Kukai or Kobo Daishi (774-835 CE) was a scholar, poet, and monk who founded Shingon Buddhism in Japan. The monk became the country's most important Buddhist saint and has been credited with all manner of minor miracles. Noted as a gifted sculptor and the inventor of Japanese writing, he also created the most important pilgrimage route still followed by believers today.
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Definition
Timeline
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774 - 835Life of the monk Kukai (aka Kobo Daishi), founder of Shingon Buddhism in Japan.
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804 - 806Japanese monk Kukai (aka Kobo Daishi) visits China and discovers Shingon Buddhism.
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819Kukai (Kobo Daishi) establishes a monastery and headquarters for Shingon Buddhism on Mount Koya in Japan.
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921The monk Kukai, founder of Shingon Buddhism in Japan, is given the posthumous title of Kobo Daishi.
