Zhī Dùn jí 支遁集
Collected Works of Zhi Dun (Reconstructed) by 支遁 (撰)
About the work
A reconstructed collection (jíyìběn 輯佚本) of the literary and religious writings of Zhī Dùn 支遁 (314–366 CE), Eastern Jìn 東晉 Buddhist monk, xuánxué 玄學 thinker, and poet. Also known as Zhī Dàolín 支道林, he was the most celebrated monk-litterateur of the fourth century. Organized in two juǎn, the fragments are drawn from the Hóng míng jí 弘明集, Chū sānzàng jìjí 出三藏記集 (juǎn 15), and encyclopaedic lèishū citations. The collection includes devotional and meditation verse (〈詠懷詩〉, 〈述懷詩〉), a 〈四月八日讚佛詩〉 (Hymn to the Buddha for the Eighth Day of the Fourth Month), collaborative poetry from the 〈土山會集詩三首并序〉 (Poems and Preface from the Mount Tu Gathering), and letters on Buddhist doctrine.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. This text is an extra-catalog reconstruction not included in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書.
Abstract
Zhī Dùn 支遁 (314–366 CE; religious name Dàolín 道林; also called Zhī Dàolín 支道林; secular surname Guān 關; CBDB: not confirmed) was a Central Asian–descended Buddhist monk who became the preeminent bridge figure between Buddhism and the xuánxué 玄學 (Dark Learning) philosophical movement. He had close friendships with major Eastern Jin literati including Wáng Xīzhī 王羲之, Sūn Chuò 孫綽 (KR4b0038), Xǔ Xún 許詢, and the Xiè 謝 clan. He was particularly celebrated for his theory of “instant enlightenment” (jídùn yì 即頓義) and his glosses on the Zhuāngzǐ 莊子 (especially the Xiāoyáoyóu 逍遙遊 chapter), which combined Buddhist śūnyatā with xuánxué concepts of spontaneity and Non-being (wú 無).
He spent time at Tiāntái shān 天台山 and at Dōngshān 東山 (near Kuàijī 會稽), where he organized Buddhist assemblies. The 〈土山會集詩三首〉 describes one such gathering. His literary correspondence in the Hóng míng jí 弘明集 juǎn 12 and the Chū sānzàng jìjí juǎn 15 form the primary sources for his surviving writing. He is commemorated in the Gaoseng zhuan 高僧傳 juǎn 4 (Huìjiǎo 慧皎 compilation). The present jiyiben reconstruction draws on these sources to gather his scattered writings into a two-juǎn format. Zhāng Pǔ 張溥 included a Zhī Dàolín jí 支道林集 in the Hàn Wèi Liùcháo bǎisān jiā jí 漢魏六朝百三家集.
Translations and research
- Zürcher, Erik. The Buddhist Conquest of China. Leiden: Brill, 1959. (Ch. 3 on the Zhi Dun circle and xuanxue Buddhism.)
- Mather, Richard B. A New Account of Tales of the World (Shih-shuo Hsin-yü). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1976. (Zhi Dun appears frequently.)
- Knechtges, David R., and Taiping Chang, eds. Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide. Leiden: Brill, 2010–2014. Entry on Zhi Dun.
Links
- Wikipedia: Zhi Dun