Sinitic Buddhism in Xixia: Aspects of Tangut Huayan

This paper addresses several important aspects of the historical spread of the Huayan and Chan Buddhist teachings in the Tangut state, and traces local developments of Chan and Huayan thought among the Tang-uts. These developments, as they emerge from the received texts, indicate not only local developments in Xixia, but also provide broader implications for the study of Sinitic Buddhism in Northern China and Central Asia during 11 th –13 th centuries. The core of the paper concerns Tangut Huayan commentaries, the Huayan lineage composed by Yixing Huijue, Tangut recensions of texts authored by Guifeng Zongmi and the Tangut texts of Hongzhou Chan Buddhism.