The debates in Early Tang (late seventh and early eighth centuries) over whether all sentient beings were capable of attaining Buddhahood formed an important chapter in the history of the development of the Buddha-nature teaching in China. The debates involved a variety of interrelated topics, among which the "one vehicle" was the most central. All of the pre-Tang Buddha-nature theorists, heavily influenced by the teaching of universal Buddhahood of the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa sūtra, believed that all sentient beings could become full-fledged Buddhas; and they saw in the teaching of "one vehicle" of the Lotus Sūtra, which proclaimed that there was in truth only one path and one goal of Buddhahood despite the appearance of three different "vehicles," the key scriptural confirmation of their belief. Thus, when members of the Faxiang School challenged this belief in the Early Tang by maintaining the differential of existence of beings of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha "vehicles" of determinate lineage, they found it necessary to give the concept of "one vehicle" a new interpretation. This paper examines the concept of the "one vehicle" as it appeared in the Lotus Sūtra and a number of authoritative Indian Buddhist texts, describes its pre-Tang Chinese interpretations, presents its new interpretation given by the Faxiang School, and analyses the subsequent debates between critics and supporters of the new interpretation over its meaning and import.
