Thirteen schools of China

 
thirteen schools of China
中国十三宗 (Jpn Chugoku-jusan-shu )

    The major Buddhist schools that are said to have flourished in China. This enumeration is found in A History of the Transmission and Propagation of Buddhism in Three Countries written in 1311 by Gyonen, a priest of the Japanese Flower Garland (Kegon) school. The "three countries" are India, China, and Japan. In this work, Gyonen mentions thirteen schools that existed in China from the fifth through the ninth century. The thirteen schools are the Abhidharma (Chin P'i-t'an ), Establishment of Truth (Ch'eng-shih), Precepts (Ly), Three Treatises (Sanlun), Nirvana (Nieh-p'an), Treatise on the Ten Stages Sutra (Ti-lun), Pure Land (Ching-t'u), Zen (Ch'an), Summary of the Mahayana (Shelun), T'ient'ai, Flower Garland (Hua-yen), Dharma Characteristics (Fa-hsiang), and True Word (Chen-yen) schools.