Biography of Zeng Zhao

Author: Xu Kangsheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-12-01
Features: Zeng Zhao was a renowned monk in the history of Chinese Buddhist studies and had a significant influence on later generations, who praised him as China's "expert in understanding emptiness." Zeng Zhao lived during the Eastern Jin and Sixteen Kingdoms period, which was a time of the "initial flourishing" of Buddhism in China. He adhered to the Mahayana Madhyamaka Buddhism transmitted by the monk Kumārajīva and wrote famous Buddhist essays in Chinese Buddhist history, such as "On the Non-Substantiality of Reality," "On the Immutability of Things," "On the Ignorance of Praj?ā," and "On the Namelessness of Nirvana." From the perspectives of metaphysics and epistemology, he systematically and profoundly expounded the philosophical ideas of Mahayana Madhyamaka Buddhism. He also combined Indian Buddhism with the metaphysical philosophy of China's Laozi and Zhuangzi, not only ushering in a new era for the development of Buddhist thought in China but also greatly promoting the advancement of Chinese philosophy as a whole.