Zhūfǎ fēnbié chāo 諸法分別抄
Compendium on the Distinctions of the Various Dharmas by 頼寶 (撰)
About the work
A single-fascicle doctrinal-analytical compendium of the principal Shingon doctrinal categories, organized by topical fēnbié (“distinctions”) and treating each fundamental doctrinal-philosophical category in compact analytic form. By Raihō 頼寶 (1279–1330) of Mt. Kōya, late-Kamakura Shingi-Shingon scholastic systematizer.
Abstract
Authorship. Raihō.
Date. Within Raihō’s mature career, early 14th century.
Content. The work’s mokuroku lists the principal topical distinctions:
- 身心本元事 — On body-mind fundamental-origin matters.
- 六大事 — On the six elements.
- 五大形色因縁生事 — On the five-element form-color causal-conditional arising matters.
- 五大本末分別事 — On the five-element root-and-branch distinction matters.
- (further topics through the full inventory of Shingon doctrinal categories).
For each topic, Raihō provides:
- The standard doctrinal definition — the technical-terminological articulation.
- The scriptural foundation — citations from the Mahāvairocana-sūtra, Vajraśekhara-sūtra, and other Esoteric canonical sources.
- The doctrinal-analytical distinctions — the principal sub-divisions and contested questions within the category.
- The settled position of the medieval Shingon scholastic tradition.
The work is doctrinally compact and definitive — emphasizing precise distinction rather than discursive exposition. It is part of Raihō’s larger project of systematizing the late-Kamakura Shingi-Shingon doctrinal heritage in compact-systematic form.
Significance. The work belongs to the late-Kamakura systematizing moment of medieval Shingon scholasticism, complementing its compact companion the Zhēnyán míngmù (KR6t0155) — a Shingon technical-terminology lexicon — and the larger Shì móhēyǎn lùn kānzhù (KR6o0097). Together these three works constitute Raihō’s systematic-encyclopedic statement of the medieval Shingi-Shingon doctrinal heritage.
Translations and research
- No Western-language translation located.
- Ryūichi Abé, The Weaving of Mantra (Columbia, 1999).