Xiānjué zōngshèng 先覺宗乘
Lineage Vehicle of the Formerly-Awakened
compiled (huìbiān 彙編) by 郭凝之 Guō Níngzhī; corrected (jiàodìng 較定) by 圓信 Yuánxìn, late Míng / early Qīng
About the work
A five-juan late-Míng / early-Qīng compilation of lay Chán practitioners from the Sòng through the Míng, in the genre of the Jūshì fēndēng lù (KR6q0039) and Xiānjué jí (KR6q0049) but in more extended form. Compiled by the layman Guō Níngzhī and given final editorial correction by the monk Yuánxìn.
Abstract
The work treats substantially more lay figures than its predecessors, with fuller biographical entries drawn from earlier lamp records, recorded-sayings literature, and contemporary biographical material. Forms a pair with the same editors’ Yōupóyí zhì 優婆夷志 (KR6q0051), which covers Buddhist laywomen (upāsikā) specifically — the two works effectively constitute the largest late-imperial Chinese Buddhist lay-practitioner biographical set.
Translations and research
No English translation. Drawn upon in studies of late-imperial Chinese lay Buddhism, especially Beata Grant’s work on women Chán practitioners; no dedicated monograph on the Xiānjué zōngshèng itself located.
Other points of interest
The formal collaboration of a layman as compiler and a monk as editor is a characteristic late-Míng / early-Qīng editorial pattern, visible also in other works of the Xuzangjing 居士 sub-corpus.