A monk who left the urban Buddhism of [[Nara]] to become a recluse on [[Mt. Hiei]], he built a small shrine in [[788]]. He was sent by the [[Emperor Kammu]] with a Japanese embassy to China under [[Fujiwara Kadonomaro]], to study in China in [[804]]. He returned in [[805]] to found the Tendai Lotus sect of Japanese Buddhism. His small monastery, the [[Enryaku-ji]], on Mt. Hiei was enlarged, and grew steadily in power and influence over the centuries, until it was nearly eradicated by [[Oda Nobunaga]] in [[1571]]. | A monk who left the urban Buddhism of [[Nara]] to become a recluse on [[Mt. Hiei]], he built a small shrine in [[788]]. He was sent by the [[Emperor Kammu]] with a Japanese embassy to China under [[Fujiwara Kadonomaro]], to study in China in [[804]]. He returned in [[805]] to found the Tendai Lotus sect of Japanese Buddhism. His small monastery, the [[Enryaku-ji]], on Mt. Hiei was enlarged, and grew steadily in power and influence over the centuries, until it was nearly eradicated by [[Oda Nobunaga]] in [[1571]]. |