On the Origin and Conceptual Development of ‘Essence-Function’ (ti-yong)

Abstract

‘Essence-function’ (ti-yong 體用), also called ‘substance-function,’ has been a constant topic of debate in monastic and academic communities in China. One group of scholars insists that the concept is derived from the Confucian tradition, while the other maintains that it originates with the Buddhist tradition. These opposing opinions are not merely the arguments of antiquity, but have persisted to our present time. This paper investigates the concept of ‘essence-function,’ focusing on its origin and conceptual development in the Buddhist and the Confucian traditions. This concept has become a basic framework of Chinese religions. Its root appears already in ancient Confucian and Daoist works such as the Xunzi and the Zhouyi cantong qi. It is, however, through the influence of Buddhism that ‘essence’ and ‘function’ became a paradigm used as an exegetical, hermeneutical and syncretic tool for interpreting Chinese philosophical works. This dual concept played a central role not only in the assimilation of Indian Buddhism in China during its earlier phases but also in the formation of Neo-Confucianism in medieval times. This paper shows that the paradigm constituted by ‘essence’ and ‘function’ resulted not from the doctrinal conflicts between Confucianism and Buddhism but from the interactions between them.

The Politics of Fictional Medicine: Entertainment, Propaganda, and Education in Chinese Medical Dramas in the Xi Era

“…This echoes the ti/yong (体用, "Essence/Function") dynamic as framed by neoconfucian reformers of late 1800s-early 1900s. Within that framework, the reformers could promote the modernization of China through the incorporation of western knowledge and technology, which they saw as urgently needed after the catastrophic losses of the Opium Wars (Kwon and Woo 2019). The movement prescribed incorporating western advancements at the level of "function", leaving the fundamental "essence" of society steadily Confucian.…”

Towards a Buddhist theism

“…See also Muller ((2016), 116) and Kwon and Woo ((2019), §3) on the connection with the stillness-movement pair.…”

The “One Mind, Two Aspects” Model of the Self: The Self Model and Self-Cultivation Theory of Chinese Buddhism

“…The book Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna , which is widely believed to have been written by a Chinese monk, contains all of the secrets of the Chinese Buddhist self model. In contrast to Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, this book absorbs the “substance and function (Ti Yong, 用)” theory of traditional Chinese culture and the ideological tendency of attaching importance to morality (Wawrytko, 2018 ; Kwon and Jeson, 2019 ) and proposes the psychological model of “one mind, two aspects.”…”

“…In the view of Chinese Buddhism, ordinary people tend to have both good and bad aspects, whereas the Buddha has only the good aspect. If ordinary people want to become the Buddha, they have to eliminate the bad aspects (Richard, 1907 ; Kwon and Jeson, 2019 ).…”