Chigi

A monk from the Sui Dynasty in China. He is the founder of the Tendai sect, but is also considered the third patriarch due to the succession from Huiwen to Esi. Zhiyi's given name was Imina, and his pen name was Tokuan. He is known as the Great Master of Zhizhe and the Great Master of Tendai. He was born in what is now Hunan Province, then known as the Jingzhou region. In 555 (Shaotai 1) during the Later Liang Dynasty, at the age of 18, he entered the monk Hosho of the Guoganji Temple and became a monk. In 560 (Tenka 1), he became a disciple of Nanyue Huisi, who built a practical Buddhism and was known for his unique teaching style. It was precisely because of his eight years of study under Huisi that Zhiyi's Buddhist thought was fashioned to have a strong practical character. After that, Zhiyi went to Jinling, the capital of the Chin dynasty. Unlike the Buddhist ethos of northern China, which emphasizes religious practice, the monastic life in this place, which preserves the tradition of southern Chinese Buddhism, which shows a strong interest in academic research, gave a new character to his Buddhist thought. He placed equal importance on not only practice (=contemplation) but also learning (=teaching), and conceived a Buddhist thought that integrated these two schools of teaching and insight. After spending eight years in Jinling, in 575 (the 7th year of the Taijian era), he retired to Mount Tiantai, where he spent 11 years of deep introspection, during which his Buddhist thought was further organized and systematized. During the 12 years from his descent from Mount Tiantai until his death, his contemplation deepened even more, and he explained a grand-scale doctrinal thought that was based on the integration of both schools. His teachings are known through his three major works, "Hokke Mongu," "Hokke Gengi," and "Makashikan," which were written during this period, and the teachings described there can be considered to have the character of a unification of the teaching styles of both northern and southern Buddhism. In his later years, at the request of Jin Wang Guang (later Emperor Yang of Sui), he wrote "Vimalakirti Sutra Commentary," which shows Zhiyi's thinking in his later years, which is subtly different from the three major works.

His teachings can be characterized in a word as the "dharma of shikan (reflection)." This is a doctrine that teaches us to attain the three truths of harmony, which are the true nature of all phenomena, by practicing the one mind and three contemplations. Of course, the doctrine of shikan (reflection) is by no means simple, and includes the teachings of the ten contemplations and ten realms, the doctrine of expedient means, the doctrine of one thought and three thousand, and more, and is a grand doctrine that is made up of organically linked teachings.

[Masaaki Nitta March 21, 2017]

"Zhiyi" by Yoshiro Tamura and Masaaki Nitta (1982, Daizo Publishing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、隋(ずい)代の僧。天台宗の開祖であるが、慧文(えもん)―慧思(えし)の相承から第三祖ともされる。智顗は諱(いみな)、字(あざな)は徳安(とくあん)。智者大師、天台大師と称される。現在の湖南省、当時の荊州(けいしゅう)地方で生まれる。後梁(ごりょう)の555年（紹泰1）18歳のとき、果願寺(かがんじ)の法緒(ほうしょ)の門に入って出家、560年（天嘉1）、実践的仏教を築き上げ独自の教風で知られた南岳(なんがく)慧思に師事する。智顗の仏教思想が実践的性格を色濃く有するものに仕立て上げられることになったのは、まさに慧思のもとでの8年に及ぶ研鑽(けんさん)のゆえである。その後、智顗は陳(ちん)の都金陵に赴く。宗教的実践を重視する北方中国の仏教の気風と異なって、学問研究に強い関心を示す南方中国の仏教の伝統を保つこの地での修道生活が、彼の仏教思想に新しい性格を付与する。行（＝観）のみならず、学解（＝教）をも等しく重視し、これら教観二門を総合した仏教思想が構想されるのである。8年間過ごした金陵をあとに、575年（太建7）決然として天台山に隠棲(いんせい)して11年間、ここでの深い内省を通して、その仏教思想はいっそう整理され、体系化されていく。天台山下山から没するまでの12年間、彼の思索はいよいよ深められ、両門の総合のうえに成り立つ、壮大なスケールをもった教学思想が説き明かされる。その教えは、この時期に著された彼の主著『法華文句(ほっけもんぐ)』『法華玄義(げんぎ)』『摩訶止観(まかしかん)』の三大部を通じて知られるが、そこに述べられている教学は南北両仏教の教風の統一としての性格をもつものとみなされてよい。晩年には晋王広(しんおうこう)（後の隋の煬帝(ようだい)）の求めに応じて、『維摩経疏(ゆいまぎょうしょ)』が著されるが、そこには三大部とは微妙に異なる晩年の智顗の考え方が示されている。

　彼の教学思想は、ひと口でいうと「止観の法門」として特徴づけられる。これは、一心三観(いっしんさんかん)を修して諸法の実相である円融(えんにゅう)の三諦(さんたい)を得知すべきことを教える法門といってよい。もちろん止観の法門はけっして単純ではなく、十観十境(じっかんじっきょう)の教え、方便(ほうべん)の教説、一念三千(いちねんさんぜん)説などを含み、それらが有機的に関連づけられて成り立つ壮大な法門である。

［新田雅章　2017年3月21日］

『田村芳朗・新田雅章著『智顗』（1982・大蔵出版）』

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