論「五重玄義」的解經體例 : 再談中國佛教宗派的成立依據=On the "Five-Sectioned Interpretation" as a Regulation for Buddhist Exegesis in Tiantai Buddhism: Rethinking the Grounds for the Rise of Chinese Buddhist Schools
Zhiyi who is the actual founder of Tiantai Buddhism interprets various Buddhist scriptures according to a style which is known as the “fi ve-sectioned interpretation” or “fi ve chapters” which has established a set of regulations for Buddhist exegesis: (1) “differentiating substance”, (2) “disclosing essence”,(3) “discussing function,” and (4) “classifying scriptures.” Such a style of explaining Buddhist scriptures results from the habit of preaching Indian Buddhist scriptures to a Chinese audience in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Zhiyi’s way of preaching has been affected by both Confucianism and the Dark Learning, later also called New Taoism. It is similar to the style of preaching the Confucian canon at that time, and also adopts the terminology from the Dark Learning, which can be easily recognized in expressions such as “differentiating substance” and “disclosing essence.” Similarly, his approach of discussing names and its corresponding ideas is rooted in this. Based on this paradigm of Buddhist exegesis, melting with Confucianism and the Dark Learning, Indian Buddhism has been successfully integrated into the mainstream of Chinese culture. Since the Chinese habit of classifying the Buddhist teachings is just a component of the regulation of the “fi ve-sectioned interpretation,” the reason for the arising of Chinese Buddhist schools does not really lie in those classifi cations, but rather has to do with the search and exploration of a “perfect regulation” or “method” for Buddhist exegesis.
