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

It is not easy to grasp the contents of the thought of Kaishin-ron completely, because only one volume exists in six volumes. There is no certain record to prove that Kaishin-ronwas written by Imperial command, but it is estimated that Kaishin-ronis Imperial compilation and the author Fuki is a pupil of Cho-sai of Todaiji-temple from examination of the text. The philosophical characteristics of Kaishin-ron are summarized as follows. First, Fuki recognized logic as a required means to understand the teachings of Buddha. By using logic, he proved that all beings are included in the Buddhavatamsaka-samadhi and the doctrine of the Hua-yan Sutra surpasses others. In addition, criticizing peoples of the one vehicle who disregard logic, he emphasized the importance of logic. Second, in Kaishin-ron , Fa-tsang's Tanxuan-ji and Hui-yuen's Gan-ding ji are occupied the important position and there are overwhelmingly many quotations from this two writings. It means that Kaishin-ronmakes a flow of japanese huayan studies since the Nara period. In addition, we can find that the author of Kaishin-ronrespects shingon-buddhism and quotes books of the shingon buddhist system by influence of Kukai. It shows that Kaishin-ronhas rather different characteristics from Kegon-shiki (華厳私記類) of the Heian period.