Púsà míng jīng 菩薩名經
Sūtra of Bodhisattva Names compiled by 羅濬 Luó Jùn (集), prefaced by 紹南 Shàonán.
About the work
The Púsà míng jīng is a ten-fascicle Southern Sòng compilation of bodhisattva names drawn from across the Buddhist Tripiṭaka, organized under chapters (pǐn 品) and prefaced with two introductory essays. Unlike the canonical fómíng texts that list Buddha-names, this work focuses specifically on bodhisattva (púsà 菩薩) names — a more unusual specialization. The compiler is 羅濬, a lay Buddhist (who signed himself “常不輕居士 羅濬 集” in his second preface), a resident of Chángxī xiàn 長溪縣 in Fúzhōu prefecture (modern Fújiàn). The text is preserved in the Zhōnghuá dàzàng jīng 中華大藏經 (Zhōnghuá Canon, vol. 71), suggesting it was preserved in a secondary canon rather than the mainstream Taishō.
Prefaces
The first fascicle opens with:
- A donation inscription by 羅濬 (紹興 29 = 1159 CE), recording that he donated money for printing the Púsà míng jīng to be deposited in the canon.
- A preface (xù 序) by the monk 紹南 of the former Dàtóng Chán-yuàn 大同禪院 in Jiànzhōu 建州, noting that he had spent five complete circuits of reading the canon and identified bodhisattva names scattered throughout canonical texts, then organized them into a comprehensive collection.
- A second preface (zàixù 再序) by 羅濬 himself, written under the sobriquet “常不輕居士” (a self-identification with the Sadāparibhūta bodhisattva of the Lotus Sūtra), providing a eulogistic account of the Buddha’s historical appearance and the merit of reciting bodhisattva names.
Abstract
The Púsà míng jīng was compiled by 羅濬 in or before Shàoxīng 紹興 29 (1159 CE), during the Southern Sòng, and donated for canonical inclusion. He was a literati Buddhist layman of Fúzhōu; his assumption of the sobriquet “常不輕居士” signals Tiāntái/Lotus-sūtra devotional affiliation. The compilation is a scholarly anthologizing project: he reviewed the entire Chinese canon and extracted all occurrences of bodhisattva names, organizing them into a systematic reference work. This is distinct from the Buddha-names (fómíng) tradition; the focus on bodhisattva names reflects the Mahāyāna devotional context of Southern Sòng lay Buddhism. The text was preserved in the Zhōnghuá dàzàng jīng (a 20th-century scholarly canon) but not in the Taishō Tripiṭaka.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.