Shāmén rìyòng 沙門日用
The Daily Use of the Śramaṇa by 弘贊 (Hóngzàn, 編)
About the work
A two-fascicle early-Qīng dailyuse manual by Zàishēn Hóngzàn 在犙弘贊 (弘贊, 1612–1686) of Bǎoxiànglín 寶象林 in Guǎngzhōu and Dǐnghúshān Qìngyúnsì 鼎湖山慶雲寺 in Zhàoqìng. Functionally parallel to Dútǐ’s Píní rìyòng qièyào (KR6k0224) — both gather the gāthā-and-dhāraṇī cycle for the bhikṣu’s daily activities — but Hóngzàn explicitly rejects the title Píní rìyòng as misleading and renames the work Shāmén rìyòng. Author signature: Guǎngzhōu Nánhǎi Bǎoxiànglín shāmén Hóngzàn Zàishēn biān 廣州南海寶象林沙門 弘贊在犙編.
Prefaces
(A) Shāmén rìyòng xù 沙門日用序, signed Kāngxī xīnhài zìzì rì ménrén Kāidìng shū yú Dǐnghú zhī Zhǐyuèlóu 康熈辛亥自恣日門人開定書于鼎湖之指月樓 — i.e. 1671 (Kāngxī 10), the zìzì day (the conclusion of the vassa rains-retreat, pravāraṇā), at the Zhǐyuèlóu of Mt Dǐnghú, by Hóngzàn’s disciple Kāidìng 開定. The preface lays out Hóngzàn’s polemic against the standard title:
“The book of dailyuse is the pivot of the three-thousand [dignities] and the marvellous function of the eighty-thousand [subtleties]; the ladder by which the renouncer ascends, the boat of compassion by which the bodhisattva benefits beings. The old title was Píní rìyòng, but this is incorrect. Píní (vinaya) is vinaya, the vinayapiṭaka of the five storehouses, dealing only with the 250 bhikṣu-precepts and not with dhāraṇī and verse-formulae. The verses [in the dailycycle book] mostly come from the Huáyán; the dhāraṇī are recorded in the mì division [of the canon]… To call all this vinaya is conflation… Our master Zài héshàng (Hóngzàn)… has revised it and titled it Shāmén rìyòng — name and substance both fitting; brief in event, ample in principle.”
Structural Division
Fascicle 1 (shàng 上): Hóngzàn’s opening discourse on the bhikṣu’s threefold practice (precept-meditation-wisdom), the sì yí 四儀 (four postures), the xiǎnmì 顯密 (exoteric-and-esoteric) recitation and the zhìhuì 智慧 contemplative basis; the daily gāthā-and-dhāraṇī sequence from waking through morning rites.
Fascicle 2 (xià 下): the mealtime, afternoon and evening cycles and the closing rites.
Abstract
The Shāmén rìyòng is the principal alternative to Dútǐ’s Píní rìyòng qièyào, produced from the parallel Dǐnghúshān Cáodòng-Vinaya tradition in Guǎngdōng (rather than Bǎohuáshān in Jiāngsū). Substantively the two dailycycle compendia overlap; Hóngzàn’s distinctive choices are: (i) the titlerejection of “Píní” in favour of “Shāmén”; (ii) a fuller scriptural grounding of each gāthā in its Huáyán Jìngxíng pǐn source, with the corresponding canonical citation given; (iii) explicit critique of contemporary lax practice (“近代阿師。不稽律典。不依所犯懺除。但令持呪爾許。全違說…” — “modern ācāryas do not consult the vinayapiṭaka, and rather than confessing-and-removing offences according to the offence committed, simply assign somany recitations of dhāraṇī — wholly contrary to the [Buddha’s] teaching”). Composition is bracketed by Hóngzàn’s mature Dǐnghú career; notBefore–notAfter are accordingly set 1660–1671.
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
- The book is a key witness to the Guǎngdōng / Cáodòng axis of the early-Qīng Vinaya revival — distinct from the Línjì-affiliated Bǎohuáshān line of Dútǐ.
- Hóngzàn’s titleobjection (“the gāthās are not vinaya, the dhāraṇī are not vinaya”) is one of the few explicit early-Qīng debates about what kind of literature the dailycycle handbook is.
Links
- CBETA online: https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/X1117
- 弘贊 DILA
- Kanseki DB