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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s1: A. Sects

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s1

Language
English

Contents

A. Sects

Chinese Buddhism

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After long-term interpretation, translations, lectures and research on Buddhist scriptures, Buddhism got introduced to China thus forming various academic and religious sects with national characteristics meanwhile externally spreading to Korea, Japan and Vietnam.

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Early introduction

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In recent archaeological discovery, statues of Buddha has been found in tombs of the Eastern Han Dynasty at Pengshan, Sichuan and the cliff inscriptions of Buddha has got discovered in Kongwang Mountain at Lianyungang. It is said that the introduction of Buddhist scriptures is started at the oral introduction of Borobudur scriptures (Buddhist scriptures) from Yi Cun who was the envoy of Da Yue Shi Tribe to Jing Lu in the first year of Yuan Shou in Han Dynasty (2 BCE). But it is difficult to ascertain the scripture to which it belonged to since it has been lost for a long time. The *Sutra of 42 sections*, which was taken from the Western Regions by the envoy of Emperor Ming in Yongping years (58～75), is conventionally taken as the evidence of the original introduction of Buddha Dharma into China but in recent years its historical veracity has been doubted making it a controversial evidence. While an exact date for the entry of Buddhism in China is still doubtful, it is, however, certain that by the Common Era Buddhism had to spread to Chinese Han regions, especially intensively in areas like Chang’an and Luoyang as well as Pengcheng (Xuzhou) etc. Buddha was then initially considered as a kind of supernatural being so much so that Emperor Huan of Han sacrificed for the Buddha along with the Yellow Emperor [Huangdi] and the founder of Taoism, Lao Zi and recognised Buddhist monks as necromancer.

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3ʳᵈ and 4ᵗʰ centuries CE

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After the Han Dynasty, Buddhist monks of India, Parthia and Kang Ju, such as Dharmakala, Dharmasatya, Samgha-varman etc successively came to Luoyang, the capital of Wei State to engage in translating the Buddhist scriptures. Then, Zhi Qian, Kang Senghui etc came to Jian Ye, the capital of Wu State (present Nanjing, Jiangsu) for promoting Buddhism. Zhi Qian won the courteous reception of Sun Quan and was knighted as a learned scholar and a temple was established for Kang Senghui. Dharmakala and Dharmasatya were skilled at the study of temperament, thus translating one volume of *Mahasanghikavinaya* namely Seng Qi Jie Xin which advocated the monks to abide by the Buddhist system and the commandment. This was the first original material for the foundation of Buddhism in China. Dharmasatya also translated one volume of *Dharmagupta-vinaya* in Baima Temple. Additionally, Kang Senghui is credited with the translation of four works such as *Uqradatta* and *The Sutra Of Eternal Life*. The translation of Buddhist scriptures in Wu State was started in Wuchang and was popular in Jianye. Zhi Qian devoted himself to the translation of Buddhist ancient books and records related to Hinayana and Mahayana Vinaya-sutra totally to 88 books and 118 volumes of which 51 books and 69 volumes still exist. Kang Senghui also translated nine

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*Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, China*

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volumes of *A Collection of the Six Perfection*, namely *Sat-Paramita – Samgiti*. At that time, popular texts of both Hinayana and Mahayana were part of the translation activities wherein Hinayana focussed on Buddhism and laid emphasis on mental cultivation (“follow your mind”), Mahayana laid particular emphasis on Hannya. In a word, the translations of Buddhist scriptures and the promotion and the research on Buddhism belief had laid the preliminary foundation for the development of Buddhism during the period of Wei-Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties. Additionally, numerous temples and Buddha figures were constructed in that period but only a few has remained preserved till now.

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5ᵗʰ and 6ᵗʰ centuries CE

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Most of the emperors of the Southern Dynasties of Song, Qi, Liang and Chen believed in Buddhism. Emperor Liangwu sincerely believed in Buddhism and called himself “san bao nu” [three precious slave] and wanted to be a Monk for four times and was finally redeemed by the money provided by the state. He established a large number of temples and expounded the texts of Buddhism by himself and held large-scale fast ceremonies. There were 2,846 temples in Liang Dynasty including 82,700 monks and nuns. In Jiankang (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu) alone, there were more than 700 temples, including 10,000 monks and nuns. Though Buddhism was officially prohibited during the period of Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei and Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou but in general practice even the emperors of these dynasties supported Buddhism. Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei ordered to excavate Yungang Grottoes at Datong and Emperor Xiaowen ordered to build Longmen Grottoes in honour of his queen mother after moving the capital to Luoyang. At the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were totally 415 books and 1,919 volumes of Buddhist scriptures, about 30,000 temples and two million monks and nuns. In the Northern Qi Dynasty, the monk administrators took charge of about 4 million monks and nuns and 40,000 temples. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, a large number of foreign monks came to China to promote Buddhism, which included such famous monks like Gunavarman, Gunabhadra, Paramartha, Bodhiruci, Ratnamati etc. Additionally, a number of Chinese believers also came to India for the study tour, for example, famous Fa Xian, Zhi Meng, Song Yun, Hui Seng etc came to India for pilgrimage and carried back numerous Buddhist scriptures.

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*Grotto 20, Yungang Grottoes, Datong, Shanxi, China*

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7^th ~ middle 10^th centuries CE

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The development of Buddhism in Wei-Jin Northern and Southern Dynasties created the ideological and economic conditions for establishing the Buddhist sects with Chinese characteristics in Sui and Tang Dynasties. After unifying the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Emperor Wen of Sui sent out an imperial decree to construct one temple for each of the Five Mountains and recover the temples and Buddha figures which were prohibited in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Additionally, the state temple – Da Xing Shan Temple which was used to execute Buddhism policies was established in the capital, namely Da Xing City (Southeast Chang’an city of Han Dynasty). During Ren Shou years (601~604), 111 dagobas were established in the country and the places for translation were also widely arranged for collecting Chinese and foreign translators to translate and expound Buddhist scriptures. Inheriting the Buddhism protection policy of Emperor Wen of Sui, Emperor Yang of Sui established the famous Huiri (Jñānādivākara) Bodhimanda in Yangzhou as the centre for spreading Buddhism and continued to develop the previous translation activities. Buddhism thus became very popular in that period. During Ren Shou years, there were 3,792 important temples and 2,30,000 monks in the country who wrote 46 books and 3,28,616 volumes, reviewed and corrected 3,853 old scriptures, built and repaired 15,08,940 stone Buddha figures.

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Tang Dynasty is the greatest and most prosperous age of Chinese Buddhism. Although the emperors of Tang Dynasty called themselves the descendants of the ancestor of Laozi and respected Taoism, they actually also concurrently adopted Buddhism. Emperor Taizong of Tang received assistance from monks in his efforts to unify the state and bring peace to disturbed areas. So instantly after inheriting the throne, he sent out an imperial decree to establish temples at the “war-disturbed places” in the country and founded the scripture translation school at Da Ci’en Temple so as to invite the wellknown monks at home and aboard to translate and promote scriptures and cultivate a large number of eminent monks and scholars. After Emperor Gaozong inherited the throne, official temples were established in the capital and various cities in order to pray for peace and prosperity. Moreover, Empress Wu Zetian ordered to establish Da Yun Temple at various cities. During the whole Tang Dynasty, the Buddhist monks were highly respected and received many honours and rewards. Monk Amoghavajra once served for Emperors Xuanzong, Suzong and Daizong of Tang and was promoted as Su Guo Gong (a Chinese nobility title) and after his death, Emperor Daizong of Tang cancelled the morning court meetings for three days so as to grieve over his death. There were many famous Chinese monks in Tang Dynasty whose a deep and wide comprehension of Buddhist philosophy far exceeded those of the previous generations. These monks laid the theoretical foundation for establishing various religious sects with national characteristics. Meanwhile, Buddhist beliefs were also widely accepted by the masses thus leading to the growth of folk tales, narrative literature etc which greatly contributed to the development of architecture, sculpture, painting, music etc and enriched the Chinese culture and art. In Tang Dynasty, a large number of foreign monks and scholars came to China to engage in missionary work and Buddhist scriptures translation. Meanwhile many Chinese monks (such as Xuan Zang, Yi Jing etc) travelled to India for pilgrimage and studies. Their works spread Chinese Buddhism to Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Java (present-day Indonesia) and strengthened the relationship between China and other Asian countries on religion, culture and commerce. However, during the 5th Huichang Year (845 CE), there was large-scale persecution of Buddhists due to social and economic reasons etc Emperor Wuzong ordered to expropriate the landed property of the temples, destroy Buddhist temples, derobe Sramana and force the monks to resume secular life. According to the records of Tang Hui Yao, about 4,600 temples and 40,000 Buddhist buildings such as monasteries, Caturdesa etc were destroyed at that time. Properties of temples were also expropriated and 2,60,500 monks and nuns were forced to resume secular life. Obviously, Buddhism suffered from a great persecution..

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The imperial palace hall of the Daxingshan Temple, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China

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The horizontal inscribed board at the Xiangji Temple of the Buddhist Sect of Pure Land Buddhism, Shenheyuan, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China

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The flourishing development of Buddhism promoted emergence of independent sects and schools of Mahayana during the Song and Tang dynasties. For example, the Tiantai Sect was founded Zhi Yi; the Three Treatise School by Ji Zang; the Dharma Character School by Xuan Zang and Kui Ji; Vinaya Schools by Dao Xuan, Fa Li and Huai Su respectively at the South Mountain, Xiang Bu and East Tower; the Pure Land Sect which was initiated by Tan Luan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, continued by Dao Chao of Sui Dynasty and integrated by Shan Dao of Tang Dynasty; the North and South Schools of Chan Buddhism respectively established by Daman Hongren’s follower Shen Xiu and Hui Neng; “the Five Schools of Chan Buddhism (namely Weiyang, Linji, Caodong, Yunmen and Fayan)” successively appearing at middle Tang Dynasty; the Hua-yen school established by Fa Zang; and the Esoteric Buddhist Sects founded by Indian monks Subhakarasimha, Vajrabodhi, Amoghavajra and Hui Guo. Many of these Mahayana sects were introduced overseas instantly after their establishment thereof along with the development of external communication in China in Sui and Tang Dynasties.

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Middle 10th ~ middle 13th centuries CE

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At early Northern Song Dynasty, the imperial court adopted the protection policy for Buddhism. In the first Jianlong year (960 CE), 8,000 monks were taken across and successively 157 monks such as Xing Qin were assigned to India for seeking Buddha Dharma, and meanwhile Zhang Congxin was order to engrave Tripitaka at Yizhou (present Chengdu, Sichuan). In the first Tai Ping Xing Guo year (976 CE), 1,70,000 monks were taken across, and the scripture translation school was established within five years to recover the scripture translation which was interrupted for up to 170 years since the sixth Yuan He Year of Tang Dynasty (811 CE). Although the scale of scripture translation was greater than that of the Tang Dynasty, the achievement thereof was poorer. The Chan Buddhism, especially Lin Ji and Yunmen, was most prosperous among the religious sects followed by the Tian Tai, Hua Yan, Vinaya Schools and the Pure Land Sect. Since sects like Hua Yan Chan and Nian Fo Chan etc were combined with each other and advocated “consistency of Buddhism (Tian Tai Hua Yan) and Chan” and “consistency of contemplation and Chan”, they were widely popular. Additionally, the Tiantai sect which was divided into Shanjia and Shanwai sects as well as the Nianfo Chan association was greatly prosperous and had a great influence over the masses. In the fifth Tianxi year (1021 CE), there were 4,60,000 monks and nuns and 40,000 temples. The year 1021 was, therefore, regarded as the peak period of development of Buddhism in the Northern Song Dynasty. During the period of Emperor Huizong (1101~1125) since the imperial court sincerely believed in Taoism, an order was issued to integrate Buddhism with Taoism and change the Buddhist temple into Taoist temple. Buddhism thus once again suffered from persecution.

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In the Southern Song Dynasty, Jiangnan Buddhism was still prosperous. Sects other than Pure Land and Chan, however, gradually fading due to the official restrictions on the development of Buddhism. Because Chan sect did not reserve any word records and not focus on scriptures, it had a small impact during Huichang Buddhist persecution and wars of the Five Dynasties. The Pure Land Sect focussed on whole heartedly chanting the name of Amitabh Buddha so it was simple and easy. Meanwhile, the Chan monks after the Northern Song mostly belonged to Pure Land Sect so Pure Land Sect could continue to be prosperous till modern times.

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Confucianism and neo-Confucianism of Song Dynasty not only absorbed the thought of Hua Yan and Chan sect to enrich the contents thereof but also criticised and rejected Buddhism. Ouyang Xiu was the most well-known Buddhism excluders but the rejection was once opposed by Qi Song monk, the prime minister of Song Dynasty namely Zhang Shangying, Li Gang, Liu Mi etc. *Zhang Shangying* wrote *The Sastra on Protecting the Dharma* and created Three Religions Compromise Theory. The thought of Kong Zi was the same as those advocated by Buddhism. Confucianism could be used to cure skin disease, Taoist could cure blood vessel disease and Buddhist were to cure bone marrow disease so the real intention of the three sects were consistent with each other. Moreover, San Jiao Ping Xin Lun created by Liu Mi also had the same purport.

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Painting depicting unity between the three religious doctrines of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism, Qing Period

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Middle of 13ᵗʰ ~ 19ᵗʰ centuries CE

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The governor of Yuan dynasty advocated Tibetan Buddhism but also adopted the protection policy for Chinese Han Buddhism. Chan Sect and Rissh Sech etc in Buddhism continued to spread and develop with increased temples and monks and nuns. From Shi Zu to the 28th year of Yuan (1291 CE), there were 42,318 temples, 2,13,000 monks and nuns in the country and meanwhile, strict monk administrators were set in centre and local governments so as to supervise the monks. Moreover, Rectified Baizhang's Commandments by Imperial Order was issued and enforced and the famous Tripitaka of Puning Temple was also engraved in that period.

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After the period of Emperor Wanli of Ming Dynasty, Zhu Hong, Zhen Ke, De Qing and Zhi Xu emerged and further internally developed the theories of Chan sect, Buddhism, Rissh sect etc. They externally combined with Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Such an integration was greatly welcomed by literatti and officialdom and believed by the common people. This also promoted development of Buddhism with more Chinese characteristics.

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During the early Qing Dynasty, the imperial family believed in Tibetan Buddhism and adopted the policy of restricting Chinese Han Buddhism. The restriction was slightly relaxed during the period of Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Kangxi. They invited eminent monks who had gone into seclusion at the late Ming Dynasty to return back and make decadent Buddhism active again. Emperor Yongzheng paid attention to Tibetan Buddhism but he advocated that Confucianism and Buddhism shall run parallel in the same system and various sects of Buddhism shall be fused with each other. He also prepared The Magic Book pick differentiation and Yu Xuan Yu Lu by himself and advocated that all sects shall chant the name of Buddha thus imposing an important impact on Buddhism of modern times. Emperor Qianlong issued Qianlong Version Tripitaka and edited Combined Tripitaka of Man, Han, Meng and Zang which certainly drove the development of Buddhism. Since the late Qing Dynasty, Yang Wenhui, Ouyang Jingwu and others established scriptures inscription office, Buddhist college, Buddhist association etc under the promotion of Japanese and Western Europe Buddhist research and thus opened a new era for researching the philosophical connotations of Buddhism. Modern Chinese intellectuals, such as Kang Youwei, Tan Citong, Zhang Taiyan, Liang Qichao, and others were all influenced by Buddhism. Liang Qichao's famous work Belief of Kindness was inspired by the Buddhist philosophy. Additionally, a large number of famous monks, such as Yue Xia, Di Xian, Yuang Ying, Tai Xu, Hong Yi and others contributed to the promotion and development of modern Buddhism in China to a prosperous and flourishing belief.

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(*Huang Xinchuan*)

Tiantai School

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Tien-Tai School is the earliest Buddhist schools established in China and is named after Mount Tiantai because its founder Zhiyi of the Sui Dynasty lived there.

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Tien-Tai School honoured Indian Longshu (Nagarjuna) as its initial patriarch, Huiwen in the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577) the second, Huisi the third, Zhiyi the fourth, Guanding the fifth, Zhiwei the sixth, Huiwei the seventh, Xuanlang the eighth and Zhanran the ninth.

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In the first year of Tian Jia Period of Emperor Wen of Chen Dynasty (560 CE), Zhiyi, the founder of the school, followed Huisi, his teacher to study Fahua Samadhi at the Dasu Mount (present-day Xinyang, Henan) and finally gained the true essence. He came to Jinling (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu) in the first year of Guangda Period (567 CE) and was invited to live in the Waguan Temple to deliver lectures on *Saddharma Pundarika* and paraphrase *Mahāpraj¤āpāramitā Upadeśa* where he not only addressed speeches but also wrote books and set up his own theories. In the seventh year of Taijian Period of Chen Dynasty (575 CE), Zhiyi led his over 20 disciples including Huibianto to live in Mount Tiantai for 10 years and established the Tien-Tai School. Finally, Zhiyi died in Sui Dynasty and was buried at the foot of Xinchang Buddha in Zhejiang. His disciple Guanding who was faithful in promoting his theories and essences built the Guoqing Temple. The Tien-Tai School then blossomed to its peak but declined soon after his passing away. With support from emperor Xuanzong, Suzong and Daizong of Tang Dynasty, the ninth patriarch of the school Zhanran began to revive it by following transmitted knowledge, spreading their doctrines and confronting other schools. During the Song Dynasty, the Tien-Tai School was divided into two wings: Shanjia Wing and the Shanwai Wing. The Zhili branch living in Siming (present-day Ningbo, Jiangsu) considered itself to be the straight successor of the Tien-Tai School and called itself, the Shanjia Wing, while the other branch with Wu'en, Hongmin, Yuanqing, Tianzhao and Zhiyuan as representatives and holding different thoughts was degraded as the Shanwai Wing. These two wings violently debated on various aspects of Tien-Tai doctrines when the Zhili branch moved ahead. However, after that, the the Tien-Tai School gradually tended to fall in silent oblivion. In Ming Dynasty, the founder pavillion of the Tien-Tai School was rebuilt and its ancestral temple with carved scriptures was repaired towards the end of Qing Dynasty. Guxu and Dixian of early Republic of China further advanced the School and spread its doctrines across China. Today, Yanxu, Xingci, Jingquan and a number of eminent monks are expanding doctrines of this school with great commitment. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the Tien-Tai School has, however, been not as popular as ever before. It later grew in the form of a religion. The contemporary development of the school has been emphasised and studied in detail by modern scholars.

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When Zhiyi was alive, he simply made narration instead of writing so that his disciple Guanding recorded and edited the “Three Major Masterpieces of Tien-Tai School” namely *Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra Sentences*, *Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra Doctrines* and *Maha Samatha Vipasyana* which were considered as the essential classics of Tien-Tai School. Besides, there are “Five Short Classics of Tien-Tai School”, namely, Guan Yin Xuan Yi, Guan Yin Shu, Jin Guang Ming Xuan Yi, Jin Guang Ming Sentences and Guan Jing Shu. The Tien-Tai School regarded *Saddharma Puṇḍarīka* (The Lotus of the True Law) as its basis so it was also called Nichiren Buddhism.

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The Tien-Tai School took *Saddharma Puṇḍarīka* as its tenets, *Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra* (Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom) as its guidelines and the *Nirvana Sutra* as its basis and *Prajna Sutra* as its method to visualise the truth. Varieties of *sutras* were cited to increase creditability and various scriptures were referred to gain success. In addition to inheriting and developing the *One Noting Mind and Three Reflections* of Huiwen and Huisi, the School also absorbed thoughts of the “Three Treatises” that was popular in the Southern Dynasty and *Prajñā* and inherited critically the ten Panjiao (analysis and judging on for teaching) of North and South. As a result, theories of the Tien-Tai School are combination of the Southern philosophical connotations and the Northern’s emphasis on the practices in the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589 CE). It proposed to make use of *Samatha* and *Vipasyana* equally for learning theories and contemplating.

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According to Huisi, all things in the world were unreal. All phenomena were seen as the substratum of existence and phenomena were empty of self-nature. Phenomena were seen as unchanging and undifferentiated substratum of existence which was untruth designation. All things arose from causes and there was no constantly unchanged substance, which was called as “emptiness”. But “emptiness” was also a part of the dharma-nature instead of being beyond the nature or being produced and worked out, which was called the “Middle Path”. Therefore, all things were neither totally empty nor entirely untruthful, but half-empty, half-untruthful. It was empty, untruthful and half-empty and half-untruthful at the same time. None of these three elements may exist if they are independent without relying on the other two. Reflecting emptiness and untruthfulness from the middle path showed the wholeness of these three elements which was regarded as their integration. As regards to meditation and practice, the Tien-Tai School demanded “reflecting emptiness, untruthfulness and the middle with one mind” to cast off *avidya* and acquire liberation and Nirvana.

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The Tien-Tai School stressed that thoughts and true suchness were the same because that all things were products of the moment of thought, existed in the “Ten Realms”, of which were composed by the six mortals like gods, human beings, *asuras*, hell denizens, hungry ghosts and animals and the four immortals like *śrāvakas*, *pratyeka-buddhas*, *bodhisattvas* and *buddhas*. The six mortals could ascend to the level of the Buddha and the Buddha could also appear in the six mortals. The “Ten Realms” were composed by themselves mutually and all constituted the “Hundred Realms”. What the “Ten Realms” relied on were form, sensation, conception, conduct and consciousness which further constituted the “secular world” while rivers, mountains and lands constituted the “non-sentient world”. All the three worlds existed in the “Ten Realms”, thus totally having 30 varieties of worlds. There were 3,000 varieties of worlds in the “Hundred Realms” that’s “one mind creates 3,000 worlds”. Meanwhile, this “one mind” is neither outside the three thousand worlds nor in the front of them but contains them.

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Guoqing Temple, Tiantai mountain, Zhejiang Province, China

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Tiantai mountain

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The Tien-Tai School was also divided into five different Buddhist periods ie the period of Avatamsaka, the period of Agamas, the period of Vaipulya, the period of Prajā and the period of Dharma-pundarik/Nirvana period and declared that the Tien-Tai School lied in the highest Avatamsaka period. It was divided by the four-fold methods and four doctrines, the former meant such forms or methods as employed by Śākyamuni, including sudden enlightenment teaching, gradual teaching, secret teaching and variable teaching; the doctrines were explanations made by Śākyamuni based on the profoundness, including tripitaka teaching, shared teaching, distinctive teaching and perfect teaching. The eight teaching methods were integrated in the four periods of *Dharma-pundarik*. *Saddharma Puṇḍarīka* was the saying at the last term and was considered as the ultimate of teaching with pure perfection and exclusiveness and the best among the eight teaching methods. The Tien-Tai School thus belonged to a complete Buddhism with perfect doctrines. It was founded by Zhiyi, spread widely by its fifth patriarch Guanding and prevailed for a time but gradually perished. At the middle of Tang Dynasty, Zhanran further proposed that Buddha existed everywhere in the nature, that is, Buddha was ubiquitous in all realms, never blocked by the consciousness or by the nature. Therefore, it could be said that Buddha existed in even a single grass, a rock or a dust. All contained 3,000 worlds and defilement, purity, virtuousness and evilness could all be seen as natural virtues. Śākyamuni never got rid of evil but could avoid conducting evils and Icchantika never lost the goodness but stopped to conduct goodness. So it could be said that goodness and evilness existed in everything. The three *dharma* ie, *citta-dharma*, Buddha Dharma and Sattva Dharma, all have the 3,000 worlds and integrate with each other in spite of their differences in nature, cause and effect. That is why no difference exists in the three *dharma*. Siming Zhili (960-1028) of Shanjia Wing in Song Dynasty proposed the theory of “following other theories according to the conditions” which means that the truths proposed by other schools are not contained in the different things and are separated with the things. Therefore, it was also called the “other theory” or “but theory” or “one theory”. According to the perfect teaching, the true suchness contained different phenomena which combined into each other. All *dharma* were left alone to be what they really were, that is, all performed according to conditions and remained unchanged. To be unchanged was to follow conditions which meant to be unchanged. This was “following one theory according to the conditions”. On the contrary, the Shanwai Wing insisted on contemplation out of true thought and valued the spirit of natural thought. From the Yuan Dynasty period onwards, the theoretical aspect of the School failed to make any significant new additions and the successors approached Tien-Tai by means of deep meditation which promoted the blending of deep meditation and theories of the Tien-Tai School.

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In respect of meditation and practice, Tien-Tai School proposed the three contemplations in one thought and the 3,000 worlds in single thought, there were such four kinds of meditative formats as long-sitting, long-walking, sitting-waking and half-sitting and half-walking. Prior to the beginning of meditation, the 25 varieties of conducts ought to be made including acquiring five favourable conditions, cleaning five desires, casting five coverings, adjusting five matters and doing five *dharmas*. The 10 objects were contemplated at the time of formal practice namely five *skandhas*, vexation, sickness, *karma*, *mara*, *samatha*, all evil sight, arrogance, two vehicles and Bodhisattva. Ten contemplation methods were used including meditating inconceivable objects, arousing *buddhi* heart, resting the thought beyond *samatha* and *vipasyana*, cutting persistence, recognising block, adjusting aids, aiding against blocks, placing, tolerating, and liberation from love while the precedence obtained were the six contained in perfect teaching including principle Buddha, name Buddha, contemplation Buddha, similarity Buddha, breaking-demonstrating Buddha and ultimate Buddha.

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Since the Tang Dynasty, the Tien-Tai School began to spread to foreign countries, successively to the northern Korea, the southern Korea and Japan, where it witnessed phenomenal development and have maintained influences even today.

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The Tien-Tai School continued to have an impact on Chinese Buddhism and many persons studying Buddhism take great interests in its theories. As one sect of Chinese Buddhism, it attracts both scholars and believers.

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(*Huang Xianian*)

Faxiang School

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Faxiang School is a school of Buddhism originated in China. It was founded in Chang’an (present Xi’an) in Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE) by Master Xuanzang who spent 17 years in India, travelling and studying under various Buddhist masters.

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After the 1st century CE, Yogacara with doctrines of consciousness-only started to appear in Indian Mahayana. Additionally, with the theory teaching that our understanding of reality comes from our own mind, it is also named as the *Vijnaptimātratā* School (“Consciousness-Only School” in Chinese). Faxian School obtained its name because of dealing with the phenomenal appearances of *dharma*.

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Xuanzang was given strong support and many assistants by the Tang Dynasty, the Faxian School therefore flourished at that time. Xuanzang’s disciple, Kuiji, is considered to be responsible for the development of the Consciousness-Only School. Since he lived in Ci’en Temple in Chang’an for a long time, he was addressed respectfully as “Master Ci’en” and the Faxian School was also named as the “Ci’en School”. Another sect opposite to Kuiji was Ximing School founded by Silla monk Yuance. Kuiji’s disciple Huizhao (650-714 CE) endeavored to vindicate the teaching of his master and “Ci’en Sect” entered into a period of great prosperity. Huizhao’s disciple Zhizhou (668-723 CE) treaded on the heels of his master and wrote books and developed his propositions. However, Faxian School began to decline after Zhizhou and became oblivious by the time of the Song Dynasty. With decline in direct contact with India, this sect withered and became the most short-lived sect. In the late Ming Dynasty, Faxian School once had influence on many thinkers like Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692 CE) whose Vein of Faxian had quite a refined analysis on basic concepts of “Ci’en School”. During the period of the Republic of China (1912-1949 CE), there was once a renaissance of the Consciousness-Only School. Public figures in Buddhist circle set up research institutions to cultivate Buddhist talents and found some lost ancient books about Faxian School from Japan to collate *sutra* and scriptures and published philosophical texts. Lay Buddhists under the leadership of Ouyang Jingwu of Nanjing China Buddhist College believed that Faxian and Consciousness-Only were two different schools. But Taixu proposed opinions from perspectives of development of Buddhist thoughts and believed that Faxian and Consciousness-Only were the same school. Some people thought that the Consciousness-Only School contained a number of positive factors, therefore, Faxian was taken as a compulsory course, which was known as “Faxian as the standard for the teaching dharma”.

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Faxian School claims that there are “Six sutras and Eleven Scriptures”, the basic text of the Sect. Six sutras refer to *Avatamsaka sutra*, *Sajdhinirmocana-sutra*, *Sutra on Merits and Virtues of the Buddha*, *Abhidharma sutra*, *Lankavatara sutra*, and *Ghana-vyūha-sūtra*, while the 11 scriptures are *Yogacarabhumi-sastra*, *Aryavacaprakarana-sastra*, *Mahayana sutralamkara*, *Pramanasamuccaya*, *Mahāyāna-samgraha-śāstra*, *Bhumi-sastra*, *Yogacara-vada Sastra*, *Alambanapariksa*, *Vimsatika Vijnapti Matrata Siddhih*, *Madhyanta Vibhaga Tika*, *Mahayan abhidharma Samuccaya Vyakhya*. Among the six sutras and 11 scriptures, *Vijnaptimatratasiddhi-Sastra*, *Yogacarabhumi-sastra* and *Samdhinirmocana-sutra* are fundamental sutras and scriptures. Another saying proposes, “One main and 10 branches”, that is, *Yogacarabhumi-sastraas* the main sutra and another 10 as branches which included *Mahāyāna-śatadharma-prakāśamukha-śāstra*, *Pañca-skandha-prakaraṇa*, *Aryavacaprakarana-sastra*, *Mahāyāna-samgraha-śāstra*, *Mahayanabhidharma Samuccaya Vyakhya*, *Madhyanta Vibhaga Tika*, *Vimsatika Vijnapti Matrata Siddhih*, *Vijnaptimatratasiddhi-trimsai-kakarika-sastra*, *Mahayana-sutralamkara* and *Yogacara-vada Sastra*. *Annotation on Vijnaptimatratasiddhi-Sastra* by Kuiji, *The Cheng Weishi Lun Liao-yi-deng* by his disciple Huizhao and *The Cheng Weishi-Lun-Yanmichao* by Zhizhou are the renowned “three masterpieces of Yoyacara” and are basic books for understanding Yogacara theories.

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Statue of Xuanzang, Dacien Pagoda, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

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With its deep level in theory and thought, Faxian School is one of the most closely connected sects with the Indian Buddhism. It advocates the ideology of “Consciousness Only” believing that all kinds of things and phenomena in the world are gained by subjective consciousness of human. The central doctrine of the School is that of eight consciousnesses, that is, five sense consciousnesses including eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body, the sixth or sense-center consciousness which forms conceptions, the seventh or thought-center consciousness (*manasvijnana*) which wills and reasons on a self-centered basis and the eighth or storehouse consciousness (*alaya*). The last one is the most important as it is the source of all phenomena, and can produce manifestation of the world which is named as the “seed consciousness”. Besides emphasising “consciousness” as the universal noumenon, the system of the school also constructs five *dharma* and hundreds of changes, proposing in the final analysis that matters in the world rest on five *dharma* and its hundreds of manifestations. Five *dharmas* include: (1) *Citta* (2) *Cetasa* (3) *Rūpa* (4) *Citta-viprayukta-dharma* and (5) *Asamskrta-dharma*. *Citta-dharma* has eight types of changes, and belongs to brain thinking phenomenon. *Caitasika-dharma* refers to 51 kinds of changes generated in concert with heart such as all annoyances. *Rūpa* refers to matter; however, it generates from heart consciousness, and has 11 types of changes. *Citta-viprayukta-dharma* has 24 types of changes, that is, phantasm of universal changes which are not influenced by *Citta* and *Caitasika-dharma* such as time, space, quantity, scale, gain and loss, birth and death, character and so on. *Asamskrta-dharma* has six changes, that is the still and permanent stage of dharma without birth, death and changes. This is the truth shown in the Buddha *dharma*, and the fundamental of the Consciousness-Only School. Five dharma and hundreds of manifestations are the perspectives of *Vijnaptimātratā* School on the whole world, with *Citta* and *Cetasa* belong to mental phenomena, *Rūpa* and *Citta-viprayukta-dharma* to natural phenomena and *Asamskrta-dharma* to realm pursued by philosophy and religion. They form various kinds of relationships. Among these relationships, heart consciousness is the highest, without which all matters in the universe cannot exist. *Tri-svabhava* is the epistemology in Yoyacara for observing the creation of all things in the world. The so-called *Tri-svabhava* refers to *parikalpitah-svabhava*, *paratantra-svabhava* and *parinispanna-svabhava*. *Parikalpitah-svabhava* insists that the cognitions on the world of all living creatures are the cognitions generating from *abhuta-kalpana* and acquisitive instinct. *Paratantra-svabhava* states that since all things on earth are dependent arising from others, relationships of dependent co-arising exist between all things on earth and without

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[Figure: Sequence in the path of Mahāyāna: the stately Sūtra of emancipation]

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this relationship nothing on earth can originate. *Parinispanna-svabhava* identifies that after getting to know the two misunderstandings of cognitions of sentient beings on *parikalpitah-svabhava* and *paratantra-svabhava*, practitioners will know that natures of all things on earth are empty and will achieve satisfactory *sunyata* cognition which is also called *asthusness*, *bhuta-samjna*, *dharmadhatu*, *dharma* nature, *nirvana* and so on and is the supreme valid cognition. There are progressive relationships among the three, with *parikalpitah-svabhava* as the universal phenomena of people’s cognition, *paratantra-svabhava* as relationships founding in people’s cognition and *parinispanna-svabhava* as the ultimate completeness of the cognition. Faxian School believes there are four kinds of cognitions including division of characteristics, division of seeing, self-witnessing aspect and re-witnessing aspect. Division of characteristics refers to external matters which can be perceived by eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and consciousness, that is, objective existing matters. Division of seeing refers to the reaction on external matters generating from six cognitions, that is, the objective knowledge of people. Self-witnessing aspect refers to further cognition based on division of seeing, that is, subjective cognizance. Re-witnessing aspect refers to the ultimate and absolute correctness of cognition. *Vij¤aptimātratā* School had a metaphor on four kinds of cognitions, division of characteristics like the cloth, division of seeing like the scale, self-witnessing aspect like counting the size of the measured cloth and re-witnessing aspect like proving the correctness of the result. The theory of four kinds of cognition is the unique proposition of Yogacara and one of precise theories of Yogacara masters. Pancagotrāni theory includes Shravakayana caste, pacceka caste, Buddha caste, indefinite caste and outcasts. These five caste theories are the basis to demonstrate the enlightenment. The former four castes can achieve the buddhahood of arhat, Bodhisattva and Buddha, however the last one can not become Buddha. Besides, Faxian School made contributions to the development of Buddhism tsema by the need of debates. The Yogacara theory has played an important role in promoting the altitude of Buddhism on philosophising, therefore, it is emphasised and studied by intellectuals fond of thinking in successive dynasties.

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In the late 7th century, Faxian School was introduced to Japan and Silla and so far there are still many people studying Yogacara.

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(*Huang Xianian*)

Tibetan Buddhism

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*Bod brgyud nang bstan chos lugs*, also known as Tibetan Buddhism, is one of Chinese major Buddhist sects, Mahayana Buddhism, one of three languages of Buddhism.

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Tibetan Buddhism emerged in the 8th and 9th centuries CE and matured in the 12th and 13th centuries CE and it was characteristic of Indian Buddism in the middle and late period. In the 7th century CE, Buddhism spread from India, Nepal, the Tang Dynasty and the Western Region to Tibet and evolved into Tibetan Buddhism characterised by humane and geological environment, undergoing epoch-making dynastic history of *bstan pa snga dar* and *bstan pa phyi dar*.

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*Bstan pa snga* started from King Songtsan Gampo (the middle 7th century CE) and ended in the period of Gldarma banning Buddhism (the middle 9th century CE) and it lasted for about 200 years, entering into a golden period of Buddhism spreading to Tibet and evolving into Tibetan Buddhism. In the 8th century CE, Tibet sent envoy to India to invite eminent monks such as *Santiraksita/zhi ba vtsho* (the 8th century CE), *pad ma vbyung gnas* (the 8th century CE), Bimalamitra (the 8th century CE) and Kamalashila (740-795 CE) to build temples, form monk groups, translate Sanskrit scriptures and teach

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Image of Princess Wen Cheng at Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, Tibet, China

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Tripitaka (Three Treasures) in Turo. In the heyday of Buddhism, Tibet banned the spread of Buddhism, making Tibetan Buddhism entre into centennial dark ages.

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*Bastan pa phyi dar* started from the 10th century CE and ended during the emergence of *dge lugs pa* in the 15th century CE and it lasted for 400 to 500 years. In *bstan pa phyi da*, Tibetan Buddhism resurrected in Tibet and ushered a new era after being banned for a period when some young Tibetans converted to Buddhist and went to India to study. In the early 10th century CE, a large number of young Tibetans went to India to study *dharma*, of which *lo chen rin chen bzang po* (958～1055 CE), *vbrog mi shakya ye shes* (993～1074 CE), *nag tsho lo tsaw ba tshul khrims rgyal ba* (1011～1064 CE) and *mar pa chos kyi blo gros* (1012～1097 CE) stood out from others. After completing study in India and returning to hometown, they taught *sutra* and *dharma* and translated *sutra* at the same time, launching a campaign for spreading Buddhism in Tibet. It is worth mentioning that Aatisha (982～1054 CE) made disciples and taught dharma in Tibet, making a great contribution to the formation and development of various Tibetan Buddhist sects.

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Tibetan Buddhism is renowned for complete *Tripitaka* (Three Treasures), namely *Sutra Pitika*, *Vinaya Pitika* and *Abhidharma Pitika* including Chinese *Tripitaka* of *bkav vagyur* (Sutra Pitika and Vinaya Pitika) and *bstan vgyur* (Abhidharma Pitika) as well as numerous well-preserved and spread literatures and sutras which boast all-inclusive contents and encompass rig gnas bcu such as technology, medicine, phonetics, Astika, Buddhism, rhetoric, rhetorique, prosody, drama and astrology and humanities and social sciences and natural science including Buddhism, philosophy, logic, history, culture, ethics, moralities, geology, ecology, literature, arts, architecture, astrology, calendar and medicine.

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Tibetan Buddhism acquired mastery of theg dman (*sthaviravada*), theg chen and rdo rje theg pa (Trantrism), Tripitaka (Three Treasures) or three teachings and developed Tibetan Buddhist theoretical system and practice methods for percept lineage, systematic doctrines, sectarian insights, Tantric lineage, practice sequence and achieving complete Buddihahood. Therefore, Tibetan Buddhism is characterised by integration, system and lineage. Additionally, it achieved great attainments in theoretical system such as Tantric lineage, reincarnation of living Buddha, temple education, religious rites, literatures and sutras, *Nyaya sutras* and *Madhyamika* and developed unique sectarian style and distinctive religious culture.

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Tibetan Buddhism split into more than 20 relatively independent sects and schools with different doctrines and distinctive style, including five major sects such as dge lugs pa, rnying ma pa, sa skya pa, bkav brgyud pa, jo nang ba plus other sects and schools such as bkav gdams pa, zhi byed pa, gcod lugs and bu lugs. In particular, bkav brgyud-pa featured complicated *dharma* and many branch sects including three dharma lineages such as shangs pa bkav brgyud, mar pa bkav brgyud and dwags po bkav brgyud. Among them, dwags po bkav brgyud developed its own style and had four branch sects such as karma bkav brgyud, tshal pa bkav brgyud, phag gru bkav brgyud and vbav ram bkav brgyud and eight branches such as vbrug pa bkav brgyud, vbri gung bkav brgyud, stag lung bkav brgyud, gayav bzang bkav brgyud, khro phu bkav brgyud, shug gseb bkav brgyud, yel pa bkav brgyud and smar tshang bkav brgyud, which spread across Tibet.

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The Tripiṭaka edition composed by Jinzhi, preserved at the Drepung Monastery, Lhasa

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Meanwhile, Tibetan Buddhist sects emerged and developed in an imbalanced way. Due to variation in space and times and subjective and objective conditions, some sects such as shangs pa bkav brgyud were ephemeral; some sects such as Kadampa and Zhi-byed-pa assimilated into other sects by means of proselytism and the dharma lineage had link with others; some sects such as dwags po bkav brgyud achieved prosperity and spread widely.

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Tibetan Buddhism spread in the minorities' areas where Tibetan, Mongolian, Tu Nationality, Yugur and Naxi Nationality resided, some domestic regions such as Wutai Mountain in Shaanxi and Chengde, Hebei Province and some foreign countries and regions such as Bhutan, Nepal, India, Mongolia, Russia, North America and Europe.

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(*Kalsang gyal*)

rnying ma pa Sect

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Mying ma pa, one of the major sects of Tibetan Buddhism, the *dharma* lineage sourced from bstan pa snga dar (the 8th century CE) and it was called mying ma by posterity to distinguish from gsar ma founded in bstan pa phyi dar. Rnying ma pa had three major lineage systems of ring brgyud bkav ma, nye brgyud gter ma and zab mo dag snang gi brgyud pa. In reality, ring brgyud bkav ma and nye brgyud gter ma spread and zab mo dag snang gi brgyud pa depended on ring brgyud bkav ma and nye brgyud gter ma and thus it was not classified as an independent lineage system.

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Ring brgyud bkav ma went through the early, intermediate and late development stages and became a sect boasting long history and orthodox dharma lineage in Tibet. The *sutras* such as sgyu vphrul, vdus pa mdo and sems phyogs expounded the doctrine of Ring brgyud bkav ma. It is worth mentioning that gnyags dzanya na ku ma ra (the 8th century CE) in the early stage, gnubs sangs rgyas ye shes (772～867 CE) in the intermediate stage and zur gsum in the late stage all made a great contribution to promoting the development of Ring Brgyud bkav ma.

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Zur po che shakya vbyung gnas (1002-1062 CE), zur chung shes rab grags pa (gsang bdag sgro phug pa, 1014～1074 CE) and zur shakya seng ge (gsang bdag sgro phug pa, 1074～1134 CE) were collectively known as zur gsum. After zur gsum preached ring brgyud bkav, especially gsang bdag sgro phug pa developed many disciples, ring brgyud bkav spread widely. When it spread to mdo khams, ring brgyud bkav was called khams lugs.

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Nye brgyud gter ma is the most important Sharia teaching lineage of Nyingma and its *dharma* lineage traces its history back to bstan pa snga dar (the 8th century CE). Eminent monks such as pad ma vbyung gnas stored Tantric *sutras*, Buddha statues and sacred vessels in different secrete places and named it gter ma. In bstan pa phyi dar (the 12th century CE), many Tertons appeared with legend unearthed the Terma and built temples to teach it, creating Terma lineage system. Nye brgyud gter ma split into byang gter and lho gter.

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Byang gter was founded by Terton rig vdzin rgod ldem dngos grub rgyal mtshan (1337-1409). After unearthing mdzod lnga and other Terma sutras at the age of 19, he compiled and taught Terma and founded byang gter. The temples such as rdo rje brag dgon and dzogs chen dgon were representative temples that preach the doctrine of byang gter.

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Mindrolling Monastery, Lhasa, Tibet, China

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Lho gter was founded by Terton gter bdag rat na gling pa (1403～1482 CE) who complied and collated Terma Part Iunearthed by nyang nyi ma vod zer (1124～1192 CE), Terma Part IIunearthed by gu ru chos kyi dbang phyug (1212-1273 CE) and Terma unearthed by himself and founded lho gter. The temples such as Mindroling Kloster and Palyul Temple were representative temples that preach the doctrine of lho gter.

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Nyingma eminent monk Klong chen rab vbyams pa (1308-1363 CE) built thar pa gling in Bhutan/vbrug yul. Then, Nyingma spread to regions such as vbras ljongs, Nepal and India and built many temples in different regions and Nyingma monks went to rdzogs chen dgon to study Buddhism in the 1950s.

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(*Kalsang gyal*)

sa skya pa Sect

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sa skya pa, one of the major sects of Tibetan Buddhism and its Buddhist *dharma* lineage, attributed to Indian master birlawpa and Tibetan translator vbrog mi shwakya ye shes (993-1074) who went to India to study Buddhism *dharma* and returned to Tibet to teach vkhon dkon mchog rgyal po (1034-1102). In 1073, vkhon dkon mchog rgyal po built temples and taught Buddhism *dharma*, founding sa skya pa that advocated, preached and practiced lam vbras. Sa skya gong ma rnam lnga, namely, kun dgav snying po (1092～1158 CE), bsod nams rtse mo (1142～1182 CE), grags pa rgyal mtshan (1147～1216 CE), kun dgav rgyal mtshan (1180～1251 CE) and vgro mgon vphags pa blo gros rgyal mtshan (1235～1280 CE) made a great contribution to promoting the development of sa skya pa.

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Sa skya pa was in its heyday in the Yuan Dynasty, fell into decline in the Ming Dynasty and was at a low ebb in the Qing Dynasty. With its temples distributed across Tibet, Sa skya dgon in sa skya County, Shigatse, Tibet was renowned as an ancestral temple and central temple.

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Since the foundation, sa skya adopted family hereditary system. In the late Yuan Dynasty (1324 CE), the sect split into four bla brangs, namely, gzhi thog, rin chen sgang, lha khang and dus mchod that had their own people, land and religious power. In the middle of Ming Dynasty, the hereditary system of gzhi thog, rin chen sgang, lha khang was ceased and dus mchod held the *dharmaraja* power of Sa skya. Subsequently, dus mchod split into phun tshogs and sgrol ma whose immediate family members succeeded as *dharmaraja* in turn with the religious power of sa skya in name only. Actually, they were granted limited appeal and power.

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Many eminent monks stood out from others and formed different schools such as Exoteric Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism and Tantric lineages. For Exoteric Buddhism, gayg phrug sangs rje dpal (1350～1414 CE) imposed the precepts for studying and practicing the doctrine of Exoteric Buddhism and his disciple rong ston smra bavi seng ge (1367-1449 CE) carried forward the precepts. In 1435 CE, rong ston smra bavi seng ge built na len dra in vphan po (present-day Lin Zhou County, Lhasa) and established teaching system for studying and

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