Chengweishilun

work by Xuanzang

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June 24, 2026

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The Chengweishilun is a significant work by the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang. It is a translation of essential Yogacara writings, also known as the Consciousness Only school or Vijnanavada. This school of Buddhist philosophy, influential in China and Japan, posits that reality is fundamentally mind-dependent, with the external world being a manifestation of consciousness. Xuanzang's journey to India and his subsequent translations, including the Chengweishilun, were crucial in establishing this philosophical tradition in East Asia. The work explores the idea that the entire world is a representation of the mind.123

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Xuanzang
…was set forth in Xuanzang’s Chengweishilun (“Treatise on the Establishment of the Doctrine of Consciousness Only”), a translation of the essential Yogacara writings, and in Kuijhi’s commentary. The main thesis of this school is that the whole world is but a representation of the mind. While Xuanzang and Kuiji lived,…
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…was set forth in Xuanzang’s Chengweishilun (“Treatise on the Establishment of the Doctrine of Consciousness Only”), a translation of the essential Yogacara writings, and in Kuijhi’s commentary. The main thesis of this school is that the whole world is but a representation of the mind. While Xuanzang and Kuiji lived,…
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Buddhism
Yogachara/Vijnanavada (Faxiang/Hossō)
In Chengweishi lun (“Treatise on the Establishment of the Doctrine Consciousness Only”), Xuanzang explained how there can be a common empirical world for different individuals who construct or ideate particular objects and who possess distinct bodies and sensory systems. According to Xuanzang, the universal “seeds” in…
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In Chengweishi lun (“Treatise on the Establishment of the Doctrine Consciousness Only”), Xuanzang explained how there can be a common empirical world for different individuals who construct or ideate particular objects and who possess distinct bodies and sensory systems. According to Xuanzang, the universal “seeds” in…
Read More