Kim Hwasang (), also known in Chinese as Wuxiang (, , 684–762), was a

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

master of

Chan Buddhism Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit '' dhyāna'' (meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and So ...

who lived in

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, China, whose form of Chan teaching was independent of

East Mountain Teaching East Mountain Teaching () denotes the teachings of the Fourth Ancestor Dayi Daoxin, his student and heir the Fifth Ancestor Daman Hongren, and their students and lineage of Chan Buddhism. ''East Mountain Teaching'' gets its name from the East M ...

and

Huineng Dajian Huineng (); (February 27, 638 – August 28, 713), also commonly known as the Sixth Patriarch or Sixth Ancestor of Chan (traditional Chinese: 禪宗六祖), is a semi-legendary but central figure in the early history of Chinese Chan Buddhi ...

. His teachings were amongst the first streams of Chan Buddhism transmitted to Tibet.

Chan, the Tangut and Kim Hwasang

Solonin links the

Tangut people The Tangut people ( Tangut: , ''mjɨ nja̱'' or , ''mji dzjwo''; ; ; mn, Тангуд) were a Tibeto-Burman tribal union that founded and inhabited the Western Xia dynasty. The group initially lived under Tuyuhun authority, but later submitted t ...

, the

Helan Mountains The Helan Mountains, frequently called Alashan Mountains in older sources, are an isolated desert mountain range forming the border of Inner Mongolia's Alxa League and Ningxia. They run north-south parallel to the north-flowing Yellow River in ...

and

Baotang Wuzhu Baotang Wuzhu (, 714–774CE), was the head and founder of Baotang Monastery () in Chengdu, Sichuan, south west China. Both ( Kim Ho-shang) and Baotang Wuzhu were of the same school of Chinese Chán, the East Mountain Teaching (incorrectly known ...

: Yün-Hua Jan (1986: pp. 27–28) states: Buswell (2005: p. 191) states:

Transmission of Chan to the Nyingma school

was introduced to the

Nyingma Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...

school of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

in three principal streams: the teachings of Kim Hwashang transmitted by Sang Shi in c750 CE; the lineage of

was transmitted within Tibet by Yeshe Wangpo; and the teaching of

Moheyan Heshang Moheyan () was a late 8th century Buddhist monk associated with the East Mountain Teaching. ''Moheyan'' (摩訶衍) is a brief translation of ''Mahayana'' in Chinese, so the name literally means a Mahayana monk. He became famous for repr ...

, which were a synthesis of the East Mountain and Baotang schools. Legend states that

Trisong Detsen Tri Songdetsen () was the son of Me Agtsom, the 38th emperor of Tibet. He ruled from AD 755 until 797 or 804. Tri Songdetsen was the second of the Three Dharma Kings of Tibet, playing a pivotal role in the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet and th ...

(742–797) invited Moheyan to teach at

Samye Samye (, ), full name Samye Mighur Lhundrub Tsula Khang (Wylie: ''Bsam yas mi ’gyur lhun grub gtsug lag khang'') and Shrine of Unchanging Spontaneous Presence is the first Tibetan Buddhist and Nyingma monastery built in Tibet, during the reign ...

. Moheyan had been teaching at

Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Dunhuang was a major ...

, which the

Tibetan Empire The Tibetan Empire (, ; ) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of imperial expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. The empire further expanded under the 38 ...

had conquered in 786, but he lost an important philosophical debate on the nature of emptiness from the Indian master

Kamalaśīla Kamalaśīla (Skt. Kamalaśīla; Tib. པདྨའི་ངང་ཚུལ་, Pemé Ngang Tsul; Wyl. pad+ma'i ngang tshul) (c. 740-795) was an Indian Buddhist of Nalanda Mahavihara who accompanied Śāntarakṣita (725–788) to Tibet at th ...

and the king declared Kamalaśīla's philosophy should form the basis for Tibetan Buddhism rather than Chan. This legendary "great debate" was known as "the Council of Lhasa" and is narrated and depicted in a specific cham dance held annually at

Kumbum Monastery Kumbum Monastery (, THL ''Kumbum Jampa Ling''), also called Ta'er Temple, is a Tibetan gompa in Lusar, Huangzhong County, Xining, Qinghai, China. It was founded in 1583 in a narrow valley close to the village of Lusar in the historical Tibeta ...

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

. Ray (2005) holds that the first documented dissemination of Chan to Tibet, chronicled in what has become known as the ''Statements of the Sba Family'', occurred around 761 when Trisong Detsen sent a party to Yizhou to receive the teachings of Kim Hwashang, whom they encountered in Sichuan. The party received teachings and three Chinese texts from Kim, who died soon after.Ray, Gary L. (2005). ''The Northern Ch'an School and Sudden Versus Gradual Enlightenment Debates in China and Tibet''. Source

(accessed: December 2, 2007)

Chan, the Tangut and Kim Hwasang

Transmission of Chan to the Nyingma school

Notes

Further reading