An Examination of Tsung-mi's Teaching with reference to the Historical Interaction of the Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism during the T'ang Dynasty

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This paper analyses the writings of Tsung-mi (principally his Great Commentary on the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, his Explanation of the Great Commentary on the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, and his Treatise on the Origin of Man), for the purpose of clarifying his theories on the unity of the Three Religions (Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism).A summary of the results of this analysis is as follows : Tsung-mi advances a theory of the unity of these three teachings structured fundamentally around Buddhism, and assimilates the Taoist/Confucianist principle of the "One Ch'I" to the Buddhist core teaching of the "One Mind," by including the former in the latter. For this purpose, he first takes up the Taoist/Confucianist theory of the Origination of All Things (The Great Way of Complete Emptiness, Heaven and Earth, Nature and the Original Ch'i) gives it a basis in the Buddhist theory of Arising By Causes and Conditions, thereby betraying an incomplete grasp of the Buddhist concepts o … More f the Emptiness of All Dharmas and of Karmic Results, as well as falling into various self-contradictions. Furthermore, he limits the meaning of "Ch'I" to a simply physical substance, and builds the (Taoist/Confucianist) process of the "apparition of Form/Objects and Heaven-and-Earth out of the One Ch'I" into the (Buddhist)process of the Devolution of the One Mind through the Three Divisions and Six Dusts. Of course, it is possible to find many contradictions inherent in the theories presented above. However, Tsung-mi inherited the Chinese philosophical tradition of the Imperishability of the spirit, which already had a history dating back to the Six Dynasties Period. He attempted to reformulate this tradition based on the One Mind position, and clarify the relationship between Consciousness (spirit) and Form (body), as well as explain the process of development undergone by Consciousness as it progresses from confusion to its Absolute Spiritual Nature (One Mind). Taking up the theory of the Imperishability of the spirit and changing its terms "spirit" and "body" into "One Mind" and "One Ch'I," Tsung-mi thereby offered a new framework for later developments which were to occur in the "Three Religions" theory. Less