A Comparison of the Concepts of Buddha-Nature and Dao-Nature of Medieval China

Dissertation

Abstract

This thesis, a comparison of the concepts of buddha-nature and dao-nature in the medieval period (from the 5th to the 10th centuries) of China, presents a historical investigation of the formation of the idea that insentient things are able to possess buddha-nature in medieval Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism. In Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism, the concept of buddha-nature was originally defined as a potential possessed by sentient beings that enabled them to achieve buddhahood. From the 6th century, the concept was reinterpreted within the Chinese Buddhist tradition so that insentient things were also able to possess buddha-nature. Recent scholarship has pointed out that the idea of insentient things having buddha-nature is a combination of Buddhist and Daoist ideas based on the concept of the all-pervading Dao found in the Zhuangzi 莊子. In this sense, buddha-nature seems to be interpreted as equivalent with the Dao of Daoism. My project suggests that the reinterpretation of buddha-nature in association with the insentient realm should be elucidated in a more nuanced way than the idea of all-pervasiveness of the Dao. A historical, doctrinal investigation of the intellectual formation of the concept of buddha-nature in Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism demonstrates a new interpretation of buddha-nature in the context of insentient things having buddha-nature. Further, through a historical investigation of intellectual exchange between Buddhism and Daoism, some evidence provided in this project illustrates that the idea of insentient things having dao-nature in Daoism was not inherited from Buddhism, but drawn from Daoist tradition. This new perspective is different from that of some contemporary scholars who have claimed that the idea of insentient things having dao-nature was borrowed from Chinese Buddhism. A chronological investigation of the discussion of nature in Chinese thought demonstrates that the idea of insentient things having buddha-nature incorporates earlier Daoist traditions found in Arcane Study.

Citation	Tseng, Chih-Mien Adrian. "A Comparison of the Concepts of Buddha-Nature and Dao-Nature of Medieval China." PhD diss., McMaster University, 2014. https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream/11375/15419/1/Chih-mien%20Adrian%20Tseng%27s%20dissertation%202014-07.pdf

Introduction1

1. Discussion of previous scholarship2
2. Methods and questions addressed in this project8
3. The significance of the idea that insentient things have buddha-nature for
East Asian Buddhism15
4. Background: The legitimacy of the idea that insentient things have buddha-
nature in non-Chinese sources17
5. The definition of "sentient beings"25
6. Chapter summaries32

Chapter 1: An Examination of the Relationship between Human Nature and the Nature of Inanimate Things in Chinese Thought36

1. The discussion of xing 性 in terms of the nature of mind before Xuanxue 玄學
(Arcane Study)38
2. The discussion of xing in terms of ontology49
- 2.1 The discussion of xing in terms of Daoist ontology before
  Arcane Study49
- 2.2 The discussion of xing in terms of ontology in Arcane Study58
3. The taxonomy of Daoism81
4. Conclusion84

Chapter 2: A Discussion of Dao-Nature in Practical Daoism87

1. The discussion of dao-nature in practical Daoism91
- 1.1 Tao Hongjing's 陶弘景 discussion of dao-nature92
- 1.2 Song Wenming's 宋文明 discussion of dao-nature98
  - 1.2.1 The authorship of the Daode yiyuan 道德義淵98
  - 1.2.2 Song Wenming's discussion of dao-nature108
2. The discussion of dao-nature in the Tang dynasty (618–907 A.D.)114
3. Conclusion128

Chapter 3: A Discussion of Jizang's 吉藏 Argument that Grasses and Trees Have Buddha-Nature130

1. Sentient beings: Are they buddha-nature or do they have buddha-nature?136
2. Jizang's definition of buddha-nature138
3. An examination of Jizang's argument of buddha-nature in an ontological
view157
- 3.1 The meaning of the word li 理 (principle) and the method of linei-liwai
  理內理外 (within li, beyond li)157
- 3.2 An examination of Jizang's argument that insentient things have
  buddha-nature177
4. A comparison of Jizang's discussion of buddha-nature with the dao-nature of
Daoism182
5. Conclusion184

Chapter 4: An Examination of Zhanran's 湛然 Discussion of Buddha-Nature189

1. An examination of Zhanran's argument of insentient things having buddha-
nature195
2. Zhanran's definition and interpretation of buddha-nature203
- 2.1 Zhanran's discussion of nature203
- 2.2 Zhanran's definition of buddha-nature205
- 2.3 The relationship between unity and diversity220
3. An investigation of Chinese thought in Zhanran's Fuxing 輔行
(止觀輔行傳弘決) and its association with Zhanran's discussion of
buddha-nature223
4. Conclusion243

Conclusion: A Comparison of Buddha-Nature and Dao-Nature247

Bibliography266