Fó shuō jiè xiāozāi jīng 佛說戒消災經
The Sūtra on the Precepts as Disaster-Averting by 支謙 (Zhī Qiān, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle short sūtra extolling the protective-karmic benefits of upholding the Buddhist precepts, translated by Zhī Qiān 支謙 (支謙) of the Three Kingdoms Wú 吳 (222–252 CE) at the early Buddhist communities of southern China.
Prefaces
Translator’s colophon: 吳月支優婆塞支謙譯.
Abstract
The text belongs to the popular-devotional layer of early Chinese Buddhist precept literature: it teaches that observance of the precepts averts disasters, ensures favorable rebirth, and brings worldly blessings. Such material played an important role in the early-medieval transmission of Buddhist ethical norms to Chinese lay society. Zhī Qiān, a Yuèzhī by extraction, was one of the principal translators of the Three Kingdoms period and produced a substantial body of Pure Land, Prajñāpāramitā, and lay-Buddhist material.
Translations and research
- Nattier, Jan. A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations. Tokyo, 2008.
- Zürcher, Erik. The Buddhist Conquest of China. Leiden: Brill, 1959; revised 2007.