Nature; China; History; Liu, Ming Wood; 廖明活; Buddha-nature; Mahaparinirvana Sutra
摘要
The "buddha-nature" is one of the most central and widely debated doctrines in chinese buddhism. being a central theme of the mahayana "mahaparinirvana-sutra"，it began to attract attention when the scripture was first rendered into chinese in the early fifth century. since then，a variety of opinions have been expressed on several aspects of the doctrine. these opinions are worth examining not only because they have played important roles in the development of chinese buddhist thought，but also because they reflect basic philosophical differences, the clarification of which will afford a comprehensive view of the major doctrinal trends current in chinese buddhism. this essay aims at explicating the diverse streams of thought which had become associated with the buddha-nature doctrine in the first two centuries of its propagation in china.
