Tao Sheng

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Tao Sheng

Chinese Buddhist monk

Also known as: Chu, Dao Sheng, Tao-sheng

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Quick Facts

Pinyin:: Dao Sheng

Secular name:: Chu

Born:: c. 360,, P’eng-ch’eng, China

Died:: 434

Subjects Of Study:: Buddhism

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Tao Sheng (born c. 360, P’eng-ch’eng, China—died 434) was an eminent Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar.

Tao Sheng studied in the capital city of Chien-k’ang (Nanking) under Chu Fa-t’ai, spent seven years with Hui Yüan in the monastery at Lu-shan, and then went north to Ch’ang-an where, in association with Kumārajīva, he became one of the most learned and eloquent of Buddhist scholars. He returned south in about 409 and lectured at Lu-shan and Chien-k’ang until he was expelled by conservative monks for his revolutionary teaching. He taught that spontaneous acts made without deliberate mental choice and effort leave behind no karmic entail; that Buddhahood may be achieved by sudden enlightenment; that all sentient beings, even those unreceptive to Buddhism (the icchantikas), possess the Buddha-nature or Universal Mind; and that there is no Buddha-world beyond the present. When a complete translation of the Parinirvāṇa sūtra appeared in Chinese, Tao Sheng was vindicated. Many of his teachings were developed and systematized by Ch’an (Zen) masters in the 6th and 7th centuries.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.