Editing Nichiren Buddhism (section)

==== 15th century through the early 19th century ====
In the early 14th century Hokkeshū followers spread the teachings westward and established congregations (Jpn. ''shū'') into the imperial capital of [[Kyoto]] and as far as [[Bizen Province|Bizen]] and [[Bitchū Province|Bitchu]].  During this time there is documentation of face-to-face public debates between Hokkeshū and [[Nianfo|Nembutsu]] adherents.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xb3BImNUdRAC&q=nichiren+kanto+kyoto&pg=PA101|title=Jōdo Shinshū : Shin Buddhism in medieval Japan|author=Dobbins, James C.|date=2002|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press|isbn=9780824826208|location=Honolulu|oclc=48958350|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181016/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xb3BImNUdRAC&q=nichiren+kanto+kyoto&pg=PA101|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|101}} By the end of the century Hokkeshū temples had been founded all over [[Kyoto]], only being outnumbered by Zen temples.  The demographic base of support in Kyoto were members of the merchant class (Jpn. ''machishū''), some of whom had acquired great wealth.  Tanabe hypothesizes they were drawn to this faith because of Nichiren's emphasis on the "third realm" (Jpn. ''daisan hōmon'') of the Lotus Sutra, staked out in chapters 10–22, which emphasize practice in the mundane world.<ref name=Tanabe1989 />{{rp|43–45,50}}

In the 15th century, the political and social order began to collapse and Hokkeshū followers armed themselves. The ''[[Hokke-ikki]]'' was an uprising in 1532 of Hokke followers against the followers of the [[Pure Land Buddhism|Pure Land]] school in 1532.  Initially successful it became the most powerful religious group in Kyoto but its fortunes were reversed in 1536 when Mt. Hiei armed forces destroyed twenty-one Hokkeshū temples and killed some 58,000 of its followers. In 1542 permission was granted by the government to rebuild the destroyed temples and the Hokke ''machishū'' played a crucial role in rebuilding the commerce, industry, and arts in Kyoto.  Their influence in the arts and literature continued through the Momoyama (1568–1615) and Edo (1615–1868) periods and many of the most famous artists and literati were drawn from their ranks.<ref name=Kitagawa2010 />{{rp|122}}<ref name=Tanabe1989 />{{rp|50}}

Although the various sects of Nichiren Buddhism were administratively independent, there is evidence of cooperation between them.  For example, in 1466 the major Hokke temples in Kyoto signed the Kanshō-era accord (Kanshō ''meiyaku'') to protect themselves against threats from Mt. Hiei.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|304}}<ref name=Montgomery1991>Montgomery, Daniel (1991). Fire in the Lotus, The Dynamic Religion of Nichiren, London: Mandala, {{ISBN|1852740914}}</ref>{{rp|160}} Despite strong sectarian differences, there is also evidence of interactions between Hokkeshū and Tendai scholar-monks.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|352}}

During the [[Edo period]], with the consolidation of power by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], increased pressure was placed major Buddhist schools and Nichiren temples to conform to governmental policies.  Some Hokkeshū adherents, the followers of the so-called [[Fuju-fuse]] lineage, adamantly bucked this policy based on their readings of Nichiren's teachings to neither take (''fuju'') nor give (''fuse'') offerings from non-believers. Suppressed, adherents often held their meetings clandestinely which led to the [[Fuju-fuse#The persecution|Fuju-fuse persecution]] and numerous executions of believers in 1668.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gsLDwvmnt_oC&q=fuju+fuse&pg=PA150|title=Religion in Japan : arrows to heaven and earth|date=1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|first=Peter|last=Nosco|chapter=Keeping the faith: ''Bakuhan'' policy towards religions in seventeenth century Japan|others=Kornicki, Peter F. (Peter Francis), McMullen, James, 1939–|isbn=9780521550284|location=New York|oclc=32236452|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181026/https://books.google.com/books?id=gsLDwvmnt_oC&q=fuju+fuse&pg=PA150|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|150}} During this time of persecution, most likely to prevent young priests from adopting a passion for propagation, Nichiren seminaries emphasized Tendai studies with only a few top-ranking students permitted to study some of Nichiren's writings.<ref name=Stone1994>{{Cite journal|last=Stone|first=Jacqueline|date=1994|title=Rebuking the Enemies of the Lotus: Nichirenist Exclusivism in Historical Perspective|url=https://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/Rebuking%20the%20Enemies%20of%20the%20Lotus%20-%20Nichirenist%20Exclusivism%20in.pdf|journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies|volume=21/2–3|pages=231–259|access-date=28 February 2018|archive-date=15 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815145551/http://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/Rebuking%20the%20Enemies%20of%20the%20Lotus%20-%20Nichirenist%20Exclusivism%20in.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the [[Edo period]] the majority of Hokkeshū temples were subsumed into the shogunate's [[Danka system]], an imposed nationwide parish system designed to ensure religious peace and root out Christianity. In this system Buddhist temples, in addition to their ceremonial duties, were forced to carry out state administrative functions.  Thereby they became agents of the government and were prohibited to engage in any missionary activities.<ref name="philtar1"/>  Hokkeshū temples were now obligated, just like those of other Buddhist schools, to focus on funeral and memorial services (''Sōshiki bukkyō'') as their main activity.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Death and the afterlife in Japanese Buddhism|date=2008|publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press|first=Mariko Namba |last=Walter |chapter=The structure of Japanese Buddhist funerals |others=Stone, Jacqueline Ilyse,, Walter, Mariko Namba|isbn=9780824832049|location=Honolulu|oclc=657757860}}</ref>{{rp|247}} Stagnation was often the price for the protected status.<ref name=Matsunaga1988 />{{rp|306}}