Zhanran (; 711-782), sometimes called Miao-lo (or Miaole) was the sixth patriarch of the

Tiantai Tiantai or T'ien-t'ai () is an East Asian Buddhist school of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed in 6th-century China. The school emphasizes the ''Lotus Sutra's'' doctrine of the "One Vehicle" (''Ekayāna'') as well as Mādhyamaka philosophy, ...

school of

Chinese Buddhism 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 culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...

and helped to revive the school's proéminence after a period of decline. His lay surname was Qi 戚 and he was also known as Jingqi 荊溪 after his birthplace (in modern-day

Yixing Yixing () is a county-level city administrated under the prefecture-level city of Wuxi in southern Jiangsu province, China, and is part of the Yangtze River Delta. The city is known for its traditional Yixing clay ware tea pots. It is a pene-excla ...

宜興 county,

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

province). Early in his monastic training, traditional biographies stated that he thoroughly studied the Vinaya in Four Parts before being ordained by precepts master T'an-i (曇一, 692-771). As head of the Tiantai order, Zhanran spent much time and energy writing commentaries on the works of

Zhiyi Zhiyi (; 538–597 CE) also Chen De'an (陳德安), is the fourth patriarch of the Tiantai tradition of Buddhism in China. His standard title was Śramaṇa Zhiyi (沙門智顗), linking him to the broad tradition of Indian asceticism. Zhiyi i ...

, and writing defenses of the Tiantai school against the newer Faxiang and

Huayan The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism (, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty, Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is ...

schools. Zhanran is best known for his scriptural exegesis of such works as Zhiyi's ''

Mohe Zhiguan The Móhē zhǐguān ( Chinese: 摩訶止観; Pinyin: ''Móhē Zhǐguān''; Wades-Giles: ''Mo-ho Chih-kuan'', Romanji: ''Makashikan;'' Sanskrit: ''Mahaśamatha-vipaśyanā'') is a major Buddhist doctrinal treatise based on lectures given by the C ...

'' (The Great Calming and Contemplation), as well as his promotion of the doctrine of universal

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 ...

. He is the author of The Adamantine Scalpel (金剛錍 ''Jin'gang Pi'') among other works.

References

Bibliography

* * Chen, Shuman (2011)
Chinese Tiantai Doctrine on Insentient Things’ Buddha-Nature
Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal 24, 71-104 * Pap, Melinda (2011)
Demonstration of the Buddha-nature of the Insentient in Zhanran's The Diamond Scalpel Treatise
Doctoral Dissertation, Budapest: Eötvös Loránd University * Tseng, Chih-Mien, Adrian (2014)
A Comparison of the Concepts of Buddha-Nature and Dao-Nature in Medieval China
PhD Thesis, Hamilton, Ontario: McMaster University

External links

Short biography in Chinese

Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (log in with userID "guest")
Tiantai Buddhists 711 births 782 deaths {{China-reli-bio-stub