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The Lineage of the Chinese Dharmalakṣaṇa Yogācāra School: The Dharmalakṣaṇa School
In the year Yisi, the nineteenth year of the Zhenguan era of Emperor Taizong, the second ruler of the Great Tang dynasty (645 CE), Tripitaka Master Xuanzang returned from the Western Heaven (India). He translated the sutras and treatises he had brought with him and propagated the Dharmalakṣaṇa (Faxiang) school he had studied. He had three thousand disciples, seventy accomplished scholars, four eminent senior disciples, and one singularly outstanding inner-chamber (closest) disciple. The entire world studied the Dharmalakṣaṇa school, and the whole nation practiced the Consciousness-Only (Yogācāra) teachings. Standing out among the eminent disciples as the sole inner-chamber successor was Master Ji of Ci'en (Kuiji). He was the guiding eye of the sutra and treatise pitakas, and the author of a hundred commentaries; his eyes radiated divine light, and his eloquence flowed like a river. Zizhou (Huizhao) and Puyang (Zhizhou) followed in his footsteps to spread the teachings; Yizhong and Ruli stood shoulder to shoulder in establishing its doctrines. Through the two sciences of Hetuvidyā (Logic) and Adhyātma-vidyā (Inner Science/Buddhism), they spread their wings in the sky of truth; through the two gates of Doctrine and Contemplation, they drove the chariot of the Dharma across the land. Successive generations have followed continuously without interruption, and their footsteps shall never fade throughout the ages.
--- Excerpt from Sangoku Buppō Denzū Engi (Origins of the Transmission of the Buddhadharma in the Three Countries): Volume One, "The Transmission of the Buddhadharma in Cīna (China)."
The Dharmalakṣaṇa School
The Dharmalakṣaṇa Mahayana School of Perfect Reality in Accordance with Reason is also known as the Consciousness-Only (Yogācāra) School, and is also called the Teaching of the Universal Vehicle. Tripitaka Master Xuanzang traveled to Central India to extensively transmit this school, and upon returning to China, he lectured and propagated it throughout the realm. The Tripitaka Master's eminent disciple was Master Ji of Ci'en (Kuiji); Master Ji's eminent disciple was Master Zizhou (Huizhao); and Master Zizhou's eminent disciple was Master Puyang (Zhizhou). The direct lineage of patriarchs was passed down successively, flourishing extensively in all directions.
The transmission and propagation of this Dharmalakṣaṇa school in the realm of Japan did not happen in a single era, and the lineage of transmission occurred several times. In ancient times, during the reign of Emperor Kinmei in the year Renshen (552 CE), the Buddhadharma from Baekje was first transmitted to this country. One hundred and two years later, during the reign of the 37th emperor, Emperor Kōtoku, in the 4th year of the Hakuchi era, Guichou (653 CE), the monk Dōshō crossed the sea to the Tang dynasty. There, he met Tripitaka Master Xuanzang and studied the Dharmalakṣaṇa school.
At that time, it was the 4th year of the Yonghui era of Emperor Gaozong, the third ruler of the Tang dynasty. Tripitaka Master Xuanzang was fifty-one years old, and Master Ci'en was twenty-two. Dōshō stayed in the same quarters as the Tripitaka Master and studied alongside Ci'en. He remained under their tutelage for a long time, receiving instruction for many years. He was guided with utmost diligence and was specially taught the gates of contemplation (meditative practices). Later, he returned to Japan and propagated the newly translated sutras, treatises, and other classical texts transmitted by the Tripitaka Master, establishing the transmission in Japan. He was indeed the pioneer.
The second transmission occurred six years after Dōshō entered the Tang. During the reign of the 38th ruler, Empress Saimei (the second ascension of Empress Kōgyoku), in the 4th year, Wuwu (658 CE), the two Dharma Masters Chitsū and Chitatsu boarded a Silla ship and traveled to the Great Tang. They met Tripitaka Master Xuanzang and studied the Dharmalakṣaṇa school.
In this year of Wuwu, Great Japan held the Vimalakīrti Assembly (Yuima-e) for the first time, establishing it as a permanent tradition. They also studied the Dharma under Master Ci'en. Later, they returned to our court and greatly propagated the teachings of the school.
The third transmission occurred fifty-one years after Dōshō entered the Tang. During the reign of the 42nd ruler, Emperor Monmu, in the 3rd year of the Taihō era, Guimao (703 CE), three monks from Silla—Chihō, Chiran, and Chiū—all received imperial orders to cross the sea and enter the Tang. They visited Master Puyang (Zhizhou) to study the Dharmalakṣaṇa school (some say they met Xuanzang and Ci'en to study the teachings, but years had already passed since those two masters entered nirvana). Eventually, they returned to our court and greatly propagated the religion. In the 3rd year of the Keiun era, Bingwu (706 CE), Chihō served as the lecturer for the Vimalakīrti Assembly.
The fourth transmission occurred sixty-four years after Dōshō entered the Tang. During the reign of the 44th ruler, Empress Genshō, in the 2nd year of the Reiki era, Bingchen (716 CE), Dharma Master Genbō crossed the ocean and entered the Tang. He visited Master Zhizhou of Puyang and deeply studied the Dharmalakṣaṇa school. At that time, Zhizhou was thirty-eight years old, and it was the 4th year of the Kaiyuan era of the Tang. Dharma Master Genbō studied the Dharma in the Tang for twenty years. During the reign of the 45th ruler, Emperor Shōmu, in the 7th month of the 7th year of the Tenpyō era, Yihai (735 CE), he returned to Japan. He greatly exalted the teachings he had received and wonderfully propagated the school's tenets. These four generations of transmission continued without interruption, each passing down the religious teachings. The lineage of Chihō flourished greatly throughout the ages. The teachings transmitted by Genbō merged with those of Chihō into one. Their practices had no divergent paths, and they collectively propagated and expounded the teachings.
Master Dōshō transmitted the Dharma to Bodhisattva Gyōki. Chihō and Chiran each transmitted the Dharma to Archbishop Gien. Gien had seven eminent senior disciples: Archbishop Genbō, Bodhisattva Gyōki, the Great Virtuous Senkyō, Senior Bishop Ryōbin, Senior Bishop Gyōtatsu, Vinaya Master Ryūson, and Archbishop Rōben.
Vinaya Master Dōji also studied the Dharma under him, making it eight prominent figures.
However, although Vinaya Master Dōji studied various schools, he took Sanlun (Three Treatises / Madhyamaka) as his foundation, and thus primarily became a patriarch of that school.
The two northern and southern temples, Kōfuku-ji and Gangō-ji, had numerous scholars who competed to establish and debate doctrines. Using the two sciences of Logic (Hetuvidyā) and Inner Science, they debated precious truths with one another. Factions fanned the flames of rivalry, leading to differences between the two temples. Even up to the present day, in Kōfuku-ji alone, bands of scholars follow one after another, and doctrinal debates thrive exceedingly; yet, they are all merely the descendant lineages of Chihō and Genbō.
However, although the Dharmalakṣaṇa school was the fundamental study of Kōfuku-ji, it was also studied extensively in many other temples and propagated everywhere. Masters such as Archbishop Enshō, Great Dharma Master Shuin, Dharma Master Shuchō, Junior Bishop Jin'ei, Great Dharma Master Kōtatsu, Senior Bishop Shōgu, Archbishop Gomyō, Bishop Myōsen, Vinaya Master Heibi (Lecturer), Vinaya Master Chōgen (Lecturer), and Master Ken'ō (Lecturer)—all these masters belonged to the Dharmalakṣaṇa lineage of Gangō-ji.
Vinaya Master Chūkei, Vinaya Master Myōtetsu, Vinaya Master Chōrō, Master Kaimyō, Senior Bishop Eda, Vinaya Master Shinkei, Vinaya Master Ryūkō, Vinaya Master Heichi, Vinaya Master Yakunin (Lecturer), Junior Bishop Giei, Junior Bishop Zōso, and Vinaya Master Jinen, etc., all belonged to the Dharmalakṣaṇa lineage of Yakushi-ji.
As for Archbishop Rōben, the founder of Tōdai-ji, although he established Tōdai-ji specifically to propagate the Huayan (Kegon) School, he originally studied the Dharmalakṣaṇa school under Archbishop Gien; therefore, Tōdai-ji also concurrently propagated Dharmalakṣaṇa.
Among Rōben's disciples, some studied both Huayan and Dharmalakṣaṇa, such as Vinaya Master Ankan, Vinaya Master Hyōkyō, and Vinaya Master Kyōnin; others exclusively studied the Huayan School, such as Junior Bishop Ryōkō, Senior Bishop Ryōe, and Vinaya Master Eikō. Vinaya Master Sanshū (Lecturer), Great Virtuous Myōitsu (Lecturer), and Bishop Hōzō (Lecturer), etc., all belonged to the Dharmalakṣaṇa lineage of Tōdai-ji.
Vinaya Master Taien, Vinaya Master Zenkai, Vinaya Master Gen'ei, Senior Bishop Jitsubin, Great Dharma Master Heisen, Junior Bishop Chūfun, Junior Bishop Jōtō, Junior Bishop Enzen, and Fuchin (Lecturer), etc., all belonged to the Dharmalakṣaṇa lineage of Saidai-ji.
Daian-ji also had a Dharmalakṣaṇa lineage. When Vinaya Master Dōji went to the Tang to study the Dharma and returned to Japan, he initially lectured on the seven-fascicle Yilin Zhang (Forest of Meanings) by Ci'en (Kuiji). Ever since then, the lingering influence of Dharmalakṣaṇa has greatly swept through that temple.
Since the Middle Ages, Hōryū-ji has studied Dharmalakṣaṇa, and it remains highly prosperous to this day.
Yakushi-ji also studies Dharmalakṣaṇa, and its prominence continues to grow today.
As for Kōfuku-ji, from ancient times to later generations, it has exclusively studied Dharmalakṣaṇa. Its scholars are numerous and flourishing, and doctrinal debates thrive. The number of scholars is incalculable, and their profound research spans countless years. The sea of wisdom is immensely deep, and the peaks of doctrine stand toweringly high. If one were to attempt to describe the sequence of its successions and its horizontal and vertical tributaries, it would be difficult to list them all exhaustively.
Let us merely list the sequence of the direct patriarchs of the main lineage: Chihō, Gien, Great Dharma Master Senkyō, Senior Bishop Kengyō, Junior Bishop Myōfuku, Enbin (Lecturer), Bishop Kūsei, Archbishop Shinki, Senior Bishop Rinkai, Great Virtuous Shuon (or Senior Bishop Kyōkyū), Bishop Eichō, Tansyū (Lecturer), Senior Bishop Kakusei, Posthumous Archbishop Zōshun, Archbishop Kakuken, and Superior (Shōnin) Jōkei. After Jōkei, up to the various brilliant philosophers and wise virtuous ones of the present day, none are anything but the descendant lineages of Jōkei.
The administrators (Chōkan) of the Six Schools of the Southern Capital have stood independently since ancient times. The single school of Dharmalakṣaṇa served to supplement Kōfuku-ji. The individuals holding the position of Bettō (Chief Administrator) eventually followed this path. After the Ōwa era, acting officials (Gongon) were established. The grand Vimalakīrti Assembly is held at Kōfuku-ji. Completing studies and delivering lectures is not exclusive to this single temple. Other temples and other schools also accomplish this great enterprise.
--- Excerpt from Sangoku Buppō Denzū Engi (Origins of the Transmission of the Buddhadharma in the Three Countries): Volume Two, "The Transmission of the Various Schools in Great Japan."