Léngyán Fǎxǐyìn chánshī yǔlù 楞嚴法璽印禪師語錄
Recorded Sayings of Chán Master Fǎ-xǐ-yìn at Léng-yán[-sì] by 印 (說), 旋性 (記錄)
About the work
Two-juan continuation-yǔlù of Fǎxǐyìn 法璽印 (1600s–after 1685), covering the Léngyánsì abbacy at Jiāxīng (1676–1678) and subsequent retirement-period material — a direct sequel to KR6q0434 《法璽印禪師語錄》 (the main 12-juan yǔlù covering Fǎxǐyìn’s earlier four abbacies). Fǎhuì 法諱 Yìn 印 / Zhèngyìn 正印 / Fǎxǐyìn 法璽印 (catalog variant). Xiàoyán Débǎo → Hànshān Déqīng → Guānhéng → Fǎxǐyìn sub-line, 31st-generation Línjì. Compiled by shìzhě Xuánxìng 旋性 旋性. Non-commentary; commentedTextid omitted. Printed as Jiāxīng Canon J28 B221.
Abstract
Context and placement. The present yǔlù is a compact continuation of the main 12-juan KR6q0434, specifically covering Fǎxǐyìn’s fifth abbacy at Léngyánsì 楞嚴寺 in Jiāxīng 吳門 (Sūzhōu) and the subsequent retirement period. The opening narrative (juan 1 preface-line):
“Shī yú jiǎyín chūn yù Jiāxīng Tiānníngsì kè Zhuān lǎorén yǔlù, zhì bǐngchén qiū gōngjùn; yú jiǔyuè wàngrì shùzhuāng huí Yù, zhōu zhì Wúmén, zhí běnjùn zhū dà hùfǎ… qǐng zhǔ Léngyán fǎxí. Yú Kāngxī shíwǔ nián shíyuè shíwǔ rì jìnyuàn.”
“The master in 甲寅 spring (1674 spring) stayed at Jiāxīng Tiānníngsì 嘉興天寧寺 to cut the yǔlù of Zhuān lǎorén [= Guānhéng, cf. KR6q0433]. By 丙辰 autumn (1676 autumn) the work was complete. On 9.15 he packed to return to Yùzhāng (Nánchāng), but his boat reached Wúmén (Sūzhōu) where the local lay-protectors, retired officials, scholar-examiners, elite-youths, and local monastic seniors petitioned him to take the Léngyán abbacy 楞嚴法席. He formally entered on Kāngxī 15 / 1676 lunar 10.15.”
Léngyánsì abbacy (1676.10.15 – 1678.12.18). The Sūzhōu Léngyánsì was the ancestral seat of the influential Sòng-era master Léngyán Chángshuǐ Zǐxuán 楞嚴長水子璿 (965–1038) and had been restored in the late Míng by Dáguān chánshī 達觀禪師 = Zǐbó Zhēnkě and Mìzàng dàshī 密藏大師 — lineage-figures Fǎxǐyìn invokes in his opening jǔxiāng 拈香 ritual (juan 1 line 70). Two-year, two-month tenure ending with the formal tuìyuàn shàngtáng 退院上堂 retirement-sermon on 戊午臘月18日 = Kāngxī 17 / 1678 lunar 12.18 (= 1 February 1679 Western) — explicitly preserved at juan 2 line 156 with the title “戊午臘月十八日退院上堂”.
Post-retirement material. The closing juan 2 preserves post-retirement correspondence, zàn 讚 for lay-disciples (including Yuèshàngān Yīěrní chánrén 月上庵一爾尼禪人 and Jūnxuǎn Zhāng jūshì 君選張居士), and a miscellaneous zázhù section. The narrative references Fǎxǐyìn’s post-retirement return to 同安 Tóngān (Jiāngxī), closing the circle on his 1662 first-abbacy seat: “lǎorén cí Léngyán guī Jiāngyòu yìlǎo yú Tóngān 老人辭楞嚴歸江右逸老于同安”.
Compositional history. No dedicated front-preface preserved in the Kanripo transcription (only the narrative-heading serves as framing). notBefore = 1676.10.15 (Léngyán jìnyuàn); notAfter = 1685 conservatively (post-1678 retirement with at least some years of post-retirement composition preserved in juan 2; specific cutting-date not recoverable from the accessible text).
Contents. (j.1) Léngyán shàngtáng + shēngzuò + jīyuán + initial abbacy material (1676–78). (j.2) continued Léngyán and post-retirement material, ending with the 戊午臘月18日退院上堂 retirement-sermon and subsequent zàn + lay-correspondence at Tóngān.
Tiyao
Not applicable — this is a Jiā-xīng-canon imprint (J28 B221), not a WYG text. The opening narrative-heading of juan 1 provides the exceptionally precise date-anchoring (1674 spring through 1676.10.15 Léngyán entry) summarized under Abstract.
Translations and research
- See KR6q0433 and KR6q0434 under Translations for the broader Hàn-shān Dé-qīng / Guān-héng / Fǎ-xǐ-yìn sub-line context. This volume has received no dedicated Western-language treatment.
Other points of interest
- Precise 1674–1678 chronology. The opening narrative preserves one of the most precisely-dated abbacy-transition sequences in the entire J28 Jiāxīng cluster: 甲寅春 (1674 spring) Jiāxīng Tiānníngsì manuscript-work begins; 丙辰秋 (1676 autumn) work completed; 9.15 ready to depart; 10.15 Léngyán entry; 戊午12.18 (1679 Feb) retirement. For textual-critical scholars, this is a gold-standard dated-chronology reference.
- Paired triple-volume Fǎxǐyìn corpus. Together with KR6q0434 (12-juan main yǔlù) and KR6q0435 (2-juan Léngyán continuation), and Fǎxǐyìn’s editorial-compilation of KR6q0433 (his master Guānhéng’s 20-juan yǔlù), Fǎxǐyìn’s output comprises three linked Jiāxīng Canon volumes totaling 34 juan — one of the most substantial single-master editorial-literary contributions in the J28 cluster. The sequential B219–B220–B221 Jiāxīng numbering reflects this deliberately-assembled trio.
- Léngyánsì Sūzhōu abbacy after Mìng restoration. The Sūzhōu Léngyánsì, originally founded by Chángshuǐ Zǐxuán 長水子璿 (965–1038) and restored by Zǐbó Zhēnkě + Mìzàng 密藏 in the late Míng, was one of the most historically significant Wàn-lì-era Chán-Huáyán-learning-center monasteries. Fǎxǐyìn’s 1676–78 abbacy at this seat positions his Hàn-shān-line Chán within the late-Míng ZǐbóChánHuáyán institutional continuity — a lineage-alignment consistent with the opening jǔxiāng ritual of the 1676 ascension-sermon. For the Zǐbó cross-institutional network, this abbacy-datum is worth further study.
Links
- CBETA
- Author person-note: 印 Fǎxǐyìn (= 正印).
- Main companion-volume: KR6q0434 《法璽印禪師語錄》 (12 juan, J28 B220).
- Master’s yǔlù (edited by Fǎxǐyìn): KR6q0433 《紫竹林顓愚衡和尚語錄》 (20 juan, J28 B219).
- Compiler: 旋性 Xuánxìng.
- Léngyánsì ancestral founders (invoked in the opening-sermon): Chángshuǐ Zǐxuán 長水子璿, Dáguān Zǐbó Zhēnkě 紫柏真可, Mìzàng dàshī 密藏大師.