W?NCH'?K

W?nch'?k (Chinese, Yuance; Tibetan, Wen tshegs, 613–696) was a Korean expatriate scholar monk who lived in seventh-century China. W?nch'?k traveled to Tang China at the age of fifteen and studied Yog?c?ra school texts based on Param?rtha's (499–569) translations under Fachang (567–645) and Sengbian (568–642). Later studying under Xuanzang (ca. 600–664), W?nch'?k joined the comprehensive project to translate Indian Buddhist texts into Chinese, marking the start of the so-called New Yog?c?ra. This movement was based specifically on these new translations and especially the compilation of the Cheng weishi lun (Demonstration of Consciousness-Only), in contrast to the so-called Old Yog?c?ra, which was based on Param?rtha's earlier translations. W?nch'?k's work appears to be an attempt to reconcile the doctrinal differences between those two distinctive trends of Chinese Yog?c?ra doctrine. His interpretation of Yog?c?ra diverges from the interpretations of Kuiji (631–682) and Xuanzang, while sometimes resonating with the work of Param?rtha. This led to severe criticism from the later disciples of Kuiji who started the Faxiang school, which took Kuiji as their first patriarch. W?nch'?k's extant works include the Haesimmilgy?ng so, a commentary on the Sa?dhinirmocanas?tra (the tenth and last fascicle is missing, but is available in Tibetan translation); the Inwanggy?ng so, a commentary on the Renwangjing (Humane Kings S?tra); and the Puls?l panya paramilta simgy?ng ch'an, a eulogy to the Heart S?tra. Unfortunately, W?nch'?k's S?ngyusingnon so, a commentary on the Cheng weishi lun, which was probably his most representative work, is no longer extant and is known only through quotations.

With his vast scholarship on Yog?c?ra Buddhist doctrine and other philosophical trends within the Indian tradition, W?nch'?k significantly contributed to the development of Chinese Buddhism, influencing the doctrines of the Chinese Huayan school and the especially the thought of Fazang (643–712). However, W?nch'?k's influence was not limited to China. Even though he never returned to Korea, W?nch'?k's theories were inherited by the Korean monks Toj?ng (ca. 640–710) and T'aehy?n (fl. 753), despite their lack of any direct contact with him. W?nch'?k also played an important role in the formation of the Japanese branch of Yog?c?ra, the Hoss? (Chinese, Faxiang) school, and his works were admired by Gy?sin (ca. 750), Genj? (723–797), and Gomy? (750–834). The controversies and debates surrounding the issues that W?nch'?k and other Faxiang scholars explored in China challenged Japanese Yog?c?ra exegetes at the very moment that the school was founded during the Nara period. This admiration for W?nch'?k's scholarship changed around the end of Heian and into the Kamakura periods. At that time, the Hoss? school instead took as authoritative the three patriarchs of Chinese Faxiang—namely Kuiji, Huizhao (650–714), and Zhizhou (668–723)—and Hoss? monks designated some views as "orthodox" and others as "heretical." In addition, W?nch'?k's commentary on the Sa?dhinirmocana-s?tra was translated into Tibetan during the ninth century and was cited extensively by Tsong kha pa (1357–1419) and his Dge lugs (Geluk) successors. W?nch'?k's views were therefore influential in the subsequent development of Tibetan Buddhism.

Bibliography

Cho, Eunsu. "W?nch'?k's Place in the East Asian Buddhist Tradition." In Currents and Countercurrents: Korean Influences on the East Asian Buddhist Traditions, ed. Robert E. Buswell, Jr. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004.

Eunsu Cho