The Dharma-character school (Chinese: 法相宗, Pinyin fǎ xiàng zōng, Wade-Giles: Fa-Hsiang, Japanese: Hossō) is the common name for a stream of thought that represented the Indian Yogācāra system of thought in East Asia. The term Faxiang itself was first applied to this tradition by the Huayan thinker Fazang (法藏), who used it to emphasize the inferiority of Faxiang teachings, which only dealt with the phenomenal appearances of the dharmas in contrast...
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The Dharma-character school (Chinese: 法相宗, Pinyin fǎ xiàng zōng, Wade-Giles: Fa-Hsiang, Japanese: Hossō) is the common name for a stream of thought that represented the Indian Yogācāra system of thought in East Asia. The term Faxiang itself was first applied to this tradition by the Huayan thinker Fazang (法藏), who used it to emphasize the inferiority of Faxiang teachings, which only dealt with the phenomenal appearances of the dharmas in contrast to Huayan, which dealt with the underlying nature on which such phenomenal appearances were based. However, its Chinese proponents preferred the title Consciousness-only (Sanskrit: Vijñaptimātra; Chinese: 唯識; pinyin: wéi shí; Wade-Giles: wei shih, Japanese: Yuishiki). The "Dharma-Character" name stuck, and was carried by its proponents to Korea and Japan where the name lost its pejorative undertones.
The movement that would eventually receive these names was initiated in China by Xuanzang (玄奘), who, on his return from India, brought with him...
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