Shìmén zhāngfú yí 釋門章服儀
A Manual on the Insignia and Robes of the Buddhist Order by 道宣 (Dàoxuān, 述)
About the work
A single-fascicle Vinaya-ritual manual by Dàoxuān 道宣 (道宣, 596–667) treating the canonical regulation of monastic vestment — the kāṣāya (jiāshā 袈裟), the saṃghāṭī, and other ritual cloth-articles — and the institutional regulation of monastic insignia. Zhāngfú 章服 (“insignia and robes”) refers specifically to the canonical and customary regulation of vestment; yí 儀 (“decorum, ceremonial rule”) indicates a normative ritual manual.
Prefaces
Dàoxuān’s autograph xù: 法身無相。舍那御珍服。暨乎逗三乘根。應濁世之機 (“the dharma-kāya is without form; Vairocana commands a precious robe; arriving at the three-vehicle root, it adapts to the conditions of the defiled world”). The preface establishes the doctrinal framework: from dharma-kāya through Vairocana (= saṃbhoga-kāya) to Śākyamuni in coarse cloth saṃghāṭī, the regulation of vestment is grounded in the cosmology of the three Buddha-bodies.
Abstract
The Zhāngfú yí is the principal Tang Vinaya manual on monastic vestment regulation and the foundational document for the Sino-Buddhist regulation of the kāṣāya. The work synthesises canonical precedent (Indian vinaya prescriptions) with Chinese institutional practice and was decisive for all subsequent East Asian regulation of monastic dress. The work belongs together with KR6k0181 Liàngchù qīngzhòng yí 量處輕重儀 (on monastic property), KR6k0182 Shìmén guījìng yí 釋門歸敬儀 (on monastic etiquette), KR6k0183 Jiàojiè xīnxué bǐqiū xínghù lǜyí 教誡新學比丘行護律儀 (on novice training), and others as part of Dàoxuān’s broader institutional-ritual programme — works that translated Sìfēnlǜ canonical norms into operational Tang-monastic practice. Composition belongs to Dàoxuān’s mature Zhōngnán period.
Translations and research
- Kieschnick, John. The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture (2003) — for the institutional context of monastic vestment.
- Heirman, Ann. Studies on Vinaya in Tang practice.