Taehyŏn

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Taehyŏn(b. ca. 8th century - ) 

Taehyǒn. [alt. T ’aehyǒn] (C. Daxian/Taixian; J. Daiken/Taigen XS/XS) (d.u.; fl. c. mid-eighth Century). In Korean, "Great/Grand Sagacity"; Silla-dynasty monk during the reign of king Kyǒngdǒk (r. 742-765) and reputed founder of the Yuga (Yogācāra) tradition in Korea; also known as Ch’ǒnggu Samun ("Green Hill [viz., Korea] śramaṇa" ) and often referred to as Yuga cho, "Patriarch of Yogācāra," due to his mastery of that school's complex doctrine. As one of the three most productive scholars of the Silla Buddhist tradition, Taehyǒn is matched in his output only by Wǒnhyo (617-686) and Kyǒnghǔng (fl. c. eighth century). Although renowned for his mastery of Yogācāra doctrine, his fifty-two works, in over one hundred rolls, cover a broad range of Buddhist doctrinal material, including Yogācāra, Madhyamaka, Hwaǒm (C. Huayan zong), and bodhisattva-precept texts. It is presumed that Taehyǒn was a disciple of Wǒnch’cūk's (613-696) student Tojǔng (d.u.), and that his scholastic positions were therefore close to those of the Ximing school, a lineage of Faxiang zong thought that derived from Wǒnch’ūk; their connection remains, however, a matter of debate. Taehyǒn’s Sǒng yusik non hakki ("Study Notes to the Cheng weishi lun [*Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi-śāstra]") (six rolls), the only complete Korean commentary on the Cheng weishi lun that is still extant, is particularly important because of its copious citation of the works of contemporary Yogācāra exegetes, such as Kuiji (632-682) and Wǒnch’ǔk. Taehyǒn appears to have been influenced by the preeminent Silla scholiast Wǒnhyo, since Taehyǒn accepts in his Taesǔng kisin non naeǔi yak tamgi ("Brief Investigation of the Inner Meaning of the Dasheng qixin lun") Wǒnhyo's ecumenical (Hwajaeng) perspective on the "Awakening of Faith According to the Mahāyāna." Although Taehyǒn never traveled abroad, his works circulated throughout East Asia and were commented upon by both Chinese and Japanese exegetes. His Pǒmmang kyǒng kojǒkki ("Record of Old Traces of the Fanwang jing" ), for example, was widely consulted in Japan and more than twenty commentaries on Taehyǒn’s text were composed by Japanese monks, including Eison (1201-1290) and Gyōnen (1240-1321). Unfortunately, only five of Taehyǒn's works are extant; in addition to the above three texts, these are his Yaksa ponwǒn kyǒng kojǒkki ("Record of Old Traces of the Bhaiṣajyagurusūtra" ) and Pǒmmang kyǒng posalgyebon chongyo ("Doctrinal Essentials of the Bodhisattva's Code of Morality from the ‘Sūtra of Brahmā's Net'"). (Source: "Taehyǒn." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 886–87. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)

Library Items

Book
Exposition of the Sutra of Brahma's Net
This volume has much to offer to students and practitioners of Buddhism in the English-speaking world. First and foremost, it contains the first scholarly translation of the full Mahāyāna Sutra of Brahmā's Net into English. Of greatest interest to most, of course, will be the "Mahāyāna Prātimokṣa" ("Precepts Manual") that comprises the second half of the sutra; but the sutra as a whole represents the documentation of a vitally important stage in the development of Mahāyāna thought. At the same time, the reader will have access to the magisterial commentary on this sutra by Taehyeon. Taehyeon's was the only major commentary to treat the entire sutra, and was regarded by a large swath of East Asian Vinaya experts as being the most thorough and balanced exegesis ever written on the text. The Beommanggyeong gojeokgi was taken as the definitive work on the sutra in the Japanese Ritsu school, where it was the subject of more than sixty subcommentaries. At the same time, readers will be presented with the largest single work to be rendered in English to date by the eminent Silla exegete Taehyeon, a scholar who went far beyond his primary field of Yogācāra to write on virtually every facet of the Mahāyāna Buddhist system. (Muller, preface, xxvii)
Muller, A. Charles, ed. and trans. Exposition of the Sutra of Brahma's Net. Collected Works of Korean Buddhism 11. Seoul: Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, 2012. http://www.acmuller.net/kor-bud/11_sutra_of_brahmas_net.pdf.

On the topic of this person

Article
A Comparative Study of Taehyŏn, Wŏnhyo, and Fazangs’ Views on Ālayavijñāna and Tathāgatagarbha
The concept of ālayavijñāna has been accepted in East Asia by either demonstrating its association to tathāgatagarbha or negating it, since Bodhiruci (fl. 508-35) introduced it by translating the Daśabhūmikasūtra-śāstra. It was in this context that the Awakening of Faith (C. Dasheng qixin lun 大乘起信論) drew East Asian Buddhist scholiasts’ attention. The central message of the Awakening of Faith that tathāgatagarbha is synthesized to ālayavijñāna in neither-identical-nor-different condition is directly associated to the contemporary issue of how ālayavijñāna serves as the basis of sentient being’s enlightenment. Silla Yogācāra exegete Taehyŏn 大賢 (ca. 8th century) is one of the East Asian monks who noted the Awakening of Faith and articulates the relationship between tathāgatagarbha and ālayavijñāna in the Taesŭng kisillon naeŭi yak t’amgi 大乘起信論內義略探記, his commentary of the Awakening of Faith. This article explores Taehyŏn’s views on ālayavijñāna and tathāgatagarbha in his commentary of the Awakening of Faith in comparison to those of other exegetes, such as Wŏnhyo 元曉 (617–686) and Fazang 法藏 (643–712). This article seeks to demonstrate on the basis of this examination that there were distinct doctrinal positions on the tathāgatagarbha of the Awakening of Faith, which are also associated to their understandings of consciousness system.
Lee, Sumi. "A Comparative Study of Taehyŏn, Wŏnhyo, and Fazangs’ Views on Ālayavijñāna and Tathāgatagarbha." (In Korean.) Journal of Eastern-Asia Buddhism and Culture 32, no. 12 (2017): 101–29.
Book
Exposition of the Sutra of Brahma's Net
This volume has much to offer to students and practitioners of Buddhism in the English-speaking world. First and foremost, it contains the first scholarly translation of the full Mahāyāna Sutra of Brahmā's Net into English. Of greatest interest to most, of course, will be the "Mahāyāna Prātimokṣa" ("Precepts Manual") that comprises the second half of the sutra; but the sutra as a whole represents the documentation of a vitally important stage in the development of Mahāyāna thought. At the same time, the reader will have access to the magisterial commentary on this sutra by Taehyeon. Taehyeon's was the only major commentary to treat the entire sutra, and was regarded by a large swath of East Asian Vinaya experts as being the most thorough and balanced exegesis ever written on the text. The Beommanggyeong gojeokgi was taken as the definitive work on the sutra in the Japanese Ritsu school, where it was the subject of more than sixty subcommentaries. At the same time, readers will be presented with the largest single work to be rendered in English to date by the eminent Silla exegete Taehyeon, a scholar who went far beyond his primary field of Yogācāra to write on virtually every facet of the Mahāyāna Buddhist system. (Muller, preface, xxvii)
Muller, A. Charles, ed. and trans. Exposition of the Sutra of Brahma's Net. Collected Works of Korean Buddhism 11. Seoul: Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, 2012. http://www.acmuller.net/kor-bud/11_sutra_of_brahmas_net.pdf.
PhD Diss
Lee, S.: Toward a New Paradigm of East Asian Yogācāra Buddhism: Taehyŏn (ca. 8th Century CE), a Korean Yogācāra Monk, and His Predecessors
Abstract

This dissertation seeks to locate the place of Taehyŏn 大賢(ca. 8th century CE), a Silla Korean Yogācāra monk, within the broader East Asian Buddhist tradition. My task is not confined solely to a narrow study of Taehyŏn’s thought and career, but is principally concerned with understanding the wider contours of the East Asian Yogācāra tradition itself and how these contours are reflected in Taehyŏn’s extant oeuvre. There are problems in determining Taehyŏn's doctrinal position within the traditional paradigms of East Asian Yogācāra tradition, that is, the bifurcations of Tathāgatagarbha and Yogācāra; Old and New Yogācāra; the One Vehicle and Three Vehicles; and the Dharma Nature and Dharma Characteristics schools. Taehyŏn's extant works contain doctrines drawn from across these various divides, and his doctrinal positions therefore do not precisely fit any of these traditional paradigms. In order to address this issue, this dissertation examines how these bifurcations originated and evolved over time, across the geographical expanse of the East Asian Yogācāra tradition. The chapters of the dissertation discuss in largely chronological order the theoretical problems involved in these bifurcations within Yogācāra and proposes possible resolutions to these problems, by focusing on the works of such major Buddhist exegetes as Paramārtha (499-569), Ji 基 (632-682), Wŏnhyo 元曉 (617-686), Fazang 法藏(643-712), and, finally, Taehyŏn.
Lee, Sumi. "Toward a New Paradigm of East Asian Yogācāra Buddhism: Taehyŏn (ca. 8th Century CE), a Korean Yogācāra Monk, and His Predecessors." PhD diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 2014. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/74h5d0nv#main.

Affiliations & relations

  • Yogācāra · religious affiliation
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