| Woncheuk | |
 | |
| Korean name | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 원측 |
| Hanja | 圓測 |
| Revised Romanization | Woncheuk |
| McCune–Reischauer | Wŏnch'ŭk |
Woncheuk (Korean: 원측;MR: Wŏnch'ŭk, c. 613–696) was aKorean Buddhist monk who worked in seventh centuryChina.[1] Woncheuk was a follower ofParamārtha (499-569) and the Shelun school ofYogacara. This school defended the view that there was a ninth consciousness called the "pure consciousness" (amalavijñāna), as opposed to just theeight consciousnesses of classical Yogacara. This position had been rejected byXuanzang andKuiji.[2] Woncheuk later became a student ofXuanzang (ca. 600–664) and worked in his translation team.[1] Woncheuk's works attempt to reconcile the two traditions of East Asian Yogacara and often diverges from the interpretations of Xuanzang and Kuiji in favor of the views of Paramārtha.[1]
Woncheuk's work was revered throughoutChina andKorea, even reaching Chinese rulers likeEmperors Taizong,Gaozong of Tang andEmpress Wu of Zhou.[3] Woncheuk's exegetical work also influencedTibetan Buddhism and the greater Himalayan region.
Woncheuk was born inKorea. TheZhengzhang Shangfang reconstruction of the Middle Chinese pronunciation of his name is 圓測 /ɦˠiuᴇnťʃʰɨk̚/.[4] Woncheuk (pinyin:Yuáncè) was also known asChinese:西明法師;pinyin:Xīmíng Fǎshī, which is a namesake attributed to the temple of the same name where he did hisexegesis.
Woncheuk was initially a follower ofParamārtha's (499-569)Shelun school (攝論宗) and later lived atXi Ming Temple as a student ofXuanzang. The Shelun school was known for its synthesis of Yogacara teachings with tathāgatagarbha thought and for its doctrine of a pure consciousness (amalavijñāna).[5][2] Woncheuk wrote various works on Mahayana Buddhism. His interpretations of Yogacara often differ from that of the school of Xuanzang and his studentKuiji and instead promotes ideas closer to those of theShelun school. Due to this, his work was criticized by theFaxiang school of the disciples of Kuiji.[1]
Woncheuk's work contributed to the development of Chinese Buddhist thought. He influenced the development of the theories ofEssence-Function and theEkayāna (One Vehicle). His work was also influential on the development of theHuayan school.[1] While in Tang China, Woncheuk took as a disciple a Korean-born monk namedDojeung (Chinese:道證), who travelled toSilla in 692 and propagated Woncheuk's exegetical tradition. His work was also influential on the Japanese branch of Yogacara, the Hosso school, since Hosso monks like Gyosin (ca. 750), Genju (723–797), and Gomyo (750–834) relied on Woncheuk's works.[1]
Woncheuk is well known amongst scholars ofTibetan Buddhism for hisCommentary on theSaṃdhinirmocana sūtra which was translated into Tibetan in the ninth century.[1]
Choo (2006: p. 123) lists Woncheuk's three extant works:
Woncheuk also wrote a commentary to theCheng weishi lun, but this has not survived.[1]
Choo (2006: p. 125) holds that though theHeart Sutra is generally identified as within the auspice of theSecond Turning of theDharmacakra (Sanskrit), Woncheuk in his commentary provides an exegesis from theThird Turning:
Within theMahāyāna doctrinal classification, theHeart Sūtra belongs to the Buddha's Second turning of the Wheel, the Emptiness period ofDharma, and most extant commentaries approach it from the perspective of theMādhyamika doctrine of the Emptiness period (Chung, 1977:87). However, Wonch'uk interprets theHeart Sūtra from theYogācāra perspective, and hisCommentary therefore offers the reader a unique opportunity to examine theMādhyamika doctrine of emptiness from theYogācāra perspective.).[7]
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