Originally, Tathāgatagarbha is an ontological or spiritual concept, and Dependent Origination (縁起) is a generative concept; there was no direct relationship between them. After the idea of Tathāgatagarbha was introduced into China, its content and meaning gradually changed. Especially when it was combined with Dependent Origination, a new concept called the Dependent Origination of Tathāgatagarbha was generated. Generally, the origin of the Dependent Origination of Tathāgatagarbha is attributed to the Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra勝鬘師子吼一乗大方便方広経 (SMS), but the Dependent Origination of SMS only involves the relationship between Nirvāṇa and Tathāgatagarbha, Saṁsāra and Tathāgatagarbha, and does not mention that Saṁsāra and Nirvāṇa were born on the basis of Tathāgatagarbha. Jingyingsi Huiyuan浄影寺慧遠and Jizang吉蔵developed the Dependent Origination of the SMS in their commentaries on the SMS. Finally, the Dependent Origination of Tathāgatagarbha was put forward by Fazang法蔵.This paper investigates the development and evolution of the Dependent Origination of Tathāgatagarbha in Chinese Buddhism, and focuses on several commentaries on the SMS from the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
