Zhǐguān yìlì 止觀義例
Examples and Cases of Cessation-and-Contemplation by 湛然 (Zhànrán / Jīngxī Zhànrán, 述)
About the work
A two-juan (上 / 下) supplementary doctrinal work to 智顗 Zhìyǐ’s Móhē zhǐguān (KR6d0130, T1911) by 湛然 Zhànrán, organised as a sequence of seven lì 例 (“cases” / “examples”) that elaborate selected doctrinal points of the Móhē zhǐguān. The work belongs to Zhànrán’s broader project of systematic Tiāntái scholastic consolidation alongside his three great subcommentaries.
Prefaces
The text in the Taishō recension carries the standard front matter; the body opens directly with the seven lì listing: “First: the Transmitted-Section Distinction case. Second: the Foundational-Doctrine case. Third: the Foundational-Exposition case. Fourth: the Great-Section General-Particular case. Fifth: the Mind-and-Realm Resolving-Doubt case. Sixth: the Interpretation-and-Practice Mutual-Aid case. Seventh: the Parable-Doubt Manifesting-Right case (one heading says: ‘breaking-confusion’; please change [as needed]).”
Abstract
The Zhǐguān yìlì is a focused supplementary doctrinal work that addresses seven selected interpretive issues in the Móhē zhǐguān, providing systematic Tiāntái scholastic resolution of contested points. The work is consequently more analytically focused than the comprehensive Zhǐguān fǔxíng (KR6d0131) and was widely used in the Tiāntái scholastic curriculum for systematic doctrinal preparation.
The composition is bracketed within Zhànrán’s mature productive period c. 750–782.
Translations and research
See KR6d0131 for the bibliography on Zhànrán’s Móhē zhǐguān commentaries.
- Penkower, Linda L. “T’ien-t’ai during the T’ang Dynasty: Chan-jan and the Sinification of Buddhism.” PhD diss., Columbia University, 1993.
- Hibi Senshō 日比宣正. Tōdai Tendaigaku kenkyū 唐代天台学研究. Tokyo: Sankibō, 1975.