Tiantai Buddhism's Overseas Diffusion
Different schools of Buddhism were developed after its introduction into China. Master Zhizhe (538-597), founder of the Tiantai Buddhism, once taught Zen (a Chinese Buddhist school) in Jinling (modern-day Nanjing), the capital of the Chen Dynasty (557-589), and enjoyed a great popularity. In 575, he led around 20 of his disciples to the Tiantai Mountains. It was at this sacred place that he completed his enlightenment and founded Tiantai Buddhism. He came to be known as the "Chinese Sakyamuni." The Tiantai Buddhism's key tenet is the "Three Truths Harmony," which is richly endowed with Hehe philosophy.
Master Zhizhe's Tiantai belief system, with the "Three Truths Harmony" playing a foundational role, had a profound impact on East Asian culture. In the early years of the Sui Dynasty (581-618), Japan dispatched a large number of envoys to China to study the country's excellent culture. The envoys mainly studied Buddhism.
In 742, at the invitation of Japanese monks, the renowned Dharma Master Jianzhen (688-763) of the Tang Dynasty, embarked on his eastward journey to Japan. He finally arrived in Japan in 754 after six tries within these years. While spreading the teachings of the Vinaya School of Buddhism, Master Jianzhen also dedicated himself to the diffusion of the doctrine of the Tiantai Buddhism, and aroused the Japanese monks' interest in this Buddhist school, thereby initiating the cultural exchanges between the Tiantai Mountains and Japan.
In 804, the eminent Japanese monk Saicho (767-822), following the Japanese envoys, arrived in China with some of his disciples. They learned the tenets of the Tiantai Buddism from the school's 10th patriarch, Dao Sui (dates unknown). Having become well acquainted with the Tiantai Buddhism's teachings, Saicho returned to Japan and established the Japanese Tiantai Buddhism. Taking over the mantle of Saicho, his followers came to China successively to learn more about the Tiantai Buddhism, thereby making positive contributions to the development of the Japanese Tiantai Buddhism and the cultural exchanges between China and Japan.
The Tiantai Buddhism also spread to the Korean Peninsula and South East Asia, and even to Europe and America. As a Buddhist school with Chinese features and critical thinking, it demonstrated great charm in regard of cross-cultural communication. The overseas diffusion of the Tiantai Buddhism witnessed both the international cultural exchanges and the integration of different Buddhist schools and different cultures. It not only propelled the inheritance and development of this Buddhist school at home and abroad, but also promoted the cultural exchanges between China and other countries.
佛教天台宗的海外传播
佛教传入中国后，发展出不同宗派。佛教天台宗的创始人智者大师，曾在当时的陈朝都城金陵开讲禅学，盛极一时。公元575年，智者大师毅然率20余徒前往天台山。在这“玄圣之所游化，灵仙之所窟宅”之地，他完成了“头陀证悟”，开创了一代佛学宗派——天台宗，被后人尊称为“东土小释迦”。佛教天台宗中有“三谛圆融”概念，而“圆融”两字就包含着内涵丰富的和合思想。
智者大师创立的以和合圆融为核心的天台宗思想体系，对东亚文化圈产生了深远影响。隋代初年，日本派遣了大量遣隋使来中国学习优秀文化，最主要的是学习佛教文化。唐代著名高僧鉴真大师应日本僧人邀请，自742年起先后六次东渡，终于在754年到达日本。他在日本传播律宗的同时，大力弘扬天台教义，激起了日本僧人研习天台教义的兴趣，从而揭开了天台山与日本文化交流的序幕。804年，日本高僧最澄率弟子随遣唐使抵中国，从天台宗第十祖道邃学习天台教义，学成回国后，创立了日本天台宗。最澄弟子继承其衣钵，相继入唐求法，为发展日本天台宗和促进中日文化交流作出了积极贡献。
天台宗也在朝鲜和东南亚等地传播，甚至远播欧美。作为极具中国特色、富有思辨色彩的一个佛教宗派，天台宗在跨文化交际方面展现出了非凡魅力。天台宗向海外的传播过程，既是对外文化交流史，又是佛教宗派与多民族文化的融合史，不仅推动了天台宗在海内外的传承与发展，也促进了中国与世界各国的文化交流。
