DàMíng gāosēng zhuàn 大明高僧傳
Great Míng Lives of Eminent Monks
compiled by 如惺 (Rúxīng, fl. late Míng, 撰), monk of Cíyúnsì 慈雲寺 on Tiāntāishān
About the work
The fourth and last of the canonical Lives of Eminent Monks compendia, in 8 juan, designed to fill the gap between KR6r0054 Sòng gāosēng zhuàn (closed 988) and the late Míng. According to Rúxīng’s own preface (序), composed at Cíyún Chánsì on Tiāntāishān, the work was finished in Wànlì 萬曆 45 (1617). The collection covers c. 112 principal biographies (with a small number of supplementary lives) of monks of the Sòng, Yuán, and early-to-mid Míng dynasties.
Abstract
In contrast to its three predecessors, the DàMíng gāosēng zhuàn is markedly more compact (8 juan vs. 14 / 30 / 30) and abbreviates Huìjiǎo’s ten-category system to three: (1) Yìjiě 義解 (Doctrinal Exegetes, j. 1–2), (2) Jiěyì / Xíchán 解義習禪 (Meditators, j. 3–6, the largest category), and (3) Xíchán and other miscellaneous categories (j. 7–8). The drastic reduction reflects (i) the late-Míng concentration of monastic identity around the Chán schools, and (ii) the limited documentary apparatus available to Rúxīng, who relied on temple gazetteers, yǔlù prefaces, and earlier collections rather than on the imperial-archive access that 贊寧 enjoyed for KR6r0054.
The preface (the same juan-1 xù 敘 transmitted in the present source) traces the lineage of gāosēng zhuàn compilation from Huìyuán of Lúshān through Dàoxuān and Zànníng to Rúxīng’s own enterprise, identifying SòngYuánMíng masters as the work’s principal subject-matter. The Chán biographies are particularly informative for the Yuán Wǔshān 五山 establishment and for the early-Míng dharma-heirs of 袾宏 (Yúnqī Zhūhóng, 1535–1615), 紫柏 (Dáguān Zhēnkě 達觀真可, 1543–1604), 憨山德清 (Hānshān Déqīng, 1546–1623), and 蕅益 (Ǒuyì Zhìxù, 1599–1655) — collectively the “four eminent monks” (四大高僧) of the late-Míng revival. The text was incorporated in the supplementary section of the imperial canon (大正藏 vol. 50, No. 2062), entering the printed Buddhist tradition rather than the secular Sìkùquánshū.
The author Rúxīng of T2062 is the Míng-dynasty Rúxīng (DILA A000348), dharma-heir of Xiàngxiān Zhēnqīng 象先真清 and abbot of Tiāntāi Cíyúnsì — not the Qīng-dynasty Rúxīng (DILA A037571) who served Qīnglóng Défēng. The two are easily confused on the basis of filename alone (the local person note disambiguates).
Translations and research
- John Kieschnick, The Eminent Monk (Honolulu, 1997) — covers all four gāosēng zhuàn; Rú-xīng treated more briefly.
- 釋見曄, 《明代高僧叢林與佛教史學》 (Taipei, 2007) — Chinese-language monograph on late-Míng monastic historiography, with a chapter on the Dà-Míng gāosēng zhuàn.
- 何孝榮, 〈如惺《大明高僧傳》研究〉, in 世界宗教研究 (various Chinese-language articles).
Other points of interest
The eight-juan compass and the abbreviated category-scheme make the DàMíng gāosēng zhuàn a selective rather than comprehensive register, and it omits significant monks of the SòngYuánMíng period whom one might expect — most conspicuously 宗杲 Dàhuì Zōnggǎo 大慧宗杲 (1089–1163) and the major Línjì yǔlù lineage figures, who are accordingly to be sought in the Chán dēnglù literature (KR6q0001 Jǐngdé chuándēng lù and successors) rather than here.
Links
- CBETA: T50n2062