Zhū fó shìzūn rúlái púsà zūnzhě shénsēng míng jīng 諸佛世尊如來菩薩尊者神僧名經
The Sūtra of the Names of the Various Buddhas, World-Honored Tathāgatas, Bodhisattvas, Honored Ones, and Spirit-Monks imperially “made” by 太宗朱棣 (制)
About the work
A massive forty-juan Buddhist devotional compilation, imperially commissioned and titled by the Yǒnglè emperor 永樂帝 (Míng Tàizōng / Chéngzǔ, Zhū Dì 朱棣, 1360–1424, r. 1402–1424). The work is a devotional name-list: page after page of buddha-, bodhisattva-, zūnzhě (= arhat / honored-one), and shénsēng 神僧 (“spirit-monk” — a Chinese Buddhist title for legendary saintly monks) names, intended for invocation-recitation with the recipient gaining specific karmic merit and protection from specific evils. The work belongs to the genre of imperial-canonical name-collection devotional texts that became central to Míng imperial Buddhist patronage. Preserved at P178 no. 1611. The second of three substantial Yǒng-lè-imperial Buddhist works in the Kanripo (KR6s0063–KR6s0065).
Prefaces
The text opens with the work’s own opening preface:
The various Buddhas, the World-Honored Tathāgatas, the Bodhisattvas, the Honored Ones, and the Spirit-Monks: broadly arousing vow-pledges, ferrying-and-saving the multitude of beings. Whoever arouses good heart, praising-and-extolling the names of the various Buddhas, World-Honored Tathāgatas, Bodhisattvas, Honored Ones, and Spirit-Monks: such immediately obtains various good recompenses. The light-and-thin, scornful and arrogant, not respectful, not believing: such immediately obtains various evil recompenses. The mechanism of good and evil — like the shadow following the form, like the echo responding to the sound — is not awry by a hairsbreadth. So-called “doing good” is being loyal to the lord above, filial to one’s parents, respectful to heaven-and-earth, serving the ancestral lineage, honoring the Three Jewels, respecting the spirit-and-bright, following the king’s…
[The preface continues with the standard Míng-imperial moral-orthodox framing — Confucian-Buddhist syncretism within a state-ideology framework — followed by the body of the text giving the buddha- / bodhisattva- / arhat- / spirit-monk name-lists.]
Abstract
Authorship and date: imperially commissioned and titled by the Yǒnglè emperor 永樂帝 during his reign 1402–1424. The byline marks Yǒnglè’s role as zhì 制 (“made / decreed”) rather than zhuàn 撰 (“composed”) — indicating that the work is a court-team compilation under imperial authorship-and-direction rather than literally an emperor-penned text. notBefore = 1402, notAfter = 1424. Catalog dynasty 明.
The work’s structure — long sequences of buddha-, bodhisattva-, and zūn-zhě names paired with karmic-recompense narratives — places it firmly in the Míng popular-devotional tradition of name-recitation merit-generation, which had its roots in the Pure Land Amitābha-recitation tradition and in the Vibhāṣā bhūmika-yoga practice. The combination with Confucian ethical-moral framing in the prefatory material (loyalty to ruler, filial piety, respect for ancestral lineage) reflects the Míng imperial syncretism of Buddhist devotion with state-orthodox Confucian morality.
The work is the principal early-Míng imperial example of the devotional name-list genre, which became standard in Míng-Qing popular Buddhism through the Liáng huángbǎochàn 梁皇寶懺 and similar penitential-ritual traditions.
Translations and research
No substantial dedicated Western-language secondary literature located. See KR6s0063 for general Yǒng-lè-imperial-Buddhism references.
Other points of interest
The 40-juan extent of the name-list alone is striking: it represents one of the most ambitious devotional-name compilations in pre-modern Chinese Buddhist history, providing tens of thousands of buddha-, bodhisattva-, and saint-names for invocation-recitation. The work’s incorporation into the Northern Yǒnglè canon as a free-standing canonical text reflects the imperial determination to canonicalize Yǒnglè’s personal devotional projects.
Links
- DILA authority: (no preserved authority entry for the imperial author)
- CBETA: P178n1611
- Author: Yǒnglè emperor Zhū Dì 朱棣 (1360–1424, r. 1402–1424)
- Companion Yǒnglè imperial Buddhist works: KR6s0063 (preface collection), KR6s0065 (51-juan name-songs)
- Genre context: Míng imperial-popular devotional name-recitation tradition