Daosheng (; ca. 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. The Six Dynasties period overlapped with the era of the Sixteen Kingdoms, ...

era

Chinese Buddhist Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including Chinese art, art, politics, Ch ...

scholar. He is known for advocating the concepts of sudden enlightenment and the universality of the Buddha nature.

Life

Born in

Pengcheng Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) 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 ma ...

, Daosheng left home to become a monk at eleven. He studied in

Jiankang Jiankang (), or Jianye (), as it was originally called, was capital city of the Eastern Wu (229–265 and 266–280 CE), the Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) and the Southern Dynasties (420–552), including the Chen dynasty (557–589 CE). Its walls ...

under

Zhu Fatai Zhu Fatai (; AD 320–387) was a 4th-century (Eastern Jin) Chinese Buddhist Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese cul ...

, and later at Lushan (Mount Lu) monastery with Huiyuan, and from 405 or 406 under Kumarajiva in

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

, 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 Sengzhao (or Seng-Chao) (; ja, 僧肇, ''Sōjō''; 384–414) was a Chinese Buddhist philosopher from Later Qin. Born to a poor family in Jingzhao, he acquired literary skills, apparently including the capacity to read Pali, and became a scribe ...

reports that Daosheng assisted Kumarajiva in his translation of the

Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...

, Daosheng wrote commentaries on the Lotus Sutra, the

Vimalakirti-nirdesa Sutra The ''Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa'' (Devanagari: विमलकीर्तिनिर्देश) (sometimes referred to as the ''Vimalakīrti Sūtra'' or ''Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra'') is a Buddhist text which centers on a lay Buddhist meditat ...

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 Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gone ...

to the

icchantikas In Mahayana Buddhism the ''icchantika'' is a deluded being who can never attain enlightenment (Buddhahood). Description According to some Mahayana Buddhist scriptures, the ''icchantika'' is the most base and spiritually deluded of all types of be ...

, based on his reading on a short version of the

Mahaparinirvana Sutra In Buddhism, ''parinirvana'' (Sanskrit: '; Pali: ') is commonly used to refer to nirvana-after-death, which occurs upon the death of someone who has attained ''nirvana'' during their lifetime. It implies a release from '' '', karma and rebirth a ...

, which in that short form appears to deny the Buddha-nature to icchantikas; the long version of the

Nirvana Sutra ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

, 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

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 So ...

school emerging in the 6th century.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * *

Bibliography

* * Liebenthal, Walter (1955). A Biography of Chu Tao-Sheng, Monumenta Nipponica 11 (3), 284-316 {{DEFAULTSORT:Daosheng 434 deaths Jin dynasty (266–420) Buddhists Liu Song Buddhists Year of birth uncertain