Fǎquán 法全 (also called Fǎquán Ācāryā 法全阿闍梨; fl. ca. 824–859) — late Tang Esoteric master of the Qīnglóngsì 青龍寺 / Xuánfǎsì 玄法寺 lineage at Chángān, principal Tang teacher of the Japanese Tendai-Esoteric (Taimitsu) pilgrim-monks Ennin 圓仁 (圓仁, 794–864), Enchin 圓珍 (圓珍, 814–891), and Shūei 宗叡 (809–884). Lifedates uncertain; the consensus dating (DILA: ca. 824–859) reflects the period of his recorded teaching activity. Native place unknown.
He was a disciple of Yìcāo 義操 (義操, early 9th c.) at the Qīnglóngsì, the Chángān imperial Esoteric monastery that descended from the Huìguǒ 惠果 lineage of Bùkōng / Amoghavajra (不空). After studying under Yìcāo he founded a teaching centre at the Xuánfǎsì 玄法寺, which became one of the principal Chángān loci of late-Tang Esoteric instruction.
His significance for East Asian Esoteric Buddhism is that he was the last Tang Esoteric master to receive Japanese disciples directly: his teaching of Ennin (in Chángān 838–847), Enchin (853–858), and Shūei (862–865) constitutes the principal post-Kūkai stream of Tang Esoteric transmission to Japan. His Tendai-Esoteric (Taimitsu) lineage thus runs in parallel to the Kūkai 空海 (空海) Shingon (Tōmitsu) transmission of a generation earlier.
His authored / compiled works in the Taishō include:
- Dà Pílúzhēnà chéngfó shénbiàn jiāchí jīng liánhuá tāizàng bēishēng màntúluó guǎngdà chéngjiù yíguǐ gōngyǎng fāngbiàn huì 大毘盧遮那成佛神變加持經蓮華胎藏悲生曼荼羅廣大成就儀軌供養方便會 (KR6j0008, T18n0852a) — the so-called Xuánfǎsì yíguǐ 玄法寺儀軌 (“Xuánfǎsì Ritual Manual”), in 2 fascicles, his principal codification of the Garbhadhātu ritual.
- Dà Pílúzhēnà chéngfó shénbiàn jiāchí jīng liánhuá tāizàng pútí chuáng biāozhì pǔtōng zhēnyánzàng guǎngdà chéngjiù yújiā 大毘盧遮那成佛神變加持經蓮華胎藏菩提幢標幟普通真言藏廣大成就瑜伽 (KR6j0010, T18n0853) — a 3-fascicle Garbhadhātu yoga manual.
- Jiànlì màntúluó hùmó yíguǐ 建立曼荼羅護摩儀軌 (T18n0912) — a homa ritual manual.
Source: DILA Buddhist Person Authority A000695; Ono Genmyō 小野玄妙, Bukkyō no bijutsu to rekishi 仏教の美術と歴史 (Daitō Shuppansha, 1937); Yamasaki Taikō, Shingon (1988); the Tang Esoteric chapters of Orzech, Sørensen, and Payne (eds.), Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia (Brill, 2011).