Jí zhūjīng lǐchàn yí 集諸經禮懺儀
Compendium of Worship and Repentance Liturgies Drawn from the Sūtras by 智昇 (Zhìshēng, 撰)
About the work
A two-juǎn compendium of Buddhist liturgical-repentance services compiled by 智昇 Zhìshēng 智昇 of Xī Chóngfúsì 西崇福寺 in Chángān 長安 — the foundational Chinese Buddhist canonical bibliographer best known for the 《開元釋教錄》 Kāiyuán shìjiào lù (T2154, 730), the most consequential bibliographic compilation in East Asian Buddhist history. The Lǐchàn yí draws together a range of lǐbài (worship) and chànhuǐ (repentance) liturgies from across the Mahāyāna tradition, and is therefore broader in scope than the strictly Pure Land zàn compilations of 善導 Shàndǎo (KR6p0074, KR6p0075, KR6p0076), but is filed in this Pure Land catalog division because of the substantial Pure Land devotional content.
Abstract
The compendium gathers liturgical material from a wide range of Mahāyāna scriptures: lǐ-bài and zàn from the Avataṃsaka-sūtra (Huá-yán jīng 華嚴經), the Lotus Sūtra, the various Pure Land sūtras, the prajñāpāramitā literature, the Vajracchedikā, the Lèngyán-jīng and other late-medieval canonical compositions; chàn-huǐ repentance services drawn from the Sūtra of Golden Light (Jīn-guāng-míng jīng 金光明經), the Pǔ-xián xíng-fǎ jīng 普賢行法經, and the broader Mahāyāna tradition; and the standard bodhisattva-vow recitations. The compilation is encyclopedic rather than thematic: Zhì-shēng’s intent is to assemble the canonical liturgical resources from across the Mahāyāna tradition into a single compact reference volume usable for monastic liturgical purposes.
The work belongs to the same broad eighth-century Chángān monastic-scholastic milieu as Zhìshēng’s Kāiyuánlù — a culture of comprehensive bibliographic-textual scholarship under late-Táng imperial patronage — and it shows the same encyclopedic ambition. The Pure Land content is substantial but not exclusive: the work is best characterised as a Mahāyāna liturgical compendium with a strong Pure Land component, suitable both for daily monastic devotional use and for the conduct of intensive lǐchàn retreats.
The Taishō text (T47N1982) is collated against the Korean canon, the Sòng, Yuán, and Míng canons. The text also has Zhōnghuá canon parallels (H1197 / H063, p0583–0616) and is preserved in the Korean Tripitaka (TK33, p0740). The dating bracket (730–740) covers Zhìshēng’s mature Chángān period; he is securely active in 開元 18 (730) when his Kāiyuánlù was completed.
Translations and research
- Stevenson, Daniel B. “The Four Kinds of Samādhi in Early T’ien-T’ai Buddhism.” In Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism, ed. Peter N. Gregory. Honolulu, 1986 — for the broader chàn-yí tradition.
- Kuo Li-ying. Confession et contrition dans le bouddhisme chinois du Ve au Xe siècle. Paris: EFEO, 1994 — the standard scholarly study of medieval Chinese Buddhist chàn-huǐ practice.
- Hé Méi 何梅. Lì-dài hàn-wén dà-zàng-jīng mù-lù xīn-kǎo 歷代漢文大藏經目錄新考. Beijing: Zōng-jiào-wén-huà, 2014 — for Zhì-shēng’s bibliographic context.
Other points of interest
Zhìshēng’s Lǐchàn yí is one of the few cases in which the foundational Buddhist bibliographer of the East Asian tradition produced a substantial liturgical compilation in his own right. The encyclopedic character of his bibliographic work — the ambition to gather and systematise everything — is reflected in the liturgical compendium, which similarly aims at comprehensive coverage. The work therefore stands as a witness to the integration of bibliographic scholarship and devotional practice in eighth-century Chángān Buddhism.