Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism

Volume II:
Lives

Editor-in-chief
Jonathan A. Silk

Editors
Richard Bowring
Vincent Eltschinger
Michael Radich

Editorial Advisory Board

Lucia Dolce
Berthe Jansen
John Jorgensen
Christian Lammerts
Francesco Sferra

LEIDEN | BOSTON

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 Contents

Prelims
Contributors ............................................................................................................................................................. xi
Editors and Editorial Board .................................................................................................................................. xxxiii
Primary Sources Abbreviations........................................................................................................................... xxxv
Books Series and Journals Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... xxxvii
General Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................................... xlii
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. xliv

Section One:
Śākyamuni: South Asia .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Barlaam and Josaphat ............................................................................................................................................ 39

Section Two:

South & Southeast Asia:

Ajātaśatru .................................................................................................................................................................. 51
Āryadeva.................................................................................................................................................................... 60
Āryaśūra..................................................................................................................................................................... 70
Asaṅga/Maitreya(nātha)....................................................................................................................................... 73
Bhāviveka .................................................................................................................................................................. 81
Brahmā, Śakra, and Māra ...................................................................................................................................... 85
Buddhaghoṣa............................................................................................................................................................ 92
Buddhas of the Past: South Asia ......................................................................................................................... 95
Buddhas of the Past and of the Future: Southeast Asia ............................................................................... 109
Candragomin ........................................................................................................................................................... 121
Candrakīrti................................................................................................................................................................ 125
Ḍākinī ......................................................................................................................................................................... 132
Devadatta .................................................................................................................................................................. 141
Dharmakīrti .............................................................................................................................................................. 156
Dharmapāla .............................................................................................................................................................. 168
Dharmottara............................................................................................................................................................. 173
Dignāga ...................................................................................................................................................................... 179
Early Sarvāstivāda Masters ................................................................................................................................... 186
Gavampati in Southeast Asia ............................................................................................................................... 191
Gopadatta ................................................................................................................................................................. 196
Guṇaprabha.............................................................................................................................................................. 198
Haribhadra................................................................................................................................................................ 204
Haribhaṭṭa ................................................................................................................................................................. 209
Harivarman............................................................................................................................................................... 211
Harṣa .......................................................................................................................................................................... 214
Hayagrīva................................................................................................................................................................... 218
Indian Tantric Authors: Overview ...................................................................................................................... 228
Jñānagarbha ............................................................................................................................................................. 261
Jñānapāda ................................................................................................................................................................. 264

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vi Contents

Jñānaśrīmitra ........................................................................................................................................................... 269

Kamalaśīla ................................................................................................................................................................ 272
Karuṇāmaya ............................................................................................................................................................. 279
Kṣemendra ................................................................................................................................................................ 286
Kumāralāta ............................................................................................................................................................... 293
Mahādeva.................................................................................................................................................................. 298
Maitreya..................................................................................................................................................................... 302
Mārīcī ......................................................................................................................................................................... 325
Mātṛceṭa .................................................................................................................................................................... 332
Nāgārjuna .................................................................................................................................................................. 335
Paccekabuddhas/Pratyekabuddhas in Indic Sources ................................................................................... 348
Phra Malai in Thailand and Southeast Asia..................................................................................................... 357
Prajñākaragupta ...................................................................................................................................................... 363
Ratnākaraśānti......................................................................................................................................................... 366
Ratnakīrti .................................................................................................................................................................. 371
Saṅghabhadra .......................................................................................................................................................... 374
Śaṅkaranandana ..................................................................................................................................................... 378
Śaṅkarasvāmin ........................................................................................................................................................ 382
Śāntarakṣita .............................................................................................................................................................. 383
Śāntideva ................................................................................................................................................................... 391
Sarasvatī/Benzaiten................................................................................................................................................ 398
Śāriputra .................................................................................................................................................................... 409
Scholars of Premodern Pali Buddhism ............................................................................................................. 420
Seers (ṛṣi/isi) and Brāhmaṇas in Southeast Asia ............................................................................................ 437
Siddhas....................................................................................................................................................................... 443
Śrīlāta ......................................................................................................................................................................... 452
Sthiramati ................................................................................................................................................................. 456
Śubhagupta............................................................................................................................................................... 458
Tantric Buddhist Deities in Southeast Asia ..................................................................................................... 463
Thera/Therī in Pali and Southeast Asian Buddhism ..................................................................................... 474
Udbhaṭasiddhasvāmin .......................................................................................................................................... 479
Upagupta ................................................................................................................................................................... 481
Vāgīśvarakīrti ........................................................................................................................................................... 490
Vasubandhu .............................................................................................................................................................. 492
Vināyaka .................................................................................................................................................................... 507
Yama and Hell Beings in Indian Buddhism ..................................................................................................... 513

East Asia:
Ākāśagarbha in East Asia ...................................................................................................................................... 521
Arhats in East Asian Buddhism .......................................................................................................................... 529
Aśvaghoṣa (East Asian Aspects) ......................................................................................................................... 540
Avalokiteśvara in East Asia................................................................................................................................... 546
Dizang/Jizō ............................................................................................................................................................... 562
Jianzhen (Ganjin) ................................................................................................................................................... 571
Mahākāla in East Asia............................................................................................................................................ 576
Mahākāśyapa in Chan-inspired Traditions...................................................................................................... 586
Mañjuśrī in East Asia ............................................................................................................................................. 591
Maudgalyāyana (Mulian)...................................................................................................................................... 600
Musang (Wuxiang) ................................................................................................................................................. 608
Tejaprabhā ................................................................................................................................................................ 612
Yinyuan Longqi (Ingen) ........................................................................................................................................ 616

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 Contents vii

China:
Amoghavajra ............................................................................................................................................................ 623
An Shigao .................................................................................................................................................................. 630
Chengguan ................................................................................................................................................................ 642
Daoxuan .................................................................................................................................................................... 648
Falin ............................................................................................................................................................................ 653
Faxian ......................................................................................................................................................................... 657
Fazun .......................................................................................................................................................................... 662
Hanshan Deqing ..................................................................................................................................................... 668
Hongzhi Zhengjue .................................................................................................................................................. 673
Huihong (see Juefan Huihong)
Huineng (see Shenxiu)
Huiyuan (see Lushan Huiyuan)
Jigong.......................................................................................................................................................................... 679
Juefan Huihong ....................................................................................................................................................... 684
Liang Wudi................................................................................................................................................................ 689
Lokakṣema ................................................................................................................................................................ 700
Luo Qing .................................................................................................................................................................... 707
Lushan Huiyuan ...................................................................................................................................................... 711
Mazu Daoyi............................................................................................................................................................... 722
Mingben (see Zhongfeng Mingben)
Nāgārjuna in China ................................................................................................................................................ 727
Nenghai...................................................................................................................................................................... 735
Ouyang Jingwu ........................................................................................................................................................ 741
Ouyi Zhixu ................................................................................................................................................................ 748
Paramārtha ............................................................................................................................................................... 752
Qian Qianyi............................................................................................................................................................... 759
Qisong ........................................................................................................................................................................ 764
Shenhui (see Shenxiu)
Shenxiu, Huineng, and Shenhui ......................................................................................................................... 768
Śubhākarasiṃha...................................................................................................................................................... 777
Wumen ...................................................................................................................................................................... 782
Wuxiang (see East Asia: Musang)
Wuzhu ........................................................................................................................................................................ 787
Xiao Ziliang............................................................................................................................................................... 791
Yinshun...................................................................................................................................................................... 795
Yixing ......................................................................................................................................................................... 800
Yuan Hongdao ......................................................................................................................................................... 806
Yuanwu Keqin .......................................................................................................................................................... 810
Zhanran ..................................................................................................................................................................... 814
Zhi Qian ..................................................................................................................................................................... 818
Zhili............................................................................................................................................................................. 826
Zhixu (see Ouyang Zhixu)
Zhiyi............................................................................................................................................................................ 833
Zhongfeng Mingben............................................................................................................................................... 839
Zhuhong .................................................................................................................................................................... 844

Korea:
Chinul......................................................................................................................................................................... 853
Hyujŏng ..................................................................................................................................................................... 860
Ich’adon ..................................................................................................................................................................... 864

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Kihwa ......................................................................................................................................................................... 869

Kim Sisŭp .................................................................................................................................................................. 873
Kyŏnghŏ..................................................................................................................................................................... 877
Kyunyŏ ....................................................................................................................................................................... 882
Muhak Chach’o ........................................................................................................................................................ 887
Musang (see East Asia)
Pou .............................................................................................................................................................................. 891
Tosŏn .......................................................................................................................................................................... 895
Ŭich’ŏn ....................................................................................................................................................................... 900
Ŭisang ........................................................................................................................................................................ 903
Wŏnch’ŭk .................................................................................................................................................................. 908
Wŏnhyo...................................................................................................................................................................... 913
Yi Nŭnghwa .............................................................................................................................................................. 918

Japan:
Amaterasu Ōmikami .............................................................................................................................................. 923
Annen......................................................................................................................................................................... 930
Benzaiten (see South and Southeast Asia: Sarasvatī)
Dōgen ......................................................................................................................................................................... 933
Dōhan......................................................................................................................................................................... 941
Eisai (see Yōsai)
Eison ........................................................................................................................................................................... 944
En no Gyōja .............................................................................................................................................................. 951
Enchin ........................................................................................................................................................................ 956
Ennin .......................................................................................................................................................................... 961
Ganjin (see East Asia: Jianzhen)
Genshin ..................................................................................................................................................................... 967
Hachiman ................................................................................................................................................................. 971
Hakuin ....................................................................................................................................................................... 976
Hōnen ........................................................................................................................................................................ 980
Ikkyū Sōjun ............................................................................................................................................................... 987
Ingen (see East Asia: Yinyuan Longqi)
Ippen Chishin .......................................................................................................................................................... 991
Jakushō ...................................................................................................................................................................... 995
Jiun Sonja .................................................................................................................................................................. 998
Jizō (see East Asia: Dizang)
Jōjin............................................................................................................................................................................. 1002
Jōkei ............................................................................................................................................................................ 1006
Kakuban .................................................................................................................................................................... 1011
Keizan Jōkin ............................................................................................................................................................. 1016
Kōmyō ........................................................................................................................................................................ 1020
Kūkai .......................................................................................................................................................................... 1026
Kūya ............................................................................................................................................................................ 1036
Menzan Zuihō ......................................................................................................................................................... 1041
Monkan ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1047
Mugai Nyodai ........................................................................................................................................................... 1057
Mujaku Dōchū ......................................................................................................................................................... 1062
Musō Soseki .............................................................................................................................................................. 1066
Myōe ........................................................................................................................................................................... 1071
Nichiren ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1076
Nōnin.......................................................................................................................................................................... 1088

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 Contents ix
Raiyu........................................................................................................................................................................... 1094
Ryōgen........................................................................................................................................................................ 1097
Saichō ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1102
Saigyō ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1107
Shinran....................................................................................................................................................................... 1111
Shōtoku Taishi ......................................................................................................................................................... 1117
Tenjin ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1122
Tenkai ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1128
Yōsai/Eisai ................................................................................................................................................................. 1134
Zaō .............................................................................................................................................................................. 1139

Tibetan Cultural Sphere

Atiśa and the Bka’ gdams pa Masters ................................................................................................................ 1145
Ge sar of Gling ......................................................................................................................................................... 1159
Gter ston: Tibetan Buddhist Treasure Revealers ............................................................................................. 1165
Gtsang smyon Heruka ........................................................................................................................................... 1171
Lcang skya Rol pa’i Rdo rje ................................................................................................................................... 1175
Mi la ras pa................................................................................................................................................................ 1181
The Mongolian Jebdzundamba Khutugtu Lineage ....................................................................................... 1191
Padmasambhava in Tibetan Buddhism ............................................................................................................ 1197
The Sa skya School’s Five Forefathers................................................................................................................ 1213
Spirits of the Soil, Land, and Locality in Tibet ................................................................................................ 1226
Ston pa Gshen rab: The Bön Buddha ................................................................................................................. 1233
Tibet's Crazy Yogins ................................................................................................................................................ 1239
Tsong kha pa and his Immediate Successors .................................................................................................. 1246
Worldly Protector Deities in Tibet ..................................................................................................................... 1254

Appendix To Volume I:
Buddhist Narrative Literature in Japan ............................................................................................................. 1269
Poetry: Japan ............................................................................................................................................................ 1286
Korean Sŏn Literature............................................................................................................................................ 1294

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 Zhanran
The Life
The earliest extant biographical reference to the
scholar-monk Zhanran (湛然; 711–782) is in the
Naishō buppō sōjō kechimyaku fu (内證佛法相承血
脈譜; DDZ, vol. I, 199–248) of 819, a work written by
the Japanese monk →Saichō (最澄; 767–822) in an
attempt to prove the orthodoxy of various transmis-
sions he had obtained in China. As ever, it tells us
little: “the star pupil of Zuoxi (左溪, Xuanlang [玄
朗])…whose behavior, understanding, awakening,
and eloquence were beyond compare” (DDZ, vol. I,
227). The next source is the Song Gaoseng zhuan (宋
高僧傳; T. 2061 [L] 739b10–740a17) of 988, followed
by numerous Tiantai (天台) sectarian histories that
date from the 13th century (see Penkower, 1993,
20–21 for a list). Not being of high official rank,
Zhanran does not appear in any of the dynastic
histories, but he is now treated as one of the most
revered of Tiantai (天台) masters (the most recent
detailed biography is Chi, 2008, 7–102).
A native of Jingxi (荊溪) in present-day Chang-
zhou (常州), Jiangsu (江蘇) province, Zhanran
received an excellent Confucian education, but
from the age of eighteen he turned to Buddhism,
first under the guidance of a Fangyan (方嚴; d.u.)
at Jinhua (金華) in 732, and then under the Tian-
tai scholar Xuanlang (673–754; for a biography of
Xuanlang see Penkower, 1993, 46–52), who had
retired to Mount Zuoxi (in present-day Zhejiang
province) (T. 2061 [L] 739b16). Zhanran was to stay
at Mount Zuoxi for more than 20 years, studying,
practicing meditation, and acting as a lay lecturer
with special reference to →Zhiyi’s guide to medita-
tion, the Mohe zhiguan (摩訶止觀, T. 1911). Eventu-
ally Zhanran sought ordination, which he received
in the Jingle si (淨樂寺) at Junshan (君山) in 748.
He then spent some time studying the Vinaya under
the monk Tanyi (曇一; 691–771) at Huiji (會稽) (for
useful maps of his movements at various stages of
his career see Hibi, 1966, 64, 70, 77).
Zhanran was already 44 years old when his men-
tor Xuanyan died in 754. The next year brought
country-wide upheaval in the form of the so-called
An Lushan (安祿山) Rebellion (755–763), in the
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process of which many Buddhist institutions suf-
fered considerable depredation, which posed a
particular threat for those traditions that relied
on textual transmission. Like many, Zhanran was
forced to travel to avoid the worst of the destruc-
tion. The picture is a little confused, but in 755, for
example, we find him in Lin’an (臨安; Zhejiang
province), where it is thought he produced the first
draft of what was to become his magnum opus, the
Zhiguan fuxing chuanhong jue (止觀輔行傳弘決; A
Resolution to Assist and Promote the Practice of
“Concentration and Insight,” T. 1912). The biographi-
cal note in the 13th-century Fozu tongji (佛祖統
記) suggests that during this period, Zhanran was
invited to court as many as three times under three
successive emperors, all of which he managed to
turn down on grounds of ill health (T. 2035 [XLIX]
189a7). The next year finds him revising the manu-
script of the Zhiguan fuxing chuanhong jue at the
Guoqing si (國清寺) on Mount Tiantai. From 758 to
762 it is likely that he was back near his hometown
of Jingxi in the area of Biling (毘陵) (Hibi, 1966, 18)
and in 764, he arrived at Folong (佛隴) on Mount
Tiantai. It was during this period that the first
drafts of many of his commentaries (both full and
abridged) were written.
At least 33 works have been attributed to Zhan-
ran, 11 of which are suspect, and only 21 of which
are extant (Penkower, 1993, 12–16; Matsumori, 2016,
85–102). Of these the most important are the Zhi-
guan fuxing chuanhong jue, together with further
digests of the same work such as the Zhiguan yili
(止觀義例, T. 1913), the Zhiguan fuxing suyao ji (止觀
輔行捜要記, X. 919), and the Zhiguan dayi (止觀大
意, T. 1914), which was commissioned by Auxiliary
Secretary Li Hua (李華; c. 710–c. 767), who retired
around 758. Zhanran also wrote sub-commentaries
on two other important early Tiantai works, the
Fahua wenju ji (法華文句記, T. 1719), and the Fahua
xuanyi shiqian (法華玄義釋籤, T. 1717) (Matsumori,
2016, 119–258); and a further two on the Vimalakīrti-
nirdeśa, the Weimo lüeshu (維摩略疏, T. 1778) and
the Weimojing shu ji (維摩經疏記, X. 340) (For a
detailed study of how these texts interrelate with
each other see Hibi, 1966, 135–496).
BEB, vol. II
 Zhanran
Zhanran remained at Mount Tiantai until 769,
when he finished the Zhiguan fuxing suyao ji. He
then travelled widely. In 775 he lectured at Suzhou
(蘇州), where the Huayan (華嚴) specialist →Cheng-
guan (澄觀) was in the audience (T. 2035 [XLIX]
293b9). In 776 he then went further north to Wutai-
shan (五臺山), where there was another strong
Tiantai community. On his way back, he visited the
Kaiyuan si (開元寺) in Suzhou where he deposited
a number of his major works. Back at Jingxi he fin-
ished the Fahua wenju ji (also known as the “Miaole”
because he was resident at the Miaole si [妙樂寺]
at the time). He died at Folong in 782. Although it
is possible that he made one trip to Chang’an, this
cannot be corroborated (Penkower, 1993, 110).
The Commentaries
The traditional (Japanese) Tendai image is that,
between them, Zhiyi and Guanding founded a
“Tiantai School” (天台宗) in the late 6th century,
establishing a doctrine and practice that remained
unchanged through all the vicissitudes that affected
Buddhism through the Tang, to be revitalized in
the Song. This sectarian vision, which necessarily
called for a founder followed by a legitimate series
of “patriarchs,” was successfully challenged by Japa-
nese scholars in the 1960s and 1970s (Hibi, 1966; 1975;
Sekiguchi, 1978), who revealed that, on the contrary,
there had been very little sense of “schools” in the
early Tang and that, although some rivalry inevita-
bly existed, there was no interest in either purity
or exclusivity; there was, rather, a fluid, relatively
free exchange between different persuasions, and
a particular monk could have many teachers. This
scholarship also showed that Zhanran was not just
one of the many patriarchs but had played a far
more important role in the development of Tian-
tai than was usually thought; it turned out that he
had exerted considerable influence on what later
became accepted doctrine. This was largely a result
of historical conditions.
In the 200 years that had passed since Zhiyi’s
death, a number of new forms of Buddhist doc-
trine and practice unknown in Zhiyi’s time had
emerged; two in particular, Chan (禪) and Huayan,
flourished in the early years of the Tang Dynasty.
The community on Mount Tiantai had meanwhile
become a quiet backwater, allowing other Tian-
tai communities at Wutaishan and the Yuquan si
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815
(玉泉寺) in Jingzhou (荊州) to exert more influ-
ence. Indeed, given that the latter monastery was
known for its eclecticism and particularly for its
interest in esoteric ritual, there was little sense of
Tiantai as a larger group beyond the firm link with
Zhiyi’s Mohe zhiguan. Nevertheless, it has always
proved difficult to negate entirely the idea of a
Tiantai sense of identity, and there is much discus-
sion as to how Zhanran saw his own contribution.
Penkower, for example, saw Zhanran as driven by a
desire to retain some prominence for Zhiyi’s teach-
ing in the face of a serious challenge from Chan
and Huayan, and in this context pointed out that it
is precisely in this period that we begin to see the
emergence in discourse of such terms as zu (祖,
patriarch) and zong (宗, school). In fact it is claimed
that Zhanran was the first person to use the term
“Tiantai zong,” although the provenance of the text
in which this passage appears, the Fahua jing dayi
(法華經大意, X. 583 [XXVII] 532a7), remains very
uncertain (Hibi, 1966, 38; Penkower, 1993, 281–299;
Matsumori, 2016, 259–307). The question is one of
degree. Did Zhanran generate a sense of sect spe-
cifically as a response to the rise of an equivalent
notion in his “rivals;” or was it simply that he was
concerned to maintain the teachings of the Mohe
zhiguan in an increasingly pluralistic environment?
Chi, for example, sees no sign of diminution in the
status of Tiantai teachings at this point, and denies
that it was ever “in danger.” Instead she investigates
Zhanran’s preface to the Zhiguan fuxing chuan-
hong jue, which, although rooted in Zhiyi’s Mohe
zhiguan, is not a simple commentary but rather,
as the unusual title suggests, a bold statement of
resolve (jue [決]) to proselytize Tiantai method
and practice. Chi suggests that it was written not
as a sectarian manifesto, but as an attempt to reaf-
firm and gain ownership over the doctrinal base of
Zhiyi’s practice in the face of its spreading use (and
misuse) by all and sundry, not only in the Buddhist
world at large but also within Tiantai itself (Chi,
2008, 290). The key passage in this preface is as
follows:
As long as doctrine that assists practice is based
on fundamental principles, then trusting in that
doctrine will inevitably assist practice. As long as
practice that expresses doctrine tallies with prin-
ciple, that practice can be widely promoted. How
can practice be promoted? Only by basing it on
the various teachings. And how the teachings be
assisted? Only by interpreting subtle practice. So
816 Zhanran
by constant repetition, both doctrine and prac-
tice can be unified.
Sometimes one decides (jue) based on what has
been passed down from the master; sometimes
one decides (jue) what is important by investi-
gating principle; sometimes one resolves (jue)
doubts by posing questions; sometimes one de-
cides (jue) by choosing among various categories;
sometimes one resolves (jue) cryptic passages by
searching widely; sometimes one decides (jue)
on the correct interpretation by collecting a wide
range of references; sometimes one drives the
prose by cutting (jue) through the dross; some-
times one cuts through (jue) to contemplation of
the way; sometimes one decides on mistakes by
investigating the prose; sometimes one cuts out
error by measuring the parts. Adopting all these
meanings, I chose [jue] for the title. All I do is
transmit what has been handed down, and keep
in mind the views of those who have gone be-
fore (T. 1912 [XLVI] 141b12–14; cp. Penkower, 1993,
92–93; Chi, 2008, 291–295).
The other area of discussion is the position of
the Lotus Sūtra within Tiantai. Tiantai prac-
tice is usually thought of as being indissolubly
linked to belief in, and devotion to, this sūtra,
the three most important texts (三部經) being
the Mohe zhiguan, the Fahua wenju (法華文
句, T. 1718), and the Fahua xuanyi (法華玄義, T.
1716). Here too, the work of Sekiguchi Shindai
(1978) and Hirai Shun’ei (1985; but for a major
reappraisal of Hirai’s position, see Matsumori,
2016, 23–118) has shown that Zhiyi himself was
mainly concerned with questions of practice,
and that it was his student Guanding who was
chiefly responsible for the two Lotus commentar-
ies, responding in part to the work of the Sanlun
(三論) scholar Jizang (吉藏; 549–623) (→Zhiyi).
The link between Tiantai doctrine and the Lotus
Sūtra stemmed, it is argued, not from Zhiyi but
was developed by Zhanran, the catalyst being his
wish to counteract the influence of another post-
Zhiyi doctrinal tradition, namely Faxiang (法相),
East Asian Yogācāra. Faxiang, through a quirk in
the way its major texts had been transmitted and
translated by Xuanzang (玄奘; 600–664), posited
the existence of a class of being that was inca-
pable of achieving awakening (Skt. icchantika),
and thus denied the universality of buddha-
nature, inevitably thereby downgrading the sta-
tus and significance of the Lotus Sūtra. Zhanran’s
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commentary Fahua wenju ji specifically alluded to
and criticized the Faxiang position; and his Fahua
wubaiwen lun (法華五百問論, X. 939) was a read-
ing of the Miaofalian jing xuanzan (妙法蓮華經玄
讃, T. 1723) of Kuiji (窺基; 632–682), a disciple of
Xuanzang; the Fahua wubaiwen lun systematically
refutes Faxiang-inspired interpretations chapter
by chapter (Penkower, 1993, 252–257).
A further result of Sekiguchi Shindai’s  research
was to show that the “Tiantai” classification scheme
whereby the teachings of the Buddha were ana-
lyzed in terms of Five Periods and Eight Teachings
(五時八教) was not, as the Korean scholar-monk
Ch’egwan (諦觀; d. 971) had assumed in his late
10th-century Tiantai primer Ch’ŏnt’ae sagyo ŭi (天台
四教儀, T. 1931), the work of Zhiyi, but should rather
be attributed to Zhanran, who first used the term
in the Zhiguan fuxing chuanhong jue (T. 1912 [XLVI]
p. 292a20) (for an extended discussion see Pen-
kower, 1993, 220–280).
Buddha-Nature for the Insentient
Although the idea that natural objects also partake
of buddha-nature (wujing youxing [無情有性]) was
a concept that had been previously mentioned in
passing in Jizang’s (吉藏; 549–623) Dasheng xuan-
lun (大乘玄論, T. 1853), in which we find the phrase
“grass and trees too have buddha-nature” (caomu
yiyou foxing [草木亦有佛性]; T. 1853 [XLV] 40b19–
20), it was hardly noticed at the time. This was,
however, a topic that interested Zhanran from the
outset; he first mentioned it in the Zhiguan fuxing
chuanhong jue (T. 1912 [XLVI] 151c27–28) and later
gave it the full voice in his one and only treatise, the
Jingang bi (金剛錍, Diamond Scalpel, T. 1932; trans.
Penkower, 1993, 382–556; Ziporyn, 2000, 186–195).
It was a discussion that involved some sleight of
hand – as, for example, when Zhanran argued that
when the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra
denies buddha-nature to the insentient, it must be
interpreted as a statement addressed only to those
of a lesser capacity in the Latter Days of the Law
(modai [末代]; T. 1932 [XLVI] 782a17; Penkower,
1993, 423) – but it proved to be extremely influential.
Not only did it spawn 60 commentaries, but also it
was highly influential in Japan, where it was used
to justify in doctrinal terms the blending of Tendai
Buddhism with Shintō (神道), itself characterized
by a belief in the inherent spiritual properties of
 Zhanran
natural phenomena. By the 10th century the idea
that nature itself could become, or perhaps already
was, awakened (sōmoku jōbutsu [草木成佛]) was
common in Japan (Sueki, 1994; 1995).
Whether it was for sectarian reasons or not, the
revival of active scholarship under Zhanran cer-
tainly gave Tiantai and the community on Mount
Tiantai renewed prominence, but this situation
was not to last. Disaster struck again in the form of
the Huichang Suppression (會昌法難) of 842–846,
when many Buddhist texts were destroyed on the
orders of Emperor Wuzong. The Guoqing si was
very badly affected, and many of Zhiyi’s and Zhan-
ran’s writings became impossible to find. Revival
was only possible with the help of Buddhist insti-
tutions in Korea and Japan, which sent copies of
the major works and so slowly managed to refill the
Tiantai libraries (Brose, 2006). It was not, however,
until the emergence of Siming →Zhili (四明知禮;
960–1028) in the Song Dynasty that Tiantai’s long-
term survival was truly secured.
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