Research Of Devadatta Chapter Of The Lotus Sutra

The Lotus Sutra, praised as King of sutras, is one of the most important sutras of Mahayana. Its Devadatta Chapter has left many mysteries because of its special contents and circulation. By studying Devadatta Chapter and combining ancient commentaries and modern research results, this essay tries to get the deduction which is more closed to the truth, through refreshing, analyzing and summarizing. This essay takes Document and Thought as the breakthrough points. On one hand, this essay probes the formation and individuality of Devadatta Chapter based on Philology Historical Linguistics. It verifies that Devadatta Chapter belongs to The Lotus Sutra and its position is right. But it questions the popular point that the author is Fa Yi, and infers that the source of translated work may be the Qiuci text of central Asian manuscripts system. The formation of Devadatta Chapter may probably happen in Qiuci, and influenced The Lotus Sutra to hand down from ancient times with the special28chapters. On the other hand, this essay probes the relationships among the thought of Devadatta Chapter, Hinayana and Mahayana from the perspective of ideological history. The thought of Devadatta Chapter, the wicked can become a Buddha and the female can become a Buddha, had sprout in Hinayana in early times, and had been further enriched and defined in the Mahayana sutras of middle and later periods. So the thought of all sentient beings can become Buddhas portrayed vividly and has brought deep influences to the Jodo Buddhism, Zen Buddhism and many other Schools of Buddhism.