This volume examines the historical basis of the debate over sudden versus gradual approaches to enlightenment in Chinese Buddhism seeing it as part of a recurrent polarity in Chinese history and thought. Sudden and Gradual includes essays by Luis O. Gomez on the philosophical implications of the debate in China and Tibet, Whalen Lai on Taodheng’s theory of sudden enlightenment, Neal Donner on Chih-i’s system of T’ien-t’ai, John R. McRae on Shen-Hui’s sudden enlightenment’ and its precedents in Northern Ch’an, Peter N. Gregory on Tsung-.i’s theory of sudden enlightenment .