Қытай буддизмінің Тиantai дәстүрінің негізін қалаушысы Чжии

Chinese Buddhist founder of Tiantai
the given name

Zhiyi (; 538–597 CE) also Chen De'an (陳德安), is the fourth patriarch of the Tiantai tradition of Buddhism in China. His standard title was Śramaṇa Zhiyi (沙門智顗), linking him to the broad tradition of Indian asceticism. Zhiyi is famous for being the first in the history of Chinese Buddhism to elaborate a complete, critical and systematic classification of the Buddhist teachings. He is also regarded as the first major figure to make a significant break from the Indian tradition, to form an indigenous Chinese system. According to David W. Chappell, Zhiyi "has been ranked with Thomas Aquinas and al Ghazali as one of the great systematizers of religious thought and practice in world history."

Born with the surname Chen (陳) in Huarong District, Jing Prefecture (now Hubei), Zhiyi left home to become a monk at eighteen, after the loss of his parents and his hometown Jiangling that fell to the Western Wei army when Zhiyi was seventeen. At 23, he received his most important influences from his first teacher, Nanyue Huisi (515–577 CE), a meditation master who would later be listed as Zhiyi's predecessor in the Tiantai lineage. After a period of study with Huisi (560–567), he spent some time working in the southern capital of Jiankang. Then in 575 he went to Tiantai mountain for intensive study and practice with a group of disciples. Here he worked on adapting the Indian meditation principles of śamatha and vipaśyanā (translated as "zhi" and "guan") into a complex system of self cultivation practice that also incorporated devotional rituals and confession/repentance rites. Then in 585 he returned to Jinling, where he completed his monumental commentarial works on the Lotus Sutra, the Fahua wenzhu (587 CE), and the Fahua xuanyi (593 CE). Chappell holds that Zhiyi: " provided a religious framework which seemed suited to adapt to other cultures, to evolve new practices, and to universalize Buddhism."

Zhiyi's Xiao Zhiguan (; lit "Small Treatise on Concentration and Insight") was probably the first practical manual of meditation in China. With its direct influence on the Tso chan i was very influential in the development of Chan meditation. Rujun Wu identifies the Mohe Zhiguan (Traditional Chinese: 摩訶止觀; Simplified Chinese: 摩诃止观; pinyin: Móhē Zhǐguān; lit "Great treatise on Concentration and Insight") of Zhiyi as the seminal text of the Tiantai school. Among Zhiyi's many important works are the Liumiao Famen, Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra (法華文句), and Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra (法華玄義). Of the works attributed to him (although many may have been written by his disciples), about thirty are extant.

Zhiyi's Xiao Zhiguan offers an exposition of the practice of śamatha (calming or cessation) and vipaśyanā (wise seeing or contemplation). Zhiyi's Xiao Zhiguan states:There are many ways to enter the true reality of nirvana, but none that is more essential or that goes beyond the twofold method of cessation and contemplation. The reason is that "cessation" is the preliminary gate for overcoming the bonds [of passionate afflictions]; "contemplation" is the proper requisite for severing delusions. "Cessation" provides good nourishment for nurturing the mind; "contemplation" is the sublime technique for arousing spiritual understanding. "Cessation" is the preeminent cause for [attaining] dhyanic concentration; "contemplation" is the basis [for the accumulation of] of wisdom. If one perfects the twofold aspects of concentration (samadhi) and wisdom, then one is fully endowed with the aspects of both benefiting oneself and benefiting others. Zhiyi also notes that it’s necessary to have a balance between śamatha and vipaśyanā:It should be known that these two aspects are like the two wheels of a cart, or the two wings of a bird; if one side is cultivated disproportionately, then one falls prey to mistaken excess.

Dharmamitra (trans. ): The Essentials of Buddhist Meditation by Shramana Zhiyi, Kalavinka Press 2008,
Donner, Neal & Daniel B. Stevenson (1993). The Great Calming and Contemplation. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press. Shen, Haiyan. The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: T’ien t’ai Philosophy of Buddhism volumes I and II. Delhi: Originals, 2005. Swanson, Paul L.; trans. (2004). The Great Cessation and Contemplation (Mo ho Chih kuan, Chapter 1 6), CD ROM, Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Co.
Tam, Wai Lun (1986). A Study and Translation on the Kuan hsin lun of Chih i (538 597) and its Commentary by Kuan Ting, Hamilton, Ontario: McMaster University
Thich Tien Tam, trans. (1992). Ten Doubt about Pure Land by Dharma Master Chi I (T. 47 No. 1961). In: Pure Land Buddhism Dialogues with Ancient Masters, NY: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada & Buddha Dharma Education Association, pp. 19–51.

Chappell, David W. (1987). 'Is Tendai Buddhism Relevant to the Modern World? ', Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 14/2 3, 247–266. Dumoulin, Heinrich (1993). "Early Chinese Zen Reexamined ~ A Supplement to 'Zen Buddhism: A History'", Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1993 20/1. Dumoulin, Heinrich (author); Heisig, James W. (trans.) & Knitter, Paul, trans. (2005). Zen Buddhism: A History. Volume 1: India and China. World Wisdom. Hurvitz, Leon (1962). Chih i (538–597): An Introduction to the Life and Ideas of a Chinese Buddhist Monk. Mélanges Chinois et Bouddhiques XII, Bruxelles: Institut Belge des Hautes Études Chinoises. Kantor, Hans Rudolf (2002). Contemplation: Practice, Doctrine and Wisdom in the Teaching of Zhiyi (538 597), Inter Religio 42, 21 37
Rhodes, Robert (2012). The Development of Zhiyi´s Three Contemplations and its Relation to the Three Truths Theory. In Conference Papers: Tiantai Buddhist Thought and Practice, Taipei: Huafan University, pp. 312–357
Stevenson, Daniel B. (1986). The Four Kinds of Samādhi in Early T'ien t'ai Buddhism. In: Peter N. Gregory: Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism Vol. 1, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, pp. 45–98. .