It will be thus seen that the ten divisions of the Shinshu do not represent so many schisms or fractions. They are rather ten Dioceses of the same Communion ruled by hereditary Bishops with coordinate jurisdiction in certain localities. They present no doctrinal divergencies. In the quieter sub-sects there was probably more of spiritual life than in monster institutions like the Hongwanjis.

NOTES TO CHAPTER IV.

I.

It would be a very valuable piece of work if some scholar would undertake, say for one of our Asiatic Societies or for the Melanges, a study of the Life of Fujiwara Kanezane, from the voluminous and valuable Diaries that he has left behind him.

According to the Shinshu authorities whom I have followed in the text of my chapter, it was at Kanezane's suggestion that Shinran instituted his reforms in Buddhism. This statement is not accepted as absolutely true by all sects of Buddhists. What seems certain is that Kanezane was much interested in the introduction of the Zen sects, from China, and that he was also known at times to recite the Nembutsu, as a prayer for temporal benefits, and not, as Honen taught, merely as an act of thanksgiving for spiritual blessings. In other words, he used prayer in the Christian sense of the term, and he had connection with China.

It is interesting to note that Kanezane was the contemporary of Temujin (better known by his later title of Ginghis khan). Temujin became, in 1195, the ally of Wan-Khan (the Prester John of mediaeval romance), the Christian King of a Christian Nation, the Keraites, who were converted to Nestorianism about A.D. 1010; and the allied princes joined in expeditions for the conquest of China, (which accounts perhaps for the Exodus of Chinese Zen priests to Japan). After Wang-Khan's murder, Temujin had his skull set in silver for use as a drinking cup. I think that we have here the key that will unlock many of the undoubted points of resemblance between Shinshu and Nestorianism. A monograph elucidating the problems of Kanezane's life is much to be desired.

II.

section section 25, 26, 27, of the Shinshu Hyakuwa relate (i) to the transmission of the Shinshu Faith from Nagarjuna to Honen, and so to Shinran, (ii) to the lives and writings of the seven Patriarchs, as they are called, through whom the Faith was transmitted, and (iii) to the three Sutras on which the whole teaching of Amida is said to be based. These three Sutras have already been translated into English, and may be consulted