Tō Temple

…take over the leadership of Tō Temple (also known as Kyōōgokoku Temple), at Heian-kyō’s southern entrance. Images developed under his instruction probably included forerunners of the particular ryōkai mandara known as the Tō Temple mandala. Stylistically, these paintings reveal a shift from Tang painting style to a flatter, more decorative…

…819; he later established the Tō Temple in Kyōto as the sect’s headquarters. By the end of the Heian period, it was, like the other Heian-founded sect, Tendai, both rich and powerful.

Indeed, the formal name for Tō Temple, Kyōōgokoku, may be translated as “Temple for the Defense of the Nation by the King of Doctrines.” Although Kūkai and Saichō were initially kept at a distance in remote mountain monasteries, the government granted independent ordination authority to the Tendai sect in 822,…