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The object of this study is to examine the life and circumstances surrounding the Fourth Patriarch of the Hua-yen School(華嚴宗), Cheng-guan(澄觀, 738～839), who played an active role in the Buddhism of the mid Tang Dynasty. Therefore this paper will examine his biography, the formation of his thought, and how the society of the day, together with his scholarly linage, influenced him.
First, I would like to examine the reasons that Cheng-guan visited the Wutai Mountains in Shanxi Province. It appears that he went there to develop his spiritual practice and to write the Hua-yen-jing-shu(華嚴經疏) and the Yen-yi-shu(演義鈔). This is according to the biography of Cheng-guan, the Miao jue ta ji(妙覺塔記), which was written by Pei xiu(裴休, 787～860?) on the orders of the emperor following the death of Cheng-guan.
According to this record, Cheng-guan went to the Wutai Mountains because he wanted to understand a phrase in the Zhu pu sa zhu xu chapter (諸菩薩住處品) of the Hua-yen Sutra that said, "The Bodhisattva Manjusri can be seen among the five peaks."　He said about his journey, "When faith is present, even a journey of a thousand miles isn't long."　He also said that the reason he wrote Hua-yen-jing-shu and Yen-yi-shu was because he felt called to correct the errors of the great Hua-yen propagator Fa-zang(法藏).
Second, during Cheng-guan's(澄觀) life, Chinese society had been thrown into chaos by disasters and events such as the An-Shi revolt.
It was a time when the established order was changing rapidly; the new Zen school was growing dramatically and the Tian Tai(天台宗) school was experiencing a revival. The emperor's household favored these two schools in particular. Further, it was a time of competition between the three major religions of China: Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.
Cheng-guan became the Fourth Patriarch of the Hua-yen School and in his Hua-yen thought was the successor of the great Hua-yen propagator Fa-zang(法藏). Cheng-guan was Fa-zang's direct descendant and although he criticized parts of Hui-yuan's(慧苑) thought, Cheng-guan also accepted other parts. However, later generations removed Hui-yuan from the Hua-yen linage. Not only did Cheng-guan accept areas of Hui-yuan's thought, but it was Hui-yuan's disciple Fa-xian(法銑) who taught Hua-yen thought to Cheng-guan. It was through his practice at Wutai(五台) Mountains that Cheng-guan directly penetrated the meaning of the Hua-yen Sutra and inherited the Hua-yen lineage; and although it is said that Li tong xuan(李通玄) formed Hua-yen thought by himself, it is clear that he was influenced by the thought of Cheng-guan.