 Tradition identifies Zhiyan as the second patriarch of the Huayan School. Zhiyan entered the Buddhist sangha under the tutelage of Dushun, who exposed him to the Avatamsaka Sutra at Zhixiang Temple. But the youthful Zhiyan was also keenly interested in doctrinal matters, and he studied a wide variety of texts and learned from masters of other schools. His encyclopedic scholarly knowledge of Buddhism, paired with uncertainty about how the many doctrines of the many Buddhist schools cohere with each other and an abiding concern with the charge that Buddhism neglects practical matters, led the young Zhiyan to become disheartened and confused. 