釋德清=Shi De-Qing; 憨山德清=Han-Shan De-Qing; 大乘起信論=Da-Sheng-Qu-Xin-Lun (Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana); 起信論疏略=Qi-Xin-Lun-Shu-Lue (A general exegesis of Awakening of faith in the Mahayana); 起信論直解=Qu-Xin-Lun-Zhi-Jie (Direct comprehension on Awakening of faith in the Mahayana); 性相會通=mutual fusion between nature and phenomena
Han-Shan De-Qing (1546-1623) was a well-known Buddhist leader in late Ming period with abundant writings on Buddhism and about the integration of tri-teaching. As for his Buddhist thoughts, he put particular emphasis on teachings of Hua-Yan school in addition to ＂Surangama Sutra＂ and ＂Lankavatara Sutra＂ as guidance on practices which brought him profound belief in Tathagatagarbha ideas. Referring to Tathagatagarbha ideas in Chinese Buddhism, the text with the most significant influence is undoubtedly ＂Awaking of Faith in the Mahayana.＂ Beginning with the legendary translation by Zhen-Di San-Zang (499-569), there have been numerous exegetists in later dynasties with Jing-Ying Hui-Yuan (523-592) from Dashabhumika as well as Hai-Dong Yuan-Xiao (617-686) and Xian-Shou Fa-Zang (643-712) from Hua-Yan School as most well-known, among which Fa-Zang's ＂Qi-Xin-Lun-Yi-Ji＂ being the most popular one because of Gui-Feng-Zong-Mi's endorsement in his ＂Da-Sheng-Qi-Xin-Lun-Shu＂(abbr. ＂Xian-Shou-Shu＂.) Till late Ming, De-Qing also exegeted ＂Awakening of faith in the Mahayana＂ and offered two exegeses: ＂Qi-Xin-Lun-Shu-Lue＂ (A general exegesis of Awakening of faith in the Mahayana) and ＂Qu-Xin-Lun-Zhi-Jie＂ (Direct comprehension on Awakening of faith in the Mahayana). The former was based on ＂Xian-Shou-Shu＂ with a little bit editing and included ＂Qi-Xin-Lun-Shu-Bi-Xiao-Ji＂ by Chang-Shui-Zi-Rui (965-1038), and the latter was more about direct explanation and elaboration of ＂Xian-Shou-Shu＂ in which demonstrated more of De-Qing's personal features from his comprehension. This article is just an analysis on the two exegeses of De-Qing's, ＂Shu-Lue＂ and ＂Zhi-Jie＂, especially on ＂Zhi-Jie＂ and to compare with the ancients' works, in which we can see the ＂integrating＂ standpoint in De-Qing's thoughts, demonstrating his view of ＂mutual fusion between nature and phenomena＂. In addition, we can also learn about De-Qing's interest on propagating ＂Qi-Xin-Lun＂ by his classification perspective. Overall, the ＂Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana＂ has constructed the mainframe of De-Qing's doctrinal foundation in Buddhism, or even further, the integration of tri-teaching.
