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傳授三壇弘戒法儀

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Text ID
KR6k0247
Date
1672–1689
Dynasty
清

Chuánshòu sāntán hóngjiè fǎyí 傳授三壇弘戒法儀

A Code for the Transmission of the Three-Tier Promotion of the Precepts by 法藏 (Fǎzàng, 撰集); 超遠 (Chāoyuǎn, 檢錄)

About the work

A single-fascicle late-Míng / early-Qīng sāntán 三壇 (three-tier) ordination manual, layered in two compositional stages: (i) the late-Míng original zhuànjí 撰集 by Sānfēng Hànyuè Fǎzàng 三峰漢月法藏 (法藏, 1573–1635) at Běichánsì 北禪寺 in the Tiānqǐ 天啟 era (1621–1627); (ii) the early-Qīng jiǎnlù 檢錄 (review-and-record) by Zǐsù Chāoyuǎn 子肅超遠 (超遠, 1631–1689) at Pánlóng chánsì 蟠龍禪寺 on Mt Zhōngnán (Shǎnxī). Author signature: Míng Tiānqǐ Běichánsì hóngjiè shāmén Fǎzàng zhuànjí / Qīng Zhōngnánshān Pánlóng chánsì bǐqiū Chāoyuǎn jiǎnlù 明天啟北禪寺弘戒沙門　法藏　撰集／清終南山蟠龍禪寺比丘　超遠　檢錄.

Structural Division

Upper section — Shòu shāmí shíjiè fǎ 授沙彌十戒法 (the rite for conferring the ten śrāmaṇera precepts).

Middle section — Shòu bǐqiū jùzú jiè fǎ 授比丘具足戒法 (the rite for conferring the bhikṣu upasampadā, employing the báisì jiémó with the sānshī qīzhèng 三師七證 structure).

Lower section — Shòu púsà jiè fǎ 授菩薩戒法 (the rite for conferring the Fànwǎng bodhisattva precepts).

Each section walks through the rite step by step with rubrics for the kāidǎo 開導 (instructor), the zhíshì 執事 (officials), the candidates, and the bell-and-drum signals.

Abstract

The Chuánshòu sāntán hóngjiè fǎyí is the principal Sānfēng-line sāntán ordination manual, produced by Fǎzàng during his abbacy at Běichánsì in Sūzhōu (in the Tiānqǐ era of the late Míng) and subsequently jiǎnlù-ed by his lineage-descendant Chāoyuǎn at Zhōngnánshān Pánlóngsì in the early Qīng. Chāoyuǎn had himself studied Vinaya under Jiànyuè Dútǐ at Bǎohuáshān before turning to the Línjì lineage (cf. KR6k0226), so his check-redaction of Fǎzàng’s manual in 1670s–1680s reflects his rare cross-lineage fluency in both the Bǎohuáshān and Sānfēng-line ordination traditions. Composition of the present jiǎnlù-ed recension is bracketed by Chāoyuǎn’s accession to the Pánlóngsì abbacy in 1672 and his death in 1689; notBefore–notAfter are accordingly set 1672–1689.

The work shares the proscribed status of KR6k0246 Hóngjiè fǎyí — both were targeted by the Yōngzhèng emperor’s 1733 anti-Sānfēng polemic.

Translations and research

  • Jiang Wu, Enlightenment in Dispute (2008) — for the Mìyún / Hànyuè / Sānfēng-line context.
  • For Chāoyuǎn’s biography see KR6q0521 Zhōngnánshān Pánlóng Zǐsù chánshī yǔlù.

Other points of interest

  • The unusual cross-lineage status of Chāoyuǎn (Bǎohuáshān-trained Vinaya, Línjì-Yángqí Chán) makes this manual one of the rare early-Qīng ordination texts that bridges the otherwise antagonistic Sānfēng and Bǎohuáshān lines.

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