Sanjiao

sanjiao (三教). "Three Teachings". This term has a variety of connotations.

Sanjiao commonly refers to the three major East Asian traditions of Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism. See sanjiao yizhi ("Unity of the Three Teachings").

This term is also used to refer to:

• In Japan, an alternative trio is Shinto, Confucianism, and Buddhism.
• In Zongmiʼs 宗密 commentary to the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment 圓覺經,
  • the sudden teaching 頓教, represented by the Huayan jing 華嚴經
  • the gradual teaching 漸教 represented by the period from the Deer Park to Śāla Forest, and
  • the indeterminate 不定教, which teaches the eternal perfection of the Buddha-nature.
• Guangtong 光統, a writer of the later Wei dynasty, describes the three as (a) 漸 progressive for beginners, i.e. from impermanence to permanence, from emptiness to reality, etc.; (b) 頓 immediate for the more advanced; and (c) 圓 complete, to the most advanced, i.e. the Huayan.
• The Nanshan 南山 school lists (a) the approach of emptiness of nature 性空; (b) the approach of emptiness of marks 相空; and (c) complete consciousness-only 唯識圓.

Further reading

• Three teachings, Wikipedia