt that they represented Mahāyāna ideals in letter and spirit.
This clear advantage appears to have hit the ideological status of theorthodox Vinaya ordinations and lineages of the old Nara-based schools asmuch as did the changes in the political and social picture.
In the 13th century, a new generation of intrepid and ingenious monks
decided to help the Vinaya tradition out of its plight and re-establish
130 See Ishida [1963] 1976, 490-497 (especially p. 490, citing Gyōnenʼs testimony);

Minowa 2004, 47-49.
131 See Minowa 2010.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

61

lineages of fully ordained monastics with a true commitment to theobservance of the precepts. Two monks came to the fore of this new
movement. They were Kakujō 覺盛 (1194-1249), the reviver of Risshū 律宗or Vinaya school, and Eison 叡尊 (1201-1290), the founder of the Shingon
Risshū 眞言律宗 or Tantric Vinaya school.132 Without a proper lineage offully ordained monks from whom they could receive the precepts, Kakujō
and Eison needed a scriptural and spiritual basis which could legitimise
their efforts. It was actually the idea of self-ordination 自誓受戒, the very
concept which had been rejected by Jianzhen and his disciples, that
resurfaced. With some re-interpretations and refinements, it was put towork again. The main doctrinal defence of this idea was elaborated by
Kakujō, who in many ways became the chief theoretician of the new
movement. Eison was more interested in the practical side, and though his
writings show considerable familiarity with the doctrinal subtleties of the
Vinaya literature, he is chiefly remembered for his relentless energy inputting into practice the Bodhisattvic mission of spreading the right path of
conduct.133
Kakujō had the brilliant idea of combining what actually represented
two different historical strands in the development of the Buddhist Vinaya:
the so-called ʻseparate receiving [of the precepts]ʼ (別受 betsuju), which
132 The name is also pronounced ʻEizonʼ. A comprehensive presentation of theJapanese Vinaya school is found in Tokuda 1969. The most famous traditional
accounts of the history and tenets of the school are Gyōnenʼs Risshū kōyō 律宗綱要and Hasshū kōyō 八宗綱要 (p. 130ff.). For a recent study in a modern European
language, see Hankó 2003.
133 There are numerous passages in Eisonʼs works which bear witness to theparamount importance attached by the Master to the observance of moral precepts.
See, for instance, the Kōshō bosatsu go-kyōkai chōmon shū 興正菩薩御教誡聴聞集,
ʻThe Section on the Monastic Code Being the Foundation of the Great Vehicleʼ 律ハ
大 乘 ノ 根 本 ナ ル 事 (pp. 198-199), ʻThe Section on Observing the Precepts as an
Outstanding Cause for Attaining Buddhahoodʼ 持戒成佛勝因事 (pp. 205-206), etc.

62Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

constitute the traditional Śrāvakayāna ordination, and the ʻinclusive
receiving (通受 tsūju) of the three categories of pure precepts (三聚浄戒sanju jōkai)ʼ, clearly a Mahāyānist synthesis. Not only did this open newgates for re-establishing lineages but it also contributed to dispelling any
possible misgivings about the ʻHināyānistʼ affiliation of the orthodox Vinaya
ordinations. The monk going through both types of ordinations could
convincingly claim both Vinaya legitimacy and Bodhisattvic ideals.134
Kakujōʼs faced, however, a huge doctrinal task. A mere statement of
the idea was obviously far from enough. He had to prove that the inclusive
receiving does in fact encompass and guarantee the separate receiving as
well. Kakujō believed he had sufficient scriptural and exegetical evidence tosupport the view that by taking the Bodhisattva vows, one automaticallygains the nature 性 of a bhiksu and can perform legitimate full ordinations.
̇
In the Fragments Dispelling the Doubts about the Inclusive and Separate
Receiving of the Bodhisattva Precepts (菩薩戒通受遣疑抄 Bosatsu-kai tsūju
ken gi shō) written in 1246, not long before his death, Kakujō defends thisidea:
The [ordination] procedure of the three categories of pureprecepts which are expounded in the Yogācārabhūmi alreadyinclude [all precepts] of the seven assemblies [i.e. monks,
nuns, etc.]. The manner of performing the self-ordination
elucidated in the [Sutra on] Divining and Discerning [theGood and Bad Karma] equally [shows the way of] acquiring
the Vinaya [precepts][in such a manner].135 The commentaries of Master [Yi] ji136 give detailed examples for the rules [of134 See Minowa 2010.
135 It is not excluded that 學 could mean here ʻto teachʼ, a sense rarer that the far

more usual and basic denotation of ʻto learn, to studyʼ (see Morohashi [1955] 1976,
vol. 3, s.v.).

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

63

self-ordination]. The Chapter on Manifested and Nonmanifested [Matter]137 clearly contains passages [to thiseffect, too]. If one receives the three categories of pureprecepts in such a manner, he/she will [also] defend andmaintain the Five [Vinaya] Chapters [which detail the fiveclasses of monastic rules] and the [correct] deportment[prescribed for each] of the seven assemblies. [One canthus] renew the discontinuation [of the lineage] and revive
its extinction―how can this be against the intentions of the
Buddha?
(『瑜伽論』所說三聚浄戒羯磨 既攝七衆。『占察』所明 自誓
作法 亦學毘尼。寂法師疏 詳例軌則。「表無表章」明有文。
若爾受得 三聚浄戒，護持五篇，七聚威儀。繼絕興廢。何背佛意？ Nihon daizōkyō 35. 519b)
A detailed analysis of the doctrinal background and sources of thepassage is beyond the scope of our discussion, but Kakujōʼs mention of the
Yogācārabhūmi as a scriptural proof of validity deserves a few words.138
We have seen that the Viniścayasaṁ grahanī actually rejects the possibilitẏ
136 Yiji 義寂 (919-989) is the Twelfth Patriarch of the Chinese Tiantai school 天台宗. His scholarly interests and literary output also included Vinaya texts. See Kamata
ed. 1981, s.v.
137 This refers to a chapter in the Dasheng fa yuan yi lin zhang 大乘法苑義林章 byJi 基 (632-682), Xuanzangʼs 玄奘 foremost disciple and the de facto founder of the
Faxiang school 法 相 宗 (i.e. the Sino-Japanese counterpart of the YogācaraVijñānavāda tradition). The chapter (found at T 45. 299a-315c), which deals in great
detail with Vinaya, became a very influential source of reference in East Asia. Eison
also discusses this chapter in the Kōshō bosatsu go-kyōkai chōmon shū (e.g. pp. 199200, 206).
138 We owe an excellent investigation of these aspects to Ishida Mizumaro ([1963]
1976, 521ff.), a leading authority on Vinaya literature and its history in Japan.

64Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)of the bhiksu’s precepts being automatically included in an act of selḟ
ordination. Whether deliberately or not, Kakujō appears to ignore thispassage. I say ʻdeliberatelyʼ because the Japanese monk was not exactly
unfamiliar with the treatise. In the same Bosatsu-kai tsūju ken gi shō,Kakujō actually deals with the Yogācārabhūmi in some detail.139
Nevertheless, in our passage here, he seems to content himself to referringto the locus classicus in the Bodhisattvabhūmi,140 without touching upon its
interpretation in the Viniścayasaṁ grahanī. Kakujō only mentions that ʻthė
great Bodhisattva precepts expounded in the Yogā[cārabhūmi] include therestraining precepts, [which] are the precepts of the seven assembliesʼ(『瑜伽』中説 菩薩大戒 攝律儀戒, 即七衆戒。Nihon daizōkyō 35.515a).This
clearly shows that according to his reading, the Bodhisattva precepts
encompass per se all Śrāvakyāna precepts, therefore the bhiksuprātimoksȧ̇
rules, too.
Eison does not elaborate upon doctrinal subtleties in the same detailed
manner as Kakujō, but quite a few passages in his writings show that heshared more or less a similar understanding. In the Kōshō bosatsu gokyōkai chōmon shū 興正菩薩御教誡聴聞集, for instance, he devotes quite afew lines to the concepts of ʻinclusive receivingʼ (通 受 tsūju) and theʻseparate receivingʼ (別 受 betsuju) of the precepts (pp. 2007-209). His
autobiography, the Kan jin gaku shō ki 感身學正記, mentions the ordination
based upon the all-inclusive receiving of the three categories of precepts 三
聚通受進具. Like Kakujō, Eison, too, adduces the Yogācārabhūmi and the
Chapter on Manifested and Non-manifested [Matter] as scriptural proofs
for the possibility of this ordination.141
139 See Nihon daizōkyō 35. 515a-b.
140 See Section IV above.
141 See Ishida [1963] 1976, 531. See also note 145 below on the inclusive receiving

通受 in the Ju bosatsu-kai sahō 授菩薩戒作法 and the Ju bosatsu-kai yōi kikigaki 授菩
薩戒用意聞書. On the Chapter on Manifested and Non-manifested [Matter], see noteTransmission and Creation (Deleanu)

65

Let us, however, leave aside these technicalities and have a closer lookat the actual events which would deeply affect the institution and practiceof ordinations. Eisonʼs keen interest in Vinaya is already apparent in 1235
when he attends a series of lectures on Daoxuanʼs 道宣 Sifen lü xingshi chao
四分律行事抄 (Jp. Shibun ritsu gyōji shō) given by Ensei 圓晴 (1180-1241),a scholar-monk of Kōfuku-ji 興福寺, the headquarters of the Hossō school 法
相 宗. Eisonʼs thirst for knowledge is not quenched, and he apparently
continues to study Vinaya literature by himself. Willing to deepen his
understanding, on the 18th day of the 7th month of 1236, he calls upon
Kakujō, a senior fellow-monk who has already pursued such studies for awhile. He meets Kakujō in the same Kōfuku-ji, and the two men find thatthey share a similar vision of re-establishing proper monastic ordinations
and lineages. According to the Kan jin gaku shō ki, they are also joined by
Ensei and another monk named Ugon 有嚴 and together begin to formulate
concrete plans for their own self-ordinations.
Kakujō must have revealed his belief that self-ordination is a
scripturally sanctioned possibility, but in the paradigm of the age, extra
proofs of sacred confirmation are felt an indispensible part of the process.
This is why the four monks agree that they will have to undertake arduous
spiritual practices and penitence until auspicious signs 好相 sanction theirreadiness for the great act. Before long, the much-awaited favourable
omens start to appear. By the end of the 8th month of the same year,
wondrous dreams such as the Buddha stroking their heads or flowers
falling from the sky are confirming to all of them that their decision hasreceived the ultimate spiritual guarantee of legitimacy.142
137 above.
142 Dream as truth-revealing/testing locus is a universal theme in the history of
mankind. In Eisonʼs age, it appears in the lives of quite a few monastics. Shinran 親鸞(1173-1262), for instance, decides to abandon spiritual cultivation based upon selfreliance 自力 and turn to the path of complete faith in the power of Amitāyus/Ami-

66

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)st

On the 1 day of the 9th month of 1236, they take the five lay precepts.
This is followed on the next day by receiving the ten novice precepts. On
the 3rd day, Ensei and Ugon take the vows to observe the three categories
of pure precepts, thus apparently following the Yogācārabhūmi tradition.
So do Kakjō and Eison a day later. The crucial acts of self-ordination comethus to an end, but auspicious signs continue to appear in their dreams,
which adds further proof of spiritual validity to the newly establishedlineage.143
As stated in the Sutra on Divining and Discerning Good and Bad
Karma, a text unequivocally encouraging self-ordinations, taking the vowsby oneself is permissible only in the case one cannot find a precept-masterand a pure assembly of monastics. Now that Kakujō, Eison, Ensei and, Ugon
have received the entire set of Bodhisattva precepts, supposedly also
obtaining the nature of fully ordained bhiksus, a pure assembly has been,̇
more or less, re-established. The scriptural and spiritual proofs which
Kakujō and Eison had been looking for were meant to justify only very
special and unique moments in the history of the Order. Following theinitial series of extraordinary, albeit justified, acts of taking the vows by
oneself, ordinations had to rely once again upon standard Vinaya
procedures as much as feasible.
We have seen that Eisonʼs views on the justification of self-ordination
seem to follow broadly the same lines as Kakujōʼs theories, but the twotābha Buddha 阿彌陀佛 after receiving a revelation from Prince Shōtoku 聖徳太子 ina dream (see Ōsumi and Nakao 1998, 150; Furuta et al., eds. 1988, s.v.; etc.). Equally
relevant is the dream diary left by Myōe 明惠 (1173-1132), the reviver of the Kegon華嚴 tradition (see Girard 1990; Tanabe 1992). On dreams in Ancient Japan, see also
Ishii 2002.
143 For the series of these events leading to self-ordination, see Minowa 2004, 5052. Much of the information actually comes from the Kan jin gaku shō ki, Eisonʼsautobiographical account.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

67

reformers differed in quite a few points in the actual manner of performing
ordinations. Kakujōʼs method consisted in the postulant taking the three
categories of pure precepts set forth in the Yogācārabhūmi. The preceptmaster then preached and bestowed upon him the ten heavy precepts andforty-eight light precepts 十重四十八輕戒 expounded in the Brahmā’s Net
Sutra. The ceremony was considered to lead not only to the receiving of theBodhisattva precepts but also to the automatic acquiring of any other typeof precepts which the ordinand had in mind. For instance, if during the actof receiving the three categories of precepts he formulates the wish to
become a bhiksu, he was considered to automatically achieve this naturėwithout having to take the 250 precepts explicitly. Likewise, in the case of alay disciple, receiving the three categories of precepts would amount to acommitment to the five precepts. In the end, such a ceremony turned out tobe a rather muddled form of ordination procedure (羯磨 konma). To makethings even more confused, the procedure was followed by a ʻpreachingpartʼ (説相 sessō) for which The Brahmā’s Net Sutra was used. This madeKakujōʼs ceremony a de facto replica of the Tendai ordination which was
also based upon the latter scripture and consisted in the Bodhisattva
precepts only. This formula was not actually received very favourably
amongst Kakujōʼs own followers, and the Vinaya school later adopted arevised pattern of ordination procedure.
Eison, on the other hand, introduced a few fundamental changes whichbrought more clarity and balance between the Mahāyāna and Śrāvakayāna
components. He advocated the same the basic ordination procedure 羯磨
consisting in taking the three categories of pure precepts of the
Yogācārabhūmi for all the seven assemblies of followers 七衆. However, thelatter part of the ceremony, i.e. the preaching and bestowing of theprecepts 説 相, was different depending upon the postulantʼs aspiration.
Thus, a would-be śrāmanera received the four defeats of a Bodhisattva
̇(Skt. catvārah pārājaikasthānīyā dharmāh; Ch. 四他勝處) as taught in the
̇
̇

68

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

Bodhisattvabhūmi144 as well as the traditional ten precepts for a novice. In
the case of an ordinand wishing to become a bhiksu, he would receive thėfour defeats of a Bodhisattva as well as the four defeats (pārājika; 波羅夷)as known from Śrāvakayāna Vinaya regulations. In this way, the postulant
as well as all those who witnessed the ordination had a very clear idea ofthe type of precepts which were actually taken.145
Let us remind ourselves here that this was the all-inclusive type ofordination 通受, whose fundamental Mahāyāna spirit naturally had to be
stressed. This is why the four defeats taught in the Bodhisattvabhūmi had
to be bestowed even for those ordinands who eventually became bhiksuṡfollowing the 250 precepts. Alongside this all-inclusive ordination, Eison
also stressed the separate receiving 別 受 of the precepts which was
conducted according to the traditional Fourfold Vinaya ceremony. In the
Risshū saji konma 律宗作持羯磨 written in 1251, Eison presents in detailthe whole procedure and ritual for the full ordination.146
Eisonʼs life was dedicated to the spread of the Buddhist morality inwhatever form this could benefit all living beings, whether by administering the five lay precepts, the Bodhisattva precepts, or the strict rules of the
144 Strictly

speaking, Skt. catvārah pārājaikasthānīyā dharmāh should bė̇translated as ʻthe four factors giving rise to defeatsʼ. As argued by Wogihara (BoBhW, Lexikalisches aus der Bodhisattvabhūmi, pp. 34-35) and Edgerton ([1953] 1985,s.v.), pārājaika is a hyper-Sanskritisation of pārājika ʻdefeatʼ (itself a term whose
etymology is quite difficult to explain). Xuanzang uses a calque-translation forpārājaika, literally meaning ʻother-victoryʼ 他勝 (他＝pāra-; 勝＝ā-√ ji). Cf. also theTib. equivalent phas pham pa’i gnas lta bu’i chos. In the Bodhisattvabhūmi, the ʻthefour factors giving rise to the defeatsʼ are explained at BoBh-W 158, 2-159, 8; BoBh-D
108, 12-109, 2; T 30. 515b21-c10.
145 Eisonʼs procedure for the all-inclusive ordination 通 受 is detailed in the Ju
bosatsu-kai sahō 授菩薩戒作法 and the Ju bosatsu-kai yōi kikigaki 授菩薩戒用意聞書.
An excellent discussion of the differences between Kakujō and Eison is found in
Minowa 2004 (pp. 53-61).
146 See especially Risshū saji konma, p. 152bff.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

69bhiksu and bhiksunī prātimoksa. This mission, carried in different parts oḟ̇ ̇̇Japan and at various levels of the society, was also accompanied byaltruistic acts to promote the ideal of non-killing, care for lepers, andbuilding bridges.147 This makes Eison a remarkable and genuine monastic
figure ready to toil unceasingly for the lofty ideals of the Buddhist path.
One of Eisonʼs major concerns was the establishment of a lineage offully ordained nuns 比 丘 尼. For this, he chose the famous nunnery of
Hokke-ji 法華寺 in Nara as the first step on a long and arduous path.148
Eison commences the process in 1245 by bestowing the novice precepts 沙彌尼戒 to five female ordinands residing in the convent (Kan jin gaku shōki, p. 20). Two years later, he administers the precepts for probationary
147 In the Kōshō bosatsu go-kyōkai chōmon shū (p. 191), Eison says: ʻEven if one

may beat me to death, I should just bear the pain without harbouring [any] feelingsof hatred. [I should rather feel] just like a mother rejoicing at her infant stretching
たとばかり
his hand and [softly] striking her.ʼ (縱ヒ我ヲコロシ打ツモノアリトモ、痛キ 計 ヲ
ニクオサナ
忍デ惡 ム心アルベカラズ。 少 キ子ノ手ヲノベテ母ヲ打ツニ、コレヨロコブガ如シ。
). Eisonʼs commitment to the precept of non-killing is also seen in the content of
his prayers in 1281, the year when Japan faced the danger of the second Mongol
invasion. According to the Kan jin gaku shō ki, the Master prayed that an Easternwind should blow the invading fleet back to its country and then having safely landed
the troops, without a life lost, the ships should be burnt by fire (see Matuso 2004, 21).
History, however, is much crueller than prayers, even when they come from saintly
men like Eison … The winds did blow, and verily they had a crippling effect on the
combined fleet of Mongol, Korean, and Chinese troops. Yet, the war was won by theJapanese after quite a few battles on land and at sea claiming the lives of tens of
thousands of men and women on both sides.
148 The convent, whose entire name is Hokke metsuzai no tera 法華滅罪之寺 orʻTemple of Sin-Destruction [through] the [Scripture on the] Lotus [of the Right]
Teachingʼ, was founded by Empress Kōmyō 光明皇后 in 745, and became the central
state-sponsored convent (國分尼寺 kokubun niji). In many ways, its history has been
symptomatic for the fate of the bhiksunī community in Japan. We owe an excellenṫ ̇
monographic study on the history of Hokke-ji to Ikeda Genta (1986). See also the
Hokke niji engi 法華尼寺縁起 which is the basic traditional source.

70Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

nuns 式叉尼 to eleven postulants. The act is followed by an exposition of
Daoxuanʼs 道 宣 Extracts on Bhiksunī [Regulations] from the Fourfold
̇ ̇Vinaya 四分律比丘尼鈔, one of the basic texts of the Vinaya school (ibid., p.
21).149 The final step is taken in 1249 when Eison performs full ordinations
for twelve nuns.150 In his own words, ʻon the sixth day of the second month[of year 1 of the Kenchō 建長 Era], twelve people were administered thegreat bhiksunī precepts at the Hokke Nunneryʼ (二月六日於法華寺, 十二人̇ ̇
授 大 比 丘 尼 戒。 ibid., p. 22). Eison further notes: ʻ [This marks] the
beginning of the complete establishment of the seven assemblies practisingin accordance with Dharma in the Land of the Rising Sunʼ (日本國如法修行
七衆圓滿始也。ibid.).151
How did Eison solve the thorny problem of dual ordination for nuns
without a pre-existing bhiksunī assembly? As far as I know, there are nȯ ̇
direct testimonies explaining this crucial detail. Eison must have been fully
aware of this requirement. His Risshū saji konma 律宗作持羯磨 contains awhole section dedicated to the ordination of bhiksunīs (pp. 154b-155b). Thė ̇
following citation leaves no doubt as to the fact that at least in this work,
Eison had in mind the standard Vinaya procedure for a dual ordination: first
the ritual performed by a congregation of nuns, followed by theconfirmation from an assembly of monks. The way the Risshū saji konma
spells out how the quorum of ten bhiksus is to be addressed leaves no doubṫas to the sequence of events:[May] the most venerable [congregation of] monks listen:
this [postulant whose name is] so-and-so, has sought andreceived the great precepts [for full ordination] from the nun
149 The text is found in the Manji zokuzō, vol. 64. For its Chapter on the Precepts

for Full Ordination 具戒篇, see pp. 316b-411a.
150 See Minowa 2004, 67-69.
151 In the original, this appears written as interlinear commentary.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

71

precept-master [called] so-and-so. This [postulant whosename is] so-and-so now begs the great precepts from the[congregation of] monks.
(大德僧聽：此某甲 從和尚尼某甲 求受大戒。此某甲 今從僧
乞大戒。 Risshū saji konma 155a8-9).152
The Risshū saji konma was, however, compiled two years after the
first ordination of nuns. By this time, it appears that there were enoughbhiksunīs to carry out the preliminary part of the upasaṁ pad ceremony 本̇ ̇
法. The Kan jin gaku shō ki, our primary source for Eisonʼs life, says nothing
about how the bestowing of the great bhiksunī precepts 大比丘尼戒 waṡ ̇actually performed in the case of the first ordination. The most probablescenario is that Eison carried out the preliminary part of the ordination at
Hokke-ji with a quorum of ten monks instead of nuns. Then he must have
performed the confirmation at Saidai-ji 西大寺, his headquarters temple,
obviously with the congregation of ten monks as required by the standard
procedure of dual ordination.153
But did Eison have ten fully ordained monks to perform the ritual? For
all we know, yes! The Kan jin gaku shō ki (p. 19) mentions the existence of
38 bhiksus already back in 1244. Moreover, we see Eison in 1245 ʻperforṁ[ing] for the first time [the ceremony of] the separate receiving of the[Śrāvakayāna] bhiksu precepts according to the Dharmaʼ (始行如法別受苾̇
152 This is a typical formulation technically known in the Vinaya literature as theʻstating of the matterʼ (Skt. karmavācanā). Here is how the Fourfold Vinaya
prescribes such a statement: 大徳僧聽: 此某甲 從和尚尼某甲 求受大戒。此某甲 今
從僧乞受大戒。(T 22. 925b4-6). It is pretty obvious that this must have been Eisonʼsdirect source of inspiration. Cf. also 大徳僧聽: 此某甲 從和上尼某甲 求受具足戒。此某甲 今從衆僧乞 受具足戒。(T 22. 757a25-27).
153 This is also the interpretation put forward by Matsuo Kenji (1995, 384), one of
the leading specialists in the history of Mediaeval Japanese Buddhism and Vinaya
School.

72

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

芻戒, Kan jin gaku shō ki, p. 20), in which a total of 26 people become fully
ordained monks (ibid.). By 1249, Eison must have felt that there wereenough full-fledged monks, legitimate from the viewpoints of both
Mahāyāna and Śrāvakayāna, to allow him to embark upon anotherextraordinary (but in his eyes, ultimately admissible) act: to make use of abhiksu assembly for the preliminary part of the bhiksunī ordination. Eisoṅ̇ ̇
was not, after all, the first personage in Buddhist history to have displayedsuch a flexible attitude in the ordination of nuns.154 Even if he was not
154 Some eight centuries prior to Eison, the Indian scholar-monk Gunavarman 求那
̇跋摩 (377-431), who came to China to spread Buddhism and translate its scriptures,showed a remarkably flexible attitude towards bhiksunī ordinations. The following
̇ ̇
famous episode recorded in the Biographies of Eminent Monks 高僧傳 illustrates thisattitude. A few Chinese nuns who had recently taken the bhiksunī precepts froṁ ̇
eight Singhalese nuns feared that their ordination was not valid. Their main concern
was the number of witness-nuns, which had fallen short of ten, i.e. the quorum
required in an orthodox dual ordination 二 衆 受 戒. Accordingly, they asked
Gunavarmanʼs help to arrange their re-ordination. The Indian Master gave, however,̇
the following answer: ʻOriginally, the precepts are stated [or: generated] before agreat assembly [of ten monks?].(1) If the preliminary part of the bhiksunī ordination
̇ ̇
本事 [i.e. the ordination before the quorum of ten nuns] is not [possible], there is no
impediment for [the validity of the] ordination [itself]. [This would be just] as in thecase of [Mahāprajāpatī] Gautamīʼ (戒法本在大僧衆發。設不本事，無妨得戒。如愛
道之縁。T 50. 341b2-3). The Chinese nuns, notwithstanding, insisted for a quorum of
ten nuns. Gunavarman had no other chance but to send for more nuns from India. Hėalso asked the eight Singhalese nuns to learn Chinese properly so that they could
perform the ordination according to all Vinaya requirements. Sadly, Gunavarman diḋ
not live to see this happen. In 433, another eleven nuns from Sri Lanka finally arrived
in China, and a full, completely Vinaya-proof ordination could be conducted. Thisactually marks the beginning of the orthodox bhiksunī lineage in China.
̇ ̇The episode also appears in the Biographies of Nuns 比 丘 尼 傳 with somevariations. Here Nun Huiguo 慧果 asks Gunavarman whether the lack of the firsṫpart of the dual ordination 本事, like in Mahāprajāpatīʼs case, is still acceptable intheir own age. Hearing the Indian Masterʼs reply that no differences exist 無 異
between the two situations, Huiguo points out that according to the Vinaya, theTransmission and Creation (Deleanu)

73

preceptor will commit an offence if he ordains a bhiksunī without the first part of thė ̇
procedure. Not exactly, implies Gunavarman. The preceptor, he answers, will bėconsidered to have committed an offence only if he ordains a postulant who has notstudied for two years as a novice in a community of nuns (有尼衆處，不二歳學，故言 得 罪 耳。T 50. 937b28-29).(2) (For the early history of bhiksunī institutions iṅ ̇China, see Chikusa 2002; on this particular series of events, see p. 10; see also Li 2000,
183, citing from a paper by Bhiksu Huimin which unfortunately was unavailable tȯme).
Daoxuan, the great systematiser of the Vinaya school, knows and speaks
approvingly of this event. In the Sifen lü shan fan bu que xingshi chao 四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔, he puts in Gunavarmanʼs mouth the following words: ʻif a nun does noṫundertake the first part of the dual ordination 本法, she receives the precepts [i.e.
becomes ordained, but] an offence is committed (尼不作本法者，得戒，得罪。T 40.
51c12-13). The text continues by implying that the first part of the dual ordination is
nothing but a skilful means set in order to generate faith in the precepts. The act ofreceiving the precepts, i.e. the ordination itself, arises at the moment when theprocedure is carried out before the great assembly, which most likely means here
the quorum of ten witness-monks (先令作本法者，正欲生其信心，爲受戒方便耳。
至於得戒，在大僧羯磨時生也。T 40. 51c14-15). Similarly, in the Sifen lü shanbu sui
ji jiemo shu 四分律刪補隨機羯磨疏, Daoxuan refers to Gunavarman and declares:
̇ʻThe precepts [taken by] nuns are generated in[＝before] the great assembly [often monks]. Even if the first part of the dual ordination 本法 is not [performed] and[the precepts] are received directly from monks [alone], [the ordination] is,
nonetheless, complete [or: achieved]. However, only a [minor?] offence iscommitted.ʼ (尼戒大僧中生。假令不作本法，直從僧受，亦成，但犯罪耳。text citedin the Sifen lü shanbu sui ji jiemo shu ji yuan ji 四分律刪補隨機羯磨疏濟緣記; Manjizokuzō vol. 64, p. 454a12-13)(3)
It is hard to know whether such historical episodes or Daoxuanʼs ideas were
known to Eison and influenced him in one way or another. We have seen that theJapanese monk was familiar with Daoxuanʼs works and preached as well as
commented upon some of them. The possibility of having come across relevant
passages like those cited above is, therefore, quite high, but to the best of myknowledge, there is no positive evidence supporting this conjecture.
(1) It is not very clear what the ʻgreat assemblyʼ 大僧衆 actually stands forhere. Shih tr. 1968, p. 132, renders it is as grande communauté(Mahāsaṁ gha, conçue abstraitement). I see, however, no strong reasons

74

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

aware of the antecedents, we must not forget his determination andpragmatism in putting Buddhist ideals into practice. A man who had soboldly advocated and implemented the re-establishment of the bhiksu
̇lineage through self-ordination would not have been thrown into confusion
when faced with the absence of a bhiksunī assembly.155̇ ̇
why this cannot be construed as referring to a concrete assembly of monks,
most probably implying here the quorum of ten witness-monks (cf. also theusage of 大僧 in Daoxuanʼs works cited above, though admittedly his usage
is not very clear either).Gunavarman contrasts the absence of the first part
̇of the dual ordination with Mahāprajāpatī Gautamīʼs ordination, which istechnically known as the ʻordination received by accepting the TeacherʼsDoctrineʼ 師法受具. It refers to the fact that by accepting the eight weighty
rules (or: eight rules of reverence), (see note 36 above) Mahāprajāpatī andthe 500 Śākya women obtained the status of fully ordained monastics. (Foran example of the episode and how this was interpreted in Vinaya tradition,kā 毘尼母經 T 24. 803a-b; for a recent monograph on
see the *Vinayamātr◦
Mahāprajāpatī (Pali, Mahāpajāpatī), see Dash 2008; on the various types ofordination, see Hirakawa 1999-2000, vol. 2, 167-176). Gunavarmaṅapparently was trying to say that although the dual ordination is technically
preferable, when not feasible, the basic act of accepting the Buddhist
precepts should or might be regarded as a valid form of ordination, a caseillustrated by a famous and widely accepted case in the Saṅ gha history, i.e.
that of Mahāprajāpatī.
(2) We must add here that Gunavarman was not an ignorant simply speculating
̇
on the matter. Amongst his translations, we also find the *Dharmaguptakabhiksunīkarman 四 分 比 丘 尼 羯 磨 法 as well as two texts on the laẏ ̇
precepts (T No. 1434; see also Biographies of Eminent Monks Gao sengzhuan, T. 50. 341a).
(3) This is an exegetical opus compiled by Yuanzhao 元 照 (1048-1116) on
Daoxuanʼs Sifen lü shanbu sui ji jiemo shu 四分律刪補隨機羯磨疏. The textof the latter is currently available as it appears cited in this work by
Yuanzhao (see Ono 1964, vol. 4, p. 227).
155 Let us recall here the words of Kakujō, which arguably also echo the feelings of
his fellow-reformer Eison:ʻ［To] renew the discontinuation [of the lineage] andrevive [its] extinction―how can [this] be against the intentions of the Buddha?ʼ (繼Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

75

The profound significance of Eisonʼs act is also highlighted by amiraculous event said to have taken place in 1251 when a monk changed his
gender in order to help the newly formed lineage of bhiksunīs, still in its
̇ ̇
infancy and needing more female members. The Kan jin gaku shō ki (pp.
23-24) tells us thatʻ[The Sixteen Arhats 十六羅漢 protecting the Dharma]
felt sorrow at the fact that the assembly of fully ordained nuns andnovices156 was not completely re-established and transformed a bhiksu intȯbhiksunī―an incomparable event surpassing the ordinary.ʼ (悲大小尼衆 都̇ ̇
未 再 興，變 一 比 丘 成 比 丘 尼 事，奇 特 越 常 篇。).157 The story, no matter
what we may feel today about its veracity, is permeated with a spirit quite
different from the more common motif of women first changing into men 變
成男子 before attaining Buddhahood.158
絕興廢 何背佛意？)(see citation above).
156 ʻFully ordained nunsʼ and ʻnovicesʼ render here 大尼 and 小尼 respectively. The

meaning of the original terms is, however, rather controversial. For more details, seenote 106 above.
157 See also Minowa 2004, 71-72. The bhiksunī lineage based on full ordinations
̇ ̇
continued all throughout the Middle Ages and Premodern period. The Hokke-ji Tōtōbetsuju kaizu 法華寺東塔別受戒圖 (compiled in 1359) clearly shows that ʻseparate
receiving of the preceptsʼ 別受 was conducted before ten witnesses (see Ikeda 1986,
229-231; Matsuo 1995, 385-390). The same ʻseparate receiving of the preceptsʼ ismentioned in documents dating to 1657 and 1683 (see Ikeda 1986, 238-243). Like inEisonʼs time, the confirmation by the assembly of ten monks, i.e. the second part ofthe dual ordination, was conducted at Saidai-ji 西大寺 (ibid., p. 243).
Hokke-ji continues its existence as a convent. (And in tune with the needs of ourage, it has also become a famous sightseeing spot in Nara, featuring on almost any
touristic guide of the ancient capital.) According to Ikeda (ibid., p. 243), at the time ofthe publication of his study, i.e. 1986, the ordinations for Hokke-ji nuns were actually
performed at Saidai-ji. In a telephonic conversation with a member of the Hokke-ji
staff (7 July 2007), it was confirmed to me that currently ordinations are no longer
performed in the convent itself.
158 A similar miraculous episode is depicted in Kakujōʼs biography in the Ritsu on
sō hō den 律苑僧寶傳 (see Minowa 2004, 70-71). The change of gender is a fairly

76Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

common theme in Buddhist literature. The most common pattern is that of a womantransforming herself into a man, the latter being usually regarded as the genderconducive to Awakening. Many of the motifs and variations are discussed bySerinity Young (2004, 191-203). As also pointed out by the American scholar, thepattern of a man turning into a woman is much rarer (ibid. 201-203). No doubt, thereverse theme, far more common, is not very palatable to our modern tastes, but its
presence in Buddhist literature cannot be denied and must be understood in its
historical context. Apart from Youngʼs excellent survey, see also Yoshida 2002
(especially relevant for our purposes here as it examines the Dragonʼs King
Daughter in the Lotus Sutra and its reception in Japan, pp. 304-308). We also have acollection of translations from primary sources relevant to sex change in Paul 1985,
Chapter 5 (see also Introduction).
Such stories, including the episode in Eisonʼs account, form part and parcel of the
Buddhist mythological or spiritual universe, but in a traditional context, they carry
far more reality than a modern reader would be willing to confer to them. Thechange of gender was considered not only a possibility authenticated by scriptural
testimony but also something which might occur in daily life. Relevant for our
discussion here is the discussion dedicated to how gender changes should be dealt
with when occurring at or around the time of ordination. We know that according tothe Vinaya provisions, a woman has to answer before the ten witness-monks thatindeed her gender is female. The purpose of such an enquiry is to prevent
hermaphrodites, persons without clear sexual characteristics (i.e. what we would
call today ʻambiguities in genderʼsuch as congenital adrenal hyperplasia or androgen
insensitivity syndrome?), etc. to join the Order. Failure to confirm her clearly
feminine sexual characteristics is one of the stumbling-blocks disqualifying a womanfrom full ordination (on the stumbling-blocks, see note 26 above). This impediment isseen in many Vinaya traditions, but here it suffices to quote the Fourfold Vinaya
which stipulates that a female ordinand should be asked ʻare you a woman?ʼ 汝是女人
不？ (T 22. 924c18-19; 925a10). Leaving aside the issue why such categories ashermaphrodites, etc. are not allowed to join the Holy Order in a religion allegedly
professing universal salvation …, a check of the ordinandʼs gender is, nonetheless,understandable. Mutatis mutandis, this bears some resemblance to the world ofmodern sport, which is, as we all know, periodically shocked to discover that
allegedly female competitors are actually men or have ambiguities in gender. (Thesocio-cultural context of the comparison between the two worlds should not,however, be interpreted above this element of surprise.)Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

77

Eison continued to keep his interest throughout his life in thepreservation and development of the bhiksunī lineage. In 1261, Hōjō̇ ̇Tokiyori 北條時頼 (1226-1263), fifth regent (執權 shikken) of the military
government 幕 府 ruling Japan, was so much impressed with Eisonʼspersonality that he asked the Master to stay and continue his activity in
Kamakura 鎌 倉, the new political centre of the country. Eison politely
declined, however, citing his deep concern for the fate of the bhiksunī̇ ̇lineage as his main reason.159

What is more mystifying, at least for me, is the fact that Vinaya literature
contains provisions as how to deal with a gender change taking place at or aroundthe time of the ordination. For instance, Gunaprabha (Vinayasūtra cum Vinayasūṫ
ravrtti, p. 54, ll. 4-10, § 618) discusses the technical complications which might arisėin the case of a change from a man to a woman in relation to ordination, to be more
specific, whether this (fe)male is to be made a nun by dual ordination or if (s)he canbe regarded a monk. What is important here is that the tone of Gunaprabhaʼṡ
discourse is quite different from the holy narratives and edifying stories of genderstage. The topic is treated as if it were an unsurprising, or at least a possible,
occurrence which had to be actually dealt with in the monastic communities of theage. Gunaprabha also mentions that ʻthe [capacity for] moral restraint (samvara) oḟ̇
a person whose [change of] sexual organs [/marks](vyañjana) occurs three [times]
does not developʼ (yasya trir vyañjanam parivartate, na tasya samvaro rohati; ibid., p.
̇̇54, l. 2, § 616). Without medically verifiable data, a definitive judgement is hardly
possible as to what such a change of gender might mean. I would tentatively
speculate that it may refer to sequential hermaphrodites.
It is even more difficult to know what to make of the male-to-female change in
Eisonʼs account in medical terms. In a broader perspective, however, its rarity as atheme in Buddhist literature arguably reflects the importance attached by theJapanese Master to the establishment of the bhiksunī lineage.
̇ ̇
159 Eisonʼs deep compassion and genuine desire to help the nuns is seen in many of
his acts and thoughts (see Hosokawa 1987; cf. also Matsuo 1994). Anotherextraordinary decision in the context of the age was to bestow consecrations (傳法灌頂 denbō kanjō), one of the highest Esoteric forms of initiations, to no less than six
nuns during his life (see Matsuo 2004, 21).

78

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)[Eison] respectfully said, ʻThe monks will somehow manage[to continue the lineage]，but this will not happen with thenunneries. It would be deplorable for the womenʼs [lineageof] Dharma to become completely lost. I shall, therefore,
return [to Nara]ʼ.
(「僧ハナニトモ候ハンズレドモ、尼寺ガ叶マジキ、皆女人ノふ ビン

法ガ失候ハンズルガ、不便ニ候程ニ上リ候ハンズル」と申テ候キ。Kōshō bosatsu go-kyōkai chōmon shū, p. 214).160
On his deathbed on the 25th day of the 8th month of Year 3 of the Shōʼō 正應
Era (1290), Eison looked back to a life stretching almost ninety years andrejoiced at the re-establishment of the Vinaya tradition and the growth of
the five assemblies 五衆, i.e. monks, nuns, novice monks, probationary nuns,
and novice nuns, all over Japan. This, the old Master said, was anachievement far surpassing his anticipations at the beginning of his longcareer.161 Indeed it was mainly Eisonʼs unflagging enthusiasm and effort
which ushered a new age for all categories of monastics, especially for
women. His Bodhisattvic determination in action and ingenious flexibility ininterpreting the teachings did more for nuns than centuries of statepatronage. The series of bold decisions and acts taken by Eison by the
middle of the 13th century actually mark the initiation of the first clearly
identifiable bhiksunī lineage on Japanese soil. This re-invention of thė ̇
tradition would also have lasting effects on the later history of its
institutions. Though remaining a less conspicuous presence on the spiritual
160 See also Matsuo et al. 2003, 138.
161 Eisonʼs last days are described in great detail in the Saidai-ji Kōshō Bosatsu go-nyūmetsu ki 西大寺行正興菩薩御入滅記. He apparently had his last long conversation (from which the detail above is taken) with the Elder Shōgen 證 玄 長 老 ofTōshōdai-ji 唐招提寺 around 2 pm, a few hours before his death which occurred
during meditation at sunset (see Matsuo 2004, 32-34).

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

79

arena, women had at last more recognition from their Saṅ gha brothers anda monastic environment propitious for spiritual quest.162
VII

Concluding Remarks

Our story comes to an end here. The first seven hundred years of monastic
institutions for nuns on Japanese soil can be best described as labyrinthine.
This was not only because of the spectacular ups and downs of theirdevelopment as well as the unexpected semantic expansion into such
unique forms as ʻhome nunsʼ. It was also because the origins and threads of
its lineages remain dimly lost along this path until Eisonʼs audacious act ofsacred (re-)creation in the 13th century. True, from a traditionalist
perspective, the legitimacy of this lineage is a thorny issue as it actually had
to be re-invented. ʻRe-inventionʼ is, however, a word reflecting modern
perceptions. For Eison and his followers, there was sufficient scriptural
basis for re-linking the thread of ordinations to its original Source. And in
the context of the age, there was also plenty of ʻtranscendentalʼ
confirmation from the Source itself.
As argued above, we cannot rule out the possibility that the earlier
centuries of Buddhism in Japan may have witnessed the transmission oflegitimate monastic lineages from China or Korea. Another equally likely
alternative, however, is that the first lineages may have been commenced
under less orthodox circumstances such as incomplete quorums or self162 Hokke-ji was not the only nunnery which was revived and developed in thisage. Many other convents were also established (the largest number being
associated with the Vinaya and Zen traditions) and the nun communities grew again.
An excellent discussion concerning nuns and convents in Mediaeval Japan is found in
Ushiyama 2002. Equally outstanding is Hosokawa 1987, 100-168, which focuses on
Chūgū-ji 中宮寺, Hokke-ji 法華寺, and Dōmyō-ji 道明寺, all nunneries associated with
the Vinaya school during the Kamakura period.

80Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

ordinations. No clear historical evidence concerning the origin of the earlylineages of bhiksunī ordinations in Japan appears to exist. Actually, thė ̇
picture emerging from the middle of the 8th century on is, on the one hand,a growing awareness of the need to establish orthodox ordinations and, on
the other, increasing deprivation of official and monastic support for thenuns to achieve it. Combined with a host of other social and cultural causes,
the latter trend will result into almost five centuries of chronic decline in
the institutions and status enjoyed by nuns.
Eisonʼs establishment of a bhiksunī Order started from a bold decisioṅ ̇of self-ordination. What distinguishes Eison is not only the fact that history
has been more generous and has preserved far more records concerning
this crucial act. It was also his unrelenting dedication and pragmatic
flexibility to bring happiness to as many sentient beings as possible. This,admittedly, is a pan-Buddhist ideal, but far too often its de facto
understanding has failed to include the female half of the Saṅ gha. Given the
climate of his epoch, Eison could have easily chosen to concentrate his
efforts on monks only. He did not! Instead, the Japanese Master displayedtrue openness and skilful interpretation which make him at the same time
remarkably modern as well as deeply committed to his spiritual tradition.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

81

BIBLIOGRAPHY

163

Primary Sources and Abbreviations164
Aston, W. G. tr. [1896] 1972. Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest
Time to A.D. 697. Rutland and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co.
Bhiksunīvinaya
̇ ̇
Gustav Roth ed. 1970. Bhiksunīvinaya: Manual of Discipline foṙ ̇
Buddhist Nuns. Patna: K.P. Jayaswal Research Institute.
BoBh: Bodhisattvabhūmi
BoBh-W: Wogihara Unrai ed. [1936] 1971. Bodhisattvabhūmi. Tokyo:
Sankibo Buddhist Book Store.
BoBh-D: Nalinaksha Dutt ed. 1978. Bodhisattvabhūmi. Patna: K.P.
Jayaswal Research Institute.
Bukkyō zensho
The Suzuki Research Foundation, ed. 1972. Dai Nihon Bukkyō zensho
大日本佛教全書. Tokyo: The Suzuki Research Foundation.

163 Traditional sources as well as editions of the Canon and series of Buddhist texts

or kundoku translations are listed according to their original title or abbreviation,
followed by the modern edition(s) used in this paper. For Pali sources, I have relied
upon PTS editions, and the abbreviations follow the standard conventions. Apartfrom a few lexicographical and encyclopaedic sources (see Secondary Sources), allother references follow the author-date style. For reprints, the date of the original
edition is given in square brackets. Titles of individual works from the Taishō Canonand Pali Tipitaka are not listed separately in the Bibliography.
̇
164 References to and quotations from original sources are given to volume, page,and more often than not, to line/column number. In the case of the Taishō Canon, I
note the volume number, followed by a dot, and then by the page, segment, andcolumn number. In editions with more than one segment per page, the former islikewise noted after the page number as ʻaʼ, ʻbʼ, and ʻcʼ respectively.

82

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

Ch.: Chinese
Chronicles of Japan: see Nihon shoki
D: sDe-dge Canon. For the present study, I have used the following
facsimile edition:
Takasaki, Jikidō 高崎直道, Zuihō Yamaguchi 山口瑞鳳, and Noriaki
Hakamaya 袴 谷 憲 昭, eds. 1980. sDe dge Tibetan Tripitaka bsTan
̇hgyur-preserved at the Faculty of Letters University of Tokyo デルゲ
̇版チベット大蔵経 論疎部. Tokyo: Sekai seiten kankō kyōkai.
Gangō-ji garan engi 元興寺伽藍縁起 or Chronicles of the Gangō Monastery(full title: Gangō-ji garan engi narabi ni ruki shizai chō 元興寺伽藍縁起
並流記資財帳) In Bukkyō zensho, vol. 85.
Genji monogatari or The Tale of Genji
Yamagishi Tokuhei 山岸徳平 ed. 1961. Genji monogatari 源氏物語. 5
vols. Nihon koten bungaku taikei 日本古典文學大系. Vols. 14-18. Tokyo:
Iwanami shoten. For an English translation, see Tyler 2001.
Hasshū kōyō 八宗綱要
Kamata Shigeo 鎌田茂雄 ed. and tr. 1981. Gyōnen Daitoku Hasshū kōyō
凝然大徳・八宗綱要. Tokyo: Kōdan-sha.
Hokke niji engi 法華尼寺縁起
In Bukkyō zensho, vol. 85.
Jōdo-shū zensho
Jōdo-shū zensho 浄土宗全書. 1971. Tokyo: Sankibō busshorin.
Jp.: Japanese
KDK-YoBh (Japanese kundoku translation in the Yogācārabhūmi in the
Kokuyaku daizōkyō 國譯大藏經 series)
Saeki Jōin 佐 伯 定 胤, tr. [1917-1928] 1986. Ronbu 論 部. Vols. 6-9.
Tokyo: Daiichi shobō.
KIK-DhVin (Japanese kundoku translation of the Dharmaguptakavinaya in
the Kokuyaku issaikyō series)
Sakaino Kōyō 境野黄洋, et al. tr. [1933] 1990. Shibun ritsu 四分律.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

83

Kokuyaku issaikyō 国譯一切經. Ritsubu 律部. Vols. 1-4. Tokyo: Daitōshuppansha.
KIK-YoBh (Japanese kundoku translation of the Yogācārabhūmi in the
Kokuyaku issaikyō 國譯一切經 series)
Katō Seishin 加藤精神 tr., Katsumata Shunkyō 勝又俊教 and Mukai
Ryūken 向井隆健 revised. First ed. 1931. Second revised ed. 1993. Indosenjutsu-bu 印 度 撰 述 部. Yugaron 瑜 伽 論. Vols. 1-6. Tokyo: Daitōshuppansha.
Kan jin gaku shō ki (full title: Kongō busshi Eison kan jin gaku shō ki 金剛佛
子叡尊感身學正記)
In Saidaiji Eison denki shūsei.
Konjaku monogatari 今昔物語
Yamada Yoshio 山田孝雄 et al. eds. 1963-1964. Konjaku monogatarishū 今昔物語集. 5 vols. Nihon koten bungaku taikei 日本古典文學大系.
Vols. 22-26. Tokyo: Iwanami shoten.
Kōshō bosatsu go-kyōkai chōmon shū 興正菩薩御教誡聴聞集
Tanaka Hisao 田中久夫 ed. 1971. Eison 叡尊, Kōshō bosatsu go-kyōkai
chōmon shū 興正菩薩御教誡聴聞集. In Kamata Shigeo 鎌田茂雄 andTanaka Hisao 田中久夫, ed. 1971. Kamakura kyūbukkyō 鎌倉舊佛教.
Nihon shisō taikei 日本思想大系. Vol. 15. Tokyo: Iwanami shoten.
Manji zokuzō 卍字續藏Wan xu-zangjing 卍續藏經. 1967. 150 volumes. Taipei: The Buddhist
Association of the Republic of China.165
Manu’s Code of Law
Patrick Olivelle, with the editorial assistance of Suman Olivelle. 2005.
Manu’s Code of Law: A Critical Edition and Translation of the
Mānava-Dharmásāstra [sic]. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
165 This is a reprint of the Dai Nihon zoku-zōkyō 大日本續藏經, originally publishedbetween 1905 and 1912.

84

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

Murasaki Shikibu nikki 紫式部日記
Original text consulted from the on-line edition prepared by Shibuya
Eiʼichi 渋 谷 栄 一 (http://www.sainet.or.jp/~eshibuya/text55), based
mainly upon the Kurokawa Manuscript 黑 川 本 (version 2-3; last
updated 12/1/2008).
For a translation into modern Japanese, see Satō Kenzō et al. tr. 1954.
Nihon daizōkyō
The Suzuki Research Foundation, ed. 1976. Nihon daizōkyō 増補改訂
日 本 大 藏 經. Revised and enlarged edition. Tokyo: The Suzuki
Research Foundation.
Nihon kōsō den yōmon shō 日本高僧傳要文抄
In Bukkyō zensho, vol. 101
Nihon shoki 日本書紀 or Chronicles of Japan
Sakamoto Tarō 坂本太郎 et al. ed. 1965. Nihon shoki 日本書紀. 2 vols.
Nihon koten bungaku taikei 日 本 古 典 文 學 大 系. Vols. 67-68. Tokyo:
Iwanami shoten. For an English translation, see Aston [1896] 1972.
Risshū saji konma 律宗作持羯磨In the Nihon daizōkyō, vol. 69.
Ritsuryō 律令
Inoue Mitsusada 井上光貞 et al., ed. 1976. Ritsuryō 律令. Nihon shisō
taikei 日本思想大系. Vol. 3. Tokyo: Iwanami shoten.
Saidaiji Eison denki shūsei 西大寺叡尊傳記集成
Edited under the supervision of Nara kokuritsu bunkazai kenkyūjo 奈
良国立文化財研究所. 1977. Saidaiji Eison denki shūsei 西大寺叡尊傳記
集成. Kyoto: Hōzō-kan.
Sange gakushō shiki 山 家 學 生 式 (full title: Tendai hokkeshū nenbun
gakushō shiki 天台法花宗年分學生式)
In Andō Toshio 安藤俊雄 and Sonoda Kōyū 園田香融 eds. 1974. Saichō
最澄. Nihon shisō taikei 日本思想大系. Vol. 4. Tokyo: Iwanami shoten.
Satō Kenzō 佐藤謙三 et al. tr. 1954. Tosa nikki; Kagerō nikki; Murasaki

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

85

shikibu nikki; Izumi shikibu nikki 土佐日記・蜻蛉日記・紫式部日記・
和泉式部日記. Tokyo: Kawade shobō.
Shih, Robert, tr. 1968. Biographies des moines éminents (Kao seng tchouan).
Louvain: Université de Louvain, Institut Orientaliste.
Shukke sahō 出家作法. Facsimile edition in:
Satake Akihiro 佐竹昭広 ed. 1980. Shukke sahō: Manshu-in zō 出家作法
曼 殊 院 蔵. With an Introductory Study by Shirato Waka 白 土 わ か.
Kyoto: Rinsen shoten.
See also Shirato 1978.
Śrāvakabhūmi:
Shōmon ji Kenkyūkai 声聞地研究会 (Śrāvakabhūmi Study Group), ed.
and tr. 1998. Yuga ron Shōmon ji Daiichi yugasho: Sansukurittogo to
wayaku 瑜伽論 声聞地 第一瑜伽処：サンスクリット語テキストと和訳 (Śrāvakabhūmi: Revised Sanskrit Text and Japanese Translation,
The First Chapter). Tokyo: Sankibō bussho-rin.
Skt.: Sanskrit
T: Taishō Canon
Takakusu Junjirō 高 楠 順 次 郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡 邊 海 旭
editors-in-chief. [1922-1933] Popular edition 1991. Taishō shinshu
daizōkyō 大 正 新 修 大 藏 經. 85 vols. Tokyo: Taishō shinshu daizōkyō
kankō-kai.
Tib.: Tibetan
Tyler, Royall, tr. 2001. The Tale of Genji, [by] Murasaki Shikibu. New
York: Penguin Books.
Vinayasūtra cum Vinayasūtravrtti
̇
P.V. Bapat and V.V. Gokhale eds. 1982. Vinaya-sūtra and AutoCommentary on the same by Gunaprabha. Patna: K.P. Jayaswal
̇
Research Institute.

86Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

Secondary Sources
Andō Kōsei 安藤更生. 1989. Ganjin 鑑真. Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbun-kan.
Aoki Kazuo 青木和夫 et al. 1992-1994. Nihon-shi dai-jiten 日本史大事典. 7
vols. Tokyo: Heibon-sha.
Araki Ryōsen 荒木良仙. [1929] 1977. Bikuni-shi 比丘尼史. Tokyo: Tōyō
shobō.
Beyer, Stephan V. 1992. The Classical Tibetan Language. New York: State
of New York University Press.
Bhandarkar, R. G. 1893. ʻThe History of the Beginnings of Child Marriageʼ.
Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 47: 143-153.
Chʼae In-hwan 蔡印幻. 1977. Shiragi bukkyō kairitsu shisō kenkyū 新羅仏教
戒律思想研究. Tokyo: Kokusho kankōkai.
Chikusa Masaaki. 2002. ʻThe Formation and Growth of Buddhist Nun
Communities in Chinaʼ. In Ruch ed. 2002.
Chung, Jin-il and Klaus Wille. 1997. ʻEinige Bhiksuvinayavibhaṅ gȧ
Fragmente der Dharmaguptakas in der Sammlung Pelliot.ʼIn Heinz
Bechert, Sven Bretfeld, and Petra Kieffer-Pülz eds. Untersuchungenzur buddhistischen Literatur. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Clarke, Shayne. 2006. ʻMiscellaneous Musings on Mūlasarvāstivāda Monks:
The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya Revival in Tokugawa Japanʼ. Japanese
Journal of Religious Studies 33 (1): 1-49.
Dash, Shobha Rani. 2008. Mahāpajāpatī: The First Bhikkhuni. Seoul: Blue
Lotus Books.
Daswani, Rekha. 2006. Buddhist Monasteries and Monastic Life in AncientIndia (From the Third Century BC to the Seventh Century AD). New
Delhi: Aditya Prakashan.
Deleanu, Florin. 2006. The Chapter on the Mundane Path (Laukikamārga)in the Śrāvakabhūmi: A Trilingual Edition (Sanskrit, Tibetan,

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

87

Chinese), Annotated Translation, and Introductory Study. Tokyo: The
International Institute for Buddhist Studies.
Deleanu, Florin. 2010 forthcoming. ʻMeditative Practices in the Bodhisattvabhumi: Quest for and Liberation through the Thing-In-Itselfʼ. In
Ulrich Timme Kragh ed., Yogācārabhūmi and Yogācāras. Harvard:
Harvard University Press.
Duan Desen 段徳森. 1992. Shiyong guhanyu xuci 實用古漢語虚詞. Taiyuan:
Shanxi jiaoyu chubanshe.
Fujita Kōkan 藤田光寛. 2009. ʻIndo-Chibetto bukkyō ni okeru daijō no yugakai ni tsuiteʼ インド・チベット仏教における大乗の瑜伽戒について.
Nippon bukkyō gakkai nenpō 日本佛教學會年報 74: 91-102.
Edgerton, Franklin. [1953] 1985. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar andDictionary. 2 vols. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas Publishers.
Furuta Shōkin 古田紹欽 et al. eds. 1988. Buddhica: Bukkyō daijiten 佛教大事典. Tokyo: Shōgaku-kan.
Gangopadhyay, Jayeeta. 1991. Uposatha Ceremony: The Earliest Tradition(s) and Later Developments, mainly from Vinayic Traditions
Preserved in Chinese. New Delhi: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan.
Girard, Frédéric. 1990. Un moine de la secte Kegon a l’époque de Kamakura,
Myōe (1173-1232) et le “Journal de ses rêves”. Paris: École Française
dʼExtrême-Orient.
Groner, Paul. 2002. ʻVicissitudes of Ordination of Japanese “Nuns” during
the Eighth through the Tenth Centuriesʼ. In Ruch 2002.
Hara Minoru 原 實. ʻVinaya kenkyūʼ Vinaya 研 究. Kokusai bukkyōgaku
daigakuin daigaku kiyō 国際仏教学大学院大学紀要 7: 1-54.
Hayami Tasuku 速水侑.[1986] 2005. Nihon bukkyō-shi: Kodai 日本仏教史―古代―. Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbun-kan.
Heirman, Ann. 2002. ʻThe Discipline in Four Partsʼ: Rules for Nuns
according to the Dharmaguptakavinaya. 3 vols. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.

88Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

Hirakawa Akira 平 川 彰. 1998. Bikuni-ritsu no kenkyū 比 丘 尼 律 の 研 究.
Tokyo: Shunjūsha.
Hirakawa Akira 平川彰. 1999-2000. Ritsuzō no kenkyū 律蔵の研究. 2 vols.
Tokyo: Shunjūsha.
Horner, I. B. 1930. Women under Primitive Buddhism: Laywomen andAlmswomen. London: George Routledge.
Horiike Shunpō 堀池春峰. 1980. Nanto bukkyōshi no kenkyū, Jō, Tōdaiji-hen
南都仏教史の研究 上 〈東大寺篇〉. Kyoto: Hōzō-kan.
Hosokawa Ryōichi 細川涼一. 1987. Chūsei risshū jiin to minshū 中世律宗寺
院と民衆. Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbun-kan.
Huimin, Bhiksu. 2007. ʻAn Inquiry Concerning the Lineage of bhiksunī̇̇ ̇Ordinationʼ. Handout distributed at the First International Congress on
Buddhist Womenʼs Role in the Saṅgha: Bhiksunī Vinaya anḋ ̇
Ordination Lineages, University of Hamburg (18-20 July 2007).166
Hüsken, Ute. 2007. ʻThe Eight Garudhammasʼ. Handout distributed at theFirst International Congress on Buddhist Womenʼs Role in the Saṅgha:
Bhiksunī Vinaya and Ordination Lineages, University of Hamburġ ̇(18-20 July 2007).
Ikeda Genta 池田源太. 1986. ʻHokke-ji no enkakuʼ 法華寺の沿革. In Tsunoda
Bunʼei 角田文衛 ed. Shinshū Kokubunji no kenkyū 新修 国分寺の研究.
Vol. 1. Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbun-kan.
Ikehara Shunpō 池原春峰. 1980. Nanto bukkyō-shi no kenkyū, Vol. I: Tōdaiji hen 南都仏教史の研究 上 東大寺篇. Kyoto: Hōzō-kan.
Ikehira Noriko 池 平 紀 子. 2000.ʻSenzatsu zen-aku gōhō kyō no seiritsu todenpa ni tsuiteʼ『占察善惡業報經』の成立と傳播について. In Yoshikawa Tadao 吉川忠夫 ed. Tōdai no shūkyō 唐代の宗教. Kyoto: Hōyū
shoten.
166 The same author writes under the name of Shi Huimin and is listed as suchwith a contribution below.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

89

Ishii Kōsei 石井公成. 2002. ʻKōi toshite no shin to yumemi: Nihon ryōi ki
chūkan dai-sanjū wo tegakari toshiteʼ 行為としての信と夢見―日本靈
異 記 中 巻 第 三 十 を 手 が が か り と し て. Komazawa daigaku bukkyō
bunka kenkyū 駒澤大學佛教文化研究 5.
Ishida Mizumaro 石田瑞麿. 1958. Ganjin: Sono kairitsu shisō 鑑真―その戒律思想―. Tokyo: Daizō shuppan kabushiki gaisha.
Ishida Mizumaro 石田瑞麿.[1963] 1976. Nihon ni okeru kairitsu no kenkyū
日本における戒律の研究. Tokyo: Nakayama shobō.
Ishida Mizumaro 石田瑞麿.[1971] 2002. Bonmō kyō 梵網経. Tokyo: Daizōshuppan kabushiki gaisha.
Ishida Mizumaro 石田瑞麿. 1978. ʻBikuni kaidan: Ama no tokuina seikakuʼ
比丘尼戒壇―尼の特異な性格―. Musashino joshi daigaku kiyō 武蔵野
女子大学紀要. 13: 1-15.
Hankó, László. 2003. Der Ursprung der japanischen Vinaya-Schule Risshū
律宗 und die Entwicklung ihrer Lehre und Praxis. Göttingen: Cuvillier
Verlag.
Kabilsingh, Chatsumarn. 1984. A Comparative Study of Bhikkhunī
Pātimokkha. Varanasi, Delhi: Chaukhambha Orientalia.
̇
Katsuura Noriko. 2002. ʻTonsure Forms for Nuns: Classification of Nuns
according to Hairstyleʼ. In Ruch ed. 2002.
Kamata Shigeo 鎌田茂雄 ed. 1981. Chūgoku bukkyōshi jiten 中国仏教史辞典. Tokyo: Tōkyō-dō shuppan.
Kamata Shigeo 鎌 田 茂 雄. 1994. Chūgoku bukkyōshi. Vol. 5: Zui-Tō nobukkyō (I) 中 国 仏 教 史 第 五 巻 隋 唐 の 仏 教 (上). Tokyo: Tōkyōdaigaku shuppan-kai.
Kamata Shigeo 鎌田茂雄. 1999. Chūgoku bukkyōshi. Vol. 6: Zui-tō no bukkyō(II) 中 国 仏 教 史 第 六 巻 隋 唐 の 仏 教 (下). Tokyo: Tōkyō daigaku
shuppan-kai.
Koji ruien 古 事 類 苑. Shūkyōbu 宗 教 部. Vol. 2. [1911] 1968. Tokyo:
Yoshikawa kōbun-kan.

90Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

Kudō Shigenori 工藤重矩. 1994. Heian-chō no kekkon seido to bungaku 平安
朝の結婚制度と文学. Tokyo: Kazama shobō.
Li, Yuchen. 2000. ʻOrdination, Legitimacy, and Sisterhood: The International
Full Ordination Ceremony in Bodhgayaʼ. In Tsomo 2000.
Matsuo Kenji 松尾剛次. 1994. ʻKamakura Shin-bukkyō to nyonin kyūsai:Eizon kyōdan ni yoru ama he no denpō kanjō’ 鎌倉新仏教と女人救済―
叡尊教団による尼へ伝法灌頂―. Bukkyō shigaku kenkyū 佛教史學研究37 (2): 30-46.
Matsuo Kenji 松尾剛次. 1995. Kanjin to hakai no chūsei-shi: Chūsei bukkyō
no jissō 勧進と破戒の中世史―中世仏教の実相―. Tokyo: Yoshikawa
kōbunkan.
Matsuo Kenji 松尾剛次 ed. 2004. Jikai no shōja: Eizon, Ninshō 持戒の聖者
叡尊・忍性. Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbunkan.
Matsuo Kenji 松尾剛次 et al. 2003. ʻKōshō bosatsu go-kyōkai chōmon shū
yakuchū kenkyūʼ 『興正菩薩御教誡聴聞集』訳注研究. Nihon bukkyō
sōgō kenkyū 日本仏教綜合研究 2.
Minowa Kenryō 箕輪顕量. 2004. ʻKairitsu fukkō undōʼ 戒律復興運動. In
Matsuo ed. 2004.
Minowa Kenryō 箕輪顕量. 2010. ʻDaijō-kai to Nihon bukkyō: Chūsei Nanto
no tenkaiʼ 大乘戒と日本佛教―中世南都の展開―. Tōhōgaku 東方學
119: 200-201.
Morohashi Tetsuji 諸橋徹次 [1955] 1976. Dai kan-wa jiten 大漢和辭典. 12
volumes, with Index. Tokyo: Taishukan shoten.
Nagata Mizu. 2002. ʻTransitions in the Attitudes toward Women in the
Buddhist Canon: The Three Obligations, the Five Obstructions, andthe Eight Rules of Reverenceʼ. In Ruch ed. 2002.
Nakagawa Masanori 中 川 正 法. 2009. ʻKai no bōgo to shakai: Ritsugi(samvara) no seiki wo megutteʼ 戒の防護と捨戒―律儀 (samvara) の̇̇
生起をめぐって―. Nippon bukkyō gakkai nenpō 日本佛教學會年報 74:
205-215.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

91

Nakamura, Hajime. [1980] 1989. Indian Buddhism: A Survey with
Bibliographical Notes. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
Nakamura Hajime 中村元. 1981. Bukkyōgo daijiten 佛教語大辞典. Tokyo:
Tōkyō shoseki.
Nihon kokugo daijiten 日本語国語大辞典. Edited by the Editorial Committee for the Nihon kokugo daijiten. 1972. Tokyo: Shōgaku-kan.
Nishiguchi Junko 西口順子. 1992. ʻJosei no shukke to jukaiʼ 女性の出家と受戒. Kyōto joshi daigaku Shūkyō, bunka kenkyūjo kenkyū kiyō 京都女子大学宗教・文化研究所研究紀要 5: 79-103.
Nishiguchi Junko 西口順子. 2006. Chūsei no josei to bukkyō 中世の女性と仏教. Kyoto: Hōzōkan.
Okada Seishi 岡田精司. 1982. ʻKyūtei miko no jittaiʼ 宮廷巫女の実態. In
Josei-shi sōgō kenkyūkai 女性史総合研究会 ed. Nihon josei-shi 日本女性史. Tokyo: Tōkyō daigaku shuppankai.
Ono Genmyō 小野玄妙 ed. 1964. Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 佛書解説大辭典.
Revised edition. 13 volumes. Tokyo: Daitō shuppansha.
Ōsumi Kazuo 大隈和雄 and Nishiguchi Junko 西口順子 ed. 1989. Ama toamadera 尼と尼寺. Tokyo: Heibonsha.
Ōsumi Kazuo 大隈和雄 and Nakao Takashi 中尾尭. 1998. Nihon bukkyō-shi:
Chūsei 日本仏教史―中世―. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan.
Ōsumi Kazuo. 2002. ʻHistorical Notes on Women and the Japanization of
Buddhismʼ. In Ruch ed. 2002.
Ōta Tatsuo 太田辰 夫. 1988. Chūgokugo-shi tsūkō 中 国 語 史通 考. Tokyo:
Hakutei-sha.
Paul, Diana Y. 1985. Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in
Mahāyāna Tradition. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Prebish, Charles. 1994. A Survey of Vinaya Literature. Taipei: Jin Luen
Publishing House.
Ruch, Barbara ed. 2002. Engendering faith: Women and Buddhism in
Premodern Japan. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, The

92

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

University of Michigan.
Sakuma Ryū 佐久間竜. 1983. Nihon kodai sōden no kenkyū 日本古代僧伝の研究. Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbunkan.
Sakurai Tokutarō 桜 井 徳 太 郎. 1974. Nihon no shamanizumu, Vol. II:
Minkan fuzoku no kōzō to kinō 日本のシャマニズム〈下巻〉民間巫俗の構造と機能. Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbunkan.
Satō Mitsuo 佐藤密雄.[1972] 2003. Ritsuzō 律蔵. Tokyo: Daizō shuppan
kabushiki gaisha.
Shih, Heng-Ching, Bhikshuni. 2007. ʻThree Options: Re-Establishing the
Bhiksunī Lineage in the Tibetan Traditionʼ. ʻAn Inquiry Concerninġ ̇
the Lineage of bhiksunī Ordinationʼ. Handout distributed at the Firsṫ ̇International Congress on Buddhist Womenʼs Role in the Saṅgha:
Bhiksunī Vinaya and Ordination Lineages, University of Hamburġ ̇(18-20 July 2007).
Shi Huimin 釋惠敏. 1996. ʻHan chuan shoujie-fa zhi kaochaʼ 漢傳「受戒法」
之考察. Zhonghua foxue xuebao 中華佛學學報 9: 65-82.167
Shih, Juo-Hsüeh, Bhikkhunī. 2000. Controversies over Buddhist Nuns.
Oxford: Pali Text Society.
Shimonaka Yasaburō 下中彌三郎 ed. [1937] 1986. Shintō daijiten 神道大辞典. Kyoto: Rinsen shoten.
Shirato Waka 白土わか. 1978. ʻManshu-in bon shukke sahō ni miru girei to
Heian bukkyōʼ 曼殊院本出家作法にみる儀礼と平安仏教. In Bukkyo
girei: Sono rinen to jissen 仏教儀礼―その理念と実践―[＝Nippon
bukkyō gakkai nenpō 日本仏教学会年報 43]. Kyoto: Heiraku-ji shoten.
Shōno Masanori 生 野 昌 範. 2009. ʻRitsu ni okeru tsumi no bunrui-hō:
shintai/kotoba/kokoroʼ 律における罪の分類法―身体 / 言葉 / 心. Nippon bukkyō gakkai nenpō 日本佛教學會年報 74: 217-229.
167 The same author writes under the name of Huimin Bhiksu and is listed as suchwith a contribution above.

̇Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

93

Sekiguchi Hiroko 関口裕子. 1993. Nihon kodai kon’in-shi no kenkyū 日本古代婚姻史の研究. 2 vols. Tokyo: Hanawa shobō.
Suzuki Tokumatsu 鈴木徳松. 1991. Nihon kodai ren’ai-shi 日本古代恋愛史.
Tokyo: Shin-jinbutsu ōrai-sha.
Tanabe, George J., Jr. 1992. Myōe the Dreamkeeper: Fantasy and Knowledge
in Early Kamakura Buddhism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Taira Masayuki 平雅行. 1990. ʻChūsei bukkyō to joseiʼ 中世仏教と女性. In
Joseishi sōgō kenkyūkai 女性史総合研究会 ed. Nihon josei seikatsushi
日本女性生活史. Vol. 2. Tokyo: Tōkyō daigaku shuppankai.
Takatori Masao 高 取 正 男. 1979. Shintō no seiritsu 神 道 の 成 立. Tokyo:
Heibon-sha.
Tokiwa Daijō 常盤大定. 1943. Nihon bukkyō no kenkyū 日本佛教の研究.
Tokyo: Shunjū-sha.
Tokuda Myōhon 徳田明本. 1969. Risshū gairon 律宗概論. Kyoto: Hyakka-en.
Tsomo, Karma Lekshe, ed. [1988] 1998. Sakyadhītā: Daughters of the
Buddha. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications.
Tsomo, Karma Lekshe, ed. 2000. Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming
against the Stream. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon.
Ushiyama Yoshiyuki 牛山佳幸. 1990. Kodai chūsei jiin soshiki no kenkyū 古代中世寺院組織の研究. Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbun-kan.
Ushiyama Yoshiyuki. 2002. ʻBuddhist Convents in Medieval Japanʼ. In Ruched. 2002.
Wei-chun, Bhiksunī. 2007. ʻThe Legal Procedures for the Bhiksunī̇ ̇̇ ̇
Ordinationʼ. ʻAn Inquiry Concerning the Lineage of bhiksunī Ordinȧ ̇tionʼ. Handout distributed at the First International Congress on
Buddhist Womenʼs Role in the Saṅgha: Bhiksunī Vinaya anḋ ̇
Ordination Lineages, University of Hamburg (18-20 July 2007).
Weinstein, Stanley. 1987. Buddhism under the T’ang. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Young, Serinity. 2004. Courtesans and Tantric Consorts: Sexualities in94Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

Buddhist Narrative, Iconography, and Ritual. New York and London:
Routledge.
Yoshida Kazuhiko. 2002. ʻThe Enlightenment of the Dragon Kingʼs
Daughter in The Lotus Sutra’. In Ruch ed. 2002.
Yifa. 2002. The Origins of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China: An AnnotatedTranslation and Study of the Chanyuan qinggui. Honolulu: Universityof Hawai ʻi Press.
Yuyama, Akira. 1979. Vinaya-Texte. In H. Bechert ed. SystematischeÜbersicht über die Buddhistische Sanskrit-Literatur. Wiesbaden: Franz
Steiner Verlag.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
AND POSTSCRIPTThis essay was originally written for a presentation at the FirstInternational Congress on Buddhist Womenʼs Role in the Saṅ gha: Bhiksunī̇ ̇Vinaya and Ordination Lineages, held between 18 and 20 July 2007 at the
University of Hamburg, Germany.168 Its original title was ʻBetween State
Control and Neglect: Nuns in Ancient and Early Mediaeval Japanʼ. I avail
myself of the opportunity and express my sincerest gratitude to Dr Thea
Mohr and Dr Carola Roloff (Ven. Jampa Tsedroen) who kindly invited me
to this very important gathering, attended by monastics as well as scholars
all over the world and honoured with the participation of His Holiness Dalai
Lama XIV.
Academically, my heartfelt thanks go, first of all, to Dr Shayne Clarke(McMaster University) who most kindly read through the draft prepared
for the Congress and made a number of very valuable suggestions. It is also
168 The Congress has its own website (www. congress-on-buddhist-women. org)

which provides information not only on the gathering in 2007 but also on later
developments as well as related topics.

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

95

my duty and pleasure to thank to the following scholars (alphabeticallylisted) whose kind assistance benefitted me in various ways: Dr Shobha
Rani Dash (Otani University), Dr Minoura Naomi (Otani University),
Professor Dr Charles Muller (University of Tokyo), Dr Klaus Pinte (Ghent
University), and Ms Satō Mona (Teikyō Kōtō Gakuin).
The first draft of the essay was prepared between April and July 2007.
A few additions and revisions were made in the autumn of the same year,
often as the result of my participation in the Congress, which helped me
deepen my understanding of the Vinaya literature and monastic history. In
a very broad sense, I feel, therefore, also indebted and grateful to all
speakers at the Congress. Of course, when this indebtedness has been
directly relevant to the present essay, my notes and Bibliography haverecorded it by referring to the handout distributed at the Congress. It must
be added here that a volume containing a selection of papers presented at
the Congress is to be released by Wisdom Publications in 2010 under thetitle Dignity and Discipline: The Evolving Role of Women in Buddhism,
edited by Thea Mohr and Jampa Tsedroen. I am not sure about its content,
but I do hope that some, if not all, the contributions referred to in my notes
and Bibliography will become accessible to the general public, too.
Unfortunately, a very tight schedule did not allow me to work on the
essay until January 2010. The few weeks which I could devote in the winterand early spring of this year have been far from enough for re-writing thisessay as it should have been done. Indeed more primary sources as well as
secondary literature should have been consulted, checked, and re-checked.
With no prospects of finding any spare time in the near as well as moredistant future, I have, however, decided to let the paper see the light of the
day as it stands now.169 I am painfully aware that it is far from being
169 I list below some relevant studies which have meanwhile come to my attention

but whose findings could not be included and discussed in the present essay.

96Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

satisfactory. It is thus with all due apologies that I beseech the readerʼspatience when leafing through this very modest essay.
To be sure, Vinaya literature in general and the history of Japanesemonastic institutions in particular are not exactly my cups of tea (or ratherof diet pepsi, if allowed to choose …). Incomplete in its coverage of primarysources and secondary literature as it may be, the present paper is, I dare
hope, not entirely meaningless. If nothing more, the data which it presents
often reflects the research done by generations of scholars, especially inJapan, research which may not be easily accessible in English to specialists
and readers interested in other areas of Buddhist studies.
I am not sure whether my investigation can claim any degree oforiginality, but vanity (the devilʼs ʻfavourite sinʼ!) makes me hope that atleast the way in which this story is told may have some tiny merits. And toexpose my vanity fully, I should also like to think that it may have morethan mere academic relevance. While the main purpose of this paper is toshed light on events which happened many centuries ago, another
underlying motive has been to connect this historical past to the present aswell as to the future. I hope that this very modest contribution may join
those voices pleading for the re-introduction of bhiksunī ordinations iṅ ̇
those Buddhist traditions which, sadly, have lost the sacred threadsomewhere along the way.
In this sense, I shall be more than delighted to know that insignificant
as it may be, this humble paper will be one amongst the many drops
making up a great river passion and dedication for re-establishing fullyrecognised lineages of ordained nuns, a process not only in tune with theaspirations of our age but also with the basic spirit of a religion which foralmost 2,500 years has not ceased to proclaim its wish for the happiness ofall sentient beings. An equally long tradition of intricate precepts andregulations, undoubtedly all having some meaning at the time of theirintroduction, may sometimes paradoxically lead to the unhappiness of quiteTransmission and Creation (Deleanu)

97

a few sentient beings. Sadly and ironically, amongst such beings, one may
also find pious women whole-heartedly dedicated to the practice andtransmission of the Buddhist faith itself.
Of course, when speaking about the re-establishment of bhiksunī̇ ̇lineages in the 21st century, a non-traditionalist will surely think, first andforemost, of arguments stemming from modern human rights. One must,however, remember that the Buddhist Saṅ gha has its own paradigms,
carefully and proudly set to a clock which has been ticking to its own
rhythm for some two and a half millennia. Forcing this clock to adjust to amodern rhythm, especially when this is too abrupt and not fully supportedby all its beneficiaries, may also violate human rights. If the argument frommodern human rights is not acceptable to traditionalists (and usually, it isnot), a more palatable approach is to look for some Vinaya stipulations andexceptions allowing to circumvent some other Vinaya rules andregulations. In this sense, the vastness of the Vinaya literature is a
(Buddha-given!) treasure of hermeneutical opportunities.
Another possible bridge, also provided by the Buddhist tradition itself,
is to engage in creative (re-)interpretation. Buddhism, as many otherreligious traditions, has repeatedly done this throughout its history,
whether it has perceived it as such or not. Actually, some of its greatest
philosophical and spiritual achievements have been triggered by or linked
to such hermeneutical audacity. This may have appeared too daring toconservatives, but breaking conventions has likewise been a forte of (atleast part of) this protean tradition which we call Buddhism. Modern
scholars have identified and analysed a pattern called ʻcrazy wisdomʼ orʻholy madnessʼ, which has its well-deserved place and rationale in a varietyof religious movements, Buddhism included.170 If we accept such a pattern
170 For a ʻclassicalʼ discussion of the concept in the Indian tradition, see Georg

Feurstein, Holy Madness: The Outer Limits of Religion and Morality (New York:Paragon House Publishers, 1991). For a comparativist contribution on the subject,

98

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

in theory and practice, there is then little need to plead for what one maylabel ʻholy interpretationʼ, a hermeneutical attempt to go beyond acceptedhorizons of understanding. And it is such an act of hermeneutical wisdom(even if it may have looked ʻmadnessʼ to some), decidedly and consistently
put into practice, in which people like Eison engaged. (As argued above,
however, the whole process would have been depicted by Eison and his
followers in different words.) Even if this is wrong from the obstinate
perspective of literal or conservative understanding, I believe there can be
no denial of the fact that Eisonʼs holy interpretation, whether sacredly ʻmadʼ
or not, led to thousands and thousands of nuns being given a chance toattain the happiness which they choose and to work for the happiness ofothers.
March 2010

Additional Secondary Sources
Bowring, Richard. 2005. The Religious Traditions of Japan, 500-1600.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hagiwara Tatsuo 萩原龍夫. 1983. Miko to bukkyō-shi: Kumano bikuni no
shimei to tenkai 巫女と仏教史―熊野比丘尼の使命と展開―. Tokyo:
Yoshikawa kōbun-kan.
Hirakawa, Akira et al. 1992. ʻThe History of Buddhist Nuns in Japanʼ.
Buddhist-Christian Studies 12: 147-158.
Kurihara, Toshie. 2003. ʻA History of Women in Japanese Buddhism:
Nichirenʼs Perspectives on the Enlightenment of Womenʼ. Journal of
Oriental Studies 13: 94-118.
with many examples from the Western tradition as well as Postmodernist insights,
see the brief but outstanding study by Peter C. Phan, Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue (New York: Orbis Books, 2004).

Transmission and Creation (Deleanu)

99

Nishiguchi Junko 西口順子. 1987. Onna no chikara: Kodai no josei to bukkyō
女の力―古代の女性と仏教―. Tokyo: Heibon-sha.
Wacker, Monika. 2005. ʻResearch on Buddhist Nuns in Japanʼ. Asian folklore
Studies 64: 289-300.
Yoshida Kazuhiko, Katusura Reiko, Nishiguchi Junko 吉田一彦，勝浦令子，
西口順子. 1999. Nihon-shi no naka no josei to bukkyō 日本史の中の女性と仏教. Kyoto: Hōzō-kan.
Professor,
International College
for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies