伏獅祇園禪師語錄

Fúshī Qíyuán chánshī yǔlù 伏獅祇園禪師語錄

Recorded Sayings of Chán Master Qí-yuán of Fú-shī by 行剛 (說, 尼), 授遠 (等編), 超宿 (等編)

About the work

Two-juan yǔlù of Qíyuán Xínggāng 行剛 祇園行剛 (1597–1654), nun (ní 尼) — one of only a handful of surviving Qīng-era Chán yǔlù authored by a female master and the principal documentary witness for the Fúshī Chányuàn 伏獅禪院 female-monastic community in Húzhōu. Fǎhuì 法諱 Xínggāng 行剛 (“Action-Steel” — unusually using the 行 generation-character shared with male 33rd-gen Línjì masters like 行瑋 行謐 行舟), hào Qíyuán 祇園 (from the Jetavana garden-grove of the early sangha). Seat: Fúshī Chányuàn 伏獅禪院 (“Subdued-Lion Chán-monastery”) at Xúnxī Méixī 潯溪梅溪 in Húzhōu (originally named Dǒngān 董菴, rededicated on Xínggāng’s 1647 abbacy). Lay surname Hú 胡, of Jiāxīngfǔ Jiāxīngxiàn 嘉興府嘉興縣 (Zhèjiāng). Compiled by dharma-heir nuns Shòuyuǎn 授遠 授遠, Chāosù 超宿 超宿, Chāolǎng 超朗, Chāokē 超珂, Chāojiàn 超見, Chāozhèn 超振, and Chāochēn 超琛 — seven named female-dharma-heirs. Recorded by shūjì 書記 Chāonèi 超內. Non-commentary; commentedTextid omitted. Printed as Jiāxīng Canon J28 B210. All front-prefaces preserved in calligraphy-plate form (<img:>) — unreadable in the Kanripo transcription. The back-matter preserves the 行狀 xíngzhuàng by Chāochēn (1655-08-08) and the 塔銘 tǎmíng by Wú Zhù 吳鑄 (Qīng jìnshì civil official), which together provide the densest extant biographical documentation for any seventeenth-century Chán nun.

Abstract

Author. Qíyuán Xínggāng was born 1597 (implied from the xíngzhuàng’s death-age 58 suì in 1654) in Jiāxīngfǔ Jiāxīngxiàn, Zhèjiāng, to the Hú 胡 family. Father Hú Yǎngsù 胡養素 had two wives: first Gāoshì 高氏, then Táoshì 陶氏 (Xínggāng’s biological mother). Xínggāng was only daughter (“fùmǔ zhǐ shēng shī yī rén, xī rú zhǎngzhū 父母止生師一人惜如掌珠”). From childhood loved Buddhist chanting. Age 18: formally married to Cháng Zhèn 常振, a yìxiángshēng 邑庠生 (prefectural-school student). Within the first year of marriage her husband died, leaving her a widow at 19 with no children. Remained in her husband’s household to serve her parents-in-law filially, maintaining strict celibate widowhood. Age 26 (c. 1622): began Chán practice under Tiāncí lǎoshī 天慈老師. Age 31: father’s death. Age 33 (c. 1629): went to Jīnsùshān 金粟山 to consult Mìyún Yuánwù 密雲圓悟 pre-tonsure. Mi-yun’s response — “zhèng shísān niáng 鄭十三娘” — positioned her as a spiritual descendant of the famous Táng-era nun Zhèng Shísān niáng 鄭十三娘 of the Chán-tradition. Age 34: mother’s death. Age 35 (c. 1631): disposed of all material possessions, formally tonsured, received full precepts from Mìyún at Jīnsù.

Sealing by Shíchē Tōngchéng (c. 1632–38). Moved to Yánguān 鹽官 for instruction under Èrgōng Cíān 二宮慈菴 on the wànfǎ guīyī 萬法歸一 huàtóu. Cíān directed her to Shíchē Tōngchéng 石車通乘 (1591–1638), a Mìyún Yuánwù direct dharma-heir at Jīnsù. Age 36: first interview with Shíchē, repeatedly struck and tested over multiple rùshì sessions. Built a parent’s-tomb-adjacent hermitage (Húān 胡菴) for bìguān retreat. Age 38 (c. 1634): decisive awakening during morning hair-shaving — “shēnxīn fěnsuì, húnfēi dǎnsàng, chùmù yùyuán wú bù liǎoliǎo 身心粉碎魂飛膽喪觸目遇緣無不了了” (“body-mind shattered, soul-fled, courage-scattered; whatever the eye touched, whatever the encounter — nothing but perfect clarity”). Presented her awakening to Shíchē with the verse “zhíxià chéngdāng shì bùchà 直下承當事不差”. Shíchē formally passed the rúyì 如意. 崇禎戊寅 2.4 (= 16 March 1638 Western): at Shíchē’s deathbed (age 42 for Xínggāng), received the zǔyī 祖衣 formal-transmission robe on the yīlíng zhēnxìng bù jiǎ bāotāi 一靈真性不假胞胎 exchange. This is the formal transmission event — making Xínggāng the full Chán-transmission heir of a Mìyún-line dharma-son in 1638.

Nine-year Húān hermitage (1638–47). Retreated to her parents’ tomb-adjacent Húān for nine years of strict ascetic practice. “Zhēn cāo shí lǚ, gōngkǔ shídàn, jiānxīn bèi cháng 真操實履攻苦食淡艱辛備嘗” (“genuine practice, real application; suffering-filled ascetic diet, all hardships tasted”). During these years Xínggāng became widely known and regional lay-patrons repeatedly petitioned her to take an abbacy.

Fúshī abbacy (1647–1654). 順治丁亥 (= 1647): Xúnxī Wéirú Dǒng jūshì 潯溪惟儒董居士 and Lǐzhái zhū tánhù 李宅諸檀護 plus the Méixī regional lay-elite petitioned Xínggāng to take the Méixī Dǒngān 董菴 abbacy; Xínggāng accepted only after triple-refusal, first traveling to Gǔnánsì 古南寺 to pay formal respects to her fǎshū 法叔 (dharma-uncle) Mùyún Tōngmén 通門 (cf. KR6q0406, KR6q0212) and consulting him on the lineage-matters. The seat was rededicated from Dǒngān to Fúshī Chányuàn 伏獅禪院 on her entry. Formal opening shàngtáng at Fúshī: 丁亥 3.15 (= mid-spring 1647 — the opening text preserved as juan 1’s first shàngtáng). 8-year abbacy (1647–1654) in which Xínggāng established Fúshī as one of the most influential female-Chán institutions of mid-seventeenth-century Jiāngnán. Distinctive practices: (a) strict adherence to Fúróng Kǎi 芙蓉楷’s 12th-century austerity-model (“zhōngshēn bù fā shūbù bù qǐng huàzhǔ 終身不發疏簿不請化主” — no fund-raising ledgers, no solicited donor-agents); (b) pure-support existence through straw-sandals, folded-leg-bed, manual textile work (Xínggāng herself “gōngzì fǎngzhī, yèyǐjìrì 躬自紡織夜以繼日” personally wove foot-wrappings for distribution to Jīnsù winter-ascetics); (c) equal-treatment hospitality regardless of lay-status.

Death (1654). 甲午春 (= 1654 spring): intimated離世 will-to-depart. 8.8: brief illness, refused all medicine. 9.2: named Yìgōng Chāokē 義公超珂 as second-generation Fúshī abbess. 9.23: summoned all disciples to the abbot’s chamber to establish post-death conventions (“wú qùshì hòu, dāng shǒu wǒ guījǔ, wú dé xiào shìsú xíngxiàolǐ 我去世後當守我規矩無得效世俗行孝禮” — “after I die, observe my rules; do not enact worldly filial-mourning rites”). 9.26: bathed, changed robe, sat cross-legged and delivered the death-verse “rú yuè yìng qiān jiāng, yī lún guāng jiǎojié; jīn shì yǐ fūzuò, zhòngshēng zhān qùpò; ruò wèn mòhòu jù, fǔzhǎng yún zhī zhě shì 如月映千江一輪光皎潔今示以趺坐眾生瞻覷破若問末後句撫掌云只者是” — “Like the moon reflected in a thousand rivers, a single disc of pure-shining light; now I show you cross-legged-sitting, sentient-beings may gaze and see through; if you ask for the last word, [claps hands] only this!”). Smiled and died 9.27 寅時 (= pre-dawn 3–5 am, 6 November 1654 Western). At 辰時 (7–9 am) her crown-chakra remained warm like steam. Body remained in state for three days, color-of-life. Buried in a whole-body pagoda at the right of Fúshīyuàn. The fǎshū Mùyún Tōngmén himself came from Tiāntóng to Fúshī for the deathbed-witness and tǎmíng affair — a rare cross-gender senior-dharma-witness from a major Chán master at a nun’s deathbed.

Dharma-heirs. Seven named female-heirs in the 超-generation: Pǔwén Shòuyuǎn 普聞授遠 (succession-heir); Yírán Chāosù 怡然超宿; Yìchuān Chāolǎng 義川超朗; Yìgōng Chāokē 義公超珂 (second Fúshī abbess, formally designated by Xínggāng); Yīyīn Chāojiàn 一音超見; Gǔdǐng Chāozhèn 古鼎超振; Yīkuí Chāochēn 一揆超琛 (author of the xíngzhuàng). Additional named disciples include Bǎochí Chāozhàn 寶持超湛 (= Bǎochí Jìzǒng 寶持繼總, the famous seventeenth-century nun-poet documented by Grant), Lǎngyuè Míngnèi 朗月明內, Yúnyán Tōngměng 雲巖通猛, Yǐngjué 穎覺, and Chāoguī 超珪. The Fúshī community at Xínggāng’s death comprised dozens of ordained nuns plus a wider lay-female circle.

Compositional history. notBefore = 1647 (丁亥 3.15 opening shàngtáng). notAfter = 1656 conservatively (the xíngzhuàng is dated 順治乙未 孟秋 七夕日 = Shùnzhì 12 / 1655 lunar 7.7 = 8 August 1655; the tǎmíng by Wú Zhù is undated but presumably 1655–56). The integrated cutting was likely 1655–56 at Fúshī or a nearby Zhèjiāng cutting-house. The xíngzhuàng is signed “sìfǎ ménrén Chāochēn qǐshǒu bǎibài jǐn zhuàng 嗣法門人超琛稽首百拜謹狀” — Chāochēn (Yīkuí) as self-identified humble “hundred-prostrations” female-disciple-compiler.

Contents. (j.1) 陞座 陞座 (1647 and subsequent); 小參 小參; 示眾 (附法語) 示眾附法語; 機緣 機緣; 拈古 拈古. (j.2) 頌古 頌古; 偈語 偈語; 書問 書問 (correspondence); 題贊 題贊; 佛事 佛事; 源流頌 源流頌 (succession-verse); 行狀 行狀 (Chāochēn, 1655-08-08); 塔銘 塔銘 (Wú Zhù).

Tiyao

Not applicable — this is a Jiā-xīng-canon imprint (J28 B210), not a WYG text. The front-prefaces are preserved only in calligraphy-plate form and are not machine-readable; the Chāochēn xíngzhuàng (1655-08-08) and the Wú Zhù tǎmíng provide the principal biographical documentation summarized under Abstract.

Translations and research

• Beata Grant, Eminent Nuns: Women Chan Masters of Seventeenth-Century China (Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2009). Chapter 4 is dedicated to Qí-yuán Xíng-gāng and the Fú-shī Chán community — the definitive English-language monograph-chapter on the master, based extensively on the present yǔlù. Grant translates substantial portions of the shàng-táng, fǎ-yǔ, and correspondence sections, and reconstructs the Fú-shī community’s institutional development 1647–1680s.
• Beata Grant, “Female Holder of the Lineage: Linji Chan Master Zhiyuan Xinggang (1597–1654),” Late Imperial China 17.2 (1996), pp. 51–76. The earlier journal-article version of Chapter 4, directly focused on Xíng-gāng.
• Beata Grant, Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2003). Translates poems by Xíng-gāng and several Fú-shī dharma-heirs including Bǎo-chí.
• Chūn-fāng Yü (Chün-fang Yü), Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokiteśvara (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001). Context for seventeenth-century female monasticism in which Fú-shī is situated.
• Dīng Mǐn 丁敏, 《中國佛教比丘尼傳》 (Taipei: Dōng-dà, 1997). Includes Xíng-gāng in the Chinese-language nun-biography roster.
• Zhāng Sī-qí 張思齊, 《清代宗教與文學》 (Běi-jīng: Zhōng-huá, 2003). Ch. 5 on female Chán-literary activity in the mid-seventeenth century.

Other points of interest

• Full-documented Qīng-era female Chán yǔlù. KR6q0428 is one of fewer than ten surviving complete yǔlù volumes authored by women from the entire Chinese Chán tradition. Its preservation in the Jiāxīng Canon — with full apparatus of xíngzhuàng (by a female dharma-heir) and tǎmíng (by a male jìnshì lay-supporter) — makes it the single richest textual witness for early-modern Chinese female Chán. For any historian of Chinese Buddhist women, it is an essential primary source.
• Mìyún’s “Zhèng Shísān niáng” identification (c. 1629). Mìyún Yuánwù’s remark upon first meeting Xínggāng pre-tonsure — “Zhèng shísān niáng 鄭十三娘” — invokes the famous Táng-era nun of the Chán-tradition (the one who reportedly said “yīyàng yě pī, lǐyě yě pī 一樣也披禮也也披” and who appears in the Chányězhàng 禪野丈 [Zhànrán líyàn 湛然離鹽] Chán-nun tradition). The identification is a lineage-assimilation move: Mìyún recognizes Xínggāng as bearing the same charismatic-nun typology that had legitimated female Chán transmission in the Táng period, thereby pre-authorizing her eventual tonsure and sealing. This is an important datum for understanding how mid-seventeenth-century male Chán masters created legitimating-space for female dharma-heirs.
• The 1638 death-bed transmission from Shíchē Tōngchéng. Xínggāng’s formal zǔyī transmission from Shíchē Tōngchéng 石車通乘 on Shíchē’s 1638.2.4 deathbed is the foundational event — a full male-to-female cross-gender Chán transmission preserved with exceptional documentary precision. The transmission-verse exchange is preserved in the xíngzhuàng: Shíchē questions “yīlíng zhēnxìng bù jiǎ bāotāi shí rúhé 一靈真性不假胞胎時如何”; Xínggāng answers “níngrán zhànjì 凝然湛寂”; further exchanges culminate in Shíchē’s “hǎo hǎo wèi hòurén biāogé 好好為後人標格” (“excellent — be a model for the future”) and the formal robe-transmission. This is as textually-pure a Chán-transmission moment as any in the seventeenth-century corpus, preserved with unusual female-specific language and circumstances.
• Austere practice and anti-donor-system stance. Xínggāng’s 8-year Fúshī abbacy is notable for its explicit programmatic austerity modeled on Fúróng Kǎi 芙蓉楷 (11th-12th-century Shàolín Cáodòng reviver): no donor-ledgers, no solicited-donor-agents, no luxury items, manual-labor self-sufficiency including Xínggāng’s personal weaving of foot-wrappings for traveling male Jīnsù monks. This anti-donor-system stance is unusual even among austere male Chán masters of the period and reflects a distinctive female-Chán material-practice tradition at Fúshī that remained influential in Jiāngnán female-monasticism through the later seventeenth century (cf. Grant 2009, ch. 4).
• Mùyún Tōngmén as cross-gender senior-witness. The fǎshū 法叔 Mùyún Tōngmén 牧雲通門 (at KR6q0406, KR6q0212) — Xínggāng’s transmission-teacher Shíchē’s dharma-brother, and therefore an “uncle” in the technical Chán-genealogical sense — appears at three critical junctures in the Fúshī community’s history: (a) Xínggāng’s 1647 pre-abbacy visit to Gǔnán to “敘法脈” establish lineage-claim; (b) at various intermediate moments of the 1647–54 abbacy; and (c) at Xínggāng’s 1654 deathbed as ritual-witness. This cross-gender senior-witness pattern — a senior male master periodically authenticating a female master’s lineage-standing — is a specific institutional-practice datum for mid-seventeenth-century Chán female-lineage legitimation, paralleling similar patterns in the later Bǎochí Jìzǒng community.

Links

• CBETA
• Dharma-teacher: Shíchē Tōngchéng 石車通乘 (1591–1638, Mi-yun heir; no separate Kanripo text).
• Grand-teacher: 圓悟 Mìyún Yuánwù.
• Fǎshū cross-gender witness: Mùyún Tōngmén (at KR6q0406, KR6q0212).
• Successor-abbess: Yìgōng Chāokē 義公超珂.
• Famous dharma-sister: Bǎochí Jìzǒng 寶持繼總 (Grant 2003, 2009).
• Definitive secondary literature: Beata Grant, Eminent Nuns (2009), ch. 4.