Mid-Táng polymath, scholar-official, lay Buddhist, and one of the principal mid-Táng literati associated with the Tiāntái 天台 school. Zì Jìngzhī 敬之, also referenced as Liáng Kuānzhōng 梁寬中 and Liáng Hànlín 梁翰林 (after his Hànlín Academy appointment). DILA Authority A001081. Native of Lùhún 陸渾 (modern Hénán). Born 753; died Zhēnyuán 貞元 9 (= 793–794 CE), aged 41.
A jǐnshì 進士 (presented-scholar) of Dàlì 大曆 9 (774); held senior appointments including Hànlín xuéshì 翰林學士 and other court positions under Dézōng 德宗. As a leading mid-Táng literary figure he was associated with the Gǔwén 古文 (ancient-prose) movement and was a friend and correspondent of Hán Yù 韓愈 (768–824).
His Buddhist activity centred on the Tiāntái school: he was a close associate of Zhànrán 湛然 (湛然, 711–782), the ninth Tiāntái patriarch, and produced several important Tiāntái-tradition works, most notably:
- The Shāndìng zhǐguān 刪定止觀 (KR6d0134, X55n0915, 3 juan) — the abridged-and-corrected version of Zhìyǐ’s Móhē zhǐguān, providing the standard mid-Táng accessible recension of the Tiāntái meditation manual.
- The Tiāntái jiàomén lùn 天台教門論 (lost) — a Tiāntái doctrinal exposition.
- Various zàn 贊 (encomia), inscriptions, and stele texts for Tiāntái figures and institutions.
Liáng Sù’s role as a Hàn-lín-Academy lay-Buddhist promoter of Tiāntái doctrine within the late-Táng court establishment was institutionally significant: he was one of the principal vehicles by which the Tiāntái scholastic tradition gained access to high-level imperial patronage in the late-Táng period.
Sources: Quán Táng wén 全唐文; Sòng gāosēng zhuàn 宋高僧傳 (T2061); DILA A001081; Wikipedia.