Shāmí shíjiè fǎ bìng wēiyí 沙彌十戒法并威儀
The Ten Precepts and Decorums for Novice Monks (translator unknown)
About the work
A one-fascicle compendium of the ten precepts (十戒 shíjiè) and accompanying behavioural norms for śrāmaṇera 沙彌 (novice monks). Translator and date unknown; the catalog tradition assigns it to “lost translation”. 沙彌 transliterates Skt. śrāmaṇera.
Prefaces
No translator-attribution survives.
Abstract
The Shāmí shíjiè — the ten basic precepts that the novice monk takes upon ordination as śrāmaṇera (the abstinences from killing, taking what is not given, sexual activity, lying, intoxicants, eating after midday, dance/music, perfume/garlands, high beds, and accepting gold/silver) — are one of the foundational rule-sets of Buddhist monasticism. The text presents these precepts together with associated behavioural norms (wēiyí), giving the practical foundation for novice monastic training in early Chinese Buddhism. Comparable texts include KR6k0061 (求那跋摩’s Shāmí wēiyí) and KR6k0062 (施護’s Shāmí shíjiè yízé jīng).
Translations and research
- Hirakawa Akira 平川彰. Ritsuzō no kenkyū. Tokyo: Sankibō, 1960.
- Foulk, T. Griffith. “Religious Functions of Buddhist Monks.” In Buddhism in Practice, ed. D. S. Lopez Jr., Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.