Daosheng (; c. 360–434), or Zhu Daosheng (), was an eminent
Six Dynasties
Six Dynasties (; 220–589 or 222–589) is a collective term for six Han-ruled Chinese dynasties that existed from the early 3rd century AD to the late 6th century AD, between the end of the Eastern Han dynasty and the beginning of the Sui ...
era
Chinese Buddhist scholar. He is known for advocating the concepts of
sudden enlightenment and the universality of the Buddha nature.
Life
Born in
Pengcheng
Xuzhou ( zh, s=徐州), also known as Pengcheng () in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area m ...
, Daosheng left home to become a monk at eleven. He studied in
Jiankang
Jiankang (), or Jianye (), as it was originally called, was the capital city of the Eastern Wu (229–265 and 266–280 CE), the Jin dynasty (265–420), Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) and the Southern Dynasties (420–552), including the Ch ...
under
Zhu Fatai, and later at
Lushan (Mount Lu) monastery with
Huiyuan, and from 405 or 406 under
Kumarajiva in
Chang'an
Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...
, where he stayed for some two years perfecting his education. He became one of the foremost scholars of his time, counted among the "fifteen great disciples" of Kumarajiva.
Sengzhao reports that Daosheng assisted Kumarajiva in his translation of the
Lotus Sutra
The ''Lotus Sūtra'' (Sanskrit: ''Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram'', ''Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma'', zh, p=Fǎhuá jīng, l=Dharma Flower Sutra) is one of the most influential and venerated Buddhist Mahāyāna sūtras. ...
, Daosheng wrote commentaries on the Lotus Sutra, the
Vimalakirti-nirdesa Sutra and the
Astasahasrika-prajnaparamita Sutra (the last of which has been lost). In 408, he returned to Lushan, and in 409 back to Jiankang, where he remained for some twenty years, staying at the Qingyuan Monastery (青园寺) from 419.
Teachings
Daosheng controversially ascribed
Buddha-nature
In Buddhist philosophy and soteriology, Buddha-nature ( Chinese: , Japanese: , , Sanskrit: ) is the innate potential for all sentient beings to become a Buddha or the fact that all sentient beings already have a pure Buddha-essence within ...
to the
icchantikas, based on his reading on a short version of the
Mahaparinirvana Sutra, which in that short form appears to deny the Buddha-nature to icchantikas; the long version of the
Nirvana Sutra, however (not yet known to Daosheng), explicitly includes the icchantikas in the universality of the Buddha-nature. Daosheng's bold doctrine of including icchantikas within the purview of the Buddha-nature, even before that explicit teaching had actually been found in the long ''Nirvana Sutra'', led to the expulsion of Daosheng from the Buddhist community in 428 or 429, and he retreated to Lushan in 430.
With the availability of the long
Nirvana Sutra after 430, through the translation of
Dharmakshema, Daosheng was vindicated and praised for his insight. He remained in Lushan, composing his commentary on the Lotus Sutra in 432, until his death in 434.
Daosheng's exegesis of the Nirvana Sutra had an enormous influence on interpretations of the Buddha-nature in Chinese Buddhism that prepared the ground for the
Chán
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 Song d ...
school emerging in the 6th century.
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Bibliography
*
* Liebenthal, Walter (1955). A Biography of Chu Tao-Sheng, Monumenta Nipponica 11 (3), 284-316
* Shi Huijiao, Yang, Tianshu, transl. Ross, Edward A. S. editor (2022).
The Biographies of Eminent Monks. Hong Kong: Centre of Buddhist Studies, University of Hong Kong. pp. 284-289, ISBN 978-988-76424-2-8
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daosheng
434 deaths
Jin dynasty (266–420) Buddhists
Liu Song Buddhists
Year of birth uncertain