Zhāi jīng 齋經
Sūtra of the Fast-Day Observance (the Uposatha-sūtra; parallel to Madhyama-āgama sūtra 202, the Chízhāi jīng 持齋經, and to Yōubēyí Duòshèjiā jīng 優陂夷墮舍迦經 (KR6a0088) / Bāguānzhāi jīng 八關齋經 (KR6a0089)) by 支謙 (Zhī Qiān, 譯)
About the work
The Zhāi jīng is a single-fascicle Three-Kingdoms Wú 吳 translation of the canonical discourse on the eight-fold uposatha — the lay observance of an enhanced precept-discipline on the four monthly fast-days. The Pāli parallel is AN 8.43 (or AN 3.71); the Chinese parallels are T26[202] (the Chízhāi jīng 持齋經 of the Madhyama-āgama), T88 (anonymous Sòng) and T89 (Jūqú Jīngshēng).
The text opens at the household of the prime minister east of Śrāvastī.
Prefaces
The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the Wú-period translator’s signature at the head: 「吳月氏國居士支謙譯」.
Abstract
T87 was produced during Zhī Qiān’s Wú-court translation period (222–253 CE), recorded in the frontmatter. The Indic source is presumed lost. T87 is one of the foundational early-Chinese sources for the lay-Buddhist uposatha-discipline.
Translations and research
- Bodhi, Bhikkhu, tr. The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2012.
- Yifa. The Origins of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2002.
Links
- CBETA online text
- Zhī Qiān DILA
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (245): Sakaino Kōyō 境野黄洋, Shina Bukkyō seishi 支那佛教精史 (Tokyo: Sakaino Kōyō Hakushi Ikō Kankōkai, 1935): 129–135 — dazangthings.nz