Introduction To Hua-Yen Buddhism - 2 - Lineage

The Hua-yen teachings were originally projected in the Chinese field largely through the works of five eminent monks who are known as the founders or patriarchs of the Hua-yen school:

Tu Shun (557-640):

Contemplation of the Realm of Reality (Fa-chieh kuan)

Mysteries of the Realm of Reality of the Hua-yen

Cessation and Contemplation in the Five Teachings of the Hua-yen

Ten Mysterious Gates of the Unitary Vehicle of the Hua-yen

(Hua-yen i-ch'eng shih hsuan men)

Chih-yen (600-668):

Record of Searches into the Mysteries of the Hua-yen Scripture

Fifty Essential Questions and Answers on the Hua-yen

Fa-tsang (643-712):

Treatise on the Golden Lion

Record of Investigation into the Mysteries of the Hua-yen Scripture

Forest of Topics in the Hua-yen (Hua-yen ts'e lin)

Treatise on the Divisions of Doctrine in the Unitary Vehicle of the Hua-yen

Treatise on the Five Teachings (Wu chiao chang)

Record of Musings on the Realm of the Teaching of the Hua-yen

Record of Doctrines Forming the Pulse of the Hua-yen Scripture

Treatise on Development of the Will for Enlightenment According to the Hua-yen

Treatise on the Three Treasures Established in the Book on Clarification of Method

A Hundred Gates of the Ocean of Meanings in the Hua-yen Scripture

Cultivation of Contemplation of the Inner Meaning of the Hua-yen:

The Ending of Delusion and Return to the Source

Cheng-kuan (738-839 or 760-820):

Eighteen Questions and Answers on the 'Entry into the Realm of Reality'

Explanations of Verses on the Seven Locations and Nine Assemblies

Contemplation of the Five Clusters (Wu yun kuan)

Contemplation of the Merging of the Three Sages

Teaching of the Mind Essentials of the Hua-yen

Tsung-mi (780-841):

Comprehensive Introduction to a Collection of Expositions of the Sources of Ch'an

Commentary on Yuan-chiao ching, Scripture on Complete Enlightenment

Study of the Basis of Man (Taoist, Confucian, and Buddhist teachings)

[SOURCE]

The Chinese Buddhist Schools

By Venerable Kong Ghee

The Chinese possess a history of over five thousand years. An important component, which had yielded fruitful results on Chinese culture, is Indian Buddhism. One will realise this enormous influence when reading the cultural History of China. If one tries to talk about Chinese culture without touching on Buddhism, one will be in the position of a blind man as told in the story of the Blind Men and the Elephant.

Buddhism had been established some twenty-five centuries ago. It had been transmitted to China during the Ch'in and Han Dynasties some five hundred years after the Parinirvana of Sakyamuni Buddha. Buddhism in China had risen and fallen according to the law of constant changes during the past two thousand years. Nevertheless it had been well established in China. In the past it had not been greatly affected by the upheavals and chaos of political changes. For me the Chinese have been open-minded in their nature and have been capable of absorbing foreign culture. That is why Buddhism, when introduced into the well-cultured land of China, has flourished abundantly and developed fruitfully.

The golden age of Chinese Buddhism was from the age of the Three Kingdoms to the T'ang Dynasty. During this period the various Schools in Buddhism evolved their irreproachable and infallible theories based on the doctrine of Sakyamuni Buddha.

Historically speaking the rise and fall of the various schools had been closely connected to the evolution of cultural thoughts and current events in China. For the past fifty years, the social system of China had been changed from Absolute Monarchy to Constitutional Monarchy, Republicanism and then to Socialism.