Mappo

• Japanese: 末法　(mappou)

Mappô, literally meaning "the end of the law," was an end-times or apocalyptic notion which possessed some considerable currency in the late Heian period. It was believed that, following a 500-year period of "the true law" (正法, shôbô), and a thousand-year period of "simulated doctrine" (像法, zôbô), the spread of Buddhist teachings, belief in Buddhism, or the teachings themselves would begin to weaken, degrade and decay. Many in the late Heian period believed they had entered this third of the three stages of the Buddhist Law, mappô, at that time, and that it would continue for an indeterminate length of time.

The concept is not much-discussed after the early Kamakura period, however.

References

• Sources of Japanese Tradition. vol 1. New York: Columbia Press. p192.