Eight schools of Chinese Mahayana

Abstract

This article is an analysis of the Mahayana Buddhist schools that were developed in China due to the development and adaptation of knowledge that came to the country along the Silk Road. Starting with the history of the penetration of Buddhism into the Celestial Empire, the authors offer the reader an overview of the main schools of Chinese Mahayana: Tiantai-zong, Huayang-zong, Chan-zong, Iznitu-zong, Sanlun-zong and Fasyan-zong, noting that they are all studied and practiced to this day. In addition, many of the ideological positions developed in them have formed a kind of frames over time, combining a number of cultural codes of the Chinese ethos. A review of the main schools of Mahayana allowed the authors of the article to show the continuity between Indian sources and Chinese-Buddhist thought, and at the same time demonstrate cultural forms of adaptation and independent development of the teaching. The centuries-old history of the existence of schools reconstructed by the authors testifies to the role of China in the transmission of Buddhism to neighboring countries. The present work reveals the conceptual kinship of Chinese and Russian Buddhism. The study showed such features of Buddhism as the openness of the teaching to new cultures, the lack of dogmatism in it and a number of valuable timeless ideological resources necessary for the implementation of cultural synthesis.