The Silk Road, part 2 of 4 +^

[Disbasing Zen Stories]

Toxic Zen Story #4, part 2 of 4: The Silk Road, Franciscans, Dominicans, Mongol Invasions & Kamikaze, Inquisitions, Torquemada, Tokugawas, Jesuits, and Dharma Debates.


____ Background for Toxic Zen Stories ____________________

https://groups.google.com/group/alt.zen/msg/b4ad0ce368728934?hl=en

____ part 2, continued from part 1 of 4 __________________


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594 CE: Prince Shotoku introduces Buddhism to Japan.
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623 CE: The regulation of monk and nun issued in Japan.

The rulership of hereditary charisma, however, meant the minimization of secular power of the emperor. The emperor had to struggle against the nobles, which exercised their own hereditary rights disregarding the will of the emperor. The able nobles often took the actual political power from the powerless Imperial successor.

To restore its actual political power from the nobles, the Imperial House attempted to introduce a patrimonial administration time and again, though they were not successful. Among such attempts, the introduction of monastic Buddhism made a lasting influence. Prince Shotoku (574-622) introduced Buddhist literary administrators as a counter-weight to the noble clans. The monks were more reliable and the less dangerous staff than nobles and warriors.

Weber writes: "If the political ruler wants to create an apparatus of officials and a counter weight against the nobility, the natural opponent of such a patrimonial or bureaucratic rationalization, he cannot wish for a more reliable support than the influence of the monks" (1968).
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629-645 CE: Xuanzang (pronounced Shwan-dzang) Chinese Buddhist monk and translator traveling across the Tarim basin via the northern route, Turfan, Kucha, Tashkent, Samarkand, Bactria, then over the Kindu Kush to India. Returned via the southern route. He spent his remaining life translating sutras into Chinese. He was an important intermediary between China and India. Travel was forbidden at this time by the Chinese Emperor, and dangerous as well.
Map: http://www.bangorschools.net/hs/SR/Xuanzang_files/T'angMap.jpg
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673 CE: Emperor Temmu institutionalizes the state cult (Shinto) in Japan.

The growing authority and influence of Buddhism, however, did not provide the legitimacy of the ruling class. Only the emperor's charisma as the descendant of the Sun Goddess could legitimized the possession of the ruling class. To solidify the connection with the deities, the court institutionalized the state sacrificial rite and the sanctuaries of the deities, i.e., Shinto, in the early 8th century. By the coronation ceremony, the new emperor magically succeeded the throne and, as the highest priest (pontifex), offered the great sacrifice.

Weber writes: "The sovereign, descending from the spirit of the sun was, as in China, supreme priest" (1958).

By the institutionalization of the state cult, the original rite of great sacrifice (oho nie no matsuri) was divided into the coronation ceremony (daijo sai), the new food propitiation (nie name sai), and the godly festival (kan name sai). See Abukuma, An Origin of Shinto.

Institutionalized priesthood constituted the hereditary clan of the state cult. It functioned as a ritual and oracle department of the rulership. Weber writes:

In a manner similar to that found elsewhere, the ordeal and oracle functioned in political decision-making. Among the mass of deities, the majority, even today, are apotheosized heroes and benefactors (1958).

They were a magical and non-orgiastic cult of the state. Weber describes the characteristics of Shinto

The official cult bore the typical stamp of the refined ritualism of a stratum of knights. The essential elements consisted in the recitation of hymns and food propitiations.... Ritual impurity meant blood guilt and incest as well as bodily defects. Very strict prescriptions for ritual purity compensated for the lack of a religious "ethic." Any sort of compensation in the beyond was lacking (1958).

But the Shinto priesthood did not have own doctrine, religious ethic, priestly way of life, and priestly education. It was controlled by secular authority and had no independent authority of religion.

The Department of Shinto (Jingikan) "supervised all the officially sponsored shrines" and "controlled all aspects of Shinto" (Kitagawa 1987).

"Its duty was to oversee the registers of the entire priesthood and of the religious corporation, the personnel of the Jingikan [Shinto official] itself and the staffing of the principal shrines" (Bock 1970).
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710 CE: The Capital Nara established in Japan
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712 CE: The Kojiki (the oldest chronicle of Japanese rulership) compiled.
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713-741CE: Hwi Chao. Korean monk but grew up in China. Traveled to India via sea route (route unclear). Lived there for several years and visited various Buddhist kingdoms in India, Persia and Afghanistan. On the returning journey, traveled to Kashmir, Kabul, passed the Pamirs and entered Xinjiang from Tashkurgan, then skirted around the Taklamakan desert from the northern towns, Kucha, Turfan and Hami. His account Wang wou t'ien tchou kquo tch'ouan or The Record to Five Indian Kingdoms provided valuable information on the Islamic and Buddhist distribution among the Central Asian kingdoms during the 8th century. His book had been lost since Tang dynasty until an incomplete copy (14 pages, ~6000 words) was miraculously discovered by the French explorer, Paul Pelliot at Dunhuang cave in 1908.
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741 CE: Emperor Shomu institutes State Buddhist monasteries (Kokubun-ji) to domesticate the temperament of the subjects and thereby nourish the obedience to the authority. The monks could domesticate the temper and attitude of the subject by their conduct of life.

Weber describes the distinctive conduct of life of the monk and its influence to the lay people: "The monk lived in a methodical fashion, he scheduled his time, practiced continuous self-control, rejected all spontaneous enjoyments and all personal obligations that did not serve the purposes of his vocation. Thus he was predestined to serve as the principal tool of bureaucratic centralization and rationalization in the church [and also the state] and, through his influence as priest and educator, to spread corresponding attitudes among the religious laymen" (1968).

With the administrative power of monk literates, the court could found an enduring capital (Nara) and a tax administration (Kubunden).

Hajime Nakamura argues: "It was within the framework of their own peculiar nationalistic standpoint and orientation that the Japanese accepted Buddhism. They were inclined to utilize it as a means and an instrument to realize a certain socio-political end. They were not converted to Buddhism. They converted Buddhism to their own tribalism" (1964).
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745 CE: Wandering monk Gyogi appointed to the Archbishop in Japan.

The monks' prestige and authority among the people, however, goes beyond the control of secular power when itinerant monks established the spiritual authority among the people. Therefore, the court strictly regulated the order and ordination of Buddhist monks within the hands of secular power. In particular, the court had to prohibit wandering monks (hijiri and ubasoku) to prevent them from the establishment of their magico-religious authority.

The court issued the edict of the prohibition of wandering monks in 701, 717, 729, 764, and 807. To maintain its control, like the Catholic church, the Imperial court took the same alternative measures: either to incorporate the itinerant monk into the office, or to banish (or execute) the monk. The former measure was taken for Gyogi (670-749) who was given the highest post in the monk hierarchy. (Gyogi was once arrested in 717.)

The latter measure was take for En-no-Shokaku who was banished to the Izu island in the early 8th century.
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760-780 CE: Great Teacher Miao-lo reasserts the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra in his many writings, but not through public debate.

From "The Bodies and Minds of Ordinary Beings" - Writings of Nichiren Daishonin p. 1131:

. 'Still later, the Great Teacher Miao-lo
. produced refutations of the Dharma
. Characteristics, Flower Garland, and True Word
. schools, schools that the Great Teacher T'ien-
. t'ai had of course not criticized. But he did not
. carry out his refutations in a public debate, as
. the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai had done. Thus the
. Lotus Sutra became like a piece of fine brocade
. worn in the dark of night, while the mudras and
. mantras, which are not to be found in the Lotus
. Sutra, were clearly visible before people's eyes.
. Therefore, everyone believed the True Word school
. to be superior.'

Hence, since Miao-lo did not refute all of the other schools of Buddhism extant in China at the time, in public debate, the Buddha's highest teaching was not protected in China and so Buddhism began its decline there. But the teachings survive.
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788 CE: Saicho (Great Teacher Dengyo) founds Enryaku monastery at Mt. Hiei in Japan. Dengyo was the cause of the spread of Kumarajiva's translation of the Lotus Sutra: from Sanskrit into classical Chinese verse form in 28 chapters.

802 CE: Great Teacher Dengyo debates the teachers from the six schools at the behest of the Emperor of Japan, and refutes them, establishing the Lotus Sutra as the Buddha's highest teaching in Japan.

From "The Selection of the Time - Nichiren, disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha" - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin pp. 548-549

. 'Eight hundred years after the beginning of
. the Middle Day of the Law, in the reign of the
. fiftieth sovereign, Emperor Kammu (r. 781--806),
. there appeared a young priest without reputation
. named Saicho, who was later to be known as the
. Great Teacher Dengyo. At first he studied the
. doctrines of the six schools---Three Treatises,
. Dharma Characteristics, Flower Garland, Dharma
. Analysis Treasury, Establishment of Truth, and
. Precepts---as well as the Zen teaching, under the
. Administrator of Priests Gyohyo and others. Later
. he founded a temple called Kokusho-ji, which in
. time came to be known as Mount Hiei. There he
. pored over the sutras and treatises of the six
. schools, as well as the commentaries written by
. their leaders. But he found that these
. commentaries often contradicted the sutras and
. treatises upon which these schools relied and
. were replete with one-sided opinions. It became
. apparent to him that if people were to accept
. such teachings they would all fall into the evil
. paths of existence. In addition, though the
. leaders of each of the different schools
. proclaimed that they had understood the true
. meaning of the Lotus Sutra and praised their own
. particular interpretation, none of them had in
. fact understood its teachings correctly. Saicho
. felt that if he were to state this opinion openly
. it would surely lead to quarrels and disputes.
. But if he remained silent, he would be going
. against the spirit of the Buddha's vow. (52) He
. agonized over what course to take, but in the
. end, fearful of violating the Buddha's
. admonition, made known his views to Emperor
. Kammu.'
.
. 'Emperor Kammu, startled at his declaration,
. summoned the leading authorities of the six
. schools to engage in debate. (53) At first these
. scholars in their pride were similar to banners
. raised aloft like mountains, and their evil minds
. worked like poisonous snakes, but in the end they
. were forced to bow in defeat in the presence of
. the ruler, and each and every person of the six
. schools and the seven major temples of Nara
. acknowledged himself a disciple of Saicho.'
.
. 'It was like that earlier occasion when the
. Buddhist scholars of northern and southern China
. gathered in the palace of the Ch'en dynasty and,
. having been bested in debate by the Great Teacher
. T'ien-t'ai, became his disciples. But [of the
. three types of learning] T'ien t'ai had employed
. only perfect meditation and perfect wisdom. (54)
. The Great Teacher Dengyo, by contrast, attacked
. the Hinayana specific ordination for
. administering the precepts, which T'ien t'ai had
. failed to controvert, and administered the
. Mahayana specific ordination (55) described in
. the Brahma Net Sutra to eight eminent priests of
. the six schools. In addition, he established on
. Mount Hiei a specific ordination platform for
. administering the precepts of the perfect and
. immediate enlightenment of the Lotus Sutra. Thus
. the specific ordination in the precepts of
. perfect and immediate enlightenment at Enryaku-ji
. on Mount Hiei was not only the foremost
. ordination ceremony in Japan, but a great
. ordination in the precepts of Eagle Peak such as
. had never been known either in India or China or
. anywhere else in Jambudvipa during the eighteen
. hundred or more years since the Buddha's passing.
. This ceremony of ordination had its beginning in
. Japan.'
.
. 'If we examine the merit achieved by the Great
. Teacher Dengyo, we would have to say that he is a
. sage who surpasses Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu and
. who excels both T'ien-t'ai and Miaolo. If so,
. then what priest in Japan today could turn his
. back on the perfect precepts of the Great Teacher
. Dengyo, whether he belongs to To-ji, Onjo-ji, or
. the seven major temples of Nara, or whether he is
. a follower of one of the eight schools or of the
. Pure Land, Zen, or Precepts school in whatever
. corner of the land? The priests of the nine
. regions of China became the disciples of the
. Great Teacher T'ien t'ai with respect to the
. perfect meditation and perfect wisdom that he
. taught. But since no ordination platform for
. universally administering the precepts of perfect
. and immediate enlightenment was ever established
. in China, some of them might not have become his
. disciples with regard to the precepts. In Japan,
. however, [because Dengyo in fact established such
. an ordination platform] any priests who fail to
. become disciples of the Great Teacher Dengyo can
. only be regarded as non-Buddhists and men of
. evil.'
.
. 'As to the question of which of the two newer
. schools brought from China is superior, the
. Tendai or the True Word, the Great Teacher Dengyo
. was perfectly clear in his mind. But he did not
. demonstrate which was superior in public debate,
. as he had done previously with regard to the
. relative merit of the Tendai school in comparison
. to the six older schools. Perhaps on that
. account, after the passing of the Great Teacher
. Dengyo, To-ji, the seven major temples of Nara,
. Onjo-ji, and other temples throughout the
. provinces of Japan all began proclaiming that the
. True Word school is superior to the Tendai
. school, until everyone from the ruler on down to
. the common people believed that such was the
. case.'
.
. 'Thus the true spirit of the Tendai Lotus
. school really flourished only during the lifetime
. of the Great Teacher Dengyo. Dengyo lived at the
. end of the Middle Day of the Law, during the
. period described in the Great Collection Sutra as
. the age of building temples and stupas. The time
. had not yet arrived when, as the Great Collection
. Sutra says, "Quarrels and disputes will arise
. among the adherents to my teachings, and the pure
. Law will become obscured and lost."'

Footnotes:

52. The vow is to spread the correct teaching of Buddhism and lead the people to enlightenment.

53. This debate was held at Takaosan-ji temple in Kyoto in 802.

54. With "perfect meditation" and "perfect wisdom," the Daishonin refers to the three types of learning: precepts, meditation, and wisdom. T'ien-t'ai devoted himself to meditation and wisdom based on the Lotus Sutra, yet continued to employ the Hinayana precepts.

55. The ordination ceremony in which one receives the ten major precepts and forty-eight minor precepts, as set forth in the Brahma Net Sutra. This ordination ceremony was held at Takaosan-ji temple in 805 for eight priests including Dosho and Shuen.

The six schools refuted at this time were described by Dengyo as the "six schools of Nara". From the Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism (Zen was also refuted, although not considered one of the six schools of Nara):

. 'Six Schools of Nara (Jpn nanto-rokusha):
. Also, six schools. Six schools of Buddhism that
. flourished in Nara, the capital of Japan, during
. the Nara period (710-794). They are the Dharma
. Analysis Treasury (Kusha), Establishment of Truth
. (Jojitsu), Three Treatises (Sanron), Precepts
. (Ritsu), Dharma Characteristics (Hosso), and
. Flower Garland (Kegon) schools. These were not so
. much independent religious schools as
. philosophical or doctrinal systems, and more than
. one of these traditions were usually studied at
. each of the seven major temples of Nara. At
. Todai-ji temple, for example, all six were
. studied. Later, however, when the great statue of
. Vairochana Buddha, the principal Buddha of the
. Flower Garland teachings, was completed and
. enshrined there, the Flower Garland school became
. preeminent at Todai-ji. The Three Treatises
. school was based primarily at Daian-)i and Gango-
. ji temples, and the Dharma Characteristics school
. at Gango-ji and Kofuku-ji. Though Establishment
. of Truth and Dharma Analysis Treasury are called
. schools also, their doctrines were studied in
. conjunction with the doctrines of the Three
. Treatises and Dharma Characteristics schools,
. respectively, and they did not become independent
. schools. The Precepts school was established in
. Japan by the Chinese priest Chien-chen (Jpn
. Ganjin) who arrived there in 753.'

Hence during Dengyo's debate, he refuted all of these schools, whose leading teachers had to concede defeat to the ruler: That the Lotus Sutra is the highest teaching of Shakyamuni.

Dengyo's Enryaku-ji monastery at Mt. Hiei changed the political climate of Buddhism in Japan in a profound way.

Since its foundation, the Buddhist monastery gained ever increasing prestige and influence and accumulated donations of lands. By the end of the 11th century, the monasteries accumulated considerable landholdings. The temple land served as the protection of private landholdings because secular powers could not seize such temple land without committing sacrilege (Weber 1968).

Yosaburo Takekoshi writes about the power of sacrilege: "Nobody had yet committed such sacrilege. Kiyomori [1118-1181] was the first to have shot at the sanctuary" (1930).

By the donation of their land to the monastery, the aristocratic families could secure the revenue of the land.

Takekoshi describes a reason for the growing monastic land: "People soon began to think it to their advantage to offer their land to the temples, becoming soji [danka] (manorial governor), who took charge of the land and received a certain percentage of the return. Many avail themselves of it, not from any particular love of Buddhism, but to protect themselves from the illegal interference and lawless taxation of the local governors. A tacit understanding made the post of soji [danka] hereditary in the family of the contributor" (1930).

Weber explains: Not only the secular administration of the monastery is reserved to the [temple] founder's family, but also --and this is far more important-- the surplus of the increasing revenues over the fixed expenditures (1968).

The more the monastery accumulated lands, the more the aristocratization of the monastery advanced. At the end of the 12 century, the Imperial House and the nobles monopolized almost all higher position of the prominent monasteries (Inoue 1986). Weber writes:

Monasteries and other foundations were always exposed to aristocratic attempt at utilizing them for the maintenance of the younger nobles (1968).

Kitagawa writes: "Many aristocratic families donated quarters to the clergy as well as land to temples in order to maintain de facto control over properties" (1966).

With the growing aristocratization of the monastery and the accumulation of the temple land, the monastery became autonomous and independent from the emperor. It went beyond the control of the court.
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794 CE: The Japanese Capital established at Kyoto.
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900 CE: Enryaku monastery introduces monk-soldier to Japan.
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1086 CE: Emperor Shirakawa introduces warrior officials to Japan.

The transition from a hereditary state to a feudal state had taken place between the 10th and 12th centuries since the emperors ruled from their cloister office with the aid of the warriors. The decisive motivation of this transition is the emperor's restoration of his secular power. Weber describes:

The transition from this condition [the hereditary state] to the feudal state is regularly motivated by the ruler's interest in destroying the autonomous legitimacy of hereditary clans and in replacing it with a feudal legitimacy derived from his own person" (1968).

Weber also says: "In Japan the ruler [the emperor] attempted in this fashion to emancipate himself from the dominance of aristocratic families which had hereditary charisma" (1968).

Due to the frequent civil wars among warrior lords, however, the emperor lost almost its actual power to control over warrior lords and monasteries.
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1095 CE: First Christian Crusade, initiated by Pope Urban II, into the Holy Lands of the Middle East.
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1119 CE: Founding of "Knight's Templar", a semi-mystical and semi-military private society initially intended to protect Crusaders, but eventually developing into a powerful faction in its own right.
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1185 CE: Warrior Minamoto establishes Japanese Feudal domination

Shogun caesaro-papism began when Yoritomo Minamoto defeated the Taira warrior clan, the former power-holder, in 1185. He established feudal rulership under the title Shogun ("the Generalissimo") and took secular power from the emperor. The Minamoto Shogunate, however, kept the emperor's religious authority (pontifex) as the descendant of the deity.

Weber writes: "the powerlessness of the insulated monarch [the emperor], who is an incarnation, resulted ... in the seizure of power by a family that was not encumbered with the monarch's charismatic obligations and hence can provide the real ruler (major domus, Shogun)" (1968).

The charismatic quality of the Imperial House was essential for the legitimacy of the Shogunate. Weber writes:

Here too, the formal ruler must be retained because only his specific charisma can guarantee the proper relation to the deities, which is indispensable for the legitimacy of the whole political structure, including the position of the actual ruler (1968).

The power struggle, then, shifted to between the Shogun and his vassals. Since both the Shogun and his vassals could depend on their own military power, frequent usurpation of power took place and thereby weakened secular authority over the religious authority. This transition was followed by the decline of the Imperial authority and opened an opportunity for the autonomous and independent development of religion.
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1197 CE: The sacking of the Buddhist university Nalanda in north India, the culminating act of Islamic aggressions, resulting in the complete elimination of Buddhism, in any form, from India.
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1206 CE: Genghis Khan proclaimed supreme ruler of Mongolian tribes.
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1209 CE: St. Francis of Assisi founds the Franciscan Order.
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1209-1229 CE: The 1st Papal Inquisition.

. By the 13th century, the dream of a lasting
. crusader kingdom in the Holy Lands was starting
. to fade. Pope Innocent III then turned the zeal
. of the crusaders against fellow Christians. In
. 1202, the Fourth Crusade was launched which later
. captured Constantinople. Next, in 1209, Innocent
. III launched a crusade against the Cathars in
. southern France (Languedoc region). This bloody
. action, known to history as the Albigensian
. Crusade, would directly lead to the establishment
. of the first Inquisition.
.
. The Albigensian Crusade (so named, because the
. French city of Albi was a Cathar stronghold),
. lasted for 20 years, from 1209 to 1229. While
. authorized by the pope, the actual fighting was
. carried out primarily by secular forces,
. especially under Simon de Montfort. The
. suppression of the Cathar heresy established new
. "standards" for ferocity for the Roman Church in
. dealing with its own flock. Perhaps the most
. famous example was on July 22, 1209, when the
. city of Beziers was sacked, with over 20,000 men,
. women and children killed by crusaders. The event
. will forever be framed in history by the words of
. papal legate Arnaud, whom, when asked if
. Catholics should be spared during the assault,
. answered "Kill them all, for God knows His own".
.
. Wholesale burnings of Cathars were carried out
. during the Crusade, including 400 burnt after the
. fall of Lavaur in 1211, and 94 burnt after the
. fall of Casses in the same year. It was against
. this backdrop that Pope Gregory IX instituted the
. Papal Inquisition in 1227/31. While the
. Albigensian Crusade had wiped out most of the
. Cathar strongholds, there were still heretics to
. be hunted down and burned -- many of whom had
. gone into hiding during the years of the Crusade.
. Examples of post-Crusade slaughter of the Cathars
. include 183 burned in Montwimer (Marne) in 1239,
. and the burning of 215 Cathar perfecti at the
. Castle of Montsegur in 1244 (sometimes referred
. to as the Massacre at Montsegur.)
.
. And while the Cathars were the initial targets of
. the Inquisition (so much so that, for many years,
. the term "Cathar" was used synonymously with
. "heretic"), the scope of the Papal Inquisition
. would eventually range much wider and further
. than the Cathars. Ultimately, it would include
. victims such as the Waldensians, Fraticelli (a
. splinter group of the Franciscans), the Knights
. Templar, and (much later) -- Protestants.
.
. By 1233, the Dominicans (the order founded by St.
. Dominic in 1217) were given the primary charter
. to act as Inquisitors, joined shortly after by
. the Franciscans (founded by St. Francis of Assisi
. in 1209/10). Curiously, the first 100 years of
. the Papal Inquisition could be said to have been
. a battle between ascetic groups. Many of the
. members of these groups were referred to as
. mendicant friars, meaning they received
. sustenance by begging.
.
. By the 12th/13th centuries, many members of the
. Roman Catholic clergy were known for their rather
. profligate living styles, including many
. monastics. A number of groups rose up during this
. period that believed that the church should
. return to the example set by the apostles in Acts
. -- the church should own no possessions. Further,
. they believed that clergy should earn the respect
. of the people by giving up worldly goods, and
. going out into the world to preach the gospel.
. (The argument between the ascetics and the
. status-quo-Church is well laid out in the book
. (and resulting movie) The Name of the Rose, by
. Umberto Eco).
.
. Today, it can initially be difficult to
. understand why some ascetic groups (such as the
. Dominicans and Franciscans) were openly welcomed
. by the church (and indeed, were the first
. Inquisitors), while other ascetic groups (the
. Waldensians, the Cathars, the Fraticelli) were
. hunted down and burned at the stake. The answer,
. though, is rather clear -- the former groups
. submitted to the authority of the Church, while
. the latter groups ultimately rejected the
. authority of pope and clergy.
.
. It should be noted that prior to the institution
. of the Papal Inquisition in 1227/31, local
. bishops had the authority to investigate, and try
. heretics in local ecclesiastical courts. What
. made the Inquisition distinctive is that the
. Inquisitors theoretically answered only to the
. pope -- not to the local bishop, nor even to the
. heads of their Order. This autonomy allowed the
. Inquisition to act as an independent tribunal,
. able to go where it wanted, when it wanted, and
. try whom it wanted -- with no interference
. allowed from local secular or ecclesiastical
. authorities. (Those that tried to interfere with
. the autonomy of the Inquisition were, of course,
. branded as heretics themselves).
.
. The Use of Torture
.
. The use of torture was authorized in 1252 by Pope
. Innocent IV. In Spain, it is estimated that
. torture was used in about 1/3 of all cases.
. (Hroch, p. 146) The purpose of torture was to
. exact confessions. Since some people questioned
. whether confessions received under torture were
. valid, the accused would be asked to verify what
. they had admitted under torture several hours
. later. If they refused to validate their
. confession, they would be subject to more
. torture.
.
. Popular methods of torture included flogging,
. burning, the rack, and the roasting of feet over
. burning coals. In Spain and Italy, the garrucha
. was popular -- the victim's hands would be tied
. behind their back, and they'd be lifted off the
. ground by a rope tied around the wrists.
.
. In Spain, another method of torture was oft
. employed - the water torture (tortura del'agua).
. In this scenario, the victim would be bound to
. the rack, with his head lower than rest of his
. body. The mouth would then be forced open
. (sometimes with cloth), and water would be forced
. into the mouth. The victim would risk suffocation
. if he did not "confess".
.
. Methodologies of the Inquisition
.
. "Their form of proceeding is an infallible way to
. destroy whomsoever the inquisitors wish. The
. prisoners are not confronted with the accuser or
. informer. Nor is there any informer or witness
. who is not listened to. A public convict, a
. notorious malefactor, an infamous person, a
. common prostitute, a child, are in the holy
. office, though no where else, credible accusers
. and witnesses. Even the son may depose against
. his father, the wife against her husband." -
. Voltaire (Jones, p. 88)
.
. To late-20th century Americans, the methodologies
. of the Inquisition are understandably horrifying.
. The Inquisition created an atmosphere where the
. denouncing of real or imagined sins of neighbors,
. business partners, even family members was
. encouraged. The accused had almost no rights --
. no right to a lawyer, no right to know who their
. accusers were, and no right to know the nature of
. the charges leveled against them. Torture was
. used in many cases to extract confessions. The
. methodologies and the ferocity of the Inquisition
. stood as unique in the history of Western
. civilization until the Nazis and Communists of
. the 20th century.
.
. In this section we'll examine how the Inquisitor
. went about his job, and what the experience of
. the accused might have been.
.
. The Edict of Faith
.
. "Listen to me, citizen! I am no heretic: I have a
. wife, and sleep with her, and she has born me
. sons. I eat meat, I tell lies and swear
. [activities forbidden to Cathar perfecti], and I
. am a good Christian." -- Jean Tisseyre, Toulouse
. (Oldenbourg, p. 288)
.
. Typically, the cycle of the Inquisition would
. start with the Inquisitor and his entourage
. (Tomas Torquemada traveled with 50 mounted
. bodyguards, and 200 foot soldiers) visiting a
. particular town or parrish. The Inquisitor would
. often preach to the population in the town square
. or church about the sin of heresy. An Edict of
. Faith was often published by the Inquisitor,
. giving detailed instructions as to how to spot a
. heretic (either in other people, or in yourself!)
.
. Typically, a 1-4 week Term of Grace followed in
. which voluntary confessions were sought. Those
. that stepped forward voluntarily and admitted to
. their heresy were often given limited punishment.
. Also during this period the Inquisitor would
. start accumulating information from denouncers --
. those that were reporting heresy in others. This
. was, of course, a convenient way to do away with a
. business or personal rival (although there was
. one safeguard, which will be described later).
. Sometimes the Inquisitor would call upon a whole
. parish or city to testify. In 1245/6 inquisitors
. in the Toulouse area called on 8,000-10,000
. people to testify! (Hamilton, p. 42)
.
. After the period of grace, everyone in the parish
. or city that had not voluntarily confessed was at
. risk of being denounced. The Inquisition only
. required evidence of two witnesses for
. prosecution. And, as pointed out by Voltaire in
. the preamble of this section, the inquisitors
. were not very choosy about who could bring the
. denunciation. Wives and husbands could testify
. against each other. Convicted heretics and
. convicted criminals could denounce others.
.
. The experience of the accused
.
. Once a person had been accused, he or she was
. politely summoned to appear before the
. Inquisition. Such an appearance was not a
. requirement, but failure to appear was taken as
. evidence of guilt. During the Inquisition, several
. inquisitors wrote "handbooks" for budding
. inquisitors. The excerpt below gives advice to
. the inquisitor on how to handle an early
. interrogation of a suspect:
.
. "The inquisitor should behave in a friendly
. manner and act as though he already knows the
. whole story. He should glance at his papers and
. say: 'It's quite clear you are not telling the
. truth' or should pick up a document and look
. surprised, saying: 'How can you lie to me like
. this when what I've got written down here
. contradicts everything you've told me?' He should
. then continue: 'Just confess -- you can see that
. I know the whole story already'". - Nicholas
. Eymeric, Directorium inquisitorium (Hroch, p.
. 145)
.
. Inquisition trials were held in secret. Suspects
. were not told the names of their accusers;
. however, they would be asked for a list of people
. that might bear them ill will. If the names of
. the denouncers were on the list, the accused was
. often set free (clever suspects would often
. present very long lists!)
.
. The accused were not able to call witnesses in
. their own defense, nor (during most of the
. Inquisition) were they allowed to have counsel
. present. (In some areas, lawyers for the accused
. were allowed, but if the accused were found
. guilty of heresy, the lawyer could also be so
. charged, for having defended them!)
.
. The accused were often put into Inquisitorial
. prisons during the time between arrest and
. sentence. In Spain, this period would often last
. for 3-4 years. During imprisonment, the accused
. usually had to pay their own expenses. This fact,
. and the fact that suspects found guilt of heresy
. often had to forfeit their property, meant that
. the Inquisition was often targeted against the
. wealthy rather than the poor. During the period
. of imprisonment, the accused was not allowed to
. talk to anyone other than the inquisitors.
.
. Since the primary stated goal of the Inquisition
. was to save souls, suspects were continually
. encouraged to confess to their heresy. Those that
. admitted their "guilt", and were willing to give
. the Inquisition names of other potential
. heretics, were often let off with penances.
. Penances could include:
.
. -Pilgrimages to local shrines, or to Rome,
. Compostella, Canterbury, etc.
. -Being forced to wear large yellow crosses on
. their clothing. In Spain, these were referred to
. as sanbenito.
. -Imprisonment in Inquisitorial prisons
. -Scourging or lashing (Spain)
. -The harshest sentences (such as complete
. confiscation of property or burning at the stake)
. were reserved for two types of offenders - those
. that refused to recant of their heresy (often the
. case, for example, with Cathar perfecti), and
. "relapsed" heretics. Relapsed heretics could be
. those that had been charged by the Inquisition at
. an earlier time, and had recanted of their
. heresy, or, in Spain, baptized Jews or Moslems
. that continued to secretly practice their faith
. might automatically be considered "relapsed"
. heretics.
.
. Once a relapsed or unrepentant heretic was found
. guilty, they were handed over (or "relaxed") to
. the secular authorities for punishment. This was
. not just an jurisdictional issue. The Church had
. a motto - "the Church shrinks from blood"
. (ecclesia abhorret a sanguine). Based on this
. motto, the Church itself would not administer the
. death sentence. Rather, this was left to local
. secular authorities. The chosen method for
. administering capital punishment -- burning at
. the stake, was partially chosen because it did
. not shed blood.
.
. The families of heretics that were burned
. typically had their property confiscated by the
. secular authorities. In Spain, descendents of
. heretics could not serve in public office,
. couldn't enter holy orders, and couldn't become
. physicians, tutors of the young, or advocates.
.
. The Act Of Faith
.
. The final scene of the Inquisitorial process was
. the Act of Faith (an auto-da-fé in Spain and
. 16th-century Italy, sermo generalis in the early
. days of the Papal Inquisition). Often, the
. accused did not hear their sentence until the day
. of the auto (those that were sentenced to death
. would be told the night before).
.
. The Act of Faith was held in public, typically in
. a town square or (in Italy), inside a local
. church. They were often huge public spectacles.
. In 1660, an auto-da-fé held in Seville lasted for
. three days, and was attended by 100,000 people.
. On June 30, 1680, an auto-da-fé held in Madrid
. lasted for 14 hours, and had 50,000 spectators.
. The longest part of the auto-da-fé was the
. reading of sentences. With often hundreds of
. convicted heretics, the sentencing could take
. many hours.
.
. Once the sentences had been read, those sentenced
. to death were led to the place of burning
. (quemadero in Spanish). Those that repented after
. being sentenced to death would be offered the
. courtesy of being garroted to death before being
. burned. Those that refused to recant (often
. Cathar perfecti, Lutherans and Calvinists in
. Italy and Spain, etc.) were burned alive.
.
. Those burned at the stake would often have
. ghoulish company. It was common practice to
. sentence the dead to burning. The dead would
. dutifully be disinterred and placed next to the
. still living victims. As horrifying as this
. spectacle might seem, there was a pragmatic
. reason for charging, sentencing, disinterring,
. and burning the dead -- the goods of their
. families could be confiscated.
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1211 CE: First major Mongol conquest, following an invasion of north China.
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1212 CE: Infamous "Children's Crusade", in which about 50,000 European children lost their lives or were sold into slavery.
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1216 CE: Founding of Dominican Order by St. Dominic.
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1219-1225 CE: Yeh-lü Ch'u-ts'ai. Great Kitan statesman and poet who became advisor to Genghis Khan and his successors. Traveled with Genghis Khan and his army to Central Asia in 1219. Journeyed to Altai, Ili valley, Talas, Samarkand, Buhara. His impression on the prosperous Buhara can be read on some of his poems. Returned via Tienshan, Urumqi, Turfan, and Hami. His travel book Xi Yue Lu (The Travel Record to the West) is only available in Chinese.
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1220-1221 CE: Wu-ku-sun Chung tuan.Accompanied by An T'ing chen, sent as ambassador of the Jin emperor to Chingis Khan, whom he found apparently in the Hindukush mountains (today's Afghanistan), not "the North." The Pei shi ki (Notes on an Embassy to the North) is a written version of his oral report copied in the Chi pu tsu chai ts'ung shu. Bretschneider indicates the "narrative is of little importance."
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1221-1224 CE: K'iu Ch'ang Ch'un and Li chi ch'ang. An eminent Taoist monk born in 1148 CE and thus elderly at the time of his trip, Ch'ang Ch'un was ordered by Chingis Khan to travel to his court. The route went through the Altai and Tienshan mountains, the southern parts of today's Kazakhstan, through Kyrgyzstan, to Samarkand and then down into NE Iran and Afghanistan. He was accompanied by Li Chi ch'ang, who wrote the Hsi Yu Chi, a rather detailed diary of the journey; it was published with an introduction by Sun si in 1228 and included in the Tao tsang tsi yao. Bretschneider feels that this account "occupies a higher place than many reports of our European medieval travelers."
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1222 CE: Nichiren Daishonin is born (d. 1282) . See 1253 CE for the establishment of his Buddhism.
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1224 CE: Shinran (Japan) pronounces Salvation by faith alone (the Ikko sect).

When the caesaro-papist ruling becomes weakened, salvational and prophetic religion rises. Being free from the caesaro-papist and hierocratic control, religious thinkers and reformers attempt to rationalize and internalize religiosity.

On the one hand, Japanese monks transformed the religiosity of self-achievement (enlightenment) of Nara Buddhism into salvation by faith for Pure Land Buddhism.

They were "to seek not enlightenment' but salvation' in the Pure Land" (Kitagawa 1966).

In the 10th century, at the time of the increasingly weakened Imperial authority and thereby becoming autonomous but secularizing monastery, Ryogen (912-85) and Genshin (942-1017) developed a pietistic-salvational religiosity in the monastery. In particular, Genshin wrote Essentials of Salvation (Ojo yoshu) in 985, "one of the most widely read works of Japanese Buddhist literature" (Andrews).

Then Honen (1133-1212) opened the way of salvation to the lay people and established the Pure Land sect outside the monastery. Shinran (1173-1262), a disciple of Honen, finally came to the conclusion of salvation by faith alone, the most consistent doctrine of salvational religion. As a rationalist thinker, Shinran abandoned monastic life, celibacy, and other means of self-achievement. With this transformation, Pure Land Buddhism rapidly spread over every strata of lay people including warriors, nobles, merchants and peasants.

Both salvational Pure Land and prophetic Nichiren Buddhism formed the voluntary community of lay people which was once prohibited by the previous Yamato state. Their beliefs spread over the land of Japan.

In particular, the Ikko sect, a sect of Pure Land Buddhism, developed a powerful hierocratic authority over the lay people.

In 1253, Nichiren declared all of the ten schools of Buddhism in Japan at this time to be erroneous and unsupportable by the Buddhist sutras which they used to support those schools. In 1272 he refuted them in open debate in front of a representative of the government.
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1227 CE: Dogen, Japanese Zen master who studied in China, re-transmits Ch'an Buddhism to Japan, where it is called "Zen" Buddhism.
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1241 CE: The Mongol Empire is the most dominant force on Earth. It rules from the east coast of China to Turkey, and from Russia to the Persian Gulf.
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1245-1248 CE: Ascelinus and Simon of San Quentin. Dominican envoys of the Pope to the Mongols, who went from the Levant into the southern Caucasus and returned (accompanied by Mongol envoys) via Tabriz, Mosul, Allepo, Antioch and Acre. There is information about the embassy in Matthew Paris's chronicle as well as in an account written by Simon of San Quentin, which has not been translated into English.
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1245-1247 CE: Franciscan Giovanni da Pian del Carpini to China. The first of great European travelers to set out the east was an Italian, Giovanni da Pian del Carpini, Provincial of the Franciscan Order at Cologne. He had been one of the early associates of Francis of Assisi. Since 1222, he had played a leading role in the establishment of the Franciscan order. Its vow of strict poverty, coupled with its evangelistic aspirations, made Franciscans (like Buddhist monks) well-suited to the challenges of travel in the Silk Road. Carpini left Lyon with another Franciscan (Benedict of Poland) as his companion and interpreter in April 1245, carrying a letter from the Pope.

He traveled by the northern route through Bohemia, Poland and the snow-bound Ukraine, where he became very ill that he had to be transported in a cart. Reaching Kiev they were advised to travel with Tartar horses on his eastward journey in the Tartar land. Early in February 1246, Carpini came upon a Mongol encampment on the right bank of the frozen Dnieper, where 60,000 men were guarding the western frontiers of the empire. Nobody was able to translate the Papal letters, but the party was provided with guides and relays of the horses. The next stop, on April 4, was made at the camp on the Lower Volga, where they were made to submit to the Mongol purification ceremony, which involved passing between fires. There while the Papal letters were being translated into Russian, Arabic and Mongol, they nearly starved to death, having fasted during the 40 days of Lent, apart from a thin porridge made with millet mixed with water melted down from snow. Four days later, they set off on the last stage of their journey toward the arid plateau of Mongolia. On July 22, 1246 after a 15-month journey of over 3000 miles, they finally reached the Mongol capital, Karakorum, as a new great Khan, Guyuk, son of Ogadei, was about to be enthroned. Invited to become a Christian, Guyuk indicated that first the Pope and princes of Europe would have to come and swear allegiance to him.

On November 13, Carpini took his leave of the Mongol rulers, carrying with him Guyuk's reply to the Pope (Fig. left). With the whole of Central Asia snowbound, the return journey was even worse than the outward one, and it took them until the following June to reach Kiev. In November 1247, Carpini delivered the Great Khan's reply to the Pope. It was to say the least, discouraging:

....you must come yourself at the head of all your kings and prove to Us your fealty and allegiance, And if you disregard the command of God and disobey Our instructions. We shall look up on you as Our enemy. Whoever recognizes and submits to the Son of Gods and Lord of the World, refuses submission will be wiped out."

Even though at page of 60 Carpini failed in his mission to convert the khan, however he did have the first European description of Mongol way of life, including their clothes made of skins, their felt-covered dwellings, and their passion for fermented mare's milk (koumiss). Carpini was an astute observer, and the account of his travels, Historia Mongolorum (Fig. right: The illuminated first initial of a copy of Carpini's account of his journey) furnished Europe with the first glimmer of insight into Tartar customs and beliefs. Much of the information was later incorporated into the widely read medieval encyclopedia, the Speculum Historiale of Vincent of Beauvais. Carpini was the first European since 900 AD on record as having traveled east of Baghdad and returned to tell the tale
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1246 CE: Nikko Shonin is born (d. 1333). He is the 2nd High Priest of Nichiren Shu Komon Shu (the Fuji School), the founder of that school at the foot of Taisekiji, and Nichiren Daishonin's designated successor. Among his writings are (1) the Ongi Kuden, or Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings (1278), which were his notes from the lectures on the Lotus Sutra by Nichiren, and (2) the Twenty-Six Admonitions of Nikko, which were the precepts to be followed especially by priests in his school, and whereby followers would be able to tell when priests had fallen away from the school and were no longer to be followed. Nichikan the 26th High Priest (1665-1726) was the last to follow the 26 Admonitions. They have never been held by priests or even any High Priest of Nichiren Shoshu (founded 1912), which is the reformed Fuji School.
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1249 CE: Dominican Andrew of Longjumeau to China. Soon after Carpini's return, Louis IX of France was in Cyprus organizing the disastrous Sixth Crusade against the Saracens (Mamelukes) in Egypt, when he received an envoy from the Mongol commanding general at Tabriz in Persia. This messenger brought news that the Great Khan and his nobles had been converted to Christianity 3 years previously and there was a possibility of the Mongols helping Louis to fight the Saracens. This welcome overture prompted the immediate dispatch of a second mission to the court of Guyak in 1249, this time headed by a Dominican, Andrew of Longjumeau. Traveling at ten leagues a day, he and his companions reached Mongolia only to find that Guyuk had died 2 years previously without becoming a Christian. In the absence of a Great Khan, Longjumeau was sent home with an arrogant message to the effect that unless Louis sent a yearly tribute to her court he and his subjects would be destroyed.
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1253 CE: Nichiren Daishonin establishes the fundamental practice of the Lotus Sutra of the Latter Day of the Law as chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, fulfilling Shakyamuni Buddha's predictions in the 28 Chapter Lotus Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra. Immediately he is attacked by other Buddhist Sects, which are heavily connected to the Shogun, or militarized, and protective of their village franchises, in the business of "Funeral Buddhism".

Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282)

From the SGI website:

. 'Nichiren was born on February 16, 1222, in a
. small fishing village named Kominato. At age 11,
. his parents sent him to the local temple to begin
. his education, since at that time the local
. temple served as a school as well as a religious
. center, much as churches and monasteries served
. this purpose in Europe during the Middle Ages.
. There he perfected his skills in reading and
. writing in both Japanese and Chinese, the latter
. being the language of official and scholarly
. communication at the time. The temple where he
. studied (Seicho-ji) belonged to the Tendai sect,
. which nominally adhered to the teachings handed
. down from the T'ien-t'ai school in China. In
. fact, those teachings had become mixed with
. rituals from other sects, a situation typical of
. Japanese Buddhism in the thirteenth century.
. Nichiren was so struck and disturbed by this
. confusion of doctrines that he decided to search
. out the truth behind them. At age 16, therefore,
. he chose to continue his religious studies rather
. than return to secular activities. '
.
. 'Later in life, Nichiren said that he had
. actually achieved enlightenment prior to this
. decision, but to find documentary confirmation of
. his understanding, he set out in 1239 to study at
. the great centers of Buddhist learning elsewhere
. in Japan. During the fourteen years he then spent
. studying Buddhist texts and doctrine, he became
. increasingly critical of the various sects,
. finally becoming convinced that the Lotus Sutra
. ("Hokke Kyo" in Japanese) was the only teaching
. that fully expressed the truth to which he had
. been awakened. He then returned to his home
. temple and, after a week's further contemplation,
. chanted the invocation Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for
. the first time, proclaiming that this phrase
. embodied the essential teaching of the Lotus
. Sutra--the "mystic dharma," the ultimate truth of
. all phenomena.'
.
. 'Preaching this doctrine at the temple where
. he had been educated precipitated the first of
. many persecutions and attempts on his life. From
. that point on, persevering with equanimity
. despite many hardships, he continued to teach
. that chanting the phrase Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
. would lead one to perceive one's essential,
. enlightened nature and thereby attain Buddhahood.
. In order to enable people to sustain more readily
. this effort after his death (or in his absence),
. he inscribed a mandala referred to as the
. Gohonzon as the focus for the religious practice
. of his followers. He taught that chanting Nam-
. myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon would enable a
. person to discover his or her own essential unity
. with the ultimate reality of the universe.
. According to Nichiren, this practice, when rooted
. in faith and sustained by study and compassion
. for others, is the way of enlightenment. '
.
. 'Nichiren spent his life teaching this
. doctrine, always supporting the spiritual growth
. of his lay followers as well as training young
. priests. In his final years Nichiren appointed
. six senior disciples to carry on his teaching. On
. his deathbed, he named one of them, Nikko, as his
. successor. He died on October 13, 1282.'

Nichiren Daishonin, among all of his followers, had two that he intended to succeed him in propagating the Lotus Sutra and his teachings. They were his designated successor, Nikko Shonin (1246-1333 CE) and Nikko's designated successor, Nichimoku Shonin (1263-1333).
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1253-1255 CE: Franciscan William of Rubruck to China. In 1249, during Longjumeau's absence, Louis was defeated by the Saracens. He sent a further delegation to Karakorum. This was headed by the second of the great friar travelers of the Middle Ages, a 30-year-old Flemish Franciscan named William of Rubruck. He was to travel as a missionary rather than an ambassador, although he also carried letters from King Louis IX of France to the great khan. After a year at Constantinople preparing for the journey, Rubruck went by sea to the Crimea, landing in May 1253. From there he set off with four carts, a decision he later regretted because it doubled the time it would have taken had they traveled with horses only. With him went another Franciscan, Bartholomew of Cremona, a dragoman interpreter, a slave boy bought in Constantinople and some drivers for the carts.

Carpini account was purely factual but a more lively account was written by Rubruck. In A Journey to the Eastern Parts of the World, everything he wrote about his personal experiences has the ring of truth. He provided a detailed account of Mongol life and customs. He sampled what he called 'cosmos' (Koumiss) for the first time and talked about the Mongol domed tents of felts, or yurts in either black or whitened with chalk, and the interiors embroidered with trees, vines, birds and beasts. Up to 30 feet in diameter, the tents of the Mongols could only be transported on immense wagons drawn by as many as 22 oxens. Bedding and valuables were carried on tall carts drawn by camels. The women lived on the eastern side of the tent, men on the western side. Felts images in the shape of human beings were suspended above the heads of the husband and his chief wife. At either side of the entrance, which was closed with a carpet, hung the teat of a mare and a cow's udder (mares were milked exclusively by men, cows by women).

Both men and women of the ruling class wore rich clothing, and, in winter, furs next to the skin. The men shaved a square patch on top of their heads, leaving a tuft to fall over their eyebrows, with longer hair at the back and sides. The women smeared their faces in a manner quite grotesque:

"....the governor seated on his couch, with a little guitar in his hand, and his wife beside him. And in truth it seemed to me that her whole nose had been cut off, so snob-nosed was she; and she had greased this part of her face with some black unguent, and also her eyebrows, so that she appeared most hideous to us."

Rubruck found that the men had wives "as many as they would", and that any of their female slaves could be their concubines. Marriageable girls were often taken by force, with the connivance of their fathers.

In August, they arrived the court of Sartakh, a powerful Mongol chief who was reportedly a Christian. The report proved to be false, but Sartakh later helped Rubruck to the Great khan at Karakorum in Mongolia. There at the west of the Volga, King Louis' letters were read. In September, a messenger arrived with orders to take them to Mangu, (another of Ogadei's sons), who had succeeded Guyuk as Great Khan. The guide warned it would be a 4-month journey "and the cold so intense that it splits stones and trees". On September 16, with two pack-horses between the three of them, they set out with their escort towards the east. From there, they passed the Ural River and the steppes of Kazakhstan. It was a terrible journey. They were constantly hungry and thirsty, cold and weary. They were given food only in the evening; in the morning they had something to drink or millet gruel, while in the evening they were given meat to eat. Often the meat was nearly raw. For many weeks, there was no sight of towns, and at night came the first frosts heralding the onset of winter.

On November 8, they reached Kenchat, a Muslim town in the valley of the River Talas. There Rubruck learned about the yak, whose cows "will not allow themselves to be milked unless sung to", and which, like bulls in Europe, always attacked anyone dressed in red. The travelers continued their journey and by December 26, they entered a plain vast as a sea. Rubruck finally arrived at the destination. He seemed to have come through the ordeal well, but poor Bartholomew was almost at the end of his tether.

The friars remained for about 7 months with Möngke Khan, the first three of which were passed in the camp, suffering terribly from the cold. Then they moved to Karakorum with the Great Khan and stayed there for four months. During his stay, he was much visited and cross-examined about the purpose of his journey; he was only to baptize 6 people. He eventually realized that the great khan was interested in religion but would not become a convert. At a revealing interview Mangu told the friar that just as God had created the different fingers on a single hand, he had given people different beliefs and customs. While in the camp, Rubruck made the acquaintance of a Tibetan lama from whom he gathered further facts about China even though he never crossed the Great Wall and did not reach China himself. He was told about the paper money in use there, and how the people wrote with a brush, "making in one figure the several letters containing a whole word"; this is the earliest reference to Chinese writing and paper money in a western world.

Rubruck found Karakorum small not as big as the village of St. Denis (now a suburb of Paris). "It has two quarters. In that of the Saracens are the markets, and here a great many Tartars gather on account of the court....The other is the quarter of the Cathayans, all of whom are artisans.....There are 12 idols temples of different nations; two mosques.... and one Christian church at the very end of the city". Karakorum was the diplomatic center of the world and received embassies from the Greek Emperor, the Caliph, the King of Delhi and the Seljuq Sultan, as well as emirs from the Jezireh and Kurdistan and princes from Russia. King Heythum I of Little Armenia was expected daily.

At the end of May, Rubruck received permission to return to Europe. Mangu handed over his letter in reply to King Louis. It reads "Wherever ears can hear, wherever horses can travel, there let it be heard and known: these who do not believe, but resist Our Commandments, shall not be able to see with their eyes, or hold with their hands, or walk with their feet....If you will obey Us, send your ambassadors, that We may know whether you wish for peace or war...." Rubruck had to leave Bartholomew who was not fit enough to make the journey and Mangu khan agreed to keep him at court and looked after him. In August 18, 1254, Ruburck "parted with tears" from Bartholomew and set out with his interpreter, his guide and one servant by a more northerly summer route. It was another difficult journey and was not until a year later that Rubruck finally reached Tripoli. There he learned to his regret that King Louis had already returned to France, and Rubruck, sent to Acre by the Provincial of the Franciscans, was never able to deliver the Great Khan's letter in person.
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1254-1255 CE: Hayton I (also, Hethum, Haithon) and Kirakos Gandsaketsi. King of Little Armenia, Hayton traveled through the Caucasus and territories of Khan Batu to the Great Khan Möngke in Karakorum and then back via Samarkand, Bukhara and Tabriz. The account of his travels was written down by Kirakos, who accompanied Hayton. This account is not to be confused with a descriptive narrative of the Near East written by Hayton's nephew of the same name.
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1254 CE: World's first interfaith debate takes place in Mongolia, in which Mange Khan declares Buddhism the winner, adopting it as state religion of the Mongol Empire.
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1259-1260 CE: Ch'ang Te. Envoy from Mongol Khan Möngke to his brother Hülegü soon after the latter's conquest of the Abbasid Chaliphate. Ch'ang Te's Si Shi Ki, recorded by Liu Yu, is part travel diary and part a second-hand account of Hülegü's campaigns in the West. Its geographical information is inferior to that of Ch'ang Ch'un.
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1260 CE: Nichimoku Shonin is born (d. 1333). He is the 3rd High Priest of Nichiren Shu Komon Shu (the Fuji School) and Nikko Shonin's designated successor (Nikko is the founder of that school at the foot of Taisekiji).

In 1333, Nichiren Daishonin's designated successor, Nikko Shonin, passed away at Omosu (2/7) and his designated successor, Nichimoku Shonin passed away on the road to Kyoto to remonstrate with the government, at Tarui (11/15).

After Nitta Yoshisada's army defeated the ruling Hojo clan of the Kamakura Shogunate and Emperor Godaigo re-established the imperial government at Kyoto, Nichimoku had decided to remonstrate with the new government, which might have brought on a new opportunity to refute the other schools of Buddhism in front of the ruler of the nation. Tragically, he was old and died during the trip, with no capable successors.

The quick succession of their deaths created a leadership struggle in the Fuji School at Taisekiji (Nichiren Shu Komon Shu). The sect quickly falls into a ruinous struggle which lasts for a century. (Note that merely 7 years after their passing, Zen became the official religion of the Shogunate.)

The Fuji School went into decline.
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1260-1263 CE: Yeh-lü Hi Liang. Great-grandson of Yeh-lü Ch'u-ts'ai, who, with his father, worked for Möngke Khan and then Kublai. His biography in the Yüan-shi relates his travels in Inner Asia in the period of the Mongol civil war prior to Qubilai's consolidation of power.
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1260 CE: Kublai Khan establishes Tibet as a vassal state, permitting Tantric Buddhism (like Shingon in Japan) to continue as state religion.
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1260-1269 CE, 1271-1295 CE:. Niccolò and Maffeo Polo. The merchant father and uncle of Marco Polo traveled from the Crimea through the other territories of the Golden Horde to Bukhara and ultimately to the court of Qubilai Khan in North China. Qubilai sent them back to Europe on a mission to the Pope via the overland route; they arrived in Venice in 1269. When they departed again for China in 1271 via the Levant, Anatolia and Persia, they were accompanied by young Marco. Our knowledge of their travel is from Marco's book.
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1270 CE: Eighth and final Christian Crusade into the Holy Lands of the Middle East.
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1271-1295 CE: Marco Polo. The most famous of the Silk Road travelers, who, by his own account, worked for Qubilai Khan. He traveled overland through Persia across the Pamirs and south of the Taklamakan; his return was by sea from China around south Asia to Hormuz, whence he went overland to the Mediterranean. A Venetian, Marco dictated his account to a professional writer of romances while imprisoned by the Genoese on his return. It is important to remember he was not keeping a diary. Olschki calls it "not...a book of travel and adventure, but a treatise of empirical geography." Clearly some of the descriptions are formulaic, others not based on direct observation, and others reflecting the common stock of travel mythology. Many of his observations are precise and verifiable; others unique but likely accurate. Since his main associations seem to have been with the Mongol rulers of China and with the Muslim merchant community, often he is silent about "obvious" features of Chinese society. Polo's book became well known in Renaissance Europe and served as a stimulus to further travel and discovery.
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1272 CE: Nichiren Daishonin, during his exile to Sado Island, debates the teachers from the ten schools at Tsukahara, at the behest of Lord Rokuro Saemon, and refutes them, establishing the Lotus Sutra as the Buddha's highest teaching in Japan. Many of the attendees to this debate become some of the Daishonin's most loyal followers.

After the debate Nichiren goes on to predict the Mongol attacks at Kyoto and Kamakura (to the Lord Rokuro Saemon). After this prediction is partially borne out, he is pardoned and leaves his exile from Sado Island.

From "The Actions of the Votary of the Lotus Sutra" - Writings of Nichiren Daishonin pp. 770-774.

. 'In the yard around the hut the snow piled
. deeper and deeper. No one came to see me; my only
. visitor was the piercing wind. Great
. Concentration and Insight and the Lotus Sutra lay
. open before my eyes, and Nam-myoho-rengekyo
. flowed from my lips. My evenings passed in
. discourse to the moon and stars on the fallacies
. of the various schools and the profound meaning
. of the Lotus Sutra. Thus, one year gave way to
. the next.'
.
. 'One finds people of mean spirit wherever one
. goes. The rumor reached me that the observers of
. the precepts and the Nembutsu priests on the
. island of Sado, including Yuiamidabutsu, Shoyu-
. bo, Insho-bo, Jido-bo, and their followers---
. several hundred of them--- had met to decide what
. to do about me. One said: "Nichiren, the
. notorious enemy of Amida Buddha and an evil
. teacher to all people, has been exiled to our
. province. As we all know, exiles to this island
. seldom manage to survive. Even if they do, they
. never return home. So no one is going to be
. punished for killing an exile. Nichiren lives all
. alone at a place called Tsukahara. No matter how
. strong and powerful he is, if there's no one
. around, what can he do? Let's go together and
. shoot him with arrows!" Another said, "He was
. supposed to be beheaded, but his execution has
. been postponed for a while because the wife of
. the lord of Sagami is about to have a child. The
. postponement is merely temporary, though. I hear
. he is eventually going to be executed." A third
. said, "Let's ask Lord Rokuro Saemon to behead
. him. If he refuses, we can plan something
. ourselves." There were many proposals about what
. to do with me, but the third proposal [mentioned
. above] was decided on. Eventually several hundred
. people gathered at the constable's office.(20)'
.
. 'Rokuro Saemon addressed them, saying: "An
. official letter from the regent directs that the
. priest shall not be executed. This is no
. ordinary, contemptible criminal, and if anything
. happens to him, I, Shigetsura, will be guilty of
. grave dereliction. Instead of killing him, why
. don't you confront him in religious debate?"
. Following this suggestion, the Nembutsu and other
. priests, accompanied by apprentice priests
. carrying the three Pure Land sutras, Great
. Concentration and Insight, the True Word sutras,
. and other literature under their arms or hanging
. from their necks, gathered at Tsukahara on the
. sixteenth day of the first month [in 1272]. They
. came not only from the province of Sado but also
. from the provinces of Echigo, Etchu, Dewa, Mutsu,
. and Shinano. Several hundred priests and others
. gathered in the spacious yard of the hut and in
. the adjacent field. Rokuro Saemon, his brothers,
. and his entire clan came, as well as lay priest
. farmers,(21) all in great numbers. The Nembutsu
. priests uttered streams of abuse, the True Word
. priests turned pale, and the Tendai priests
. called loudly to vanquish the opponent. The lay
. believers cried out in hatred, "There he is---the
. notorious enemy of our Amida Buddha!" The uproar
. and jeering resounded like thunder and seemed to
. shake the earth. I let them clamor for a while
. and then said, "Silence, all of you! You are here
. for a religious debate. This is no time for
. abuse." At this, Rokuro Saemon and others voiced
. their accord, and some of them grabbed the
. abusive Nembutsu followers by the neck and pushed
. them back.'
.
. 'The priests proceeded to cite the doctrines
. of Great Concentration and Insight and the True
. Word and the Nembutsu teachings. I responded to
. each, establishing the exact meaning of what had
. been said, then coming back with questions.
. However, I needed to ask only one or two at most
. before they were completely silenced. They were
. far inferior even to the True Word, Zen,
. Nembutsu, and Tendai priests in Kamakura, so you
. can imagine how the debate went. I overturned
. them as easily as a sharp sword cutting through a
. melon or a gale bending the grass. They not only
. were poorly versed in the Buddhist teachings but
. contradicted themselves. They confused sutras
. with treatises or commentaries with treatises. I
. discredited the Nembutsu by telling how Shan-tao
. fell out of the willow tree, and refuted the
. story about the Great Teacher Kobo's three pronged
. diamond-pounder and of how he transformed himself
. into the Thus Come One Mahavairochana.22 As I
. demonstrated each falsity and aberration, some of
. the priests swore, some were struck dumb, while
. others turned pale. There were Nembutsu adherents
. who admitted the error of their school; some
. threw away their robes and beads on the spot and
. pledged never to chant the Nembutsu again.'
.
. 'The members of the group all began to leave,
. as did Rokuro Saemon and his men. As they were
. walking across the yard, I called the lord back
. to make a prophecy. I first asked him when he was
. departing for Kamakura, and he answered that it
. would be around the seventh month, after his
. farmers had finished their work in his fields.
. Then I said: "For a warrior, 'work in the fields'
. means assisting his lord in times of peril and
. receiving fiefs in recognition of his service.
. Fighting is about to break out in Kamakura. You
. should hasten there to distinguish yourself in
. battle, and then you will be rewarded with fiefs.
. Since your warriors are renowned throughout the
. province of Sagami, if you remain here in the
. countryside tending to your farms and arrive too
. late for the battle, your name will be
. disgraced." I do not know what he thought of
. this, but Homma, dumbfounded, did not utter a
. word. The Nembutsu priests and the observers of
. the precepts and lay believers looked bewildered,
. not comprehending what I had said.'
.
. 'After everyone had gone, I began to put into
. shape a work in two volumes called The Opening of
. the Eyes, which I had been working on since the
. eleventh month of the previous year. I wanted to
. record the wonder of Nichiren, in case I should
. be beheaded. The essential message in this work
. is that the destiny of Japan depends solely upon
. Nichiren. A house without pillars collapses, and
. a person without a soul is dead. Nichiren is the
. soul of the people of this country. Hei no Saemon
. has already toppled the pillar of Japan, and the
. country grows turbulent as unfounded rumors and
. speculation rise up like phantoms to cause
. dissention in the ruling clan. Further, Japan is
. about to be attacked by a foreign country, as I
. described in my On Establishing the Correct
. Teaching. Having written to this effect, I
. entrusted the manuscript to Nakatsukasa Saburo
. Saemon- no-jo's messenger. The disciples around
. me thought that what I had written was too
. provocative, but they could not stop me.'
.
. 'Just then a ship arrived at the island on the
. eighteenth day of the second month. It carried
. the news that fighting had broken out in Kamakura
. and then in Kyoto, causing indescribable
. suffering. Rokuro Saemon, leading his men, left
. on fast ships that night for Kamakura. Before
. departing, he humbly begged for my assistance
. with palms joined.'
.
. 'He said: "I have been doubting the truth of
. the words you spoke on the sixteenth day of last
. month, but they have come true in less than
. thirty days. I see now that the Mongols will
. surely attack us, and it is equally certain that
. believers in Nembutsu are doomed to the hell of
. incessant suffering. I will never chant the
. Nembutsu again."'
.
. 'To this I replied: "Whatever I may say,
. unless the lord of Sagami heeds my words, the
. people of Japan will not heed them either, and in
. that case our country will surely be ruined.
. Although I myself may be insignificant, I
. propagate the Lotus Sutra and therefore am the
. envoy of Shakyamuni Buddha. The Sun Goddess and
. Great Bodhisattva Hachiman, who are
. insignificant, are treated with great respect in
. this country, but they are only petty gods as
. compared with Brahma, Shakra, the gods of the sun
. and moon, and the four heavenly kings. It is
. said, however, that to kill someone who serves
. these two gods is equal to the sin of killing
. seven and a half ordinary persons. The grand
. minister of state and lay priest and the Retired
. Emperor of Oki perished because they did so.
. Thus, persecuting me is incomparably worse than
. molesting the servants of those two gods. As I am
. the envoy of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of
. teachings, the Sun Goddess and Great Bodhisattva
. Hachiman should bow their heads before me, press
. their palms together, and prostrate themselves.
. The votary of the Lotus Sutra is attended by
. Brahma and Shakra on either side, and the gods of
. the sun and moon light his path before and
. behind. Even if my counsel is heeded, if I am not
. given due respect as the votary of the Lotus
. Sutra, then the country will perish. How ominous
. that the authorities have turned hundreds of
. persons against me and have even banished me
. twice! This country is surely doomed, but since I
. have asked the gods to withhold their punishment
. on our land, it has survived until now. However,
. that punishment has finally descended because
. these unreasonable actions continued. And if my
. counsel is not heeded on this occasion, the gods
. will cause the Mongol empire to send its forces
. to destroy Japan. That would seem to be the kind
. of disaster that Hei no Saemon is intent upon
. calling forth. When it happens, I doubt that you
. and your followers can find any safety even on
. this island." After I had finished speaking,
. Homma, looking deeply perplexed, set off on his
. way.'
.
. 'The lay believers, hearing of this, said to
. one another, "Perhaps this priest has some kind
. of transcendental powers. How terrifying! From
. now on, we had better cease giving any alms or
. support to the Nembutsu priests and the observers
. of the precepts." The observers of the precepts,
. who were followers of Ryokan, and the Nembutsu
. priests said, "[Since this priest predicted the
. outbreak of rebellion in our country,] perhaps he
. is one of the conspirators." After this things
. grew somewhat quieter.'
.
. 'Then the Nembutsu priests gathered again in
. council. "If things go on this way," they said,
. "we will die of starvation. By all means, let's
. rid ourselves of this priest! Already more than
. half the people in the province have gone over to
. his side. What are we to do?" Yuiamidabutsu, the
. leader of the Nembutsu priests, along with Dokan,
. a disciple of Ryokan, and Shoyu-bo, who were
. leaders of the observers of the precepts,
. journeyed in haste to Kamakura. There they
. reported to the lord of the province of Musashi:
. "If this priest remains on the island of Sado,
. there will soon be not a single Buddhist hall
. left standing or a single priest remaining. He
. takes the statues of Amida Buddha and throws them
. in the fire or casts them into the river. Day and
. night he climbs the high mountains, bellows to
. the sun and moon, and curses the regent. The
. sound of his voice can be heard throughout the
. entire province."'
.
. 'When the former governor of Musashi heard
. this, he decided there was no need to report it
. to the regent. Instead he sent private orders
. that any followers of Nichiren in the province of
. Sado should be driven out of the province or
. imprisoned. He also sent official letters
. containing similar instructions. He did so three
. times. I will not attempt to describe what
. happened during this period---you can probably
. imagine. Some people were thrown into prison
. because they were said to have walked past my
. hut, others were exiled because they were
. reported to have given me donations, or their
. wives and children were taken into custody. The
. former governor of Musashi then reported what he
. had done to the regent. But quite contrary to his
. expectations, the regent issued a letter of
. pardon on the fourteenth day of the second month
. in the eleventh year of Bun'ei (1274), which
. reached Sado on the eighth day of the third
. month.'
.
. 'The Nembutsu priests held another council.
. "This man, the archenemy of the Buddha Amida and
. slanderer of the Reverend Shan-tao and the
. Honorable Honen, has incurred the wrath of the
. authorities and happened to be banished to this
. island. How can we bear to see him pardoned and
. allowed to return home alive!"'
.
. 'While they were engaged in various plots, for
. some reason there was an unexpected change in the
. weather. A favorable wind began to blow, and I
. was able to leave the island. The strait can be
. crossed in three days with a favorable wind, but
. not even in fifty or a hundred days when the
. weather is bad. I crossed over in no time at all.
. Thereupon the Nembutsu priests, observers of the
. precepts, and True Word priests of the provincial
. capital of Echigo and Zenko-ji temple in Shinano
. gathered from all directions to hold a meeting.
. "What a shame that the Sado priests should have
. allowed Nichiren to return alive! Whatever we do,
. we must not let this priest make his way past the
. living body of the Buddha Amida."(23)'
.
. 'But in spite of their machinations, a number
. of warriors from the provincial government office
. in Echigo were dispatched to escort me. Thus I
. was able to pass safely by Zenko-ji, and the
. Nembutsu priests were powerless to stop me. I
. left the island of Sado on the thirteenth day of
. the third month, and arrived in Kamakura on the
. twentysixth day of the same month.'

Footnotes:

20. The constable of Sado Province was Hojo Nobutoki, the lord of Musashi Province, who lived in Kamakura. Homma Rokuro Saemon, the steward of Niiho in Sado, served in the office as the deputy constable of the province.

21. Lay priest farmers were individuals who, though they take religious vows, do not enter a temple but continue to farm and live in their own homes.

22. The Chinese Pure Land leader Shantao (613--681) was said to have so earnestly desired rebirth in the Pure Land that he attempted to hang himself on a willow tree, but instead fell out of the tree and mortally injured himself. According to legend, when Kobo was about to leave China to return to Japan, he threw his three-pronged diamond pounder in the air; it was later found on top of Mount Koya in Japan. On another occasion, when he was debating with eminent Buddhist leaders at court, he is said to have transformed himself into Mahavairochana Buddha, the Buddha revered by the True Word school.

23. The living body of the Buddha Amida indicates the statue of Amida Buddha enshrined at Zenko-ji temple in the province of Shinano (present-day Nagano
Prefecture).
__________________________________________________________

end of part 2, continued in part 3 of 4 ...

. The full 28 Chapters of the Lotus Sutra,
. Nichiren Daishonin's Gosho volumes I and II,
. the Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings
. (Gosho Zenshu, including the Ongi Kuden) and the
. SGI Dictionary of Buddhism are located at:
.
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/
.
. To find an SGI Community Center:
.
http://www.sgi-usa.org/sgilocations/

LS Chap. 16 .....

All harbor thoughts of yearning
and in their minds thirst to gaze at me.
When living beings have become truly faithful,
honest and upright, gentle in intent,
single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha
not hesitating even if it costs them their lives,
then I and the assembly of monks
appear together on Holy Eagle Peak.
At that time I tell the living beings
that I am always here, never entering extinction,
but that because of the power of an expedient means
at times I appear to be extinct, at other times not,
and that if there are living beings in other lands
who are reverent and sincere in their wish to believe,
then among them too
I will preach the unsurpassed Law.