At age 24 Kukai writes "Indications of the goals of the three teachings". The essay is 39 pages in English translated by Hakeda in Kukai: Major Works (1972).
The first section is about Confucianism. At the time, it's very profound insight into more ethical ways of being, how not to be an animal. Today it's more like advanced Emily Post advice column. There's a kind of moralizing tone that doesn't go down very well, I get sick of pretty quick.
It is possible that the allegorical thinking supported Kukai's poetry, and the protocol helped him in life. The how to do things and ethical strivings are supportive. It's about conventional life, and being a Buddhist monk isn't quite conventional. Going forth is a rejection of conventional life, quite revolutionary.
There names for every kind of virtue or flaw they want to express, Tung Wei supposedly didn't care what he looked like and wore ragged clothes and had disheveled hair. Kukai moves onto Taoism. Taoism seems to be not doing the ordinary things. You eschew position and marriage and you will live long. Use medicinal herbs. You can become immortal.
Taoism is more shamanistic, it has a vague doctrine, but I like the talk about nature, being natural. In Kukai's words it's similar to Buddhism in it's wariness of pleasures and the trappings of conventional success, seeks out the long view.
He takes the perspective of a low status mendicant Buddhist. Japan had lots of un-ordained Buddhists wandering around because the emperor kept a tight rein on ordinations because the state supported ordained monks. It was a great triumph that at the end of Kukai's life, he was granted 2 a year for his Shingon sect. But mendicants were seen as low status, and I get the sense that Kukai is trying to make room for them being sincere spiritual practitioners in this essay.
The world has changed quite a lot since Kukai. Many of the names I look up don't have any reference on the internet. When you look up "Naga girl", instead of a mythical serpent being, you get an ethnic group from India and Myanmar. The referents of Kukai's times are difficult to track down.
What does come through is that Kukai feels Buddhism is more comprehensive to Confucianism and Taoism. There is a fair amount of syncretism, so they are not obsessed with theological purity in their thinking. Honestly I don't think he really proves Buddhism is superior to Taoism and Confucianism, he discusses them and then states it. There's a lot of name dropping, people are examples of virtues and vices, references that aren't on the internet. They would not have wikipedia articles for obscure people from 8th century Japan only mentioned in Kukai. He references lists of Buddhist and tries to engage in the mythology some. It's an early work from a long time ago. In a way it's a sort of miracle that this essay still exists. It's a document for those more into the evolution of Kukai, but it also has some interesting for personal details, and the nascent thoughts of a great Buddhist thinker, leader and spiritual hero.
Another document that comes down to us in translation is "Attaining enlightenment in this very existence" by Kukai
I can't claim to grok the document but there are some notes.
He refers to the Mahavairocana Sutra (online). He has ideas about the vibrations positive effects of mantra. He also refers to the Aspiration of Enlightenment by Nagarjuna, which I can't find among the list of his works. Vajrasekhara Sutra is also mentioned.
The Vairocana mantra: Oṃ amogha Vairochana mahāmudra maṇipadma jvāla pravarttaya hūṃ
In the Trikaya doctrine, Gautama was the Buddha of the Nirmāṇakāya, Amitabha is the Buddha of the Saṃbhogakāya and Vairocana is the buddha of the Dharmakaya.
Amoghavajra brought Vajrayana teachings to China, and taught Huiguo, who taught Kukai and brought the teachings to Japan.
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