Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, The ［大乗起信論］ (Chin Ta-ch’eng-ch’i-hsin-lun;  Daijō-kishin-ron): Abbreviated as Awakening of Faith. A work traditionally attributed to Ashvaghosha, a Mahayana scholar who lived from the first through the second century, though opinions on this differ. There are two Chinese translations of this work, the first done in 550 by Paramārtha, who had gone from India to China, and the second around 700 by Shikshānanda, a monk from Khotan in Central Asia. Paramārtha’s version has been the more popular. Awakening of Faith sets forth the fundamental doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism and attempts to awaken people to faith in it. It specifically takes up the concept of tathatā, literally thusness or suchness, meaning the true aspect of reality. It was widely studied in China and Japan, and in China several commentaries on it were written.