IMRE HAMAR A HUAYAN PARADIGM FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF MAHƗYƗNA TEACHINGS: THE ORIGIN AND MEANING OF FAXIANGZONG AND FAXINGZONG ∗ Introduction Dan Lusthaus finds the origin of the paradigm xing versus xiang in the Cheng weishi lun and concludes: Ironically, this very distinction became one of the major rhetorical weapons used by Fa- tsang against Hsüan-tsang’s school, calling them ‘[the mere] fa-hsiang’ (Dharma-Charac- teristics) school against his own Sinitic ‘fa-hsing’ (Dharma-Nature) school. This distinction became so important that every Buddhist school originating in East Asia, including all forms of Sinitic MahƘyƘna, viz. T’ien-t’ai, Hua-yen, Ch’an, and Pure Land, came to be considered Dharma-nature schools. 1 Whalen Lai also attributes the establishment of this paradigm to Fazang, refer- ring to Zhili : “The name ‘Fa-hsiang’ was, however, attributed to it by its crit- ics; it is a derogative term alleging that the school did not know thoroughly the deeper Fa-hsing (Dharma-essence). The contrast was intended to bring out the ‘Hī- nayƘnist phenomenalism’ [sic] inherent in the Wei-shih school and to highlight the ‘MahƘyƘna essentialism’ of its critic. As recalled by Sung T’ien-t’ai master Ssu- ming Chih-li (959–1028), the distinction arose at the time of Fa-tsang’s (643–712) attack on the Wei-shih school: At the time [of Hua-yen (Avatamsaka) patriarch, Fa-tsang,] there was widely held the theory of chen-ju sui-yüan (Suchness or tathatƘ accompanying the conditions [the pratyaya that brought samsƘra into being]) and the theory of a (passive) Suchness that would not create (‘let rise’) the various existents (dharmas). From that is derived the distinction between a hsing-tsung ([Dharma] essence school] and a hsiang-tsung ([Dharma] charac- teristic school). This distinction was made by Fa-tsang and was unknown to our [T’ien-t’ai] master Chih-i. 2 They are right in that Fazang introduced the term faxiangzong for the YogƘcƘra teachings of Xuanzang (600–664), and later this designation became widespread in East Asian Buddhism. In Japan, the Hossō school repre- sented the most outstanding of the six schools (Sanron , Hossō, Jōjitsu , ∗ This study was supported by the Hungarian National Research Fund (OTKA No. T 047023). 1 Lusthaus 2002: 372. 2 Lai 1986: 1.