A Study on the Sinification of Buddhism: The Acceptance of the *Tattvasiddhiśāstra 成實論 and the Demise of the Chengshi School 成實學派

The *Tattvasiddhiśāstra played an essential role in the history of Buddhism during the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420–589). Hitherto, the academic world has not systematically studied this treatise’s influence on the Sinification of Buddhism, specifically manifested in the emergence and demise of the Chengshi School. The acceptance of the *Tattvasiddhiśāstra went through three stages. In the third stage, the Chengshi masters, who studied the *Tattvasiddhiśāstra, affirmed this treatise as part of Mahāyāna. They adopted Mahāyāna doctrines to overcome the *Tattvasiddhiśāstra’s main limitation, lacking in-depth doctrines and an imperfect understanding of emptiness. However, they had mistaken that it was nirvāṇa rather than emptiness that limited the *Tattvasiddhiśāstra. Although they omitted the final target of nirvāṇa, their approach to emptiness was still influenced by the progressive mode of the *Tattvasiddhiśāstra. This paper clarifies that the demise of the Chengshi School was due to the Chengshi masters’ overestimation of the *Tattvasiddhiśāstra and their misunderstanding of Harivarman’s intention. No matter how hard the Chengshi masters attempted to improve their understanding, the Chengshi School would have inevitably died out as the Sinification of Buddhism proceeded.