Interpretations of the Method of Counting Ten in the East Asian Tradition of Huayan Scholasticism

Huayan thinkers such as Zhiyan, Ǔisang, and Fazang adopted many skillful means to teach the doctrine of dependent arising of the dharmadhātu, which is based on the thesis of mutual identity and mutual entering. In addition to the well-known similes such as a golden lion’s image and Indra’s net, their treatises introduce another important instructive device called the method of counting ten natural numbers. But this method of counting ten is presented in an extremely terse manner, causing difficulties in comprehending its overall structure. Suspicions about its usefulness as skillful means (Skt. upāya) or misguided elaboration of this method may be attributed to its lack of detailed guidelines. Therefore, we need to restore the parts omitted in those Huayan thinkers’ explanations. In this respect, commentaries on Fazang’s Wujiao zhang that appeared from the Song period, which saw the revival of Huayan scholasticism, may help to fill the hermeneutical lacuna. This paper thus tries to reformulate many solutions for revealing the hidden structure of the method in question, presented by the previous Huayan thinkers, as introduced in Hōtan’s Kyōshinshō and Kyunyŏ’s Wŏnt’ong ch’o. From these solutions, we can appreciate those ancient scholar-monks’ intense efforts to secure scholastic integrity and consistency so that this seemingly abstract method of counting ten could be well suited for their religious cultivation. This survey also suggests that we need to note the unnoticed history of intellectual exchanges in the East Asian tradition of Huayan scholasticism. KCI Citation Count: 0