Manjusri Bodhisattva has always been called Great Wiser Manjusri. Among the scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism in the early stage, a great number of 47 scriptures have contents relating to Manjusri. The importance of Manjusri can be clearly seen. Yin Shun especially introduced “Manjusri Practice”in his work, Origin and Development of Mahayana Buddhism in the Early Stage. He juxtaposed it with “Practice of Reciting Namo Amituofo”and “Bodhisattva Practice,”and viewed three of them as being on equal position. Focusing on Manjusri Practice, Yin Shun made deep investigation and analysis. He can be called a founder and pioneer of the studies of such Practice. In Buddhism, Manjusri has double symbolic meanings: wisdom and trust, both of which are important and representative themes in Mahayana Buddhism. According to the studies and observation of Yin Shun, Manjusri Practice has its fun of practice and methods of practice, and is related to “Panna Practice”and “Budda Land of Akshobhya.” The presentation of Manjusri Practice is different from the style of the traditional vehicle of voice hearers. The pioneering part of Manjusri Practice is that it shortens the difference between being a monk or nun and being a secular Buddhist, and it values secular Bodhisattva and females. Nevertheless, for “everything following the doctrines” and “sticking to legal regulations,” the enlightenment of Manjusri Practice is inevitably “biased,”having neglected the sequential way of Buddhism practice and the adaptability to random establishment of religion. Besides, there is one thing noteworthy: among the various kinds of Manjusri scriptures, Panna Manjusri Scripture had deepest influence on the Chinese Zen Buddhism, and VimalakīrtiScripture was meanwhile quite popular among the Chinese intellectuals. Therefore, monk Buddhism became prosperous. All of these reflect the special meaning of Manjusri Scripture in the development of the Chinese Buddhism. The study intends to explore the profile and style of Manjusri Practice of Mahayana Buddhism in the early stage, and take the interpretation of Yin Shun as the basis. The preset research items are: Establishment of Manjusri Practice of Mahayana Buddhism, which includes its main scriptures, fun of practice, methods of practice; How Manjusri Practice is Related to “Panna Practice”and “Budda Land of Akshobhya”; Yin Shun’s Understanding and Criticisms on Manjusri and Manjusri Practice, which includes the symbolic meaning of Manjusri, pioneering and biased parts of Manjusri Practice, and the influence of Manjusri Scriptures on the Chinese Buddhism. The study would take the viewpoints of Yin Shun as the basis, melt them in the study, and compare them with the viewpoints of other researchers in the existing academic circle so as to make systematic exploration.
