KUSHA

Chinese Ch-she, Buddhist school of philosophy introduced into Japan from China during the Nara period (710784). The school takes its name from its authoritative text, the Abidatsuma-kusha-ron(Sanskrit:Abhidharma-kosa; q.v.), by the 4th- or 5th-century Indian philosopher Vasubandhu. This text sets forth the doctrine of the Sarvastivada, an ancient Indian school that held that all things (dharmas), future, past, and present, actually exist; the self alone is illusory. The text's translation into Chinese (651654) by Hsan-tsang led to the formulation of the Ch-she school in China. By the 9th century the school had died out as an active, separate faith in both China and Japan; in Japan it was appended to the Hosso school.