From Emptiness to Interconnectedness

Identity and Dependence in Chinese Buddhism

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4079656
AutoresLi Kang (0009-0008-4842-8256, Washington and Lee University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2025
Volumen20
Número4
Fecha de publicación2025-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPhilosophy Compass (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1747-9991 • E-ISSN: 1747-9991
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/phc3.70024
OpenAlexW4409628974
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas25

Everything is interconnected" is a central theme of Chinese Buddhism. This article examines how four prominent Chinese Buddhist schools-Tiantai 天台, Sanlun 三論, Huayan 華嚴, and Chan 禪-engaged with interconnectedness during the Sui and Tang Dynasties (581-907 CE), the golden age of Chinese Buddhism. While Tiantai, Sanlun, and Huayan developed distinctive theses of interconnectedness by advancing beyond the Indian Buddhist doctrine of emptiness (Sanskrit: śūnyatā), which denies that objects have intrinsic nature (Sanskrit: svabhāva), their insights were echoed and integrated in practice-oriented Chan Buddhism. This article analyzes this historical development through two lenses: first, by tracing the evolution of interconnectedness in Chinese Buddhism, it reveals how Chinese Buddhists developed distinctive views that further the Indian doctrine of emptiness; second, by showing how contemporary concepts of identity and dependence can elucidate historical Chinese Buddhist theses while revealing alternative perspectives to contemporary views, it demonstrates how Chinese Buddhism and contemporary metaphysics can be mutually enriching

Aesthetics · Buddhism · Emptiness · Epistemology · Identity (music · Psychoanalysis · Theology · Chinese history and philosophy · Cultural Differences and Values · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology