Buddhism brought new ideas, that of the spiritual communion with the Buddhist saints and of the birth in Buddha's Land. • But the most influential factors of the Buddhist propa ganda were the activities of artists and mission aries. Through the channels of arts and indus try they began to refine the sentiment of the people and to promote their welfare. At any rate, it was an overwhelming power, incompar ably more powerful and appealing in every re spect than the pristine faith. The civilization of Japan made a leap by embracing the Bud dhist religion, but at the same time the spon taneous development of Japan's own religion was arrested.
During the 200 years following this decisive step, the missionary zeal and the activities of Buddhist priests were indeed admirable. Their influence soon made itself felt in the provinces. Roads were built, rivers bridged, mountainous regions made passable. The influence of Bud dhism progressed steadily. The greatest patron of the imported religion was always the one Who occupied the Imperial throne. The idea was that the tranquillity of the country and the security of the throne depended upon the favor of Buddha and his celestial attendants. Thus temples built were dedicated to these super natural guardians, and the manuscripts of the sacred texts were distributed in the provinces in order to secure the benefits of the celestial guardianship, But this was not a merely super stitious idea. Constant distribution of medical materials and the sending of physicians accom panied by preachers to the provinces must have been received by the people with great gratitude, both toward the religion and the government We can imagine also how the provincial drain impressed the people's mind with the dig nity of the Imperial court and of the Buddhist hierarchy.
The progress of Buddhism culminated in the foundation of a central cathedral near Nara, the capital. It was dedicated to Lochana, one of the spiritual bodies of Buddha, and on the occasion of the thanksgiving for the first dis covery of a gold mine in japan (749), the sovereign (Shomu) himself bowed before the gigantic statue of the Buddha, declaring him self to be the Servant of the Three Jewels. The Empress was no less eager in showing her piety. Works of charity were instituted by her. Buddha, in the disguise of a sick man, is said to have been cured by her in one of her hos pitals. These examples were imitated by nobles, and much wealth was lavished on the pious cause.
Even under this marvelous progress of Buddhist influence, the old faith in the kami kept its hold firmly on the people. The con
struction of the central cathedral was com pleted primarily on account of the oracular sanction given by the Heaven-Shining Deity. The alleged sanction was based on a concil iatory explanation that the Deity herself was a manifestation of Buddha. This compromise gave a stimulus significant for the further de velopment of Buddhism, both to its gain and loss. The step became once for all a typical model of the further amalgamation of Buddha's religion with the old worship. The compromise was a natural outcome of the Buddhist propa Banda which was largely carried on by the means of outward splendor and the idea of im mediate helpfulness. Of course, these were aided by the teaching of Buddhist philosophy and by moral disciplines, both of the monks and of the laymen. But this wisdom and morality, on the one side, and the ideal of salvation, on the other, were rather loosely connected. The rebirth in a heavenly world, rather than the ulti mate enlightenment, and in addition, the worldly benefits which the religion afforded, were the chief attractions.
This circumstance furnished the reason for the religious arts of this period — chiefly mural paintings and sculpture. The Buddhism adopted by the Japanese was, first of all, a religion referring constantly to beauty. The classical period of Japanese sculpture, which has never been excelled by the later ages, was the result. It is perhaps needless to state how Buddhism refined the esthetic sentiment of the people by its arts, gave a stimulus to the building of more lasting abodes by its architecture, and made firmer the social organization by the help of its hierarchic institutions.
The removal of the Imperial residence from Nara to Kioto in 794 marked a parallel change, not only of the chief seat of Buddhism but in its doctrine also. One monastery on a hill near the new capital, known thence as Hiei, and a temple in the town were founded under Imperial patronage. The two most conspicuous personages in the history of Japanese Buddhism, Saicho (whose posthumous name is Dengyo, 767-822) and Kukai (posthumous Kobo, 774 835), were despatched to China in 804. This opened a new path for Buddhism, and they started a new departure. The religion of these two was characterized by its elaborate system of mysticism, most probably a form of Bud dhism mixed with Hinduism and Persian Magism. Here doctrine and ideal, philosophy and religion were more closely connected than in the Buddhism of the preceding period.