Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

Tang Yongtong (1893-1964) is a Buddhist scholar representative of modern China. With the publication of History of Buddhism in the Han, Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, Tang Yongtong made a history of the study of ancient Chinese Buddhism. He systematized the complete branches of philosophy during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, which include Metaphysics and Buddhism, in the scheme of the Theory of Substance and Function. The Theory of Substance and Function is basically a form of philosophy that posits substance as the basis of phenomena. Tang Yongtong included Seng Zhao’s philosophy of emptiness in that category as well. However, the objective of Seng Zhao’s idea of emptiness is to negate the notion of substance as the basis or essence of phenomena. This coincides with the first proposition of Madhyamaka Philosophy established by Nagarjuna. Tang Yongtong brewed a serious misconception of Seng Zhao by understanding him in the scheme of substance and function. Many subsequent scholars interpreted Seng Zhao’s philosophy as a form of substance-function theory by inheriting Tang’s idea, which contributed to the spreading of misconception. This paper clarifies that Seng Zhao’s Madhyamaka Philosophy is one that reveals the insubstantiality of phenomena rather than one that uncovers the basis or what lies behind the phenomena. By doing so, this paper aims to reveal that the Madhyamaka Philosophy of Seng Zhao’s is in conflict with the theory of substance and function and to confirm the misconception brewed by Tang Yongtong.