Zōngruì sēngzhèng yú Táng guóshī suǒ kǒushòu 宗叡僧正於唐國師所口受
Oral Transmission Received by Sēngzhèng Sō-ei from the Tang State-Preceptor by 宗叡 (Zōngruì / Sō-ei, 口受)
About the work
A one-fascicle compilation of Mahāpratisarā ritual instructions orally transmitted to Sō-ei (宗叡, 809–884) — the Japanese Tendai-and-Shingon monk who travelled to Tang China 862–865 — from the Tang State-Preceptor (唐國師, an Amoghavajra-lineage master, identifiable as one of the Cháng’ān or Wǔtáishān masters in Sō-ei’s documented teacher-list). Bound together by Taishō with KR6j0375 (T1156A) under the composite number 1156. Title literally: “What was orally received by Sō-ei from the Tang State-Preceptor”. The opening section 大隨求根本印第一 (“First Root-Mudrā of Mahāpratisarā”) gives the vajra-class mūlamudrā with detailed finger-positioning, glossing the Sanskrit vajra (嚩日羅) as Chinese 五股金剛杵 (five-pronged vajra-pestle).
Abstract
The text records the operative mudrā and mantra sequence for the Mahāpratisarā rite as received by Sō-ei from his Tang teacher, with each mudrā given precise finger-by-finger description and the corresponding Sanskrit term glossed in literary Chinese. The mūla-mudrā (大隨求根本印第一) is formed by interlocking the two hands inside, raising both middle-fingers together, slightly hooking the index-fingers behind the middle-fingers like aṅkuśas, and slightly bending the small-fingers and thumbs together. The text is a unique kuden (口傳, oral transmission) record from the Heian-period Japanese pilgrimage to Tang China — one of the so-called Hasshu Nyūgakusō (八宗入學僧) sources for Tang esoteric instruction, alongside the records of Kūkai, Saichō, Ennin, Enchin, and Engyō. Sō-ei was the last of the eight Heian-period Japanese pilgrim-monks; he returned to Japan in 865, bringing 134 texts including Esoteric Mahāpratisarā materials. The dating bracket follows the Sō-ei pilgrimage period 862–865, with the receipt of this material taking place in Cháng’ān during that window.
Translations and research
- Abe, Ryūichi. The Weaving of Mantra. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.
- Reischauer, Edwin O. Ennin’s Travels in Tang China. New York: Ronald Press, 1955. (Comparable pilgrim-monk testimony.)
- Bogel, Cynthea J. With a Single Glance: Buddhist Icon and Early Mikkyō Vision. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009.
Other points of interest
The text is one of the rare canonical Japanese-pilgrim-record items embedded in the Taishō Esoteric section as a putative “Tang” text — the kǒushòu (oral receipt) form preserves Tang ritual practice as transmitted to Japan rather than as authored in China. Compare similar Heian kuden materials in the Shingon zōzu (雜書) corpus.