KQBO, kO-loo, the Cadmus, Philo and Euhemerus of Japan, all in one. The posthu mous title of the Buddhist priest Kukat (koo kigh), to whom is attributed the invention of the Japanese syllabary I ro ha, of 47 letters. He proposed and carried out the scheme, by which Shintoism (q.v.) was occulted and swal lowed up in Buddhism. In 804 he went to China to study under the most renowned masters. On his return in 806 he excelled all by his erudition and eloquence, and founded the Shingun, or Sect of the True Word, which makes use of verbal formula rto a remarkable extent. According to its tenets, a believer can attain to the state of the Enlightened, or Buddhahood, while in the body of flesh and blood. After a revelation from the gods at Ise, the most sacred of the Shinto shrines, he came forth to baptize all the native gods as avatars, or manifestations of Buddha, giving them new Buddhistic names, while for every Shinto festival he arranged a corresponding Buddhist saint's or gala day. He thus pro vided both for the scholars and the common people. He sent forth his pupils to preach the new theology, which soon captured the whole nation, thus establishing for a thousand years Ryobu, or mixed Shinto. In 816 he built on
Mount Koya one of the most splendid temples in the empire. In 921 Kukai was canonized by the emperor, under the name of Kobo Daishi (the Great Teacher., who promulgates the law). The popular legends concerning Kobo's amaz ing powers of learning, writing, literary ac complishments and painting from the favorite subjects of the art of Hokusai (q.v.) and other artists. Consult Reischauer, 'Studies in Jap anese Buddhism' (1918), and Griffis, 'The Re ligions of Japan' (1895).
KOBOLD, Hermann Albert, German astronomer: b. Hanover, 5 Oct. 1858. He studied at a private school and the Royal Gymnasium, Hanover, and at Gottingen Uni versity. He was attached to the O'Gyalla Ob servatory in Hungary (1880-83), was astron omer on the German Venus Expedition to Aiken, S. C., and was appointed (1883-86) to the commission of observation of the transit of Venus. He was attached to the Strassburg Observatory (1886-1902) and at Kiel Observa tory (1902). In 1908 he became editor of the Astronomische Nachrichten. He wrote 'Ban des Fixsternsystems, mit besondere Riichsicht der photometrische Resultate> in Die Wissen schaft (1906).