Fànwǎngjīng zhíjiě 梵網經直解
Direct Exposition of the Brahmajāla Sūtra by 寂光 (Sānmèi Jìguāng, 直解)
About the work
A two-fascicle late-Míng commentary on the Fànwǎng jīng by Sānmèi Jìguāng 三昧寂光 (寂光, 1580–1645), abbot of Bǎohuáshān 寶華山 Lóngchāngsì 隆昌寺 — the principal Vinaya-ordination centre of the late-imperial Chinese Buddhist saṅgha. 直解 zhíjiě “direct exposition” indicates a straightforward exegetical treatment, by contrast with the elaborate scholastic commentaries.
Prefaces
Author’s colophon: 明三昧寂光直解.
Abstract
Jìguāng’s Zhíjiě belongs to the Bǎohuáshān Vinaya revival tradition, which became the dominant institutional Vinaya tradition of the late-imperial Chinese Buddhist saṅgha. Where Zhūhóng emphasised lay practice and Zhìxù pursued doctrinal synthesis, the Bǎohuáshān tradition under Jìguāng and his successor 讀體 Jiànyuè Dútǐ 見月讀體 (1601–1679) focused on the strict practical observance of monastic discipline through the integrated Sìfēn lǜ + Fànwǎng dual-Vinaya framework. The text became the standard Bǎohuáshān commentary on the bodhisattva-precepts.
Translations and research
- Yū, Chün-fang. The Renewal of Buddhism in China. New York, 1981.
- Wáng Jiànguāng 王建光. Zhōngguó lǜ-zōng tōng-shǐ. Nanjing, 2008.
- Jiang Wu. Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.