 Chengguan’s life was marked by continual encounter with difference. He lived through the reigns of nine Tang emperors, and his studies ranged widely—including Buddhist doctrines and meditation practices, classic works indigenous to China, as well as the Indian Vedas and works on Indian science. Tradition identifies Chengguan as the fourth patriarch of the Huayan School, because he studied under Fashen (718–778), who was a student of Fazang’s student Huiyuan (673–743). 