A Study of the Development of Yongjia Xuanjue's Biographies: With a Focus on Their Relationship to the Concept of School (zong 宗) in Chinese Buddhism=永嘉玄覺傳記之研究 -- 兼談其傳記中之宗派思想
Yongjia Xuanjue=永嘉玄覺; Zhengdao ge (Song of Enlightenment)=《證道歌》; Chan=禪宗; Tiantai=天台; Fozu tongji(Chronological Record of the Buddha and Patriarchs)=《佛祖統紀》
摘要
In the Chan tradition, Yongjia Xuanjue 永嘉玄覺 (665–713) is well-known as a disciple of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng 慧能 (638–713). Also, authorship of the famous Chan work, Song of Enlightenment (Zhengdao ge 證道歌) is attributed to him. However, Zhipan 志磐 (d.u., Song dynasty), a historian of the Tiantai 天台 school, claims that Xuanjue is a disciple of the Tiantai school. The ttribution of Song of Enlightenment to Xuanjue has also been critically questioned by Tiantai monks and modern scholars. The controversy of Xuanjue’s sectarian identity is related to the divergent accounts contained in Xuanjue’s biographies dating from the Tang to the Song dynasties. As it will be shown in this article, Xuanjue’s biographies compiled in different time periods also reflect the development of the concept of “school” (zong 宗) in Chinese Buddhist history. By examining Xuanjue’s biographies chronologically, the author does not try to argue which biographies are more accurate or determine Xuanjue’s proper sectarian identity. Rather, it is more important to understand the historical meanings behind the discrepancies of these biographical materials.
