Fó shuō jìnxué jīng 佛說進學經
The Buddha Speaks: The Sūtra on Advancing in Study translated by 沮渠京聲 (Jūqú Jīngshēng, 譯)
About the work
T798 in one fascicle is a brief moral-doctrinal sūtra on four cardinal virtues, translated by the Liú-Sòng layman-translator 沮渠京聲 (Jūqú Jīngshēng, the dispossessed prince of Northern Liáng who fled south after the 439 Northern Wèi conquest). The translation must therefore date between his arrival at the Liú-Sòng court c. 439 and his death in 464. The colophon’s designation 居士 (“layman”) reflects his status as a non-monastic translator, unusual but not unique in the period.
Abstract
The Buddha at the Jetavana addresses an assembly of 1,250 monks on the four refined practices (四雅行 sì yǎ xíng) — practices observed by the wise and the noble-minded but neglected by the foolish: (1) filial piety toward one’s parents, served with cheerful countenance and full provision; (2) kindness and non-killing, observed steadfastly throughout one’s life; (3) generosity to the destitute, given without reluctance; (4) renunciation in a holy age (遭值聖世，捐榮履道), the abandonment of worldly glory in favour of the Dharma path during the appearance of a Buddha in the world.
The teaching is then summarised in a verse gāthā and supplemented by a complementary teaching on two more practices (二法): (1) silent contemplation in seclusion, and (2) erudite preaching in assembly. These two are paired with two kinds of giving (二施): the gift of food, which sustains the body, and the gift of Dharma, which transforms the mind — the latter pronounced superior. The sūtra closes with the standard formula of the disciples’ joyful reception of the teaching.
The text is a typical short doctrinal-ethical sūtra of the Saṃyukta-āgama / Madhyama-āgama type. Its filial-piety emphasis (孝事父母) made it congenial to Chinese moral sensibilities and contributed to the broader Buddhist accommodation with Confucian familial ethics characteristic of Six Dynasties Buddhism.
Translations and research
No standalone Western translation located. On Buddhist accommodation to Chinese filial-piety norms see:
- Cole, Alan. Mothers and Sons in Chinese Buddhism. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998.
- Schmidt-Glintzer, Helwig. Das Hung-ming chi und die Aufnahme des Buddhismus in China. Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1976.
Links
- CBETA online
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (450): [ T ] 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. https://dazangthings.nz/cbc/source/1/