Quàn fā pútí xīn wén 勸發菩提心文
An Exhortation to Generate the Mind of Awakening by 裴休 (Péi Xiū, 述)
About the work
This 1-fascicle text is a devotional-doctrinal exhortation by 裴休 Péi Xiū (797–870), the senior Tang lay Buddhist intellectual and prime minister, urging the cultivation of bodhicitta (the mind of awakening). Péi Xiū was the disciple of 宗密 Zōngmì and a major lay-Buddhist patron of the late Tang; his religious writings — including this work, the prefaces to several of Zōngmì’s books, and the Xīn fǎ yào 心法要 (the Essential Dharma of the Mind) — are among the most distinguished examples of late-Tang lay-Buddhist literature.
Prefaces
No formal preface.
Abstract
The work is conventionally datable to 裴休 Péi Xiū’s mature period of Buddhist activity, c. 845 – 870 CE. The bracket adopted here reflects this window. The doctrinal substance — the quàn fā pútí xīn “exhortation to generate bodhicitta” — is one of the standard themes of Mahāyāna devotional literature, and Péi Xiū’s contribution is distinguished by its literary elegance and its integration of ChánHuáyán synthesis themes drawn from his teacher Zōngmì.
The work is preserved in the Manji Xù zàng jīng (X1010) collection.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language translation located.
- Gregory, Peter N. Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism (1991) — substantial treatment of Péi Xiū as Zōngmì’s lay disciple.
Other points of interest
- Péi Xiū’s combination of high political office (he served as prime minister under Tang Xuānzōng 宣宗) and lay-Buddhist literary distinction makes him one of the most consequential lay-Buddhist intellectuals of the late Tang, and his writings are key documents of Tang Buddhist-Confucian intellectual synthesis.