Life Of Yitian And His Buddhist Thought

Yitian was an eminent monk living in the Gaoli dynasty, when the Buddhism in Korea was in full bloom. As the fourth prince of emperor Wenzong of Gaoli, Yitian (1055-1101) became a monk when he was 11, and he died 36 years later. He not only devoted his whole life to the study of Huayan, Tiantai and Zen philosophy and the development of Buddhism, but also researched the Confucianism and Taoism. In 1067, Yitian occupied the highest position in the priesthood, after that he settled many outstanding questions for the Gaoli Buddhism and applied many reformational steps in the society. Parallel to the theoretic study, Yitian tried to practice the Buddhism in life, so he once went to the Song dynasty to seek and propagate dharma which impacted a lot on his Buddhist thought and his life. During the journey to Song dynasty, Yitian was very active and visited many great monks and politicians, after that he founded the Tiantai Sect in Korea and leaded the Korea Buddhism to a new era.Based on vast materials and research from China and Korea about Yitian, a comprehensive ideological system was set up in this paper so as to reveal the life and Huitong thought of Yitian, to research the international mode for Buddhist communication and development especially in East Asia.The whole dissertation was divided into seven parts, and the first one was introduction, where the research background, objectives and scale was introduced, former studies was also summarized and new methodology was established.Next was description of the whole life of Yitian, especially the journey to Song dynasty and relative activities, In the second year of emperor Xuanzong of Gaoli (1085), Yitian went to Song dynasty to propagate dharma. During this famous journey, he visited more than 50 eminent monks in Song and collected huge numbers of sutra. When he went back to Gaoli, the sutra collection and communication were continued, and a special organization was settled to arrange and publish the sutra. For the Buddhist reform, he advocated the new Nine Progenitor in Huayan, and the Tiantai Sect was also founded by him. Moreover, he participated in politics, that a new metallic currency policy was proposed so as to actually benefit the whole society.In section three, books of Yitian like Yuanzongwenlei, Xinbianzhuzongjiaocangzulu and Shiyuancilin were enumerated. The contents and structures of these books were analyzed to explain the origin of Yitian thoughts and why so many sutras were included in these writings. In addition, the missing parts in the publications of Yitian were discussed, and the relationship between the books and inscription of Yitian was also explained.Then, foundation of the Gaoli Tiantai Sect by Yitian was presented in the fourth chapter. Firstly, the Tiantai thoughts heritage and development in the early Gaoli dynasty was introduced to clarify the complex social and political background when Yitian was born. Then, Yitian realized and ambitioned to solve the problems in Goryeo Buddhism, and set up the Tiantai Sect in 1096 when the Guoqing temple was built. The exact thoughts of Yitian behind these were the combination of the practical Jiaoguan Jianxiu thought of Tiantai and Huisan Guiyi thought of Huayan, which made this new Tiantai Sect involving the Zen and Huayan thoughts went further. In the end, the development of Tiantai Sect under Yitian, Jiaoxiong and Desu was introduced.The five section was the analysis of Buddhist thought of Yitian. The Huayan, Tiantai, Vijnanavada and Zen theory of Yitian was introduced respectively, and the whole system was further concluded as Huitong Buddhism, which was the essence of Yitian thought. For the aspect of Huayan, Yitian inherited the thought of Yixiang in Silla rather than Junru, who advocated the Jiaoguan Bingxiu and accordance in Huayan Buddhism. For the aspect of Tiantai, Jiaoxiang means Wushi Bajiao and the whole doctrine of Buddhism, and Samathavipa Syana or Three views in one mind is the practice of Buddhism, both of which was integrated into the Jiaoguan Jianxiu of Tiantai thoughts by Yitian.In section six, the profound influence of Yitian was discussed. On one hand, Yitian made great contribution to the development of Gaoli Buddhism. He not only founded the Gaoli Tiantai Sect to reconcile the fierce conflicts in the Gaoli Buddhist circle, but also collected and published many sutras to propagate Buddhism. On the other hand, Yitian contribute a lot to the Song Buddhism and the relationship between Song and Gaoli. He once went to China to donate many Huayan sutras like Avatamsaka Sutra which was a great help for the resurgence of Huayan Sect in Song, and he also made the whistle stopping temple, Huiyin Gaoli Temple, a symbol of the close relationship between China and Korea for thousands of years. Moreover, the Buddhist communication focusing on sutra exchange also devoted a lot to the development of Buddhism in Liao, Gaochang dynasty and Japan, which further facilitate the Buddhist communication in East Asia.The last is conclusion of this dissertation. Great influence of the communication around Yitian, especially the sutra exchange between different countries, and the Huitong ideology of Yitian on the internationalization nowadays was discussed, which made Yitian an eternally eminent master in China and Korea.In a word, the journey of Yitian going to Song to propagate Dharma greatly accelerated the Buddhist communication in East Asia.