Péngzhé zhēn 蓬折箴
An Admonition Against the Bending Reed by 妙蓮 (Miàolián, 撰)
About the work
A short single-fascicle Southern-Sòng polemical zhēn 箴 (admonition) by Shàngwēng Miàolián 上翁妙蓮 (妙蓮) — companion piece to the larger KR6k0221 Péngzhé zhíbiàn. Both works target Tiěwēng Shǒuyī’s 鐵翁守一 Zhōngnán jiāyè (KR6k0219). Where the Zhíbiàn mounts a structured doctrinal refutation, the Zhēn is an aphoristic-rhetorical zhēn (admonition), framed by personal recollection.
Prefaces
The opening: “In tradition it is said: ‘one whose actual conduct hides his light is high but unrenowned; one of meagre virtue who suits the times is renowned but not high.’ In our school there is one Tiěwēng who claims real learning and is fond of broadcasting his name to posterity — ‘high’ he is not high, ‘name’ he is no proper kind. The simile of the bird and the rat applies to him…”
It then narrates a personal episode: “In the Shàodìng 紹定 reign [1228–1233], having retired from Sānshān, I usurpingly took the abbacy at Húxīn. One day Tiěwēng suddenly came calling, drew from his sleeve a manuscript of one fascicle, and said by mouth that he sought my warrant — but his real intention was to display his skill. Knowing well that he did not know his own measure but rashly produced absurdities, I was like a sober man before a drunkard…” The passage is a striking rare case of Sòng-Buddhist ad hominem polemic.
The colophon to the Zhíbiàn (KR6k0221) carries a 寶祐二年 = 1254 date which applies equally to this work; both must be read together.
Abstract
The Péngzhé zhēn is a condensed companion to KR6k0221: it presents the same Zhōngnán jiāyè citations and rebuttals (the miàoguān foundation question, the vinaya-as-Mahāyāna yuánshí 圓實 thesis) but in an aphoristic-admonitory rather than treatise mode. The personal episode at the opening — Tiěwēng visiting Miàolián at Húxīnsì (one of West Lake’s island-temples) during the Shàodìng reign — is biographically valuable. Composition is bracketed by 1241 (the Chúnyòu opening of KR6k0221) and 1254 (the Bǎoyòu 2 colophon); notBefore–notAfter set accordingly. Together the two Péngzhé pieces are the only sustained Southern-Sòng Língzhī-school polemical response to Rìshān Vinaya teaching.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.
Links
- CBETA online: https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/X1112
- 妙蓮 DILA
- Kanseki DB