hitherto followed for years, and began to repeat the name of Amida
Buddha sixty thousand times a day. This event occurred in A.D. 1175.


H[=o]-nen, Founder of the Pure Land Sect.


This path-finder to the Pure Land, who developed a special doctrine of
salvation, is best known by his posthumous title of H[=o]-nen. During
his lifetime he was very famous and became the spiritual preceptor of
three Mikados. After his death his biography was compiled in forty-eight
volumes by imperial order, and later, three other emperors copied or
republished it. In the history of Japan this sect has been one of the
most influential, especially with the imperial and sh[=o]gunal families.
In Ki[=o]to the magnificent temples and monasteries of Chi[=o]n-in, and
in T[=o]ki[=o] Z[=o]-j[=o]-ji, are the chief seats of the two principal
divisions of this sect. The gorgeous mausoleums,--well known to every
foreign tourist,--at Shiba and Uyéno in T[=o]ki[=o], and the clustered
and matchless splendors of Nikk[=o], belong to this sect, which has been
under the patronage of the illustrious line of the Tokugawa,[5] while
its temples and shrines are numbered by many thousands.

The doctrine of the J[=o]-d[=o], or the Pure Land Sect, is easily
discerned. One of Buddha's disciples said, that in the teachings of the
Master there are two divisions or vehicles. In the Maha-yana also there
are two gates; the Holy path, and the Pure Land. The Smaller Vehicle is
the doctrine by which the immediate disciples of Buddha and those for
five hundred years succeeding, practised the various virtues and
discipline. The gateway of the Maha-yana is also the doctrine, by which
in addition to the trainings mentioned, there are also understood the