A *mandara 曼荼羅 based on the Dainichikyō 大日経 (Sk: Vairocanabhisambodhi sutra/Mahavairocana sutra; Taishō No.848). Its proper name is Daihitaizōshō mandara 大悲胎蔵生曼荼羅 (mandara born of the womb of great compassion). Since the original Sanskrit text of the Dainichikyō has not been discovered, the Sanskrit equivalent of "taizō" remains unclear, but it is thought to be "garbha," signifying "womb" or "embryo". This mandara is one of the two mandara forming the *Ryōkai mandara 両界曼荼羅, the other being the *Kongōkai mandara 金剛界曼荼羅, and in Japan it thus came to be generally known as the Taizōkai mandara. Forms of the mandara of the Dainichikyō predating the *Genzu mandara 現図曼荼羅, such as the *Taizō zuzō 胎蔵図像 and *Taizō kyūzuyō 胎蔵旧図様, should therefore be referred to simply as Taizōkai mandara.
The Taizō mandara 胎蔵曼荼羅 was introduced to China by Shanwuwei (Jp: Zenmui 善無畏, Sk: Subhakarasimha; 637-735), who translated the Dainichikyō into Chinese. The composition of the Taizō mandara as transmitted by Shanwuwei may be inferred from a diagram showing only the positions of the deities contained in the commentary on the Dainichikyō by Shanwuwei and his disciple Yixing (Jp: Ichigyō 一行, 683-727), from the Taizō zuzō preserved in line drawing *hakubyō 白描, and from the Daihitaizō sanmaya mandara 大悲胎蔵三昧耶曼荼羅 in which the deities are represented by means of symbolic objects (see *Sanmaya mandara 三昧耶曼荼羅), and it differed considerably from the Taizōkai mandara as we know it today. At the same time, Jingangzhi (Jp: Kongōchi 金剛智, Sk: Vajrabodhi; 671-741) and Bukong (Jp: Fukū 不空, Sk: Amoghavajra; 705-74), who introduced to China a form of Esoteric Buddhism mikkyō 密教 centered on the Kongōchōkyō 金剛頂経 (Diamond Peak Sutra, Sk: Sarvatathagatatattvasamgraha; Taishō Nos.865, 882), transmitted a different form of Taizō mandara, corresponding to the Taizō kyūzuyō. It has fewer deities than the Taizō zuzō, but its symmetry and other features reflect efforts to enhance its qualities as a religious painting.
The above two traditions of the Taizō mandara were integrated by Huiguo (Jp: Keika 恵果, 746-805), under whom *Kūkai 空海 (774-835) studied in China, resulting in the Genzu mandara. Its composition varies somewhat in the different versions, but it consists of approximately 414 deities systematically arranged in 12 sections called Chūdai hachiyōin 中台八葉院, Henchiin 遍知院, Jimyōin 持明院, Rengebuin 蓮華部院, Kongōshuin 金剛手院, Shakain 釈迦院, Kokūzōin 虚空蔵院, Monjuin 文殊院, Soshitsujiin/Soshitchiin 蘇悉地院, Jizōin 地蔵院, Jogaishōin 除蓋障院, and Gekongōbuin 外金剛部院; compared with the approximately 120 deities mentioned in the Dainichikyō, this represents a more than threefold increase in the number of deities, and it may be said to represent the final stage in the development of the Taizō mandara, which evolved from the mandara of the Dainichikyō via the Taizō zuzō and Taizō kyūzuyō into the Genzu mandara.
In addition, polychrome versions of the Taizō mandara were brought to Japan by Ennin 円仁 (794-864), Enchin 円珍 (814-91) and others, and although they exhibit minor differences in detail when compared with the Genzu mandara introduced by Kūkai, there are no major differences in their basic composition and they are thought to belong to the traditions of the Genzu mandara in a broad sense. As a result of the subsequent decline of Esoteric Buddhism in China, no further copies of the Taizō mandara were brought to Japan, and the Taizōkai mandara as represented by the Genzu mandara has continued to be produced in both the Shingon 真言 and Tendai 天台 sects down to the present day.