Sìfēn lǜ xíngshì chāo zīchí jì 四分律行事鈔資持記
The Resource and Sustenance Records on the Sìfēn Vinaya Practical Compendium by 元照 (Yuánzhào, 撰)
About the work
A three-fascicle Sòng-dynasty commentary on Dàoxuān’s Xíngshì chāo (KR6k0128) by Yuánzhào 元照 (元照, 1048–1116) of the Língzhīyuàn 靈芝院. 資持 zīchí “resource and sustenance” — the title indicates the work’s role as the practical-pedagogical resource for the study of Dàoxuān’s foundational compendium.
Prefaces
Author’s colophon: 宋餘杭沙門元照撰.
Abstract
Yuánzhào’s Zīchí jì is the standard Sòng-period commentary on Dàoxuān’s Xíngshì chāo and the principal medium through which the Tang Nánshān tradition was transmitted to the late-imperial Chinese Buddhist saṅgha. The work is foundational for understanding Dàoxuān’s terminology, procedural details, and doctrinal positions, and was widely used as the working pedagogical text in late-Sòng and post-Sòng monastic instruction. Together with Dàoxuān’s parent Xíngshì chāo, the Zīchí jì constitutes the canonical East Asian practical Vinaya manual.
Translations and research
- Wáng Jiànguāng 王建光. Zhōngguó lǜ-zōng tōng-shǐ. Nanjing, 2008.
- Wèi Dào-rǔ 魏道儒. Zhōngguó fójiào lǜ-zōng. Beijing, 1995.