![Sample our Museum and Heritage Studies journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5945/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Museum-Heritage-Studies.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
This article delves into the development of Huayan Chan through three distinct periods – its emergence, flourishing and continuation – while analysing its characteristics in the history of Chinese Buddhism. In its inception, Huayan Chan originated within the Southern school of Chan. Subsequently, the five schools of Chan that followed exhibited varying degrees of consideration for Huayan teachings. They employed Huayan’s perspectives on ‘principle’ (li 理) and ‘phenomena’ (shi 事) in special ways, marking a significant developmental phase in the Huayan Chan trend. As time progressed, particularly during the late Ming dynasty, the integration of Chan and Huayan teachings by the four great masters facilitated a comprehensive amalgamation of Huayan with diverse Buddhist schools. By exploring the historical context of Huayan Chan, this article aims to provide a definition: Huayan Chan refers to a mode in which figures associated with Chan Buddhism utilize Huayan thought as a theoretical model or methodology to interpret their teachings and practices. It represents a fusion of Huayan doctrinal principles with Chan meditation practices, and the gradual cultivation of Huayan with the sudden enlightenment of Chan, thereby enhancing Chan meditation in a manner, which distinguishes it from traditional Chan Buddhism.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Abbreviations
| B = | = | Dazang jing bubian 大藏經補編. See Secondary Sources, Lan et al., comps. |
| J = | = | Jiaxing dazang jing 嘉興大藏經. See Secondary Sources. |
| T = | = | Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. See Secondary Sources, Takakusu and Watanabe, eds. |
| X = | = | Wanzi Xuzang jing 卍字續藏經. See Bibliography, Secondary Sources, Nakano Tatsue, et al., eds. |
Notes
1. Takamine, Kegon to Zen to no tsūro.
2. Kamada, Zen tenseki nai Kegon shiryō shūsei.
3. Yoshizu, Kegonzen no shisōshi kenkyū.
4. Gimello and Gregory, eds., Studies in Ch’an and Hua-yen.
5. Lü, Zhongguo Foxue yuanliu lüejiang, 249.
6. Pan, ‘He wei Huayan Chan’, 88.
7. Wei, Zhongguo Huayanzong tongshi, 180.
8. Dong, ‘Lun Huayanchan zai Foxue yu Lixue zhijian de zhongjie zuoyong’, 35.
9. Nukariya, Zhongguo Chanxue sixiang shi, 369.
10. Chengguan 澄觀, the fourth patriarch of the Huayan school, once studied both the southern and northern schools of Chan and believed that there was no strictly significant distinction between the southern school’s ‘non-existent thought’ (wunian 無念) and the northern school’s ‘to be free from thought’ (linian 離念). Chengguan emphasized the Huayan teachings of ‘perfect interpenetration’ (yuanrong 圓融), therefore achieving the revitalization of the Huayan school and influencing a new trend in the development of Chinese Buddhism via the unity of meditation and doctrinal teachings.
11. Zongmi 宗密, the fifth patriarch of the Huayan school, studied Confucianism in his early years and initially inherited the Heze Chan 菏澤禪 teachings. Later he extensively studied the Yuanjue jing 圓覺經 [Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment] and returned to the Huayan. On the basis of denying distinctions between Chan and doctrinal schools, Zongmi was influenced by the thought of unity of meditation and doctrinal teachings from Chengguan. The Huayan Chan ideology of Zongmi centered on the Yuanjue jing and integrated all the Huayan teachings into the Chan perspective of the ‘sudden of accordance with disposition’ (zhuji dun 逐機頓). Yoshizu Yoshihide referred to the Chan that accepts all Huayan teachings from a standpoint akin to Zongmi’s ‘sudden of accordance with disposition’ as Huayan Chan (Yoshizu, Kegonzen no shisōshi kenkyū, 295). Hu Jianming 胡建明 pointed out that Zongmi’s gradual and immediate teachings, as well as the numinous awareness (靈知), constructed the ideology of Huayan Chan (Hu, ‘Koma Chinokimi ni oyoboshita Sōmitsu kyōgaku no eikyō’, 74). Zongmi’s Huayan Chan demonstrates the method of teaching taxonomy (panjiao 判教), presenting the Huayan jing as the perfect and sudden teaching of the one vehicle within the specialized teaching. This method of teaching taxonomy further integrates Confucian and Daoist thoughts, laying the foundation for the development of the convergence of the three teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism after the Tang Dynasty.
12. The fusion and interaction of the Huayan and Chan in the theory of mind and nature are widely acknowledged in academic community. For instance, Yinshun 印順 (1906–2005) classified Mahayana Buddhism into three schools: doctrine of emptiness with names only (性空唯名論), doctrine of illusion with consciousness only (虛妄唯識論), and doctrine of reality with mind only (真常唯心論). He categorized the Chan Buddhism and the Huayan school under the doctrine of reality with mind only.
13. Mazu Daoyi 馬祖道一 was a disciple of Nanyue Huairang 南岳懷讓. He advocated that ‘mind is Buddha’ (jixin shifo 即心是佛) and ‘no mind no Buddha’ (feixin feifo 非心非佛). He often said: ‘Believe that your own mind is Buddha; this mind is Buddha mind.’ (汝今各信自心是佛, 此心即是佛心). Zutang ji, B no. 144, 25: 14.558a4–5.
14. Fang, Zhongguo Fojiao zhexue yaoyi, 416.
15. See note 7 above., 185.
16. Fozu gangmu, X no. 1594, 85: 31.620c19–20.
17. Ibid., 31.620c23–621a3.
18. Tan jing, T no. 2007, 48: 1.343c8–9.
19. Liu, ‘Fayanzong chanfa de huayan yihan’, 89.
20. Jingde chuandeng lu, T no. 2076, 51: 29.454a29–b1.
21. Ibid., 29.454a25–27.
22. Jingde chuandeng lu, T no. 2076, 51: 28.448c29–449a2.
23. Zongmen shigui lun, X no. 1226, 63: 1.37c15–19.
24. Rentian yanmu, T no. 2006, 48: 4.325a13–14.
25. Nukariya, Zhongguo chanxue sixiangshi, 348.
26. Yang, ‘Yongming Yanshou de xinxinglun’, 462.
27. Zongjing lu, T no. 2016, 48: 34.614a16–17.
28. Ibid., 6.448c22–24.
29. See note 19 above. Huayan yihan’, 105.
30. See note 5 above., 253.
31. (1) to express the dharma directly (佛正法眼藏帶); (2) to express the dharma in a provisional way (佛法藏帶); (3) to express the dharma in a concrete way (理貫帶); (4) to realize that all things are the manifestation of the dharma (事貫帶); (5) to realize that the Buddha-land is produced by mutual influence of ultimate reality and phenomena (理事縱橫帶); (6) to save sentient beings even after having realized enlightenment (屈曲垂帶); (7) to have the free function of enlightenment (妙葉兼帶); (8) to be unattached to the Buddha-land (金針雙銷帶); (9) to realize that oneʼs daily actions are the dharma (平懷常實帶).
32. Rentian yanmu, T no. 2006, 48: 2.309b15–18.
33. Kimura, ‘Kegon to Zen’, 11.
34. Yuanwu Foguo chanshi yulu, T no. 1997, 47: 10.758c28–759a4.
35. Ibid., 8.747b13–14.
36. Ibid., 8.751a27–29.
37. Wudeng huiyuan, X no. 1565, 80: 19.396b11–14.
38. Luohu yelu, 253.
39. Dahui Pujue chanshi yulu, T no. 1998A, 47: 28.842b24–26.
40. Ibid., 8.933c29.
41. Ibid., 1.814b9–18.
42. Kaifu Daoning chanshi yulu, X no. 1353, 69: 2.341a7–11.
43. Huanglong Huinan chanshi yulu, T no. 1993, 47: 1.633c23–24.
44. Qisong, Jiazhu Fujiaobian jiaoyi, 51.
45. Li and Zhou, eds., Zhexue, zongjiao yu renwen, 553.
46. Pan, Zhonggguo Fojiao sixiang shigao, 123.
47. Huilin Zongben chanshi bielu, X no. 1450, 73: 1.86a8–17.
48. Cishou Huaishen chanshi guanglu, X no. 1451, 73: 3.120a19–20.
49. Shishi jigu lüe, T no. 2037, 49: 4.875c27–29.
50. Lai, ed., Zhongguo Fojiao baike quanshu, 326.
51. Rentian yanmu, T no. 2006, 48: 3.313c17-24.
52. Zhenxie Qingliao chanshi yulu, X no. 1426, 71: 1.779a13–21.
53. Ibid., 1.779b5–6.
54. Touzi Yiqing chanshi yulu, X no. 1423, 71: 1.737b11–15.
55. Weishan Lingyou chanshi yulu, T no. 1989, 47: 1.577c9–12.
56. Yangshan Huiji chanshi yulu, T no. 1990, 47: 1.582b8–11.
57. Pan, Zhongguo Chanzong sixiang licheng, 398.
58. Yanagi, ‘Kyōzen to Shūkyō to Sōkyōroku’, 166.
59. For further information about Huayan Chan literature in the Northern Song, Liao, and Xixia dynasties, see Wang, ‘Shiyi shiji Zhongguo Beifang guangfan liuxing de Huayanchan dianji yu renwu’. Huayan Chan in more or less pure form is found in the Chan writings, such as those by Daochen 道敐 (1056–1114) from the Liao dynasty. Daochen proposed specific steps for ‘cultivating the practice of Samantabhadra’ (修普賢行海), including five kinds of contemplations: ‘contemplating all phenomena as dreams’ (諸法如夢幻觀), ‘contemplating the ultimate reality as devoid of characteristics’ (真如絕相觀), ‘contemplating the unobstructed relationship between phenomena and principles’ (事理無礙觀), ‘contemplating the boundless net of the emperor’ (帝網無盡觀), and contemplating the unobstructed Dharma realm’ (無障礙法界觀). Xianmi Yuantong chengfo xinyao ji, T no. 1955, 46: 1.991b3–7. The doctrinal taxonomy corresponds to the Four Realms of Huayan, with the fifth contemplation ‘contemplating the unobstructed Dharma realm’ serving as an overall grasp of the Dharma realm. Chen, ‘Lun Liaodai Fojiao de Huayan sixiang’, 9.
60. Eiki, ‘Unsei Shukō no Kegon kyōgaku’.
61. Hanshan laoren mengyouji, X no. 1456, 73: 6. 500c10–12.
62. Lingfeng Ouyi dashi zonglun, J no. B348, 36: 9.415a9–10.
63. Ibid., 2.275c28–29.
64. Pan Guiming stated, that Zongmi’s Huayan Chan is an important link in the sinicization process of Buddhism. It attempts to unify Chan and Huayan thoughts as a guide to reconcile contradictions within Buddhist sects, and even the contradictions among Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Later Chan Buddhism developed in the direction of Huayan Chan. Pan, Fojiao Chanzong baiwen, 88–90. Dong Qun 董群 provided a comprehensive definition of Huayan Chan from both a broad and a narrow perspective. In a broad sense, Huayan Chan represents an integrated philosophical system in the concept of true mind. It internally integrates the sudden and gradual approaches, harmonizes the meditation and doctrinal schools, and externally combines the teachings of Buddhism with those of Confucianism and Daoism. In a more specific context, Huayan Chan encapsulates the integration of Huayan methods, emphasizing the non-obstruction between principle and phenomena, as well as the non-obstruction between phenomena. Dong, ‘Lun Huayanchan zai Foxue yu Lixue zhijian de zhongjie zuoyong’, 35; Ronghe de Fojiao, 310. Wang Song 王頌 believes that anyone within the Chan sect who uses Huayan thought as a theoretical model or methodology to interpret their teachings and practices, or individuals outside of the Chan sect who amalgamate the relevant doctrines of Huayan and Chan, can be called Huayan Chan. In a narrow sense, Huayan Chan specifically refers to the ideological system created by Zongmi, which integrates the teachings of the Huayan School with those of the Heze School. Wang, ‘Shiyi shiji Zhongguo Beifang guangfan liuxing de Huayanchan dianji yu renwu’, 98.
65. For instance, some scholars directly encapsulate the fundamental ideas of Chan monks such as Dahui Zonggao, Yuanwu Keqin, Zhenxie Qingliao, and Yongming Yanshou under the concept of Huayan Chan. See, for example, Kaiji, Huayan chan; Yanfa, ed., Yuanwu Keqin zhuan, 231; Mao, Zhongguo Caodongzong tongshi, 273.
66. Yang, Jingdian quanshi yu Zhongguo Foxue, 168.
67. Shinkai, ‘Kegon Kyōhan no mondaiten’, 789.
68. Xiatang Huiyuan chanshi guanglu, X no. 1360, 69: 2.574b9.
69. Yuanwu Foguo chanshi yulu, T no. 1997, 47: 2.722b14–15.
70. Nukariya, Chūgoku Zen-gaku shisōshi, 369.
71. See note 8 above., 37.
72. See note 7 above., 196.