great teacher ［大師］ (Chin ta-shih;  daishi): An honorific title awarded to priests of virtue in China and Japan by the imperial court, usually after their death. In Japan, Saichō, the founder of the Tendai school, was given the name and title the Great Teacher Dengyō ( Dengyō Daishi) in 866, and Ennin, the third chief priest of Enryaku-ji, the head temple of the Tendai school, the Great Teacher Jikaku (Jikaku Daishi) in the same year. Kūkai, the founder of the True Word (Shingon) school, was given the name and title the Great Teacher Kōbō (Kōbō Daishi) in 921. These were the first instances of the bestowal of the honorific title “great teacher” in Japan.