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略授三歸五八戒並菩薩戒

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Text ID
KR6k0250
Date
700–900
Dynasty
唐

Lüè shòu sānguī wǔbājiè bìng púsàjiè 略授三歸五八戒並菩薩戒

An Abridged Procedure for Conferring the Three Refuges, the Five and Eight Precepts, and the Bodhisattva Precepts by 澄照 (Chéngzhào, 讚)

About the work

A single-fascicle Táng-period combined-precept conferral manual by Ānguósì shāmén Chéngzhào 安國寺沙門澄照 (澄照, life-dates not preserved) of Ānguósì 安國寺 in Cháng’ān. Author signature: Ānguósì shāmén Chéngzhào zàn 安國寺沙門　澄照　讚.

Note on attribution: the Chéngzhào of this work is not identical with Nánshān Dàoxuān 南山道宣 (596–667), who received the posthumous title Chéngzhào dàshī 澄照大師 from emperor Huīzōng in 1101 (Sòng dynasty); and Ānguósì — Cháng’ān’s southwestern dynastic monastery — was not Dàoxuān’s seat (which was Xīmíngsì). The DILA Buddhist Person Authority records the present Chéngzhào as a separate Táng-period figure.

Opening doctrinal frame

The opening makes the work’s claim: “Of the dharma of precepts: it is the source of becoming Buddha and the foundation of attaining sageness. If the seven branches [of conduct] are not pure, the samādhi will not appear before one… [The conferral] must be made in accord with the proper procedural form: some [practitioners] read out the xiāng (precept-marks) instead of the karmavācanā; some translate the fānxié 翻邪 (“turning from heresy”) rite as the jiètǐ-conferral; some add to the script lacking authority; some shorten the script lacking standard; — these vainly tire the labour without rousing the jièpǐn. The Fànwǎng jīng says: ‘such a one deceives himself and deceives others.’ The conferring monk earns the slightdefilement transgression, while the receiving candidate by what means obtains the pure precept? Now I follow the canonical teaching, briefly gather the procedural code under eight gates.”

Structural Division

Eight mén (gates):

  1. Shuō shòu yóu xù 說受由序 (preface explaining the rationale of receiving);
  2. Qǐng shèng zhèngmíng 請聖證明 (invoking the sages as witnesses);
  3. Fānxié guīyī 翻邪歸依 (turning from heresy and taking refuge);
  4. Chànchú wǎngyè 懺除往業 (confessing and erasing past karma);
  5. Shuōfǎ kāiwù 說法開悟 (explaining the dharma to awaken the candidate);
  6. Zhèng fā lǜyí 正發律儀 (formally giving rise to the vinaya-form);
  7. Shìxiàng hùchí 示相護持 (manifesting the marks and protecting / upholding);
  8. Fāyuàn huíxiàng 發願回向 (vow-making and dedication of merit).

Abstract

The Lüè shòu sānguī wǔbājiè bìng púsàjiè is the principal Táng-period combined-rite manual for the lay Buddhist’s full sequence of vows — a single compact procedure covering the three refuges, the five lay precepts, the eight precepts (bāzhāi), and the bodhisattva precepts. Where the parallel manuals of KR6k0248 (Huìsī attribution) and KR6k0249 (Zhànrán) treat the bodhisattva precepts in isolation, Chéngzhào’s work integrates the bodhisattva-precept conferral into the broader catechumenal sequence beginning with the three refuges. The opening polemic against procedurally-incorrect conferrals — listing four common types of error — shows the work was written in response to actual mid-Táng laxity in conferral practice. Composition is bracketed by Táng-period dating only; notBefore–notAfter are accordingly set 700–900.

Translations and research

No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.

Other points of interest

  • The work’s eightfold structure became a template for a number of later Sòng combined-rite manuals.
  • The three Táng-period bodhisattva-precept manuals X1085–X1087 (KR6k0248–KR6k0250) are best read together, as they preserve three different procedural traditions: the Tiāntái-Nányuè line (KR6k0248 Huìsī attr.), the Tiāntái-Jīngxī line (KR6k0249 Zhànrán), and the Cháng’ānĀnguó line (the present work).

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