Fǎjiè cìdì chūmén 法界次第初門
Beginning-Gates of the Sequential Dharma-Realm by 智顗 (Zhìyǐ / Tiāntái dàshī, 撰)
About the work
A three-juan (上 / 中 / 下) Tiāntái doctrinal handbook by Zhìyǐ 智顗, providing systematic introductory exposition of the standard Buddhist doctrinal categories — skandhas, dhātus, āyatanas, ārya-satya, pratītyasamutpāda, etc. — organised in the Tiāntái sequential framework. The work is one of Zhìyǐ’s principal pedagogical productions for elementary doctrinal study.
Abstract
The Fǎjiè cìdì chūmén is a Tiāntái-style doctrinal lexicon-cum-handbook providing systematic introductory exposition of foundational Buddhist categories. The work belongs together with Zhìyǐ’s other elementary pedagogical productions as the standard Tiāntái introductory apparatus for doctrinal study, complementing his more systematic mature works (the Xuányì, the Wénjù, the Móhē zhǐguān).
The composition is bracketed within Zhìyǐ’s productive period c. 575–597.
Translations and research
- Hurvitz, Leon. Chih-i (538–597). Brussels, 1962.
- Andō Toshio 安藤俊雄. Tendaigaku — kompon shisō to sono tenkai. Kyoto: Heirakuji Shoten, 1968.
Links
- CBETA online text T1925
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (590) — Ng Yu-Kwan [吳汝鈞]. Tʼien-Tʼai Buddhism and Early Mādhyamika. Tendai Institute of Hawaii / Buddhist Studies Program, University of Hawaii, 1993.