Sìfēn lǜ shānbǔ suíjī jiémó 四分律刪補隨機羯磨
The Pruned and Supplemented Karmavācanā for Adapting to Circumstances, from the Four-Part Vinaya by 道宣 (Dàoxuān, 集)
About the work
A two-fascicle compendium of karmavācanā drawn from the Sìfēn lǜ (KR6k0009) by Dàoxuān 道宣 (道宣), founder of the Nánshān 南山 Vinaya school. 刪補 shānbǔ “pruned and supplemented” indicates the editorial method: Dàoxuān selected, ordered, and where necessary supplemented the karmavācanā formulae of the parent Vinaya for practical use. 隨機 suíjī “adapting to circumstances” emphasises the practical-pastoral orientation. Composed at Zhōngnánshān 終南山 between 635 and 660 CE, the text became the single most widely used karmavācanā compendium in East Asian Buddhism.
Prefaces
Author’s preface (preserved in the canon) explains the editorial principle of selecting essential formulae from the Sìfēn tradition while supplementing from related Dharmaguptaka procedural texts where the parent Vinaya is silent or unclear.
Abstract
The Sìfēn lǜ shānbǔ suíjī jiémó is one of the three foundational works of Dàoxuān’s Nánshān school — together with the Sìfēn lǜ shānfán bǔquē xíngshì chāo (KR6k0128) and the Sìfēn lǜ bǐqiū hánzhù jièběn (KR6k0131). Together these are known as the Three Great Works of the Nánshān school (南山三大部 Nánshān sān dàbù). After the imperial canonisation of the Sìfēn lǜ in 709 CE, Dàoxuān’s compilations became the universal practical Vinaya manuals of East Asian Buddhism. The present text on karmavācanā — the procedural formulae for monastic legal acts — supplied the practical handbook for every Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese monastery’s conduct of upasaṃpadā, uposatha, pravāraṇā, kaṭhina, vassa, and the various adhikaraṇa procedures.
The text was further commented on and reorganised in subsequent generations: Yuánzhào 元照 (元照) of the Sòng wrote the Sìfēnlǜ shānbǔ suíjī jiémó shū (X40n728); Huáisù (懷素) of the early Tang produced his own competing recension as the Sēng jiémó (KR6k0047); these later works supplement but did not displace Dàoxuān’s foundational compilation.
Translations and research
- Wáng Jiànguāng 王建光. Zhōngguó lǜ-zōng tōng-shǐ 中國律宗通史. Nanjing: Fènghuáng chūbǎnshè, 2008.
- Wèi Dào-rǔ 魏道儒. Zhōngguó fójiào lǜ-zōng 中國佛教律宗. Beijing: Zōngjiào wénhuà chūbǎnshè, 1995.
- Yifa, Bhikṣuṇī. The Origins of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2002.
- Wéi-lóng 偉龍 (et al.). Dàoxuān lǜ shī yǔ Nánshān lǜ-zōng 道宣律師與南山律宗. Beijing: Zōngjiào wénhuà, 2007.