Chinese Esoteric Buddhism
Esoteric traditions in China are similar in teachings to the Japanese Shingon school, though the number of practitioners was greatly reduced, due in part of the persecution of Buddhists under Emperor Wuzong of Tang, nearly wiping out most of the Chinese Esoteric Buddhist lineage. In China and countries with large Chinese populations such as Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore, Chinese Esoteric Buddhism is commonly referred as Tángmì (唐密) "Tang Dynasty Secret Buddhism," or Hànchuánmìzōng (漢傳密宗) "Secret Buddhism of the Han Transmission" (Hànmì 漢密 for short), or Dōngmì (東密) "Eastern Secret Buddhism." In a more general sense, the Chinese term Mìzōng (密宗) "The Secret Way", is the most popular term used when referring to any form of Esoteric Buddhism. These traditions more or less share the same doctrines as the Shingon school, with many of its students themselves traveling to Japan to be given transmission at Mount Koya.
According to Master Hsuan Hua, the most popular example of esoteric teachings still practiced in many Zen monasteries of East Asia, is the Śūraṅgama Sūtra and its dhāraṇī (Sitātapatroṣṇīṣa Dhāraṇī), along with the Great Compassion Dharani (Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāranī), with its 42 Hands and Eyes Mantras.
Read more about this topic: Vajrayana, Schools of Vajrayana
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