Risshū

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Tōshōdai-ji in Nara, Japan.

Risshū [alt. Ritsu-shū] (lit. "Vinaya school") is one of the one of the the Six Nara schools of Japan, noted for its use of the Vinaya textual framework of the Dharmaguptaka school.

The Princeton Dictionary states:

Rather than an established religious institution, the Risshū, like the other contemporaneous schools of the Nara period (710–974), should instead be considered more of an intellectual tradition or school of thought. Risshū arose as an attempt to systematize monastic rules and practices on the basis of Chinese translations of Indian vinaya texts.

Risshū is influenced by the Chinese Vinaya school, particularly the branch known as the South Mountain vinaya school (Nanshan lü zong).

Realizing that Japan lacked proper observance of the vinaya, Nara scholars who had studied monastic discipline in China sought the aid of Ganjin (C. Jianzhen; 687–763), a well-known Chinese master of the "Nanshan lü zong" (South Mountain School of Discipline), the largest of the three vinaya traditions of China.

Ganjin traveled to Japan in 754 and established ordination platforms at Tōdai-ji and other temples. He also founded the monastery of Tōshōdai-ji in Nara.

Today, the Tōshōdai-ji retains its identity as a Risshū temple.

See also

• Buddhism in Japan
• Vinaya school

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 

Further reading

• Bunyiu Nanjio (1886). A short history of the twelve Japanese Buddhist sects, Tokyo: Bukkyo-sho-ei-yaku-shupan-sha, pp. 20–31