Liǎoyīn jué 了因決
Decisions by Ryōin (Ryōin-ketsu) by 了惠 (撰)
About the work
A forty-eight-fascicle large-scale procedural-doctrinal compendium of Tendai esoteric ritual and doctrine, compiled by Ryōe 了惠 (1243–1330), Kamakura-era Tendai master known by his cloister-name Ryōinbō 了因房 (whence the title). The work is one of the four major medieval Taimitsu encyclopedic compilations, alongside KR6t0108 Sìshí tiè jué, KR6t0109 Xínglín chāo, and KR6t0110 Keiran-shūyōshū.
Abstract
Authorship. The catalog meta and Taishō edition consistently attribute the work to Ryōe.
Date. Within Ryōe’s mature career, conventionally late 13th to early 14th century.
Content. The work’s mokuroku table of contents reveals an unusual organization: rather than indexing by deity or by fascicle-folder, it indexes by specific procedural-doctrinal topic — each topic given a one-line entry in the table of contents and treated in detail in the corresponding text section. Selected representative entries:
- Dhātu 駄都 — Buddha-relic veneration and procedure.
- Mìjīng guàndǐng dàshì 祕經灌頂大事 — the great kanjō procedure of the Esoteric sūtra.
- Bǎo-zhū sān-xíng 寶珠三形 — the three forms of cintāmaṇi (wish-fulfilling relic-jewel).
- Shǒu-léng-yán shén-zhòu 首楞嚴神呪 — the Śūraṃgama dhāraṇī rite.
- Lǐ-qù-jīng wǔ-fó zhǒng-zǐ 理趣經五佛種子 — Adhyardhaśatikā five-Buddha seed-syllables.
- Tóng-jīng rú-shì shì 同經如是事 — Adhyardhaśatikā “thus” matters.
- Sānzì jué 三字決 — the three-character decision.
- Hùmó shì èrgè 護摩事二箇 — two cases on homa procedure.
The work is characterized by decisive doctrinal-procedural resolution (the jué 決 of the title — “decisions”) of contested questions in the medieval Taimitsu tradition. For each topic, Ryōe presents the various positions transmitted in the Tani-ryū, Kawa-ryū, and Sanmai-ryū sub-lineages, and adjudicates among them with reference to canonical sources, kuden, and his own master-lineage’s settled position.
Significance. The Ryōin-ketsu is the most adjudicative-decisive of the major medieval Taimitsu compendia. Where Xínglín chāo aims at procedural-encyclopedic comprehensiveness and Keiran-shūyōshū at doctrinal-cultural breadth, Ryōe’s work is focused on resolving procedural-doctrinal disputes — taking definite positions on contested questions and providing the reasoning. It is therefore a key source for reconstructing the internal doctrinal-procedural diversification of medieval Taimitsu.
The work is cited extensively in subsequent Taimitsu literature including the Edo-period systematizations.
Translations and research
- No Western-language translation located.
- Misaki Ryōshū 三崎良周, Taimitsu no kenkyū (Sōbunsha, 1988) — extensive use of Ryōin-ketsu for the reconstruction of medieval Taimitsu doctrinal diversification.
- Mizukami Fumiyoshi 水上文義, Taimitsu shisō keisei no kenkyū (Shunjūsha, 2008).
- Tsuda Tetsuei 津田徹英, Chūsei Tendai mikkyō no kenkyū (Sankibō, 2000).