Guifeng Zongmi(780 - 841)
圭峰 宗密
Guifeng Zongmi. (J. Keihō Shūmitsu; K. Kyubong Chongmil 圭峰 宗密) (780-841). Chinese Chan master and historian; putative fifth patriarch of the Huayan tradition and successor in the Heze school of Chan; best known for positing the fundamental harmony between the scriptural teachings of Buddhism and Chan practice. Zongmi was a native of Xichong in present-day Sichuan province. Although little is known of his early life, Zongmi is said to have received a classical Confucian education. In 804, Zongmi encountered the monk Daoyuan (d.u.), purportedly a fourth-generation lineage holder of the Heze line of Chan, and became his student. During this period, Zongmi also carried on his studies of the Yuanjue jing. In 808, Zongmi received the full monastic precepts from Daoyuan, who then recommended the monk Nanyin Weizhong (d. 821) as a suitable teacher. In 810, Zongmi met the monk Lingfeng (d.U.), a disciple of the Huayan monk Chengguan, at the monastery of Huijuesi. Two years later Zongmi began his studies of the Avataṃsakasūtra under Chengguan in Chang’an. In 816, Zongmi began his residence at the monastery of Zhijusi on Zhongnanshan and in 821 he retired to the temple Caotangsi on Gui peak (Guifeng), whence he acquired his toponym. There, Zongmi devoted himself to such works as his influential commentary on the Yuanjue jing, the Yuanjue jing dashu. In 828, Zongmi was invited to the palace and given a purple robe and the title Dade (Great Virtue). During his stay at the capital he met many important statesmen including Pei Xiu (787-860). Zongmi was a prolific writer whose works include commentaries on the Avataṃsakasūtra, Vajracchedikāprajñāpāramitāsūtra, Dasheng qixin lun, Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, Sifen lü ("Four-Part Vinaya"), and others. He also composed a massive, 100-roll history of the Chan school, the Chanyuan zhuquanji ("Collected Writings on the Source of Chan"), only the prolegomenon to which is extant. Zongmi's writings were extremely influential in the mature Korean Sǒn school and, especially, in the thought and practice of Pojo Chinul (1158-1210), who drew on Zongmi to advocate an accord between the traditions of Sǒn (C. Chan; meditation) and Kyo (C. Jiao; doctrine). (Source: "Guifeng Zongmi." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 335. Princeton University Press, 2104. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Library Items
Zongmi: Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity
This annotated translation of an early ninth-century essay by the Hua-yen and Ch'an master Kuei-feng Tsung-mi (780-841) provides the nonspecialist with a window through which to survey the landscape of medieval
Chinese Buddhist thought. Unlike other more technical expositions of Buddhist teachings, Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity (Yuan Jen lun) does not presuppose a detailed knowledge of Buddhist doctrine. In a brief and accessible fashion, it presents a systematic overview of the major teachings within Chinese Buddhism. The organizational framework used by Tsung-mi, moreover, represents one of the primary methods devised by Chinese Buddhists to organize and make sense of the diverse body of teachings they received from India. Finally, Tsung-mi's essay is especially noteworthy in that it sheds light on the interaction of Buddhism with the
indigenous intellectual and religious traditions of Confucianism and Taoism. Peter N. Gregory's commentary, which follows a running translation of the work, will help bridge the temporal and cultural gap separating contemporary Western readers from the text's intended medieval Chinese audience. (Source: back cover)Gregory, Peter N., trans. Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity: An Annotated Translation of Tsung-mi's Yüan jen lun with a Modern Commentary. Kuroda Classics in East Asian Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1995.
Gregory, Peter N., trans. Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity: An Annotated Translation of Tsung-mi's Yüan jen lun with a Modern Commentary. Kuroda Classics in East Asian Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1995.;Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Chinese Buddhism;Zongmi;Yuanren lun;Guifeng Zongmi; Peter Gregory;Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity: An Annotated Translation of Tsung-mi's Yüan jen lun with a Modern Commentary;Zongmi, G.
Three Short Treatises by Vasubandhu, Sengzhao, and Zongmi
Taishō 1609
Volume Volume 31
A Mahayana Demonstration on the Theme of Action
Despite its brevity, A Mahayana Demonstration on the Theme of Action (Karmasiddhi-prakaraṇa), attributed to Vasubandhu and translated into Chinese by the scholar-monk Xuanzang, is a densely packed philosophical argumentation on the correct interpretation of scriptural references about the three kinds of actions of body, speech, and mind. The text reflects Yogācāra philosophy, including discussion of the storehouse consciousness (ālayavijñāna).
Source
Skt. Karmasiddhiprakaraṇa, translated by Xuanzang into the Chinese as Dasheng chengye lun (大乘成業論). 1 fascicle.
Translator(s): John P. Keenan
Taishō 1858 Volume Volume 45
Essays of Sengzhao
Sengzhao’s Essays (Zhao lun) comprise an introductory chapter, four essays, and an exchange of letters. The work can be seen as an extended meditation on sagehood, a perennial theme in Chinese religio-philosophical thought. These writings offer an original response to a set of concerns unique to Sengzhao, his community, and his times, and are an important voice in the religious speculation of early medieval China. Includes Zongmi’s annotations.
Source
Ch. Zhao lun (肇論).1 fascicle.
Translator(s): Rafal Felbur
Taishō 1886 Volume Volume 45
Treatise on the Origin of Humanity
The Treatise on the Origin of Humanity (Yuanren lun) by the Huayan patriarch Zongmi classifies various teachings of Buddhism on a scale of relative profundity, and specifically critiques the weaknesses of the teachings of Confucianism and Daoism, which he regards as inferior to Buddhism. This work formed the basis for some of the arguments in later East Asian history on the relationship of the three teachings.
Source
Ch. Yuanren lun (原人論). 1 fascicle.
Translator(s): Jan Yün-hua
(Source: BDK America)Keenan, John P., Rafal Felbur, and Jan Yün-hua, trans. Three Short Treatises by Vasubandhu, Sengzhao, and Zongmi: A Mahayana Demonstration on the Theme of Action (Taishō Volume 31, Number 1609), Essays of Sengzhao (Taishō Volume 45, Number 1858), and Treatise on the Origin of Humanity (Taishō Volume 45, Number 1886). Moraga, CA: BDK America, 2017.
Keenan, John P., Rafal Felbur, and Jan Yün-hua, trans. Three Short Treatises by Vasubandhu, Sengzhao, and Zongmi: A Mahayana Demonstration on the Theme of Action (Taishō Volume 31, Number 1609), Essays of Sengzhao (Taishō Volume 45, Number 1858), and Treatise on the Origin of Humanity (Taishō Volume 45, Number 1886). Moraga, CA: BDK America, 2017.;Three Short Treatises by Vasubandhu, Sengzhao, and Zongmi;Vasubandhu;དབྱིག་གཉེན་;dbyig gnyen;slob dpon dbyig gnyen;སློབ་དཔོན་དབྱིག་གཉེན་; Guifeng Zongmi;John P. Keenan;Three Short Treatises by Vasubandhu, Sengzhao, and Zongmi: A Mahayana Demonstration on the Theme of Action (Taishō Volume 31, Number 1609), Essays of Sengzhao (Taishō Volume 45, Number 1858), Treatise on the Origin of Humanity (Taishō Volume 45, Number 1886)
On the topic of this person
Zongmi: Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity
This annotated translation of an early ninth-century essay by the Hua-yen and Ch'an master Kuei-feng Tsung-mi (780-841) provides the nonspecialist with a window through which to survey the landscape of medieval
Chinese Buddhist thought. Unlike other more technical expositions of Buddhist teachings, Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity (Yuan Jen lun) does not presuppose a detailed knowledge of Buddhist doctrine. In a brief and accessible fashion, it presents a systematic overview of the major teachings within Chinese Buddhism. The organizational framework used by Tsung-mi, moreover, represents one of the primary methods devised by Chinese Buddhists to organize and make sense of the diverse body of teachings they received from India. Finally, Tsung-mi's essay is especially noteworthy in that it sheds light on the interaction of Buddhism with the
indigenous intellectual and religious traditions of Confucianism and Taoism. Peter N. Gregory's commentary, which follows a running translation of the work, will help bridge the temporal and cultural gap separating contemporary Western readers from the text's intended medieval Chinese audience. (Source: back cover)Gregory, Peter N., trans. Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity: An Annotated Translation of Tsung-mi's Yüan jen lun with a Modern Commentary. Kuroda Classics in East Asian Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1995.
Gregory, Peter N., trans. Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity: An Annotated Translation of Tsung-mi's Yüan jen lun with a Modern Commentary. Kuroda Classics in East Asian Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1995.;Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Chinese Buddhism;Zongmi;Yuanren lun;Guifeng Zongmi; Peter Gregory;Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity: An Annotated Translation of Tsung-mi's Yüan jen lun with a Modern Commentary;Zongmi, G.
Is Critical Buddhism Really Critical?
Peter Gregory’s essay, "Is Critical Buddhism Really Critical?," takes the thought of Tsung-mi as a
case study in order to ask whether the pursuit of "true Buddhism" is not in turn positing some sort of dhātu-vāda-like essence of Buddhism, hence mirroring the object of its own criticism. Preferring to see Buddhism as a "product of a complex set of interdependent and ever-changing conditions (pratītyasamutpāda),” he looks at Tsung-mi's thought not to determine whether or not it is "truly Buddhist" but in order to discover the causes and conditions that brought it into existence. In a manner similar to Sallie King's argument that Buddha-nature can be understood as a catalyst for positive social change, Gregory argues that for Tsung-mi the doctrine of original enlightenment was tied not to a linguistic transcendentalism but rather to an affirmation of language in response to the more radical critiques of the prajñā-pāramitā tradition. (Hubbard, introduction to Pruning the Bodhi Tree, xvii)
Gregory, Peter N. "Is Critical Buddhism Really Critical?" In Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism, edited by Jamie Hubbard and Paul L. Swanson, 286–97. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997.
Gregory, Peter N. "Is Critical Buddhism Really Critical?" In Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism, edited by Jamie Hubbard and Paul L. Swanson, 286–97. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997.;Is Critical Buddhism Really Critical?;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Chinese Buddhism;Zen / Chan;Critical Buddhism;Zongmi;Peter Gregory; 
Sudden and Gradual
This volume examines the historical basis of the debate over sudden versus gradual approaches to enlightenment in Chinese Buddhism, seeing it as part of a recurrent polarity in Chinese history and thought. Sudden and Gradual includes essays by Luis O. Gómez on the philosophical implications of the debate in China and Tibet, Whalen Lai on Taodheng's theory of sudden enlightenment, Neal Donner on Chih-i's system of T'ien-t'ai, John R. McRae on Shen-Hui's sudden enlightenment and its precedents in Northern Ch'an, and Peter N. Gregory on Tsung-mi's theory of sudden enlightenment. (Source: Motilal Banarsidass)
Gregory, Peter N., ed. Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought. Buddhist Tradition Series 16. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1991. First published 1987 by University of Hawai'i Press. https://terebess.hu/zen/Sudden-and-Gradual-Enlightenment.pdf.
Gregory, Peter N., ed. Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought. Buddhist Tradition Series 16. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1991. First published 1987 by University of Hawai'i Press. https://terebess.hu/zen/Sudden-and-Gradual-Enlightenment.pdf.;Sudden and Gradual;History of buddha-nature in China;Terminology;Debate(s);The doctrine of buddha-nature in Chinese Buddhism;Tien Tai;Daosheng;Zhiyi;Heze Shenhui;Zen - Chan;Zongmi;Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought
The Mind as the Buddha-Nature: The Concept of the Absolute in Ch'an Buddhism
Although Ch'an Buddhism has a long history, the name of the Ch'an School (ch'an-mena or ch'an-rsungb) was a relatively late development. It was Tsung-mic (780-841), the great Master of Kuei-fung who, for the first time, adopted the term in the ninth century A.D. It is interesting to note that it was the same monk-scholar who used the School of Mind (hsin-tsungd) as a synonym of the Ch'an school. Tsung-mi was a scholar of buddhist thought who had personal experience in the broad-ranging knowledge of Ch'an traditions. He collected relevant materials and wrote extensively in an effort to analyze the doctrine and practices of the tradition. His identification of the Mind with the Ch'an indicates that, in his opinion, the Mind was the central focus of the school. Although Tsung-mi contributed a good deal to the understanding of Ch'an Buddhism, his contributions remained almost unknown for a thousand years; it is only during the last two decades that scholars have gradually come to recognize his contribution. with considerable astonishment and admiration. This article is an attempt to describe, analyze and assess Tsung-mi's thesis that the doctrine of Mind is the central focus of Ch'an Buddhism and that the Mind itself is the absolute. (Jan, "The Mind and the Buddha-Nature," 467)
Notes
- CYC pp. 13 and 17 for the term of ch'an-men; pp. 57, 86, 210 and 320 for ch'an-tsung. Compare Sekiguchi Shindaiaa, "Zenshū no hassei." Fukui sensei shōju ki'nen Tōyō shisō ronshü (Tokyo, 1960), pp. 321–338.
- Jan Yūn-hua, "Tsung-mi and his Analysis of Ch'an Buddhism", TP 58 (1972): 1–54; for a detailed study of Tsung-mi, see Shigeo Kamata, Shūmitsu kyōgaku no shisōshi teki kenkyū (Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, 1975).
- CYC, pp. 30 and 254.
Jan, Yün-hua. "The Mind as the Buddha-Nature: The Concept of the Absolute in Ch'an Buddhism." Philosophy East and West 31, no. 4 (1981): 467–77.
Jan, Yün-hua. "The Mind as the Buddha-Nature: The Concept of the Absolute in Ch'an Buddhism." Philosophy East and West 31, no. 4 (1981): 467–77.;The Mind as the Buddha-Nature: The Concept of the Absolute in Ch'an Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Chinese Buddhism;Zen - Chan;Zongmi;Yün-hua Jan; 
Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism
This study of Tsung-mi is part of the Studies in East Asian Buddhism series. Author Peter Gregory makes extensive use of Japanese secondary sources, which complements his work on the complex Chinese materials that form the basis of the study. (Source: University of Hawai'i Press)
Gregory, Peter N. Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism. Kuroda Studies in East Asian Buddhism 16. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2002. First Published 1991 by Princeton University Press.
Gregory, Peter N. Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism. Kuroda Studies in East Asian Buddhism 16. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2002. First Published 1991 by Princeton University Press.;Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Chinese Buddhism;Zen - Chan;tathāgatagarbha;Zongmi;Peter Gregory;Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism
Affiliations & relations
- Heze school of Chan · religious affiliation
- Daoyuan · teacher
- Nanyin Weizhong · teacher
- Chengguan · teacher
