Great teacher
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great teacher
大師 (Chin ta-shih; Jpn daishi )
An honorific title awarded to priests of virtue in China and Japan by the imperial court, usually after their death. In Japan, Saicho, the founder of the Tendai school, was given the name and title the Great Teacher Dengyo(Jpn Dengyo Daishi) in 866, and Ennin, the third chief priest of Enryaku-ji, the head temple of the Tendai school, the Great Teacher Jikaku (Jikaku Daishi) in the same year. Kukai, the founder of the True Word (Shingon) school, was given the name and title the Great Teacher Kobo(Kobo Daishi) in 921. These were the first instances of the bestowal of the honorific title "great teacher" in Japan.
