Fóshuō wǔwáng jīng 佛說五王經
Sūtra of the Five Kings (translator unknown)
About the work
The Fóshuō wǔwáng jīng (T523) is a one-fascicle anonymous short sūtra. The “five kings” (wǔwáng 五王) of the title come together to engage the Buddha on the question of which of various human pursuits — desire, beauty, food, repose, etc. — provides the greatest pleasure. The Buddha’s response sets up an instruction on the Four Noble Truths.
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula. There is no translator attribution.
Abstract
This is a famous didactic sūtra often used in Chinese Buddhist popular preaching, taking the form of five rival kings each defending a different conception of human happiness, with the Buddha refuting all five and establishing his own teaching on the cessation of suffering. The text was widely popular in medieval China and frequently illustrated in Buddhist art.
Translations and research
- No substantial secondary literature located.
Links
- CBETA T14n0523
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (420) — T = CBETA [Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association]. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932. CBReader v 5.0, 2014.