Fǎjièzōng wǔzǔ lüèjì 法界宗五祖略記
Brief Records of the Five Patriarchs of the Dharma-Realm School [= the Huá-yán School]
compiled by 續法 (Xùfǎ / Bǎitíng, 1641–1728, 輯)
About the work
A 1-juan early-Qīng compendium of biographical-doctrinal sketches of the five patriarchs of the Huáyán school, the Fǎjièzōng 法界宗 (“Dharma-Realm School”) being the alternative name for Huáyánzōng 華嚴宗 derived from the school’s central doctrinal concept of the fǎjiè (dharma-dhātu 法界). The work was compiled by Xùfǎ 續法 (1641–1728, hào Bǎitíng 柏亭), the principal early-Qīng restorer of the Huáyán scholastic tradition. Composition is bracketed by Xùfǎ’s mature scholarly career, c. 1680–1714 (the latter date being the publication of his major Huáyán reference works).
Abstract
The “five patriarchs” of the Huáyán school are: (1) Dù Shùn 杜順 (557–640), the legendary first patriarch and reputed author of the Wǔjiào zhǐguān 五教止觀 (T1867); (2) Zhìyǎn 智儼 (602–668), the second patriarch, author of the Sōu xuán jì 搜玄記 (T1732) and the great systematiser of yuánróng 圓融 (“perfect interpenetration”) doctrine; (3) Fǎzàng 法藏 / Xiánshǒu 賢首 (643–712), the third patriarch and the school’s de facto founder, author of KR6r0084 Huáyánjīng zhuànjì and the major doctrinal-systematic works (Huáyán wǔjiào zhāng, etc.); (4) Chéngguān 澄觀 (738–839), the fourth patriarch and the reformer who integrated Huáyán with mature Tiāntāi zhǐguān doctrine, author of the great Huáyánjīng shū 華嚴經疏; (5) Zōngmì 宗密 (780–841), the fifth patriarch and the author of the Yuánjué jīng dàshū 圓覺經大疏 (T1795) and the Yuánrén lùn 原人論 (T1886) — the cross-tradition synthesist who is also reckoned in the Chán Hézé 荷澤 lineage.
Each biography combines a brief life-narrative with a summary of the patriarch’s principal doctrinal contributions and an annotated list of his major works. The work is one of Xùfǎ’s principal Huáyán historiographical compositions, alongside his Xiánshǒu wǔjiào yítú 賢首五教儀圖 and his commentarial works. Xùfǎ is the figure most responsible for the early-Qīng restoration of Huáyán scholasticism in the Hángzhōu / Sìmíng region; this work is the principal hagiographical instrument of that restoration.
The text was first printed in Xùfǎ’s lifetime through the Hángzhōu / Yúnqīsì 雲棲 print-distribution network (Xùfǎ inherited much of Yúnqī Zhūhóng 袾宏’s Hángzhōu institutional infrastructure) and was incorporated into the Manji Xuzangjing (X77 no. 1530).
Translations and research
- Imre Hamar (ed.), Reflecting Mirrors: Perspectives on Huayan Buddhism (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2007) — discusses Xù-fǎ in the broader context of Huá-yán transmission.
- 鎌田茂雄, Chūgoku Kegon shisōshi no kenkyū (Tokyo, 1965) — chapters on the Qīng Huá-yán restoration.
- 楊曾文, 《明清佛教史研究》 — Chinese-language survey of Qīng Buddhist scholarship.
- Jin Y. Park (ed.), Buddhisms in Asia, with chapters touching on Xù-fǎ’s restoration project.
Other points of interest
The “five patriarchs” lineage of KR6r0086 follows the standard Huá-yán-school self-articulation that emerged in the Sòng — Dù Shùn (1) – Zhìyǎn (2) – Fǎzàng (3) – Chéngguān (4) – Zōngmì (5). The lineage is post-hoc: there is no historical evidence that Dù Shùn and Zhìyǎn understood themselves as patriarchs in a lineage, and Zōngmì himself was institutionally a Hézé Chán figure rather than an exclusive Huáyán partisan. The “five patriarchs” scheme is a Sòng-period historiographical construction articulating the Huáyán school as a continuous tradition with a fixed lineage, which Xùfǎ here transmits and consolidates as the canonical Qīng presentation.
Links
- CBETA: X77n1530