According to the Eizan Daishiden, Saichō had decided to abandon the Ssufen lü precepts by 818. In late spring of that year Saichō assembled the teachers and students on Mount Hiei and declared:

I have researched the origins of the Perfect School of the Lotus Sūtra. (The Dharma) was preached, studied, and understood in the mountains: first on Vulture’s Peak, next on Ta-su, and finally on T’ien-t’ai. Students of my (Tendai) school should, therefore, practice and study in the mountains during the first part of their studies. They should do this for the sake of the nation and its people, in order to benefit sentient beings, and so that the Buddha’s teaching will flourish. By living in the mountains they shall escape from the criticisms of the mundane world, and the Buddha’s teaching will surely grow and prosper.

From now on we will not follow Śrāvaka ways. We will turn away forever from Hinayāna (strictures on maintaining) dignity. I vow that I will henceforth abandon the two-hundred fifty (Hinayāna) precepts.

The great teachers of Nan-yüeh and T’ien-t’ai both heard the Lotus Sūtra preached and received the three-fold bodhisattva precepts on Vulture’s Peak. Since then, these precepts have been transmitted from teacher to teacher. Chih-i conferred them on Kuan-ting. Kuan-ting conferred them on Chih-wei. Chih-wei conferred them on Hsüan-lang. Hsüan-lang conferred them on Chan-jan. Chan-jan conferred them on Tao-sui. Tao-sui conferred them on Saichō and then on Gishin.

I have read the Buddha’s teachings. I know that there are (strictures on) dignity for both the bosatsusō (bodhisattva monk) and the bosatsu (the lay bodhisattva), and that there are pure Mahāyāna and pure Hinayāna (teachings). Now, the students of my school shall study Mahāyāna precepts, meditation, and wisdom. They shall abandon inferior Hinayāna practices forever.