Fànwǎng púsàjièjīng yìshū fāyǐn wènbiàn 梵網菩薩戒經義疏發隱問辯

Polemical Q&A on the Fā-yǐn Sub-Commentary by 袾宏 (Zhūhóng, 述)

About the work

A one-fascicle polemical question-and-answer companion to Zhūhóng’s Fāyǐn sub-commentary (KR6k0086). 問辯 wènbiàn “questions and disputations” indicates the genre — a defence of the principal commentary against potential objections.

Prefaces

Author: 明雲棲袾宏.

Abstract

The wènbiàn preserves Zhūhóng’s responses to questions and objections about his interpretation of the Fànwǎng precepts. Such polemical-defensive companion texts are characteristic of the late-Míng intellectual culture, in which doctrinal positions were frequently contested through formal Q&A exchanges. The disputed points include the relationship of the bodhisattva-precepts to the prātimokṣa, the requirements for the conferral of bodhisattva-precepts on lay practitioners, and the doctrinal status of the Fànwǎng jīng given its disputed authenticity.

Translations and research

  • Yū, Chün-fang. The Renewal of Buddhism in China. New York, 1981.