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雲棲法彙（選錄）

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Text ID
KR6q0214
Date
1580–1615
Dynasty
明

Yúnqī fǎ huì (xuǎn lù) 雲棲法彙（選錄）

Yúnqī Dharma-Collection (Selection)

A twenty-five-juan selective anthology of the collected writings of Yúnqī Zhūhóng 雲棲袾宏 (1535–1615), the great late-Míng master of Yúnqīsì 雲棲寺 at Mount Wǔyún 五雲山 near Hángzhōu, one of the Four Eminent Monks of the late Míng (Wǎn-Míng sì dà gāosēng 晚明四大高僧). The Jiāxīng-Canon form (J32 B277) preserves a selected portion of Yúnqī’s full Yúnqī fǎ huì corpus.

About the work

A twenty-five-juan selective anthology of a major late-Míng master’s collected writings, J32 B277. Non-commentary; commentedTextid omitted. The catalog-title’s xuǎn lù 選錄 (“selection”) indicates that this is a partial compilation — the full Yúnqī fǎ huì is substantially larger than the 25 juan preserved here.

The selection contains important Yúnqī texts across multiple genres:

  • Prefaces (xù 序) to Buddhist texts that Yúnqī sponsored or recommended — including the Chóng kè zhū jīng rì yòng xù 重刻諸經日誦序 (“Preface to the Revised Printed Daily-Recitation Collection”) dated Wànlì 28/10/16 = 1600/11/11, a key document of Yúnqī’s editorial oversight of the Buddhist daily-liturgical corpus.
  • Epistolary correspondence (shū 書) with fellow monks, scholar-officials, and lay practitioners.
  • Doctrinal essays (lùn 論, shuō 說) on Buddhist topics.
  • Memorials and petitions (biǎo 表, sù 疏).
  • Chán and Pure-Land instructional materials.
  • Tomb-inscriptions (zhuàng 狀, míng 銘) for fellow-monks and lay-Buddhist associates.

The complete Yúnqī fǎ huì in its full form (compiled in the years following Yúnqī’s 1615 death, substantially longer than 25 juan) is preserved in multiple editions including separate publication outside the Jiāxīng Canon. The Jiāxīng-Canon selection represents the materials deemed most important for preservation within the canonical-collection context.

Abstract

See Yúnqī Zhūhóng’s person note for full biographical details. The Yúnqī fǎ huì as a whole is one of the foundational canonical-corpus texts of late-Míng Chinese Buddhism, providing comprehensive access to Yúnqī’s doctrinal, ritual, and institutional positions across his mature career.

Dating: notBefore c. 1580 (Yúnqī’s mature productive period begins, corresponding to his decades-long abbacy at Yúnqīsì); notAfter 1615 (Yúnqī’s death). Internal texts include the 1600/11 daily-liturgical preface dated precisely and other dated compositions across the Wànlì period. The compilation and editing of the corpus into the form preserved here happened in the decades following Yúnqī’s death.

Translations and research

  • Yü, Chün-fang. 1981. The Renewal of Buddhism in China: Chu-hung and the Late Ming Synthesis. Columbia University Press. The definitive English-language monographic treatment of Yúnqī, with extensive coverage of the Yúnqī fǎ huì.
  • Shèngyán 聖嚴. 1975. 《明末佛教研究》. Comprehensive treatment of late-Míng Buddhism.
  • Brook, Timothy. 1993. Praying for Power. Background on late-Míng lay-Buddhist Yúnqī-influenced culture.
  • Eichman, Jennifer L. 2016. A Late Sixteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship. Brill. Yúnqī’s lay-Buddhist fellowship reception.

Other points of interest

The Yúnqī fǎ huì’s preservation in the Jiāxīng Canon (with the 25-juan selection here) secures Yúnqī’s literary-doctrinal legacy within the canonical tradition. Yúnqī’s Pure-Land advocacy, Chán-doctrinal integrations, detailed lay-practice guidance, and institutional reforms (including the Zì zhī lù 自知錄 moral-accounting system and the shí shí jì 十世記 rebirth-instructional tradition) are all represented in the anthology.

Yúnqī’s cultural-institutional influence on late-Míng and early-Qīng Chinese Buddhism is substantial: his disciples and followers (including Zǐbǎi Zhēnkě 紫柏真可 of the Four Eminent Monks; Zhànrán Yuánchéng 湛然圓澄 of Cáodòng KR6q0171; Bào Zōngzhào 鮑宗肇 KR6q0185; and many others) constitute a substantial segment of late-Míng / early-Qīng Buddhist literary production. The Yúnqī fǎ huì is a core primary source for understanding this network’s doctrinal position.

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