Important Buddhist teachers, high priests, and founders of Buddhist sects; often worshipped by followers. Statues and paintings of soshi, soshi-zō 祖師像, were enshrined in special halls called *kaisandō 開山堂, *soshidō 祖師堂 or *mieidō 御影堂. Many were realistic depictions showing individual characteristics, while others were idealized images.
Popular subjects included the six priests of the Hossō 法相 sect *Hossō rokuso 法相六祖, the five patriarchs of the Jōdo 浄土 sect, eight patriarchs of the Shingon 真言 sect *Shingon hasso 真言八祖, and Zen 禅 figures like Bodhidharma *Daruma 達磨. Good examples of soshi-zō include images of Shōtoku Taishi *Shōtoku Taishi-zō 聖徳太子像 such as two 11th-century statues in Hōryūji 法隆寺; the portrait of Keika 恵果, a patriarch of the Shingon sect, in Jingoji 神護寺, Kyoto; and the standing figure of *Nichiren 日蓮 in Jōkōin 浄光院, Chiba Prefecture.