However, it is said that by the erection of the Great Buddha of Todai-ji Temple (around year 748), they had been written with a Chinese character '宗' ('shu' literally 'sect') for '衆,' as are they today.
が、東大寺の大仏が完成した頃（748年頃）には、現在のように「宗」の字が充てられるようになったといわれる。