Shìshì jīgǔ lüè 釋氏稽古略
Brief Examination of the Antiquities of the Śākyans
compiled by 覺岸 (Juéàn, 1286–after 1355, 編)
About the work
A late-Yuán Buddhist universal history in four juan, compiled by the Tiāntái-leaning monk 覺岸 (Juéàn) and dated by the author’s preface to 1354. It supplies a brief, year-by-year chronological frame from the Pángǔ era through the founding of the Yuán, with Buddhist events inserted into the corresponding years and the standard imperial annals supplied alongside. As a “lüè” 略 (“epitome”), the work is much more compact than the longer Buddhist universal histories (KR6r0012 and KR6r0013) and was intended as a handbook of essential Buddhist chronology for monks and lay readers. Admitted to the Sìkù quánshū under WYG, with the title 釋氏稽古略.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào notice (transmitted in WYG): “Shìshì jīgǔ lüè, in four juan, by the Yuán monk 覺岸. The work supplies a chronological frame from antiquity to the founding of the Yuán, juan by juan: juan 1 covers from Pángǔ to the end of the Hàn; juan 2 the Wèi, Jìn, and Northern-Southern dynasties; juan 3 the Suí and Táng; juan 4 the Five Dynasties, Sòng, and Yuán. Within each year-entry the Buddhist events — translations, monk biographies, edicts on the saṃgha, monastery foundations — are noted alongside the secular annals, with the secular annals lifted directly from the standard histories. Compared to the more elaborate Fózǔ tǒngjì and Fózǔ lìdài tōngzài, this work is admittedly less full, but its brevity has made it convenient as a quick reference for Buddhist chronology, and it has been so used since its compilation.”
Abstract
The author 覺岸, styled Bǎo Zhōu 寶洲, was a Tiāntái monk active in the lower Yangzi at Húzhōu 湖州. The preface is dated 1354 (Zhìzhèng Jiǎwǔ 至正甲午). The work is short — only four juan — and is essentially a Buddhist supplement to the standard secular chronological frame: each year is given its imperial annal in a few lines (drawn from the Tōngjiàn tradition), followed by relevant Buddhist events in slightly fuller detail.
覺岸’s main sources are the Lìdài sānbǎo jì (KR6r0011), the Fózǔ tǒngjì (KR6r0012), the Fózǔ lìdài tōngzài (KR6r0013), various Chán lamp records, and the standard secular histories. He explicitly frames his compilation as a jīgǔ 稽古 (“examination of antiquity”) in the Confucian tradition: the title deliberately mirrors the Confucian historiographical idiom.
The work was continued by 幻輪 in KR6r0015 Shìjiàn jīgǔ lüè xùjí (1576), which extended the chronicle from the founding of the Yuán through the Míng down to the late sixteenth century.
Translations and research
- Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer, Die Identität der buddhistischen Schulen und die Kompilation buddhistischer Universalgeschichten in China (Wiesbaden, 1982) — covers the Shìshì jīgǔ lüè as one of the major Buddhist universal histories.
- No complete Western-language translation located.
Links
- CBETA: T49n2037