Zhǐguān fǔxíng zhuànhóngjué 止觀輔行傳弘決
Auxiliary-Practice Transmission-and-Propagation Decisions on the Cessation-and-Contemplation by 湛然 (Zhànrán / Jīngxī Zhànrán, 述)
About the work
The standard subcommentary on 智顗 Zhìyǐ’s Móhē zhǐguān (KR6d0130, T1911) by 湛然 Zhànrán (711–782), the ninth Tiāntái patriarch. With Zhànrán’s Fǎhuá xuányì shìqiān (KR6d0007, T1717) and Fǎhuá wénjù jì (KR6d0015, T1719), this work constitutes the third of Zhànrán’s three great subcommentaries on the Tiāntái sāndàbù, completing the standard mid-Táng exegetical apparatus.
Prefaces
The text opens with the Zhǐguān fǔxíng zhuànhóngjué xù 止觀輔行傳弘決序, framing the subcommentary’s purpose: “Those who venerate the void-and-nothingness — the Way of name-and-teaching is abandoned. Those who relinquish text-and-letters — the meaning of composition-and-creation is reversed. The ancient predecessor, the Sanskrit-emperor [the Buddha], rode the time and beneficially appeared. The sages-and-worthies, the Way-contracted, virtue-and-voice [their] silence does not contradict. Even-they relied on word-illumination and dispatched-it [in] the assembled-collection [the canonical compilation]. How much more in time-elapsed image-final [the dharma-decline period], with students rare in knowing the marvellous? Those who comprehend [are] one or two in ten…”
Abstract
The Zhǐguān fǔxíng is one of the most substantial subcommentarial works in pre-modern Chinese Buddhism — ten juan of detailed exegesis on Zhìyǐ’s Móhē zhǐguān. Its method combines (1) systematic doctrinal elaboration of Zhìyǐ’s meditative-doctrinal framework; (2) extensive citation of canonical sources for Zhìyǐ’s allusions and arguments; (3) reconstruction-by-analogy of the Móhē zhǐguān’s missing latter section (which Zhìyǐ never completed); and (4) sustained polemical engagement with rival meditation-traditions, particularly the Northern Chán of 神秀 Shénxiù and the rising Huāyán 華嚴 school.
The work’s distinctive doctrinal contribution is its systematic articulation of Zhànrán’s distinctive mid-Táng Tiāntái synthesis: the xìngjùè 性具惡 (buddha-nature inherently includes evil) doctrine, the wúqíng yǒu xìng 無情有性 (insentient beings possess buddha-nature) doctrine, and the strict identity of meditative practice and doctrinal classification. These doctrines became the foundational Tiāntái commitments of subsequent Sòng-period scholastic productive activity.
The composition is dated, with Zhànrán’s other two great subcommentaries, to the mature productive period c. 750–782, with substantial portions composed during the post-Ān Lùshān retreat at Yíxīng / Pítán. The work was incorporated into the Tiāntái scholastic curriculum immediately upon completion and remained the standard subcommentary on the Móhē zhǐguān through the medieval period.
Translations and research
- Penkower, Linda L. “T’ien-t’ai during the T’ang Dynasty: Chan-jan and the Sinification of Buddhism.” PhD diss., Columbia University, 1993. (The standard modern study of Zhànrán; treats the Zhǐguān fǔ-xíng extensively.)
- Stevenson, Daniel B. “The Four Kinds of Samādhi in Early T’ien-t’ai Buddhism.” In Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism, ed. Peter N. Gregory, 45–97. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1986.
- Donner, Neal, and Stevenson, Daniel B. The Great Calming and Contemplation: A Study and Annotated Translation of the First Chapter of Chih-i’s Mo-ho chih-kuan. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1993.
- Andō Toshio 安藤俊雄. Tendaigaku — kompon shisō to sono tenkai 天台学：根本思想とその展開. Kyoto: Heirakuji Shoten, 1968.
- Hibi Senshō 日比宣正. Tōdai Tendaigaku kenkyū 唐代天台学研究. Tokyo: Sankibō, 1975.
Other points of interest
A long Sòng-period subcommentary tradition developed around the Zhǐguān fǔxíng, most importantly through the productions of 知禮 Sìmíng Zhīlǐ (960–1028) and his shānjiā 山家 lineage. The work was carried to Japan with the rest of the Tiāntái triple-treatise apparatus by 最澄 Saichō in 805 and remained foundational for Japanese Tendai meditative practice through the medieval period.