Digital Dictionary of Buddhism

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Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: Fashang

Senses:

  • (495–580) A monk of the Northern Chinese court, an important Dilun 地論宗 master who made significant contributions to early Chinese theories of consciousness. It is said that he could read the Nirvana Sutra 涅槃經 at the age of nine, and entered the saṃgha at twelve, later being fully ordained by Huiguang 慧光. He became known for his expertise on the Shidijing lun 十地經論, Laṅkâvatāra-sūtra 楞伽經, Nirvana Sutra 涅槃經 and so forth, all of which he wrote commentaries for. Under the Northern Qi dynasty he was appointed Director of the Buddhist Clergy in 551. During the persecution that followed the overthrow of the Qi the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Fashang was compelled to don the clothes of a layman, but he nevertheless continued his religious exercises in an abandoned temple. He died at the age of eighty-six, leaving behind many works, none of which survive. Among his works are the Shidilun yishu 十地論義疏, 增一數法 (forty fascicles), Dashengyi zhang 大乘義章 (6 fascicles), Foxing lun 佛性論 (2 fascicles), the Zhongjing lun 衆經論 (1 fasc.) and so forth. Among his disciples were Huiyuan 慧遠, Facun 法存, Daoshen 道愼, Lingyu 靈裕 and Rongzhi 融智. 〔安樂集, 續高僧傳, 歷代三寶紀〕

    Fashang viewed the six sense bases as delusional and the ālayavijñāna (then seen as the seventh consciousness) as the pratītya-samutpāda, the source of delusions and saṃsāra. Although he stressed the delusional nature of the ālayavijñāna, at the same time, he linked it to the tathāgatagarbha. Further, the ālayavijñāna is said to function with its true form/essence being thusness. Suchness is the eighth vijñāna with a true character, and is explained to represent tathāgatagarbha, the Buddha nature, thusness and emptiness. Fashang looked at the ālayavijñāna as unreal consciousness, and advocated the eight cognitive operations with real consciousness being thusness.

    References:

    Paul, Diana Y. 1984. Philosophy of Mind in Sixth-Century China: Paramârthaʼs 'Evolution of Consciousness' . Stanford:  Stanford University Press.

    〔梵網經 T 1484.24.1001b11, 五分律 T 1421.22.101a12, 瑜伽論 T 1579.30.493c5〕 (Skt. dharmôdgata) [Charles Muller; source(s): Hirakawa, JEBD, FGD]

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    [Dictionary References]

    Chūgoku bukkyōshi jiten (Kamata) 347

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 955

    Bulgyo sajeon 142b-33

    Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 109a/120

    Fo Guang Dictionary 3337

    Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 0713

    Index to the Bussho kaisetsu daijiten (Ono) 594

    Copyright provisions

    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 2002-08-26

    Updated: 2013-07-10