Yíshān lǐ fó fā yuàn wén lüè shì 怡山禮佛發願文略釋
Brief Exposition of Chán Master Yíshān’s Vow-Text for Buddha-Worship
A one-juan Qīng Vinaya-school commentary on the classical [[怡山禮佛發願文|Yíshān lǐ fó fā yuàn wén]] 怡山禮佛發願文 (“Vow-Text for Buddha-Worship”) by the Táng-era Chán master Yíshān chánshī 怡山禪師 (the Tǔtuán [土壇] master Yíshān, of the Línjì lineage). Commentator: Yíjié Shūyù 宜潔書玉 (1645–1722), the major late-Qīng Vinaya master and abbot of Zhāoqìngsì 昭慶寺 in Wǔlín 武林 (Hángzhōu). Prefaced at the Fǎrǔtáng 法乳堂 of Zhāoqìngsì on the Buddha’s Birthday (4/8) of Kāngxī 52 (guǐsì 癸巳) = 1713.
About the work
A one-juan prose commentary on a classical Buddhist liturgical text, J30 B259. Commentary on the [[怡山禮佛發願文|Yíshān lǐ fó fā yuàn wén]] 怡山禮佛發願文 — a parent-text from the Táng classical Chán tradition that had entered Chinese Buddhist ritual-liturgical usage. The parent text itself is not separately catalogued in the Kanripo corpus; commentedTextid omitted.
The Yíshān lǐ fó fā yuàn wén is a classical devotional vow-text used in the Buddhist ritual practice of lǐ fó 禮佛 (prostration before the Buddha). It consists of a structured vow-statement beginning with the Three Refuges, addressing the four-fold vow of the Mahāyāna Bodhisattva path, and detailing specific practical commitments to the six pāramitā, to the attainment of awakening, and to universal salvation. Despite its classical Chán attribution, the text has been primarily used in Vinaya / Pure-Land / ritual-oriented contexts rather than strictly-Chán meditative ones.
Shūyù’s commentary (lüè shì 略釋 “brief exposition”) takes the short vow-text and supplies systematic doctrinal-ritual explanation: the significance of each textual unit, the relationship of the vow-structure to the broader Mahāyāna soteriology, and the practical-ritual details of how to perform the accompanying prostrations. The commentary is preceded by a fán lì 凡例 (editorial principles, five points) and includes an extensive shù yì 述意 (authorial introduction).
Abstract
Yíjié Shūyù 宜潔書玉 (1645/9/13 – 1722/1/1; Shùnzhì 2/7/24 – Kāngxī 60/11/14, age 77, sēnglà 56). Zì Yíjié 宜潔 (“Proper and Pure”); hào Fóān 佛庵 (“Buddha-Hermitage”). Lay surname Táng 唐. Native of Wǔjìn 武進 (Jiāngsū).
Ordained at the Jiāshān 嘉山 monastery of Jīngjiāng 京江 under Zìqiān héshàng 自謙和尚. Received full precepts at Bǎohuásì 寶華寺 at Huáshān 華山 in Jīnlíng 金陵 from Jiànyuè Dútǐ lǜshī 見月讀體律師 (1601–1679), the founding patriarch of the Qīng Vinaya revival-school. Served as Dútǐ’s principal disciple and attendant. After Dútǐ’s death, Shūyù was installed at Zhāoqìngsì 昭慶寺 in Wǔlín 武林 in 1683 where he held a long abbacy.
Principal works: the present Yíshān lǐ fó fā yuàn wén lüè shì KR6q0210 (1713); Píní rì yòng qiè yào 毘尼日用切要 and related Vinaya-manual compilations KR6q0211 (next catalog entry); multiple Vinaya-commentary works within the Lǜzōng dēng pǔ 律宗燈譜 tradition.
Dating: notBefore / notAfter both 1713 (Shūyù’s preface-date, Kāngxī guǐsì nián Fó dàn shēng rì 康熙癸巳年佛誕生日 = Buddha’s birthday of Kāngxī 52).
Translations and research
- Welch, Holmes. 1968. The Buddhist Revival in China. Background on the Qīng Vinaya revival, of which Shūyù was a central figure.
- Bianchi, Ester. Various studies on Chinese Vinaya tradition.
- No substantial Western-language monographic study located specifically on J30 B259.
Other points of interest
The Yíshān lǐ fó fā yuàn wén lüè shì is one of the most important late-Qīng commentary-expositions of the Chinese Buddhist ritual tradition. Shūyù’s Vinaya-school position — centred on Zhāoqìngsì as the successor-institution to Jiànyuè Dútǐ’s Bǎohuásì 寶華山 lineage — represented the major late-17th / early-18th-century institutional revival of Chinese Vinaya learning and practice. The inclusion of this commentary in the Jiāxīng Canon alongside more strictly-Chán monastic texts reflects the broader Chinese Buddhist integrative tradition, where Chán and Vinaya schools cooperated extensively on shared liturgical-practical matters.
The catalog’s classification of this text under KR6q (Chán category) rather than KR6i (Vinaya) is a curatorial judgement: though Shūyù is a Vinaya master, the parent text is of Chán-school attribution and the commentary treats a text of cross-school ritual use.
Links
- CBETA J30nB259
- Kanseki DB
- Shūyù’s other Kanripo work: KR6q0211 (next catalog entry, likely another Vinaya-related compilation).
- Parent liturgical text: [[怡山禮佛發願文|Yíshān lǐ fó fā yuàn wén]] by Yíshān chánshī (not separately catalogued).