four dictums ［四箇の格言］ ( shika-no-kakugen): Also, four maxims. Four statements with which Nichiren (1222–1282) denounced the four most influential Buddhist schools of his time in Japan—the Pure Land (Jōdo) school (also, the Nembutsu school), the Zen school, the True Word (Shingon) school, and the Precepts (Ritsu) school. Based on his understanding of the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra and his perception of the slander of these schools against the sutra, he repudiated their doctrines and declared as follows: (1) “Nembutsu leads to the hell of incessant suffering,” (2) “Zen is the invention of the heavenly devil,” (3) “True Word will ruin the nation,” and (4) “Precepts is a traitor to the nation.”