Essence-Function - Origins of The Term

Origins of The Term

The t'i-yung paradigm has roots in the Wei-Chin era of Chinese history, whose predominant intellectual trend was "Unification of the Three Teachings" ideology, i.e., the quest for a theoretical reconciliation among Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The theory was at first known as pen-mo ("primary-last" or "primary-subordinate"), which developed into t'i-yung. In the initial development of the theory, "thinkers considered one of the three philosophies as 'the primary' or 't'i' and the others as 'the last' or 'yung,' insisting that their own philosophy was superior to the others." However, although the theory was used to arrange the three teachings hierarchically, it also confirmed their inner unity. An especially noteworthy philosopher in this tradition was Wang Pi, who used the pen-mo theory to synthesize Daoism and Confucianism.