Dà bǐqiū sānqiān wēiyí 大比丘三千威儀
The Three Thousand Decorums of the Great Bhikṣu by 安世高 (An Shigao, 譯)
About the work
A two-fascicle compendium of the 3000 vinaya decorums (威儀 wēiyí “demeanour/decorum”) for fully-ordained bhikṣus, attributed to An Shigao 安世高 (安世高) of the Eastern Hàn — though the attribution has been questioned by modern scholarship.
Prefaces
Translator’s colophon: 後漢安世高譯.
Abstract
The “three thousand decorums” — a doctrinal-numerical category for the comprehensive set of vinaya-derived behavioural norms (the 250 prātimokṣa rules × the 3 modes of bodily conduct × the 4 postures = 3000) — is a standard schema of late-Indian and East Asian monastic etiquette. The text supplies detailed practical instructions for the conduct of monastic life: how to walk, sit, eat, sleep, beg alms, urinate, etc. Its date and translator-attribution have been debated: Nattier (2008) treats the An Shigao attribution with caution, suggesting that the text may belong to a slightly later layer of Eastern Hàn / Three Kingdoms translation activity. Either way, the text is one of the earliest practical Vinaya documents in Chinese.
Translations and research
- Nattier, Jan. A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations. Tokyo, 2008.
- Forte, Antonino. The Hostage An Shigao and His Offspring. Kyoto, 1995.
- Zürcher, Erik. The Buddhist Conquest of China. Leiden: Brill, 1959; revised 2007.