Tangmi

Tángmì (Chinese: 唐密; pinyin: Tángmì) refers to the traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism that have flourished among the Chinese people since the Tang dynasty in China. These traditions may also be referred to as Hanchuan Mizong (Chinese: 漢傳密宗; pinyin: Hànchuán Mìzōng), the "Han Chinese Transmission of the Esoteric School."

Overview

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 Esoterica," or Hànchuán Mìzōng (漢傳密宗) "Secret Buddhism of the Han Transmission" (Hànmì 漢密 for short). It is sometimes referred as Dōngmì (東密) "Eastern Esotericism," meaning the succession of Tang Esoterica in Japan (east to China) transmitted by the Japanese monk Kūkai (For the historical reasons, see the History section.) Being parts of the Esoteric Buddhism, Tángmì and Dōngmì can be very different from those in Tibetan and Newar traditions, in aspects like yidams, dharmapalas, rituals, the main sutras, and the related Buddhist texts. In a more general sense, the Chinese term Mìzōng (密宗) "esoteric religion" is the most popular term used when referring to any form of Esoteric Buddhism.