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.
佛教天臺宗的海外傳播
佛教傳入中國后，發展出不同宗派。佛教天臺宗的創始人智者大師，曾在當時的陳朝都城金陵開講禪學，盛極一時。公元575年，智者大師毅然率20余徒前往天臺山。在這“玄圣之所游化，靈仙之所窟宅”之地，他完成了“頭陀證悟”，開創了一代佛學宗派——天臺宗，被后人尊稱為“東土小釋迦”。佛教天臺宗中有“三諦圓融”概念，而“圓融”兩字就包含著內涵豐富的和合思想。
智者大師創立的以和合圓融為核心的天臺宗思想體系，對東亞文化圈產生了深遠影響。隋代初年，日本派遣了大量遣隋使來中國學習優秀文化，最主要的是學習佛教文化。唐代著名高僧鑒真大師應日本僧人邀請，自742年起先后六次東渡，終于在754年到達日本。他在日本傳播律宗的同時，大力弘揚天臺教義，激起了日本僧人研習天臺教義的興趣，從而揭開了天臺山與日本文化交流的序幕。804年，日本高僧最澄率弟子隨遣唐使抵中國，從天臺宗第十祖道邃學習天臺教義，學成回國后，創立了日本天臺宗。最澄弟子繼承其衣缽，相繼入唐求法，為發展日本天臺宗和促進中日文化交流作出了積極貢獻。
天臺宗也在朝鮮和東南亞等地傳播，甚至遠播歐美。作為極具中國特色、富有思辨色彩的一個佛教宗派，天臺宗在跨文化交際方面展現出了非凡魅力。天臺宗向海外的傳播過程，既是對外文化交流史，又是佛教宗派與多民族文化的融合史，不僅推動了天臺宗在海內外的傳承與發展，也促進了中國與世界各國的文化交流。
