Sānshí xìniàn yífàn 三時繫念儀範
The Liturgical Norm for the Three-Period Mind-Binding Pure Land Service attributed to 延壽 (Yǒngmíng Yánshòu, 述); modern attribution: Zhōngfēng Míngběn 中峯明本 (1263–1323)
About the work
A short single-juǎn companion text to the Sānshí xìniàn fóshì KR6p0081, setting out the liturgical norm (yífàn 儀範) for the conduct of the three-period Pure Land funerary service. As with KR6p0081, the work is traditionally attributed to 延壽 Yǒngmíng Yánshòu but is more plausibly the work of Zhōngfēng Míngběn 中峯明本 (1263–1323).
Abstract
Where KR6p0081 supplies the liturgical text of the three-period service (the chants, the verses, the zàn, the huíxiàng dedication formulae), the Yífàn supplies the stage-direction apparatus for its performance: the choreography of the assembly’s movements, the precise sequencing of the three sessions, the role-assignments for the wéinuó 維那 (precentor) / yuèzhòng 悅眾 (chant-leader) / general assembly, the timing of the bell-and-drum signals, and the rules for adapting the service to varying institutional contexts (full-monastic versus lay; major versus minor occasions; for the recently deceased versus for memorial anniversaries). The two texts together — Fóshì + Yífàn — constitute the complete performance manual for the standard Pure Land funerary service.
The Yífàn’s prose register and stylistic conventions are consistent with KR6p0081 and with the broader Yuán-period liturgical literature; the same attribution problem applies (traditional ascription to Yánshòu, modern reattribution to Zhōngfēng Míngběn). The text is preserved in the Xùzàngjīng 卍續藏 (X1465), immediately following KR6p0081 in the canonical sequence. The dating bracket (1290–1323) covers Zhōngfēng’s mature Tiānmùshān period.
Translations and research
See KR6p0081 for the principal scholarly literature; the Yí-fàn and Fó-shì are typically discussed together.
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- Heller, Natasha. Illusory Abiding: The Cultural Construction of the Chan Monk Zhongfeng Mingben. Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 2014.