Yogâcāra Buddhism Transmitted or Transformed? Paramārtha (499–569) and His Chinese Interpreters

Revision as of 11:25, 28 May 2020

Dissertation

Abstract

This dissertation argues that the Yogâcāra Buddhism transmitted by the Indian translator Paramârtha (Ch. Zhendi 真諦) underwent a significant transformation due to the influence of his later Chinese interpreters, a phenomenon to which previous scholars failed to paid enough attention.
      I begin with showing two contrary interpretations of Paramârtha's notion of jiexing 解性. The traditional interpretation glosses jiexing in terms of "original awakening" (benjue 本覺) in the Awakening of Faith and hence betrays its strong tie to that text. In contrast, a contrary interpretation of jiexing is preserved in a Dunhuang fragment Taishō No. 2805 (henceforth abbreviated as T2805).
      The crucial part of this dissertation consists in demonstrating that T2805 and the Awakening of Faith represent two competing lineages of the interpreters of Paramârtha. The first clue is that modern scholars have voiced objection to the traditional attribution of the Awakening of Faith to Paramârtha. In addition, I discovered that striking similarities exist between T2805 and Paramârtha's corpus with respect to terminology, style of phrasing, and doctrine. I further draw attention to the historical testimonies about two different doctrinal views held by Paramârtha's interpreters. Therefore, I argue that there were two lineages in the name of Paramârtha's disciples around 590 CE: the indirect lineage interpreted Paramârtha through the lens of the Awakening of Faith; and the direct lineage—represented by T2805—preserved Paramârtha's original teachings but died out prematurely. Later Chinese Buddhist tradition mistakenly regards the indirect lineage as Paramârtha's true heir and attributes the Awakening of Faith to Paramârtha.
      This implies that Paramârtha may have agreed with Xuanzang 2T5c (600–664) much more than scholars used to assume. For example, Xuanzang's characterization of the notion of "aboriginal uncontaminated seeds" looks very similar to how Paramârtha depicts jiexing. It also implies that we should distinguish the strong sense of the notion of "tathāgatagarbha" in the Awakening of Faith from its weak sense. The fact that even Vasubandhu endorses the weak sense of "tathāgatagarbha" strongly challenges the received wisdom that Yogâcāra and Tathāgatagarbha were two distinct and antagonistic trends of thought in India.

Citation	Keng, Ching. "Yogâcāra Buddhism Transmitted or Transformed? Paramārtha (499–569) and His Chinese Interpreters." PhD diss., Harvard University, 2009.

Abstractiii
Table of Contentv
List of Tables and Figuresxii
Acknowledgementxiii
Abbreviationsxvii
Dedicationxviii
0. Introduction1
0.1 Yogâcāra and Tathāgatagarbha as Two Competing Traditions1
Yogâcāra Tradition (Acquired Gnosis) v.s. Tathāgatagarbha
Tradition (Inherent Gnosis)2
Paramârtha's Life and Work in China4
0.2 The Traditional Image of Paramârtha and Its Problems7
The Traditional Image of Paramârtha7
The Traditional Interpretation of Jiexing: Jiexing— "Original Awakening"9
Problematizing the Traditional Image of Paramârtha11
0.3 Toward a New Image of Paramârtha: Methodological Considerations13
Situating My Dissertation in the Study of Religion17
Difficulties with Reconstructing the Original Teachings of Paramârtha21
(A) Reconstructing from Indian Sources with the Help of Chinese and
Tibetan Sources?21
(B) Reconstruction from Later Testimonies?25
A New Approach to the Study of Paramârtha27
0.4 Review of Previous Scholarship: Three Dubious Assumptions30
(1) The Awakening of Faith Was Related to Paramârtha in a Certain Way30
(2) Paramârtha Stood Against Xuanzang34
(3) Yogâcāra and Tathāgatagarbha Are Two Distinct and Antagonistic
Traditions36
The Internal Diversity of Yogâcāra39
More Than One Kinds of Tathāgatagarbha Thought40
The Unawareness of the Heterogeneity of the Shelun Masters41
Other Related Studies of Paramârtha and of the Sixth Century Chinese
Buddhism44
0.5 Outline of Chapters48
Chapter 1. Two Competing Readings of the Notion of Jiexing 52
1.1 The Initial Passages on Jiexing52
Shelun Jiexing Passage (1)53
Shelun Jiexing Passage (2)54
The Relation between the Two "Shelun Jiexing" Passages"?54
Ui 's Interpretation of Jiexing56
1.2 The Genealogy of our Current Understanding of Jiexing62
(1) The First Stage: Jiexing Identified with the "Original awakening"62
Dasheng qixinlun yishu 大乘起信論義疏 by Tanyan (516-588)62
Jingying Huiyuan 淨影慧遠 (523-592)65
Dasheng zhiguan famen 大乘止觀法門67
She dasheng lun chao 攝大乘論抄72
Jizang 吉藏 (549-623)74
(2) The Second Stage: Two Kinds of "Original Awakening"75
Faxiang School: Wǒnch'ǔk 圓測 (613-696)76
Huayan School: Wǒnhyo 元曉 (617-686)79
(3) The Third Stage: Return to the First Stage81
Huayan School: Fazang 法藏 (643-712)82
Faxiang School: Tunnyun 遁倫 (active around 700?)84
1.3 "Permanence Reading" (Awakening of Faith) vs. "Impermanence Reading"
(T2805)86
The Implications of Reading Jiexing as "Original Awakening"86
The "Permanence Reading" of Jiexing90
1.4 An Alternative Reading of Jiexing Suggested by T280590
T2805 Jiexing Passage (1)91
T2805 Jiexing Passage (2)92
Kimura's Study of Jiexing in T280594
Preliminary Observation of Jiexing in T280595
Impermanence Reading of Jiexing96
The Testimonies for the Impermanence Reading of Jiexing97
Zhiyi 智顗 (538-597)99
Zhaolun shu 肇論疏100
1.5 Conclusion103
Chapter 2. Doubts about the Connection between the Awakening of Faith and Paramârtha105
2.1 The Early Reception of the Awakening of Faith105
2.2 The Inconsistency among the Chinese Buddhist Catalogues108
2.3 Three Claims Made regarding the Provenance of the Awakening of Faith111
(A) Hirakawa: Paramârtha Translated the Awakening of Faith111
Regarding the Doubt Cast by the Fajing lu111
Regarding the Terminological Differences between the Awakening of Faith and
other works by Paramârtha112
The Awakening of Faith was Based on Indian Scriptures113
(B) Mochizuki, Takemura: Paramârtha Had Nothing to Do with the
Awakening of Faith114
Mochizuki115
The Terminological Differences between the Awakening of Faith and
Paramârtha119
Strengthening Mochizuki's Arguments: Takemura's Observations121
(C) Kashiwagi, Yoshizu: the Awakening of Faith is connected with Paramârtha,
although he may not have translated it125
2.4 How Does the Awakening of Faith Deviate from the Indian Yogâcāra Texts?129
Awakening of Faith: Thusness Is Permeated130
MSg, MSgBh, CWSL: Unconditioned Dharmas Cannot Be Permeated131
Thusness as the "Object" of the "non-discriminating cognition" in
Paramârtha133
Thusness as the Object-support Condition in the Yogâcārabhūmi136
The notion of zhenru suoyuanyuan zhongzi 眞如所緣緣種子138
2.5 Conclusion141
Chapter 3. A Philological Investigation of T2805143
3.1 An Introduction to the Dunhuang Fragment T2805 (S.2747/Or. 8210)143
3.2 Some Preliminary Observations of T2805146
Preliminary Dating of the Composition of T2805147
T2805 Cannot Be Done by Paramârtha Himself148
T2805 Probably Predates Xuanzang148
The Style of T2805149
The Division in terms of pin and zhang150
The Origin of zhang?152
No Reference to the Awakening of Faith in T2805153
3.3 Methodological Considerations about the Terminological Analysis155
Ishii's NGSM Method156
Features of Paramârtha's Terminology158
A Few Features of the Chinese Language160
More Methodological Considerations about Working with the CBETA162
3.4 The Affinity between T2805 and Paramârtha's Works from the
Terminological Perspective166
(1) New Translated Terms Invented by Paramârtha's Group174
(2) Special Transliterations by Paramârtha's Group174
(3) Newly Introduced School Names176
(4) Special Technical Terms from Sanskrit176
(5) Special Notions not directly from Sanskrit177
3.5 The Intimacy between T2805 with the Suixiang lun179
The Phrase Jiwufu181
T2805 and Suixiang lun: Written down/Transcribed by the Same Person183
Reflections and Disclaimers184
3.6 The Northern and Southern Traditions of Chinese Buddhism in the
Sixth Century185
(1) T2805'sAffiliation with the Southern Chinese Buddhist Context188
(2) The Distinction between the South vs. the North189
(3) The Confluence between the South and the North190
A Separate Category: "Authors in the North around 589-600"191
"Exegetical Tools" in the South198
Paucity of Extant Commentaries from the North203
Distinction between the North vs. the South from Later Testimonies204
3.7 Why is it unlikely that the Author of T2805 Was Originated from the North?205

Some Terms in T2805 That Are Never Used by Authors from the North ............ 206 Notions in T2805 That Were Rarely Used by Authors from the North ............... 207 (1) "Cause of Habituation" vs. "Cause of Retribution" ................................. 208 (2) The Notion of"the Last Mind of the Gotra of the Path" ........................... 212 (3) The Notion ofjingzhi ("cognitive object and cognition") .......................... .217 3.8 What Would Constitute a Counter-example? ............................................. 218 Challenge (A) ................................................................................. 219 Challenge (B) .................................................................................. 220 3 .9 Contact with Hui yuan? ..................................................... , ............... .223 (1) The Notion of "Arising by Adjusting to Falsity" (suiwang sheng llj~~) ..... .223 (2) The Notion of the "Three Kinds of Pure Land" (sanzhongjingtu -~~±) ... 226 (3) The Notion of "Reversely Permeating" (huanxun ~~) ........................... 229 3.10 Contact with the Buddhist Tradition in the North? ..................................... 231 (1) The Notion of"Ten Bodhisattva-stage of the Sravaka Vehicle" (shengwen shidi §lffl+:!:-fu.). ............................................................... 231 (2) Liushi xin 1\mlxit,:T 2805 and the Interpolated Explanation of the FXL ......... 232 (3) The Term lineng )]fiE ("power and capability") .................................... .234 3.11 Conclusion ................................................................................... 235

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 *{{i|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;T2805 and ''Suixiang lun'': Written down/Transcribed by the Same Person|183}}
 *{{i|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Reflections and Disclaimers|184}}
-*{{i|3.6 The Northern and Southern Traditions of Chinese Buddhism in the Sixth Century|185}}
+*{{i|3.6 The Northern and Southern Traditions of Chinese Buddhism in the<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sixth Century|185}}
 *{{i|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(1) T2805'sAffiliation with the Southern Chinese Buddhist Context|188}}
 *{{i|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(2) The Distinction between the South vs. the North|189}}