ZONGMI (780–841), more fully, Guifeng Zongmi; Chinese Buddhist Chan and Huayan scholar, traditionally reckoned as the fifth "patriarch" both in the Heze line of Southern Chan and in the Huayan tradition. Zongmi was born in Xichong County, Guo prefecture, in Szechwan province. His family, the Ho, was one of local prominence, and as a youth he received a traditional education in the Confucian classics. He became interested in Buddhism as an adolescent, but he continued his Confucian studies at a local academy in preparation for the imperial examinations that would open the door to an official career. In 804, however, he met the Chan priest Daoyuan and was so impressed that he abandoned his worldly ambitions and became his disciple. Later, while still a novice monk, he experienced his first awakening after reading only two or three pages of the Yuanjue jing (The scripture of perfect enlightenment) at the home...