Fóshuō Sìtiānwáng jīng 佛說四天王經
Sūtra of the Four Heavenly Kings translated by 智嚴 (Zhìyán) and 寶雲 (Bǎoyún), 譯
About the work
The Fóshuō Sì-tiānwáng jīng (T590) is a one-fascicle short sūtra translated jointly by Zhìyán 智嚴 (智嚴) and Bǎoyún 寶雲 (寶雲) under the Liú-Sòng 劉宋. The Buddha explains the function of the cāturmahārāja — the four great kings of the Heaven of the Four Mahārājas (Vaiśravaṇa, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Virūḍhaka, Virūpākṣa) — as protectors of the Dharma who tour the world on the eighth, fourteenth, and fifteenth of each lunar month to inspect human merit.
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula. The Chū sānzàng jì jí records that Zhìyán and Bǎoyún translated this and several other texts together in 427 CE at the Zhǐyuán Temple 枳園寺 (or 楊都) in Jiànkāng under LiúSòng patronage.
Abstract
A short cosmographical-monitory sūtra explaining the role of the Four Mahārājas as moral overseers; a key textual source for the East Asian “six fast-days” (六齋日) lay-observance system. Translation precisely datable to 427 CE on the Chū sānzàng jì jí evidence.
Translations and research
- Zürcher, Erik. The Buddhist Conquest of China. Leiden: Brill, 1959 — Zhìyán-Bǎoyún translation circle.
- Hureau, Sylvie. “Translations, Apocrypha, and the Emergence of the Buddhist Canon,” in J. Lagerwey & P. Lü eds., Early Chinese Religion: Part Two. Leiden: Brill, 2010, vol. 2, 741–774.
Links
- CBETA T15n0590
- Kanseki DB
- 智嚴 DILA
- 寶雲 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (300, 415, 440, 550) — Gotō Gijō 後藤義乗. “Butsu hongyō kyō, Shi tennō kyō no Kan’yakusha 仏本行経・四天王経の漢訳者.” IBK 55, no. 2 (2007): 982–978[L].