This paper focuses on Zhizang of Kaishan Temple, who was known as one of three great Buddhist monks in the Liang Dynasty. I not only pay attention to Zhizang’s typical identity as a learned monk, especially his later being called a Master of the Chengshi lun, but also emphasize his insistence on the political independence of the saṅgha. Through comparing the surviving fragments of Zhizang’s Chengshilun Dayiji, which were collected by Professor Funayama Tōru, with Zhizang’s other texts, quoted and critiqued by Jizang, I investigate how the Chengshi lun affected Zhizang’s thought, and whether Zhizang could be called a Master of the Chengshi lun.
