Zōngjiàolǜ zhūzōng yǎnpài 宗教律諸宗演派
Generational-Character Mnemonic Verses of the Various Lineages of Chán, Doctrinal Schools, and Vinaya
re-edited by 守一空成 (Shǒuyī Kōngchéng, late Qīng, 重編)
About the work
A 1-juan late-Qīng compilation of generational-character mnemonic verses (yǎnpài 演派) for the various Buddhist lineages of late-imperial China — the Chán (zōng 宗), doctrinal-school (jiào 教 = Tiāntái, Huáyán, etc.), and vinaya (lǜ 律) lineages. Compiled by the Sūzhōu Nánchánsì monk Shǒuyī Kōngchéng 守一空成. The yǎnpài genre is a distinctive late-imperial Chinese Buddhist institutional convention: each major monastic lineage adopts a fixed sequence of generational characters (typically a 16-, 20-, 32-, 40-, or 56-character mnemonic verse) which is used to assign the second character of each successive generation’s dharma-name, thereby fixing each individual monk’s lineage-position by the form of his name. The system is functionally analogous to the secular-clan zǔpǔ 族譜 generational-character convention. Transmitted in the Xùzàngjīng as X1667.
Prefaces
The work has no separate preface; it opens directly with the 《臨濟源流訣》 Línjì yuánliú jué (“Mnemonic of the Línjì Origin and Course”) — a single gé 偈 / mnemonic verse summarising the principal patriarchal sequence of the Línjì school: “Nányuè Huáiràng — Dàoyī Hǎi / Yùn Xuán Jiǎngyǒng Zhāozhāo Bùzhù / Niàn Zhāo Yuán Huì Duān Yǎn Qín / Lóng Huá Jié Yú Xiān Fàn Jù” — naming each of the principal patriarchs of the Línjì lineage from Nányuè Huáiràng to the SòngYuán transition.
Abstract
The work is structured into a sequence of lineage-by-lineage sub-sections, each consisting of:
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The lineage-name (e.g., Línjìzōng, Cáodòngzōng, Yúnménzōng, Fǎyǎnzōng, Wéiyǎngzōng, etc., for the Chán lineages; Tiāntāizōng, Huáyánzōng for the doctrinal lineages; Nánshānlǜzōng for the vinaya lineages).
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The lineage’s distinctive yǎnpài mnemonic verse, ranging from 16 characters (as for the Suízhōu Dàhóngshānpài 隨州大洪山派) up to 40 or 56 characters for the larger lineages. A representative example: the Huánggāng Bǎogàisìpài 黃岡寶葢寺派 演四十字: “本有智善法 / 因證悟尚因 / 自從今古派 / 萬代永興隆 / 傳道如來慧 / 廣施濟世功 / 了明真實義 / 理事悉圓融.”
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Where applicable, sub-lineage variants — many Chinese Buddhist lineages have multiple yǎnpài corresponding to different temple-foundations or regional offshoots.
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Brief lineage-historical notes — the founding patriarch, the principal monastic seat, and the key descendants of each lineage.
The work catalogues approximately 100 distinct yǎnpài drawn from the major and minor lineages of late-imperial Chinese Buddhism. It is the principal late-Qīng reference for Chinese Buddhist lineage-name conventions and an indispensable resource for the study of late-imperial Chinese monastic onomastics — allowing the lineage-affiliation of any monk to be reconstructed from the form of his dharma-name.
The work is also a key document of late-Qīng / early-Republican Buddhist self-historiography: by the late 19th century, the elaboration of the yǎnpài system had become so complex (with hundreds of regional sub-lineages, many founded only in the Qīng period) that a comprehensive reference compilation became necessary for institutional and ceremonial purposes (lineage-induction ceremonies, monastic correspondence, dàochǎng protocol). Shǒuyī Kōngchéng’s compilation served this practical function and supplied the standard reference text for the late-Qīng / Republican Buddhist establishment.
The dating bracket — 1850 to 1900 — is fixed by the inclusion of late-Qīng sub-lineages founded after the Tàipíng 太平 disturbances (which substantially reshaped the southern Chinese monastic landscape in the 1850s–1860s) and by the work’s transmission in the late-Míng-style Xùzàngjīng line, which suggests pre-1900 compilation.
Translations and research
- Holmes Welch, The Practice of Chinese Buddhism, 1900–1950 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1967) — the standard Western-language reference for late-Qīng / Republican Chinese Buddhist institutional practice, with extensive treatment of yǎn-pài conventions.
- Holmes Welch, The Buddhist Revival in China (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1968) — context for late-19th-century Chinese Buddhist institutional history.
- Daniel Stevenson, “Death-Bed Testimonials of the Pure Land Faithful,” in D. Lopez, ed., Religions of China in Practice (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1996): 592–602 — context for late-Qīng monastic onomastic practice.
- 闞正宗, 《重讀台灣佛教》(Táiběi: Dà-qián chū-bǎn-shè, 2004) — uses Shǒu-yī’s compilation extensively for Tai-wan Buddhist lineage-reconstruction.
- 釋法藏, 《菩薩戒品演派之研究》(Táiběi: Fǎ-gǔ wén-huà, 2010) — treats the yǎn-pài system in its institutional context.
Other points of interest
The Zhūzōng yǎnpài is the principal source for the lineage-affiliation of late-imperial Chinese monks as revealed by their dharma-names. For example, a monk named Yǎnbēn Yìngfù 衍本應夫 of the Línjì lineage can be located in his lineage by reference to Shǒuyī’s compilation, which preserves the distinctive yǎnpài of his temple-line. This onomastic-genealogical use of the work makes it indispensable for any prosopographical study of late-imperial Chinese monasticism.
Links
- CBETA: X88n1667