Encyclopedia of Buddhism

advocated a gradual path of training to prepare one for
this sudden flash of insight, thereby completing the
path in that moment of epiphany. This led to height-
ened interest in the Nirva
na Su
traand serious debate
in China and Tibet over sudden versus gradual con-
ceptions of the path.

See also:Bodhi (Awakening); Tatha
gatagarbha

Bibliography

Kim, Young-ho. Tao-sheng’s Commentary on the Lotus Su
tra: A
Study and Translation.Albany: State University of New York
Press, 1990.

Liu, Ming-Wood. “The Early Development of the Buddha-
Nature Doctrine in China.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy
16 (1989): 1–36.

MARKL. BLUM

DAOXUAN

Daoxuan (596–667) was one of the most versatile and
prolific Chinese monks of the medieval period. Son of
a prominent official, he became a monk at an early age
and soon earned a reputation for erudition and in-
dustry. Although sources disagree on Daoxuan’s place
of origin, he lived for most of his adult life in or near
the Tang capital at Chang’an, where he worked for a
brief period at the translation center of the great trans-
lator XUANZANG(ca. 600–664) and served as abbot of
Ximing Monastery. Daoxuan’s writings include a cat-
alog of Buddhist texts, various historical works, nu-
merous works on the monastic regulations, and
records of his visionary encounters with divine beings.

Daoxuan’s most influential historical works are a
large compilation of accounts of monks titled Xu
gaoseng zhuan(Further Biographies of Eminent Monks)
and Guang hongming ji(Expanded Collection of the
Propagation of Light), a collection of documents by
more than 130 authors relating for the most part to
debates between Buddhists and their detractors at
court. Daoxuan’s most important work on the monas-
tic regulations, Sifenlü shanfan buque xingshichao
(Notes on Conduct: Abridgements and Emendations to
the Four-Part Regulations), attempts to provide a hand-
book for monastic practice based on the Dharmagup-
takavinaya(Chinese, Sifen lü).

Various legends circulated about Daoxuan’s life, the
most famous of which were that a spirit placed a tooth

of the Buddha in his protection and that he was the

reincarnation of the sixth-century monk Sengyou.

See also:Biographies of Eminent Monks (Gaoseng

zhuan); History; Vinaya

Bibliography

Shinohara, Koichi. “Changing Roles of Miraculous Images in

Medieval Chinese Buddhism: A Study of the Miraculous Im-

ages Section of Daxuan’s Ji-shenzhou Sanbao Gantonglu.” In

Images, Miracles, and Authority in Asian Religious Traditions,

ed. Richard Davis. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998.

Shinohara, Koichi. “The Kasa
ya Robe of the Past Buddha

Ka
s ́yapa in the Miraculous Instruction Given to the Vinaya

Master Daoxuan (596–667).” Chung-hwa Buddhist Journal

13 (2000): 299–367.

JOHNKIESCHNICK

DAOYI (MAZU)

Mazu Daoyi (709–788) is one of the main figures in

the history of the CHAN SCHOOL. The appearance of

Mazu and his disciples represented a key point in the

historical development of Chan, as the fragmented

schools of early Chan were replaced by a new ortho-

doxy identified with his Hongzhou school. Because of

his great influence on the subsequent growth of Chan,

Mazu is widely recognized as the leading Chan teacher

during the tradition’s putative “golden age” during the

eighth and ninth centuries.

Born in the western province of Sichuan in a local

gentry family, Mazu entered religious life as a teenager.

His early teachers were noted Chan monks in his na-

tive province. During the mid-730s he traveled to Hu-

nan, where he studied with Huairang (677–744), an

obscure disciple of the “Sixth Patriarch” HUINENG

(638–713). Mazu then went on to establish monastic

communities in southeast China. After his move to

Hongzhou (the provincial capital of Jiangsi), during

the final two decades of his life, Mazu emerged as a

highly popular religious teacher who attracted a large

number of eminent monastic and lay disciples.

Mazu did not leave any written records. His Mazu

yulu(Mazu’s Discourse Record), which was compiled

during the eleventh century and contains diverse ma-

terials with varied provenances, is still widely read and

recognized as a principal text of the Chan canon.

Among his best-known teachings, succinctly expressed

DAOXUAN