The principle of recognizing the Kami as avatars or incarnations of Buddhist deities, of which the case of the Sun-Goddess and Vairochana was the first in Japan--it had been already applied in China to Laotze and Confucius--was subsequently much extended, and, with a spice of Chinese philosophy added, formed the basis of a new sect called Ryōbu Shinto. Its Buddhist character is indicated by its name, which means "two parts," the two parts being the two mystic worlds of Buddhism, namely, the Kongôkai and the Taizōkai. The principal founder of Ryōbu was the famous (and fabulous) Kōbō Daishi (died 835), to whom the invention of the Hiragana syllabary and quite a miraculous number of sculptures, writings, and paintings are ascribed. The sect of Buddhism engrafted by him on Shinto is that known as Shingon (true word). It is not one of its highest forms, and deals much in magic finger-twistings, endless repetitions of mystic formulæ unintelligible to the worshipper, and other superstitious practices. Despite its professions of eclecticism, the soul of Ryōbu is essentially Buddhist. It borrows little more from Shinto than the names of a few deities, notably Kuni-toko-tachi, to whom it gives an importance by no means justified by anything in the older Shinto writings.[332] Ryōbu owed much of its success to forgeries and other means, which were considered less objectionable in those days than they would be at present. Great indulgence has always been shown in Japan towards means of edification (_hōben_) that would hardly recommend themselves to our more scrupulous minds. Yet there was something more than priestcraft in the attempt to weld Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shinto into one consistent whole. It is surely a true instinct which leads mankind to recognize an essential unity in all religions, and to reconcile, as far as possible, the outwardly conflicting forms in which it is clothed. The religious history of Japan is full of such endeavours.[333] But Shinto, Buddhism of various sects, Confucianism, and Sung philosophy constituted a very refractory mass of material, and the results obtained, while they testify to much industry and ingenuity, are more curious than valuable.