Mid-Táng Tiāntái 天台 master and exegete; productive in the Dàlì 大曆 era (766–779). DILA Authority A001552. Lifedates unrecorded. According to his brief biographical notice, he “broadly perused the hundred schools and was particularly accomplished in the Lotus Sūtra; thoroughly mastered the Tiāntái doctrines.” In the Dàlì era he entered the [Táng] capital and propagated the doctrine.
His writings were copious and included the Wéimó shū sī-jì 維摩疏私記 (subcommentary on Zhìyǐ’s Vimalakīrti commentary), the Nièpán shū jì 涅槃疏記 and Nièpán shū chāo 涅槃疏鈔 (subcommentary and notes on Zhìyǐ’s Mahāparinirvāṇa commentary), the Jīn-gāng biàn-zōng 金剛辨宗 (a Vajracchedikā doctrinal treatise), and others. Of these, the Nièpán jīng xuán-yì wén-jù 涅槃經玄義文句 (the most famous, also referenced as a subcommentary on Zhìyǐ) and the Fǎhuá jīng wén-jù fǔ-zhèng jì 法華經文句輔正記 (KR6d0016, X28n0593) survive in the Buddhist canon. Dào-xiān is also reported to have possessed shén-zú 神足 — the supernormal power of unobstructed motion through the air — and to have travelled the empty space at will.
Surviving works in the Tripiṭaka:
- Wéimó jīng shū jìchāo 維摩經疏記鈔 (X0345)
- Fǎhuá jīng wénjù fǔzhèng jì 法華經文句輔正記 (KR6d0016, X0593)
- Nièpán jīng xuányì wénjù 涅槃經玄義文句 (X0656)
- Nièpán jīng shū sījì 涅槃經疏私記 (X0661)
Sources: Sòng gāosēng zhuàn 宋高僧傳 (T2061) juan 6 (in the biography of Yuánhào 元浩); Fómíng 530; Tiāntáishān fāngwàizhì 天台山方外志; DILA A001552.