九師

Jiǔ shī 九師

A collective designation, “the Nine Masters,” referring to the nine principal Tang–Sòng commentators on the Śūraṃgama-sūtra whose accumulated work was synthesized in the Yuán-period Lèngyán huì-jiě 楞嚴會解 (KR6j0728, 大佛頂萬行首楞嚴經會解, 20 juan) by 惟則 Tiān-rú Wéi-zé of the Shī-zǐ-lín 師子林 in Sūzhōu. The “nine” are conventionally enumerated as:

1. Chángshuǐ Zǐxuán 長水子璿 (Sòng) — Xián-shǒu-school synthesist of Tiāntái and Huáyán methods; foundational Lèngyán exegete.
2. Gūshān Zhìyuán 孤山智圓 (Sòng, 976–1022) — Tiāntái-school shānwài 山外 commentator.
3. Wúxìng Yuè 吳興岳 = Wúxìng Rényuè 吳興仁岳 (Sòng) — Tiāntái shānwài extension.
4. Zīzhōng Yuángōng 資中沅公 = Zīzhōng Hóngyuán 資中弘沇 (Táng) — earliest Lèngyán exegete in the Tiāntái-aligned sānfǎ sānguān tradition.
5. Wēnlíng Jièhuán 溫陵戒環 (Sòng) — Chán/syncretist commentator; introduced the jiàndào 見道 etc. four-section structural division.
6. Chángqìng Yǎngōng 長慶巘公 = Chángqìng Cǐyǎn 長慶子巘 (TángSòng) — earliest Chán-school Lèngyán commentator.
7. Pǔwén Mòróng = Pǔjì Mòróng (or other Sòng-period commentators present in the Huìjiě).
8. Hǎiyìn Géjié 海印鎧傑 (Sòng) — TiāntáiYuánzōng commentator.
9. Zhēnjì 真際 = various secondary commentators included in the Huìjiě compilation.

The exact composition of the “Nine Masters” varies slightly between editions and bibliographies; the Huìjiě preface itself says Wéizé “gathered the nine masters’ [exegetical] discourses” (集九師之義). The “Nine Masters” thus designate the canonical pre-Yuán Lèngyán commentarial tradition collectively, rather than a single fixed group; the meta entry in the catalog uses the term as a placeholder for the sources synthesized in the Huìjiě.