**Notes**


made its own quasi-historical accounts about a lineage of patriarchs. The school disregarded ritual and sutras and depended ¯ upon the inner light and personal influence. The Vinaya School is a precept-centered branch of Buddhist studies that specializes in the study and practice of the rules of discipline for the clergy, or Vinaya in Sanskrit. It developed during the early periods of transmission of Buddhism in East Asia, and the most influential tradition of the school is the Nanshan zong (Southern Mountain School).


Besides, it is increasingly difficult for the current scholars to collect oral history or to observe traditional practices, since the Buddhist institutes in contemporary China have significantly changed, if they were not already during the 20th century.

