Kukai - The Toji Period

Kūkai (空海) or also known posthumously as Kōbō-Daishi (弘法大師) , 774–835 CE: Japanese monk, scholar, and artist, founder of the Shingon or "True Word" school of Buddhism. Kūkai is famous as a calligrapher (see Shodo), engineer and is said to have invented kana, the syllabary in which, in combination with Chinese characters (Kanji) the Japanese language is written. His religious writing, some 50 works, expound the esoteric Shingon doctrine, of which the major ones have been translated into English by Hakeda (see b ...

Including:

• Kukai - Biography
• Kukai - Early years
• Kukai - The esoteric
• Kukai - Travel and study in China
• Kukai - Emerging from obscurity
• Kukai - Mount Kōya
• Kukai - The Toji Period
• Kukai - Final years
• Kukai - Kukai's significance to Japanese culture
• Kukai - Religion
• Kukai - Folk legends

Read more here: » Kukai: Encyclopedia - Kukai

Kukai - Early years. Kūkai was born in 774 in the province of Sanuki on Shikoku island in the present day town of Zentsūji. His family were members of a declining aristocratic family, a branch of the ancient Ōtomo clan. There is some doubt as to his birth name: Tōtomono (precious one) is recorded in one source, while Mao (True Fish) is recorded elsewhere. Mao is popularly use ...

See also:

Kukai, Kukai - Biography, Kukai - Early years, Kukai - The esoteric, Kukai - Travel and study in China, Kukai - Emerging from obscurity, Kukai - Mount Kōya, Kukai - The Toji Period, Kukai - Final years, Kukai - Kukai's significance to Japanese culture, Kukai - Religion, Kukai - Folk legends

Read more here: » Kukai: Encyclopedia II - Kukai - Biography