Abstract:

Chinese Buddhism is composed of both Geyi Buddhism (hermeneutic Buddhism) in the pre-sectarian period and Zhengyi Buddhism (existential Buddhism) in the period when sectarian Buddhism took shape.The Japanese Buddhism, as a kind of post-sectarian Buddhist thought, fails to do justice to the role played by the thought of Tathāgata-garbha and inner-Buddha (Original Enlightenment) in the formation of sectarian Buddhism in China, due to its inadequacy in historical understanding and textual interpretation.Particularly, it does not pay enough attention to Fa Zang and others' contribution to the interpretation and construction of Paticcasamuppada of Tathāgata-garbha in Tang Dynasty.

Key words: the thought of Tathāgata-garbha, inner-Buddha, critical Buddhism, Buddhist tradition