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
Reminder: AI generated list - beware of hallucinations. Corrections and additions welcome
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/