This paper aims to infer how Fazang applied the doctrines of Yogācāra to his interpretation of the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana(大乘起信論) by examining the citations of the Yogācāra texts in his commentary, the Dashengqixinlunyiji(大乘起信論義記).
As a result of analyzing the citation trends, it was found that in his commentary on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, Fazang primarily utilized only three Yogācāra texts: the Mahāyānasaṃgraha(攝大乘論), the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra(瑜伽師地論), and the Madhyantavibhagabhasya(中邊 分別論), with a particular emphasis on the doctrine of the Trisvabhāva(三性). Conversely, it was also confirmed that Fazang avoided direct mention of the manas-vijñāna, which is based on the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra.
Therefore, the study was divided into two parts: an examination of the use of the Trisvabhāva in the Dashengqixinlunyiji and an analysis of the citations concerning manas-vijñāna from the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra.
In the first part, it is considered that the doctrine of the Trisvabhāva was cited to support an interpretation centered on the Tathāgatagarbha. Although the Mahāyānasaṃgraha is frequently cited, it is presumed that Fazang adopted the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra’s definition of the pariniṣpanna-svabhāva as the tathatā. This suggests that Fazang modified the interpretation to focus on the tathatā since the Mahāyānasaṃgraha emphasizes paratantrasvabhāva.
In the second part of the examination, based on the Yogācārabhūmiśāstra regarding the exclusion of manas-vijñāna, it can be seen that Fazang replaced the cognitive function of manas-vijñāna with the three aspects theory of cognition(三分) of Yogācāra. To establish the superiority of the Tathāgatagarbha doctrine in The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, Fazang likely faced the challenge of interpreting the text while minimizing the use of the Yogācāra’s eight consciousnesses theory. It is inferred that he sought a solution to this challenge through foregrounding the Trisvabhāva and the Three aspects theory of cognition.