Tiāntái bājiào dàyì 天台八教大意
The Great Purport of the Tiāntái Eight Doctrines by 灌頂 (Guàndǐng / Zhāngān Guàndǐng, 撰)
About the work
A single-juan synoptic exposition of the Tiāntái bājiào 八教 (eight doctrinal classifications) by Guàndǐng 灌頂 (561–632), Zhìyǐ’s principal disciple and the redactor of his major treatises. The bājiào combines the Tiāntái huàyí sìjiào 化儀四教 (four modes of teaching: sudden / gradual / secret / indeterminate) and huàfǎ sìjiào 化法四教 (four doctrinal contents: zàng / tōng / bié / yuán) into the comprehensive eight-fold Tiāntái doctrinal-classification system.
Abstract
Guàndǐng’s Bājiào dàyì is one of the principal early Tiāntái pedagogical productions, providing accessible synoptic introduction to the foundational bājiào doctrinal-classification framework. The work is parallel in genre to Dìguān’s later Sìjiào yí (KR6d0168, T1931) but earlier and more extensive in doctrinal coverage.
The composition is bracketed within Guàndǐng’s productive period after Zhìyǐ’s death (597) and before his own death (632).
Translations and research
- Penkower, Linda L. “In the Beginning … Guàndǐng 灌頂 (561–632) and the Creation of Early Tiāntái.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 23.2 (2000): 245–296.
Links
- CBETA online text T1930
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (620) — Takakusu Junjirō and Watanabe Kaigyoku, eds. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Tokyo, 1924–1932; CBReader v 5.0, 2014.