Jiémó yíshì 羯磨儀式
The Procedural Code for Karmavācanā by 書玉 (Shūyù, 述)
About the work
A two-fascicle late-Qīng karmavācanā (jiémó 羯磨) manual by Yíjié Shūyù (書玉, 1645–1722) of Zhāoqìngsì 昭慶寺 in Hángzhōu — the systematic procedural code for all one hundred eightyfour karmavācanā observances of the Sòng-Qīng Sìfēnlǜ tradition: i.e. the formal act-pronouncements by which a saṅgha enacts its corporate decisions (sēngfǎ 僧法 collective acts, duìshǒu 對首 acts before another, and xīnniàn 心念 mental acts). Author signature: Gǔháng Zhāoqìng wànshòu jiètán chuánlǜ shāmén Shūyù shù 古杭昭慶萬壽戒壇傳律沙門書玉述.
Prefaces
(A) Xù 序, signed Kāngxī jǐmǎo chūn shàngyuán jiédàn Cíyún guàndǐng xíngzhě Xùfǎ héshí tí 康熈已卯春上元節旦慈雲灌頂行者續法合十題 — i.e. 1699 (Kāngxī 38), 1st lunar month, shàngyuán (Lantern Festival), by Cíyún Xùfǎ 慈雲續法 (1641–1728), the major Hángzhōu Huáyán and Pure-Land master. Xùfǎ writes: “The jiémó is the dharma personally pronounced by the golden mouth of the tathāgata: there is the sēngfǎ, the duìshǒu, and the xīnniàn — three gates in summary, but in detail one hundred and eightyfour kinds. Considering its strength, [the jiémó] is able to wash dyed [karma] back to pure; in detail of its merit, it is able to complete and cause every eventcause… The Master Yíjié of Zhāoqìng — who first produced the Xiāngrǔ jì, [linking] the great and the small [vehicles], and now compiles the Jiémó yí, separately for monks and for nuns — every event therein is fully principled, every dharma is grounded in the canonical institution… If this code stands, the dharma stands; if this code perishes, the dharma perishes.”
(B) Jiémó yíshì yuánqǐ 羯磨儀式緣起 by Shūyù: traces the genealogy from Dàoxuān’s Sìfēn lǜ shānbǔ suíjī jiémó through Sòng Língzhī Yuánzhào’s Yèshū jìyuán jì and Hùizhèngjì of Zhāoqìng Yǔnkǎn — note the recursive: 昭慶 Yǔnkǎn of the Northern Sòng, and Shūyù himself at the same Zhāoqìngsì 700 years later — and arrives at the late-Míng / Wànlì revival under Sānmèi and Dútǐ at Bǎohuáshān.
Structural Division
Fascicle 1 (shàng 上): The sēngfǎ jiémó 僧法羯磨 (acts requiring the assembly): the báiyī jiémó 白一羯磨 (“singlepronouncement” acts), the báièr jiémó (with one assent), the báisì jiémó 白四羯磨 (“four-step pronouncement” acts — most importantly the upasampadā).
Fascicle 2 (xià 下): The duìshǒu jiémó 對首羯磨 (acts before another monk) and the xīnniàn jiémó 心念羯磨 (mental acts), together with the corresponding women’ssaṅgha procedures — the latter overlapping with KR6k0229 Èrbù sēng shòujiè yíshì.
Abstract
The Jiémó yíshì is the principal late-Qīng karmavācanā handbook, designed to make the jiémó protocol practically usable in monastery routine. It systematises the canonical fourfold scheme (bái 白 announcement → jiémó 羯磨 actpronouncement) and supplies the parallel bhikṣu and bhikṣuṇī forms for each item. Composition is bracketed by Shūyù’s installation at Zhāoqìng (early 1680s) and the 1699 Xùfǎ preface; notBefore–notAfter are set 1690–1699.
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
- The 1699 preface by Cíyún Xùfǎ 續法 (續法 — major Hángzhōu Huáyán master, his works are KR6a0078–KR6a0083 etc.) is one of the rare cross-school endorsements between the Hángzhōu Huáyán/Pure-Land circle and the Bǎohuáshān–Zhāoqìng Vinaya line.
Links
- CBETA online: https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/X1135
- 書玉 DILA
- Kanseki DB