Su ̄tra) and the Jinguangming jing (a Prajña ̄pa ̄ramita ̄ text);
both of these lectures served as the basis for later written
works.
In 585 Zhiyi lectured before the last emperor of the
Chen dynasty on the Da zhidu lun. While in the Chen capi-
tal (Jinling) he also lectured on the Renwang panruo jing
(Sutra of the Benevolent Kings; T. D. no. 246) and admon-
ished the emperor against state intervention in the affairs of
the sam:gha. In 587 Zhiyi gave a series of lectures on the
Fahua jing in the Guangze Si; these lectures became the basis
for his Miaofa lianhua jing wenju (Sentences and Phrases of
the Lotus; T. D. no. 1718). With the establishment of the
Sui dynasty (589–618) and the reunification of China after
some three and a half centuries, the area around the two re-
gions of Xiangzhou and Xingzhou was pacified and Zhiyi
was able to make a pilgrimage to Mount Lu, a site famous
in the history of Pure Land Buddhism. In 591 he adminis-
tered the bodhisattva precepts to the later-to-be second Sui
emperor, Prince Guang, in Yangzhou.
In 593 Zhiyi lectured on the Fahua jing at the Yuchuan
Si, a monastery in Dangyang Prefecture whose construction
he had overseen. The transcription of these lectures by
Zhiyi’s disciple and amanuensis, Guanding, served as the
basis of the Miaofa lianhua jing xuanyi (The Profound Prin-
ciples of the Lotus; T. D. no. 1716). The following year Zhiyi
lectured on the practice of meditation; these lectures, again
transcribed by Guanding, formed the basis for the last of his
three major works, the Mohe zhiguan. In 595, once more at
the request of the prince, Zhiyi found himself in the capital,
Jinling, where he composed a commentary on the
Vimalak ̄ırti Su ̄tra on behalf of his most eminent patron.
Soon thereafter, however, inspired by a premonition of im-
pending death, he returned to Tiantai to impart his final
teachings to his disciples. These were transcribed under the
title Guanxin lun (On Visualizing the Mind; T. D. no.
1920). Zhiyi died in the eleventh month of 597.
Although Zhiyi considered himself part of a spiritual
lineage that derived ultimately from Na ̄ga ̄rjuna and that had
been transmitted through Huiwen and Huisi, the doctrines
that have in East Asia been most typically associated with
(early) Tiantai are the products of his own skill as a teacher
and exegete. His biographies record that Zhiyi was responsi-
ble for the construction of some thirty-five monasteries, had
fifteen copies of the Tripit:aka copied and thousands of Bud-
dha images cast, ordained over a thousand monks, some thir-
ty-two of whom became advanced students under his person-
al guidance, and produced a large number of works on
doctrine and meditation. (Forty-six are attributed to him,
but a number are clearly later forgeries.)
Also important were the links he established with the
Sui ruling house, who saw in Zhiyi’s synthesis of diverse
strands of the Buddhist tradition a compelling analogue to
their own political unification of the empire. Unfortunately,
the close relationship enjoyed by Zhiyi with the Sui rulers,
and the lavish patronage he and his community received at
their hands, were responsible for the school’s dramatic loss
of prestige in the aftermath of the fall of the Sui in 518. The
new dynasty, the Tang, wishing to disassociate itself from Sui
policies, naturally eshewed the symbols of religious legitima-
cy treasured by its predecessor.
DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE. The Tiantai tradition is charac-
terized by the use of an exegetical method developed by Zhiyi
and employed by him in his works; all subsequent Tiantai
writers employed this same method. Tiantai doctrine is
founded upon a particular reading of the Lotus Sutra, to
which is imported a wide variety of teachings associated with
other texts and traditions and an organizational principle
whereby the disparate texts and teachings of Maha ̄ya ̄na Bud-
dhism are seen in the context of an overarjing scheme of reve-
lation and levels of textual interpretation. Although the sys-
tematization of this insight into the so-called Five Periods
and Eight Teachings doctrine is probably the work of a later
hand, the basic inspiration for the system clearly derives from
Zhiyi. Three works in particular, all by Zhiyi, are recognized
by the tradition as constituting the core and epitome of its
teachings.
Miaofa lianhua jing wenzhu. The first of these, the
Miaofa lianhua jing wenzhu (Fahua wenzhu, for short), or
Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra, is based on Zhiyi’s lec-
tures at the Guangze Si in 587 on the meaning of key words
and phrases in the Lotus Sutra. Guanding’s compilation and
redaction of notes taken at this lecture series were completed
in 629.
The Wenzhu employs four types of explanation (sishi)
in commenting on the text:
(1) The explanation according to conditions (yinyuan shi),
in which the author analyzes the Buddha and his audi-
ence and the four “benefits” (siddha ̄ntas) produced by
this su ̄tra (it leads to joy and happiness, it generates
roots of good, it destroys evil, and it enables the devotee
to enter into an understanding of the Absolute).
(2) The explanation in which this and all other su ̄tras are
analyzed on the basis of the place they occupy in the
teachings of the Buddha over his entire lifetime (yuejiao
shi). The standards for evaluating any teaching are two:
whether is it “partial” or “perfect” (i. e., whether it is
fully expressive of the insights of the Buddha or only
partially so), H ̄ınaya ̄na or Maha ̄ya ̄na; and where it is in-
cluded in the scheme of the Five Periods and the Eight
Teachings.
(3) The explanation based on whether the teachings in
question constitute the “basic” or “peripheral” message
of the su ̄tra (benji shi).
(4) The explanation based on the type of meditational prac-
tice taught in the su ̄tra (guanxin shi).
These four exegetical methods are employed on the Lotus
Sutra as a whole, and then on each chapter’s title and on se-
lected passages from each chapter. The first three explana-
tions are theoretical, the last practical.TIANTAI 9175