Kimura Shōshū has argued that Gyōgi provided Saichō with a model of the ideal Tendai practitioner, the bosatsusō or bodhisattva monk. Saichō planned to train Tendai monks so that they would be able to both preach to the populace and supervise construction projects which would help the common people. These were the same types of activities in which Gyōgi and his followers engaged. Gyōgi was often called a bodhisattva during his lifetime; after his death people believed he was a manifestation of Mañjuśrī. Since Saichō had proposed that Mañjuśrī be installed as elder (jōza) in the dining hall on Mount Hiei, Saichō might have regarded Gyōgi as a model of the ideal monk as manifested by Mañjuśrī. Saichō’s proposal that his monks be called ‘bodhisattva monks’ might have reflected the influence of figures such as as Gyōgi who had been called bodhisattvas by the populace. In the Nihon ryōiki, Gyōgi was described in the following way: “On the outside he had the form of a monk, but within were hidden the deeds of a bodhisattva.” This description was derived from the Lotus Sūtra. Saichō cited the same passage from the Lotus Sūtra in his last instructions to his disciples.

A position similar to that of Saichō finally emerged in the writings of Chan-jan’s disciple Ming-kuang. …

While earlier T’ien-t’ai masters had formulated a single interpretation to explain the observance of the Fan wang precepts for those who followed the Unique and Perfect teachings, Ming-kuang advanced separate interpretations of the Fan wang precepts, distinguishing between the precepts practiced by followers of the Unique teaching and those practiced by followers of the Perfect teaching. Ming-kuang based his new interpretations of the Fan wang precepts on Chih-i’s distinction between bodhisattvas who followed gradual practices and bodhisattvas who followed Sudden practices. The follower of the Unique teaching gradually practiced and mastered the various sets of precepts, including the Hinayāna precepts. In contrast, the follower of the Perfect teaching mastered all the precepts in an instant. Thus he did not necessarily have to master the Hinayāna precepts before progressing to the Fan wang precepts. Ming-kuang’s analysis effectively purged the Fan wang precepts of any onus resulting from the association of the Fan wang Ching with the Hua yen Ching. The idea of a Sudden realization of the precepts was fundamental to Saichō’s identification of the Perfect precepts with the direct path to enlightenment. …

Ming-kuang provided Saichō with much of the doctrinal justification for his proposals. In the process of remedying inadequacies which he perceived in the commentary on the Fan wang Ching attributed to Chih-i, Ming-kuang freed the Fan wang Ching from the onus of being closely associated with the Hua yen Ching. He insisted that the Fan wang precepts could be considered as solely Perfect (jun’en) precepts, not merely as precepts reflecting a mixture of Unique and Perfect teachings. At the same time, he also argued that the Perfect precepts were separate and distinct from the Hinayāna precepts, a position which Saichō later adopted in the Shijōshiki. Ming-kuang was probably the first Chinese monk to formulate a position on the precepts which developed the full implications of the Ying lo ching’s exclusion of the Hinayāna precepts from the sanjujōkai formula. In addition, Mingkuang’s discussions of the ‘Sudden’ acquisition of the Perfect precepts and his development of the doctrines concerning the (sanju jōkai) provided a rationale for elevating the precepts from being used as a stepping stone to the more advanced practices of meditation or wisdom, to a practice equal to, and essentially identical with, meditation and wisdom.

After Chih-i’s death, the T’ien-t’ai School went through a period during which it was eclipsed by such new schools as the Hua-yen and Fa-hsiang. Chan-jan (711—782) revived the T’ien-t’ai School during the eighth century. Traditional biographies state that Chan-jan had thoroughly studied the Ssufen lü and was ordained by the Ssufen lü master T’an-i (692—771).

Among Chan-jan’s numerous works are commentaries on Chih-i’s three major works. His treatment of the Perfect precepts in these commentaries is much like that of Chih-i with one important change in emphasis. While Chih-i stressed the abstract, formless qualities of the absolute precepts (rikai), Chan-jan argued that the rikai were only complete when they had actual rules (jikai) as their contents. Moreover, Chan-jan maintained that if the absolute, formless quality of the rikai were overemphasized, monks would be more apt to violate the precepts. Chan-jan argued that the Fan wang precepts could be considered the contents of the Perfect precepts. In doing so, he gave the Fan wang precepts a greater practical role than Chih-i had given them in his three major works.

Chih-i’s writings contributed two important elements to Saichō’s thought on the precepts. First, Chih-i’s concept of a bodhisattva who performed Sudden practices was a forerunner of Saichō’s association of the Fan wang precepts with the Direct Path (jikidō) to enlightenment. Secondly, Chih-i’s use of the term ‘Perfect precepts’ (enkai) suggested that certain precepts were suited for those who followed the Perfect teachings of the Lotus Sūtra and that those precepts might be distinct from the Hinayāna precepts.

Chih-i’s position on the precepts differed from that of Saichō in several ways. First, Chih-i advocated the harmonious combination of the Hinayāna and Mahāyāna precepts. Even when the precepts were realized through Sudden practices, they still encompassed the Hinayāna precepts. Secondly, Chih-i’s concept of the Perfect precepts was abstract. He did not identify the Perfect precepts with a specific set of rules. The Fan wang precepts represented a mixture of Unique and Perfect teachings, not solely Perfect (jun’en) teachings. The purely Perfect precepts could only be observed by the Buddha. Before the doctrinal foundation for Saichō’s proposals would be complete, the Perfect precepts would have to be identified with the Fan wang precepts and freed of the onus of incorporating Hinayāna or Unique teachings.

Chih-i’s concept of a bodhisattva who performed Sudden practices presaged Saichō’s claim that the Perfect precepts were suitable for the bodhisattva who could take a direct path (jikidō) to enlightenment. However, a crucial difference remained between the views of Chih-i and Saichō. Chih-i never attempted to reject the Hinayāna precepts, nor did he argue that ordinations with bodhisattva precepts should precede full Hinayāna ordinations. In the Fa hua hsüan i, he stated that the Hinayāna precepts should be explained in a way which revealed their Mahāyāna contents. According to Chih-i, the bodhisattva who followed Sudden practices perfected and encompassed both the Hinayāna and Mahāyāna precepts. Consequently, the concept of sudden practices did not imply that the Hinayāna precepts were to be rejected.

Besides the concept of a bodhisattva who performed Sudden practices, Chih-i also introduced another concept utilized by Saichō, the Perfect precepts (enkai). The term ‘Perfect precepts’ referred to Chih-i’s classification of Buddhist doctrine into four categories and designated the precepts appropriate for followers of the Perfect teaching. Chih-i equated the Perfect precepts with the precepts of the Buddha. They were realized through meditation, practice, and the development of a mind which was free from passions and thus able to perceive things as they really are (jissōshin). The Perfect precepts were usually not identified in Chih-i’s writings with any particular set of rules such as the precepts of the Fan wang ching (Sūtra of Brahma’s Net), Hinayāna sets or even with the anrakugyō (Serene and Pleasant Activities) of the Lotus Sūtra. Elsewhere, however, Chih-i stated that adherence to the Lotus Sūtra (jikyō) was equivalent to holding the most profound precepts. Such precepts were called absolute (rikai) and were free of specific content. They were realized in two ways. A monk or nun might gradually practice precepts of increasing subtlety until the Perfect precepts were attained, or he or she might attain them in an instant through Sudden practices.

Early versions of the bodhisattva precepts were based on the ten virtuous actions, a list of ten practices conducive to wholesome behavior which first appeared in Hinayāna literature. Early Mahāyāna practitioners then interpreted the ten virtuous acts as precepts or injunctions, and thus produced one of the earliest sets of bodhisattva precepts. The ten virtuous precepts are:

1. 1. abstention from taking life
   2. abstention from taking what is not given
   3. abstention from wrong conduct as regards sensuous pleasures
   4. abstention from lying speech
   5. abstention from malicious speech
   6. abstention from harsh speech
   7. abstention from indistinct prattling
   8. abstention from covetousness
   9. abstention from ill will
   10. abstention from wrong views

This list of restrictions included many elements that were also found in the Fan wang precepts, the set of fifty-eight precepts that Saichō proposed to follow. Although the Fan wang precepts were compiled much later than the ten virtuous precepts, the two sets shared certain characteristics. Both sets were primarily concerned with moral issues. Little attention was paid to issues of dress, decorum and manners, subjects which had been treated at great length in the Hinayāna precepts. Although subjects such as appropriate clothing for monks were discussed in the Fan wang Ching, the work was more concerned with moral issues such as lying. In fact, Saichō had to point out to the monastic leaders of Nara that the Fan wang precepts would require Tendai monks to shave their heads and wear robes.

The Fan wang precepts could not be understood as Perfect precepts until they had been interpreted according to the teachings of the Lotus Sūtra and the Tendai School. Such a view is not surprising since Saichō was defending the Lotus Sūtra in works such as the Shugo kokkaishō at the same time he was composing the Kenkairon. Saichō emphasized the role of the Lotus Sūtra by naming Śākyamuni Buddha the preceptor in the ordination ceremony and by asserting that the Ryōzen lineage was valid for the precepts. Five years after his death, Saichō’s disciples constructed a precepts platform with Śākyamuni and a Tahōtō (stūpa for Prabhūtaratna Tathāgata) occupying the central places on it.

The Fan wang Ching played the key role in the practice and interpretation of the Perfect precepts. However, the interpretation of the precepts was not complete until the Perfect sense of the Lotus Sūtra had been applied to them. This did not mean, however, that the Fan wang Ching could be ignored. Rather the Fan wang Ching specified the contents of the precepts. Saichō did not elaborate on the relative value of the two sūtras because he believed that the two texts contained Perfect teachings preached by Buddhas who were essentially the same. Elements from the Lotus Sūtra and its capping sūtra, the Kuan p’u hsien Ching, could be harmoniously combined with precepts from the Fan wang Ching because the Perfect purport of all three works was the same.

Saichō clearly advocated strict adherence to the Fan wang precepts. Later attempts to substitute the Lotus Sūtra’s precepts for them were in violation of Saichō’s intention. His only reference in the Kenkairon to the precepts of the Lotus Sūtra concerned the anrakugyō proscription on consorting with Hinayāna practitioners. Saichō thus awarded the Fan wang Ching a higher status than had Chih-i, who relegated it to the status of Kegon teachings, a mixture of Unique and Perfect teachings.

The Lotus Sūtra includes a number of passages which could be read as advocating correct behavior and thus as a form of precepts. In order to understand Saichō’s use of the Lotus Sūtra and the ways in which later scholars interpreted his references to it, these passages must be considered. Medieval Tendai scholars maintained the position that these passages described four types of precepts. First were the eternal unconditioned precepts which provided the foundation for all other sets of precepts, called the Lotus One-vehicle precepts (Hokke ichijōkai) or the Unmanifested Diamond precepts (musa kongōhōkai). These precepts were formless, without definite content, and based mainly on the second chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. No direct reference to these precepts was found in Saichō’s works.

In contrast to these formless precepts, the other three types did have definite contents. The second type concerned the behavior of those who preached the Lotus Sūtra. It was referred to in Saichō’s Final Admonitions (Yuikai).

The third type consisted of four requirements for people who would devote themselves to upholding the Lotus Sūtra (jikyō) after the Buddha’s death. They were to:

1. 1. Be under the guardianship of the Buddhas.
   2. Plant the roots of a multitude of virtues.
   3. Enter the various correct concentrations.
   4. Aspire to save all living beings.

This list did not play an important role in Saichō’s thought and was referred to only in works by later scholars.

The fourth and most important type of precepts was found in the chapter on serene and pleasing activities (Anrakugyōbon) [Peaceful Practices] in the Lotus Sūtra. This chapter described the ways in which bodhisattvas were to practice during the period of the decline of the Buddha’s teaching. These practices consisted of general instructions for preaching and for adhering to the teachings of the Lotus Sūtra rather than actual rules. They were grouped into four categories: action, word, thought and vow. Saichō was concerned mainly with the actions which the sūtra recommended. These were divided into two sets. The first set was a description of the religious practices which a devout person should follow, such as quietly meditating on things as they are. The second set was a list of the many types of people whom a Mahāyāna Buddhist was to avoid. Commentators traditionally divided this set into ten types of people, the fifth of which consisted of those who sought Hinayāna goals.

These precepts, usually called the anrakugyō (serene and pleasing activities), have long played as important role in T’ien-t’ai thought.

During the last years of his life, Saichō focused his attention on the precepts, the most basic element of the threefold learning (precepts, meditation, wisdom). He believed that if he could purge all Hinayāna elements from the precepts, he would eliminate a major reason why Tendai monks backslid in their practice and defected from the Tendai School. Saichō intended his reforms of monastic discipline and administration to be the first and most basic step in his program to reformulate all the practices of his school so that they would reflect the doctrines of the Perfect teaching. In addition to reforming the precepts, Saichō probably intended to revise the traditional Tendai meditation and doctrinal systems, possibly by supplementing them with Esoteric practices and teachings. However, he died before he could complete his plans.