Sìfēn shāndìng bǐqiūnī jièběn 四分刪定比丘尼戒本
The Re-Edited Sìfēn Bhikṣuṇī-Prātimokṣa by 元照 (Yuánzhào, 重定)
About the work
A one-fascicle re-edited recension of the Sìfēn bhikṣuṇī-prātimokṣa by the great Sòng-dynasty Vinaya scholar Yuánzhào 元照 (元照, 1048–1116). 重定 chóngdìng “re-fixed” indicates that this is a revision of the older Buddhayaśas-period recension (KR6k0012), in line with Yuánzhào’s broader project of recovering and reissuing the foundational works of the Tang Nánshān school after their eclipse in the late Tang–early Sòng period.
Prefaces
Author’s preface explains the editorial method and the motivation: the Sìfēn bǐqiūnī jièběn of Buddhayaśas had become corrupted in transmission and required emendation against multiple witnesses, including comparison with the parent Sìfēn lǜ and with Dàoxuān’s Xīn shāndìng recension (KR6k0049).
Abstract
Yuánzhào’s re-editing project was central to the Sòng-period revival of Sìfēn Vinaya scholarship. The corrupted Tang transmission of the bhikṣuṇī-prātimokṣa — a text that had remained in continuous practical use throughout the Tang–Sòng transition but with cumulative scribal errors — required emendation. Yuánzhào’s recension drew on multiple manuscript witnesses, the parent Vinaya, and earlier Tang recensions to produce a corrected text that became the standard for the late-Sòng and post-Sòng Chinese bhikṣuṇī-saṅgha.
Translations and research
- Heirman, Ann. Rules for Nuns according to the Dharmaguptakavinaya. Delhi, 2002.
- Wáng Jiànguāng 王建光. Zhōngguó lǜ-zōng tōng-shǐ. Nanjing, 2008.