The Taoist Influence on Hua-yen Buddhism: A Case of the Sinicization of Buddhism in China

Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal 13 (2000)
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Abstract

Buddhism, which was first introduced into China around the first century C.E., developed through various stages of interaction with traditional Chinese culture before it finally emerged as an integral part of the Chinese religious tradition. After the periods of preparation (ca. 65~317 C.E.) and of domestication (ca. 317~589), Buddhism came to the stage of “independent growth” in the Sui-T’ang period (589~900). In this period there flourished such schools as the T’ien-t’ai (Lotus or Saddharmapuṇḍarika), the Hua-yen (Flower Garland or ), the Fa-hsiang (Dharma-Character or Dharmalakṣana), the Ching-t’u (Pure Land or Sukhavatī), and the Ch’an (Meditation or Dhyāna). The systems Avatamsakaof thought of most of these schools were characteristically “Chinese” in the sense that they were not mere extensions of Indian ideas but the reinterpretations and restatements of Buddhist doctrines within distinctively Chinese modes of thought and expression to meet the intellectual and spiritual needs of the particular times and space. Among these schools, however, the Hua-yen is generally considered not only as the apex of Buddhism, but also as “the greatest [p279] adaptation of Mahāyāna Buddhism among the various philosophical systems organized by the Chinese.” The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to examine some of the salient features of Hua-yen Buddhism as an example of the Sinicization of Buddhism in sixth and seventh century China. Needless to say, there must have been various religious, intellectual, and socio-political elements which conduced to the Sinicization process of Hua-yen Buddhist philosophy. In this paper, however, attention will be focused exclusively on Taoist philosophy as a possible indigenous spiritual influence on the formation of Hua-yen thought.

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