Dānxiá Dànguī chánshī yǔlù 丹霞澹歸禪師語錄
Recorded Sayings of Chán Master Dàn-guī of Dān-xiá by 今釋 (說), 今辯 (重編)
Three-juan yǔlù of Dànguī Jīnshì 今釋 澹歸今釋 (1615-01-28 – 1680-09-01, age 67), Cáodòng dharma-heir of Tiānrán Hánshì 函昰. As the layman Jīn Bǎo 金堡 (zì Dàoyǐn 道隱), Jīnshì held the Chóngzhēn 庚辰 = 1640 jìnshì and rose to bīngkē jǐshìzhōng in the Yǒnglì 永曆 court of the Southern Míng — one of the so-called “Five Tigers” 五虎 of that court — before tonsure at Léifēng in 壬辰 = 1652 under Tiānrán. He is among the most studied of the late-Míng / early-Qīng yímín 遺民 monk-scholars. Compiled (zhòngbiān 重編) by his co-disciple Lèshuō Jīnbiàn 今辯 — the third in 今辯’s series of major Hǎiyún 海雲-lineage yǔlù re-editions, alongside KR6q0526 (his teacher), KR6q0527 (his teacher’s fǎxiōng 函可), and KR6q0528 (his co-disciple 今無).
The yǔlù records his teaching at Dānxiá Biéchuánsì 丹霞別傳寺, the monastery he himself constructed at Sháozhōu Rénhuà 仁化 (Guǎngdōng) over five years (1662–1667) amid wartime danger; he formally succeeded as abbot in 甲寅 = 1674 when Tiānrán returned to Lúshān. notBefore = 1662 (Dānxiá entry); notAfter ≈ 1690 (the closing tǎmíng in juan 3 was composed by 今辯 nine years after Jīnshì’s death = ca. 1689). Printed as Jiāxīng Canon J38 B409. The catalog registers the dynasty as 明 — appropriate to Jīnshì’s continuing yímín self-understanding even after tonsure.
Contents. Juan 1: shàngtáng. Juan 2: shìzhòng, fóshì, yímìng (last instructions), wèndá. Juan 3: niāngǔsòng, sònggǔniān, 行狀 (biographical inscription), and 塔銘 (stupa-inscription) — both authored by his co-disciple 今辯.
Tiyao
Not applicable — Jiā-xīng-canon imprint (J38 B409).
Translations and research
- 廖肇亨 2008. 〈今釋澹歸之文藝觀與詩詞創作析論〉, International Conference on Buddhist Thought and Literature: 25–39.
- 陶乃韓 2001. 〈大乘菩薩道精神在明末清初的落實與發展──以天然一系在嶺南（廣東）的發展為例〉, 《中華佛學研究》 5: 377–410.
- 于今 1973. 〈澹歸著作補談〉, 《藝林叢錄》 9.
- 冼玉清 1973. 〈談澹歸和尚〉, 《藝林叢錄》 9.
- 王秋雁 2001. 〈金堡其人及《嶺海焚餘》〉, 《泰安师专学报》 23.4.
- 徐聖心 2007. 〈晚明佛教「孝道觀」探析──以《梵網經》註釋為中心〉, 《思與言》 45.4: 1–52.
- 汪宗衍 1976. 〈明清之際廣東書畫家〉, 《香港中文大學中國文化研究所學報》 8.2: 458–467.
- 荒木見悟 / 廖肇亨 譯 2006. 《明末清初的思想與佛教》, 臺北: 聯經, p. 125.
- 陳垣. 《清初僧諍記》, 《明季滇黔佛教考》 — both touch on Dàn-guī’s place in the yí-mín monk milieu.
Other points of interest
The 行狀 in juan 3 contains the famous account of Dànguī’s burial of Qú Shìsì 瞿式耜 and Zhāng Tóngchǎng 張同敞, the two senior Yǒng-lì-court martyrs killed at Guìlín, and his open letter to the Qīng feudatory princes Dìngnán 定南 and Píngnán 平南 invoking historical precedents (Táng Gāozǔ honoring Yáo Jūnsù; Zhōu Shìzōng honoring Liú Rénshàn; Míng Tàizǔ honoring the Yuán Yùshǐdàfū Fúshòu) for honoring fallen loyalists of the previous dynasty — a remarkable document of yímín ethics by a tonsured former official. Dànguī’s larger literary collection 《徧行堂集》 was placed on the Qiánlóng forbidden-books index in the 1770s; the yǔlù, embedded in the Buddhist canon, escaped destruction.