Fózhì bǐqiū liùwù tú 佛制比丘六物圖
An Illustrated Manual on the Six Items the Buddha Established for Bhikṣus by 元照 (Yuánzhào, 撰)
About the work
A short single-fascicle illustrated manual on the liùwù 六物 (“six items”) canonically required of every fully-ordained bhikṣu — the sānyī 三衣 (three robes: saṃghāṭī, uttarāsaṅga, antarvāsa) plus the bō 缽 (alms-bowl), zuòjù 坐具 (sitting-cloth), and lùshuǐnáng 漉水囊 (water-strainer) — by Yuánzhào 元照 (元照, 1048–1116). The work is precisely datable from the colophon: 大宋元豐三年夏首餘杭沙門元照於天宮院出 (Brought forth by Yuánzhào, monk of Yúháng, at Tiāngōngyuàn at the start of summer, third year of Yuánfēng of the Great Sòng) = early summer 1080.
Prefaces
No separate preface; the work opens directly with the body, beginning Chū míng sānyī wéi sānwù 初明三衣為三物 (“first, clarification that the three robes constitute three [of the six] items”), and proceeds through each of the six in turn with diagrams and commentary.
Abstract
The Liùwù tú is the principal Sòng manual on the canonical six items of the bhikṣu’s basic equipment. Yuánzhào treats each item under the heads of cáizhì 裁制 (cutting and tailoring), liàngfá 量法 (measure and method), shòujìng 受淨 (receiving and purification), and zuòyòng 作用 (use). The work was decisive for the Sòng-period understanding of standard monastic equipment and was studied and adapted across East Asia. The 1080 dating fixes the work in the period when Yuánzhào was actively reviving the Nánshānlǜ tradition at his Tiāngōngyuàn residence (later he moved to the Língzhīsì 靈芝寺). The work attracted a critical biàné 辯訛 (“Refuting Errors”) response from the Sòng monk Miàoshēng 妙生 (妙生), preserved as KR6k0187.
Translations and research
- Kieschnick, John. The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture (2003) — for the canonical context of monastic equipment.