On the basis of Nāgārjuna’s works, especially the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, this presentation focuses on some central concepts and gives interpretations which are different from later Mādhyamika theories. In order to link some of Nāgārjuna’s main refutations, I recommend a skeptical standpoint, from which ontological entities (svabhāva) could be viewed as referents of concepts. Nāgārjuna argues that all concepts are self-contradictory and have no referents (niḥsvabhāva). The concept of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) is to be differentiated from that of dependently originated things (pratītyasamutpanna). The former is designated by Nāgārjuna as meaning something different than its literal implication, and is equated with the supreme truth of emptiness (śūnyatā), which refers to a nature of non-origination, while the latter is deemed a conventional notion and its existence is denied.

Dr. Ye Shaoyong received his PhD degree in 2009 from the Department of Oriental Languages and Cultures at Peking University and is currently holding a position as Associate Professor at the Department of South Asian Studies. His doctoral thesis “Mūlamadhyamakakārikā and Buddhapālita's Commentary: A Philological Study on the Basis of Newly Identified Sanskrit Manuscripts” won the award for the national top-100 excellent doctoral dissertations of China in 2011.