THE CHINESE SYSTEM OF CLASSIFYING BUDDHIST THEORIES

Abstract

This article aims at exposing a technical concept, created by Chinese Buddhists, which was widely circulated in traditional Chinese Buddhism: panjiao (classification of the Buddha’s teachings). Panjiao refers to the attempt by Chinese Buddhists to classify and rank the Buddha's teachings in a systematic and orderly way. Traditional scholars still held to the idea that this classification system had been Zhiyi’s creation. The author argues that it was Chanjan (711-782) who basically gave the system its current shape.