Lives of the nuns biographies of Chinese Buddhist nuns from the fourth to sixth centuries : a translation of the Pi-ch'iu-ni chuan |
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 | Lives of the nuns |  |
4. The Liang Dynasty
Pao-ch'ang excerpted this biography from a much longer original written
by the scholar Shen Yüeh (441-513) and found in the Chinese Buddhist canon
in Kuang hung ming chi (The extended collection making known the illustrious).
Some details have been added to the present translation from the longer
biography found in T. 52, no. 2103, chap. 23, 270.b.7. The longer version is
reproduced with slight variations in Ku chin t'u shu chi ch'eng (Complete collection
of books and records ancient and modern), vol. 506, chap. 203, the
section on nuns.
Nirvāna Scripture, T. 12, no. 374, 11:432.c.13ff. See biography 42,
chap. 3 n. 30, and bibliography, Great Final Nirvāna Scripture.
The five fundamental precepts: abstention from harming living beings,
from wrong or false speech, from wrong sexual actions, from theft, and from
intoxicating substances.
Twenty-nine years old: the basic text reads nineteen; the Sung, Yüan,
and Ming editions, and Shen Yüeh's version in Kuang hung ming chi (The
extended collection making known the illustrious) read twenty-nine.
Master of the Law Yao, otherwise unknown. Two monks with the second
syllable Yao as part of their names are noted in the table of contents to
Pao-ch'ang, Ming seng chuan (Lives of famous monks), 14:5, Hui-yao of
Sung, and Hui-yao of Ch'i. Their biographies are no longer extant.
Master of the Law Yao could have lectured on any of these three texts,
but the first is most likely: Sarvāstivāda Monastic Rules in Ten Recitations, T.
23, no. 1435, Shih sung lü (Sarvāstivāda-vinaya), translated by Punyatara,
Dharmaruci, and Kumārajīva; T. 23, no. 1436, Shih sung pi-ch'iu po-lo-t'imo-ch'a
chieh pen (Sarvāstivāda-prātimoksha-sūtra), translated by Kumārajīva;
T. 23, no. 1437, Shih sung pi-ch'iu-ni po-lo-t'i-mo-ch'a chieh pen (Sarvāstivāda-bhikshunī-prātimoksha-sūtra),
translated by Fa-hsien. T. 23, no.
1437 gives the rules and regulations for nuns. See Répertoire, p. 123.
Fa-ying: biography in Kao seng chuan 11:402.a.6, where it states specifically
that he edited the monastic texts on which he lectured to Ching-hsiu.
The metaphor is changed for the translation. In the text the Buddha is a
rope, and his teachings are the strands or skeins emanating from it and gradually
fraying and coming to an end.
The Dragon Kings, one of the eight classes of spirits found in Indian
cosmology, were often benevolent toward those who practice Buddhism, protecting
them against malevolent spirits or supporting and encouraging them in
their efforts as we see in the case of Ching-hsiu.
The term Holy Monk can also be translated as arhat, about which see
biography 47, chap. 3 n. 58, on "three types of Buddhist paths." For Pindola,
see below, and notes to biography 42, chap. 3 n. 38.
According to Shen Yüeh's biography of Ching-hsiu in Kuang hung ming
chi (The extended collection making known the illustrious), all the other
monks and nuns imitated this change of color, thus establishing what became
the traditional color for monastic robes in China.
In the Chinese Buddhist canon there is a scripture, Ch'ing pin-t'ou-lu fa
(Method for inviting Pindola), that is a brief treatise on the proper way to
invite the presence of the Holy Monk Pindola, in T. 32, no. 1689. Also see
biography 42, chap. 3 n. 38.
Ch'i heir apparent Wen-hui and prince of Ching-ling Wen-hsüan. See
biography 34, chap. 2 nn. 119, 120.
Flower of the Law Scripture chanted seven times comes to a total of
approximately 500,000 words at a minimum. To chant the text seven times in
a day and a night would require chanting approximately 20,800 words per
hour, or 347 words per minute, or 5.7 words per second. See introduction.
I Province. This does not appear in the text, but it was in the territory of
Shu Province, the present-day Ssuch'uan Province.
A hearer is a follower of the Disciples' Vehicle and therefore naturally
exhibits a darker ray from the point of view of the Great Vehicle.
Revelation of doctrine is a sign of holiness. Presumably she would have
great amounts of revealed scriptures. See Needham, Science and Civilisation
2:157-158; Strickmann, "On the Alchemy," in Facets of Taoism, p.187; Ch'u
san-tsang chi chi (Collected notes), chap. 5, 40.b, gives notice that from 499
to 505 a young girl living in Green Garden Convent chanted texts as they were
revealed to her in a trance. These texts are listed in the section of i, or "suspect"
texts.
Southern Ch'u, which cannot be placed with certainty. It probably
refers to somewhere in the Huai River valley, between that river and the
Yangtze River, especially Hupei Province.
A pagoda and a temple. On the origin of this phrase see Kuang hung
ming chi (The extended collection making known the illustrious), T. 52,
no. 2103, chüan II.101.c.1-4. This indicates the building built to house the
Buddha's relics where one could offer flowers and respect.
Chang Chün's father, Chang Tai (413-483), was the better known of
the two. He was the governor of I Province between 473 and 477 (Nan ch'i
shu, chap. 32; Nan shih, chap. 31).
Prince of Hsüan-wu of Liang, (d. 500). This prince was Hsiao I, elder
brother of Emperor Wu (464-502-549), founder of the Liang dynasty. He
met death by treachery in the year 500 and was given his offices and titles posthumously,
that of prince of Hsüan-wu being bestowed in 502 (Liang shu,
chap. 23; Nan shih, chap. 51).
The purpose of this episode is to demonstrate T'an-hui's ability to rise
to meet impossible demands. The text in this section, beginning "he sent a
maidservant" and ending "without additional help," not only has alternate
readings from different editions but also omits any subjects, leaving only verbs
and objects. Therefore, although the most logical progression of events has
been conjectured, any translation must be tentative.
This phrase is taken from the Vimalakīrti's Preaching Scripture, a scripture
extremely popular in China, and refers to the bodhisattva's inexhaustible
store of merit, but in this biography we see the term linked to economic
resources. Emperor Wu of Liang established the economic institution of the
Inexhaustible Treasury to handle the goods and money donated by the faithful
to religious institutions. Such great surpluses were built up that the treasuries
became major centers of capital accumulation that in turn could be used to
finance further religious activities and also be used to make loans. These inexhaustible
treasuries became very large and important in the T'ang dynasty
Preaching Scripture, T. 14, no. 475, chap. two, 550.b.10. For their development,
see Gernet, Aspects économiques, pp. 205-212.
Kao-ch'ang, a central Asian kingdom in present-day Hsinchiang Province,
T'u-lu-fan County. See map.
This practice, together with the burning of an arm or of one's whole
body in honor of the Buddha, was inspired by the Flower of the Law Scripture,
a Buddhist scripture immensely popular in China (see bibliography
under Flower of the Law Scripture for Miao fa lien hua ching, 53.b-54.a; and
Cheng fa hua ching, 125.b-126.a). A photograph of this type of mutilation in
honor of the Buddha appears in Prip-Møller, Chinese Buddhist Monasteries,
p. 322. The origins of the sacrifice by fire are difficult to trace. It is not originally
a Buddhist phenomenon. One theory about its appearance in the Flower
of the Law Scripture is that that part of the scripture was composed to exhort
greater faith in the face of troubles. Another is that it is a vivid way to describe
the yogic experience of heat and ecstasy. See, e.g., Eliade Myths, Dreams, and
Mysteries, pp. 146-149. Also in the biography of the monk Fa-hsien in Kao
seng Fa Hsien chuan (T. 51, no. 2085, 862.a.13-20) we read of the death of
Ānanda whose body was spontaneously consumed by fire while he was in the
"fire-ray" samādhi. Afterward he divided the remains into two parts and distributed
them. Also see A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, pp. 75-77. The
possibility of influence of Middle Eastern fire cults cannot be overlooked.
This is another example of the remarkable speed with which some of
the nuns were able to chant scriptures.
A partial biography of Fa-hui appears in Pao-ch'ang's Meisōden-shō
(Lives of famous monks). In that biography we learn that Fa-hui, in his youth,
enjoyed hunting, archery, drinking, and singing and that he was married, his
wife being the most beautiful woman in the country. But he got into an
unpleasant scrape and fled to the country of Kucha. Once there, he was apparently
converted and wanted to become a Buddhist monk, but he had no
money to buy monastic robes. A foreigner had died, and Fa-hui followed the
family to the graveyard. After they had left, he wanted to take the dead man's
clothing, which was of excellent quality, but first had to struggle with the
ghost. He overcame the ghost, stole the clothing, sold it, and used the money
to buy monastic robes. He progressed well in the monastic life and eventually
returned to Kao-ch'ang, where he earned much respect and became the chaplain
of the nuns. The account of his trip back to Kucha to see the monk Chih-yüeh
is essentially the same as in Nun Feng's biography, with this addition:
been living a pure life for a long time, a reference of course to his profligate
youth that he had left behind. Fa-hui's own biography finishes up by saying
that after his return to Kao-ch'ang he was very influential in the whole region,
spreading the Buddhist religion very successfully, and that everyone looked up
to him (Meisōden-shō, chap. 25).
Chih-yüeh, known only in this biography and in the biography of
Fa-hui in Pao-ch'ang's Meisōden-shō (Lives of famous monks).
The third fruit (anāgāmin) is that of never again being reborn on earth,
but rather in a heaven from whence one can reach final enlightenment.
This story has the flavor of the later masters of the Ch'an, or Zen, sect,
with their unorthodox teaching methods that included, at times, deliberately
breaking one or more of the precepts. The actual verbal exchange between
Chih-yüeh and Fa-hui is also full of the flavor of Ch'an. When Chih-yüeh
asks, "Have you got it?" Fa-hui does not have to ask what it is he is supposed
to have.
A textual variant gives the reading "five gates of meditation," which
could also be the title of a text, the Five Gates of Meditation Scripture,
translated by Buddhamitra and Dharmamitra in the capital during the early
Sung dynasty (420-479) (T. 15, no. 619). The five gates in the scripture are
watching one's breath, observing the impurity of all things, cultivating compassion
for all living beings, contemplating the causes of dependent arising,
and keeping in mind, or calling upon, the Buddha. Another list of five, from
the Vimalakīrti's Preaching Scripture, is meditating on impermanence, suffering,
emptiness, non-ego, and the calm cessation of nirvana (T. 14, no. 475,
chap. 1, 541.a.15-16).
According to a textual variant, the first named (Hui-yin) could also be
Ssu-yin. Fa-ying is not the same Fa-ying whose biography appears in Kao seng
chuan 11:402.a.6.
Flower of the Law Scripture. See biography 5, chap. 1 n. 53; and biography
7, chap. 1 n. 63; and bibliography.
These activities carried out by the little girl are described in the Flower
of the Law Scripture, which says that, even if a child piles up sand to make little
Buddhist pagodas, that child has already attained to the Buddhist path, or
merit, he has attained the Buddhist path. See Flower of the Law Scripture
(Miao fa lien hua ching), pp. 8.c.23-25, 9.a.5-8.
Ch'i heir apparent, Wen-hui. The text says literally Emperor Wen of
Ch'i, but it was a title bestowed on him posthumously (Nan ch'i shu, chap.
21; Nan shih, chap. 4).
The four necessities are food, clothing, medicine, and bedding; or food,
clothing, medicine, and shelter.
Discourse on the Completion of Reality (Ch'eng shih lun) (Satyasiddhi-shāstra?),
trans. Kumārajīva, T. 32, no. 1646; Discourse on the Abhidharma
(P'i-t'an). In T. there are three volumes of Abhidharma texts, vols. 27, 28, 29.
Great Final Nirvāna Scripture (see biography 42, chap. 3 n. 30); and the
Flower Garland Scripture (Hua-yen ching) (Avatamsaka-sūtra), in T. 9, no.
278; and T. 10. These texts are difficult philosophical and doctrinal texts, and
the nun Ching-hsing, able to discourse on them, reveals her own intelligence
and education. Her grasping the essential when first hearing the topic echoes
Confucius (Lun yü, book 7, maxim 8): "If I hold up one corner and a man
cannot come up with the other three, I do not continue the lesson" (trans.
Waley in The Analects of Confucius, p. 124).
Hsiao Tzu-liang, Ch'i Ching-ling Wen Hsüan Wang (Nan ch'i shu,
chap. 40; Nan shih, chaps. 5, 44). See also biography 39, chap. 3 n. 10.
Seng-tsung and Pao-liang. Their biographies are in Kao seng chuan
8:379.c., 381.c., respectively. They are classified among the "monks who
explicate the meaning of the scriptures."
This is probably the meaning. There is a slight possibility, however,
that it means he was selecting a suitable candidate for the position of seng-lu
(recorder of the assembly) an administrative office of Chinese origin designed
to keep track of the assemblies and their activities within a certain region. This
office was established during the Yao Ch'in dynasty (384-417) by imperial
decree. See Mochizuki, Bukkyō-daijiten, 3124.a.
The five sectarian divisions most likely refers to the schools of the Dharmaguptaka,
Sarvāstivāda, Mahīshāsaka, Kāshyapīya or Mahāsāmghika, and
Vātsīputrīya. These divisions of the Disciples' Vehicle Buddhism provided the
books of monastic rules on which early Chinese Buddhist monasticism was
based. Buddhism in China was Mahāyāna or Great Vehicle Buddhism, but,
although doctrinally Mahāyāna, depended at this time on the monastic codes
of the Disciples' Vehicle. The approach was eclectic. Thus Ling-yü would
study all texts of monastic codes available to her. By about a.d. 500, the
universally available.
This emperor is Hou-fei, posthumously degraded to the title prince of
Ts'ang-wu, who died in 477 at the age of fifteen, stabbed to death by a group
of men fed up with his decadence and cruelty that had terrorized all within his
reach. This peculiar way of referring to him may indicate the original biographer's
repugnance for the emperor's despicable, degenerate character (Nan
shih, chap. 3).
This is the first mention of the complete title of the translation done by
Kumārajīva (350-409) in Ch'ang-an in north China.
Shrīmālā Scripture, see biography 41, chap. 3 n. 25, and bibliography,
Shrīmālā-devī-simhanāda-sūtra; Vimalakīrti Scripture, see biography 9, chap.
1 n. 73, and bibliography, Vimalakīrti's Preaching Scripture.
Fa-yin and Seng-shen, in Kao seng chuan 11:399.c.; 14:421.b.15. Fa-yin
is listed in the table of contents of Kao seng chuan as a subbiography
attached to Seng-shen's, but the text itself does not mention him.
Lady Chang was the wife of the prince of Ch'ang-sha, Tao-lien (368422),
a younger brother of Emperor Wu (367-422) of Sung. The prince of
Lin-ch'uan, Liu I-ch'ing (403-444), was the second son of the prince of
Ch'ang-sha and was adopted as heir by the prince of Lin-ch'uan, Tao-kuei
(370-412), another younger brother of Emperor Wu. Lady Chang would
have been quite elderly at the time she wanted to give up her residence. Liu I-ch'ing
is traditionally ascribed the authorship of a work known as Shih-shuo
hsin-yü (A new account of tales of the world), described in the bibliography
(Sung shu, chap. 51; Nan shih, chap. 13).
It must be remembered that Shih Pao-ch'ang, the biographer, compiled
the biographies at the request of Emperor Wu, founder of the Liang dynasty.
Great Final Nirvāna Scripture; see biography 42, chap. 3 n. 30. Flower
of the Law Scripture; see biography 5, chap. 1 n. 53; Ten-Stages Scripture
(Shih ti ching) (Dashabhūmika-sūtra); there are several texts in the Buddhist
canon, in T. 10, and the only one using the title Shih ti ching was not translated
until much later. The extant texts of the time of the nuns are called Shih
chu ching. The biography clearly says Shih ti. Shih ti could also refer to chap.
22 of the Flower Garland Scripture (Ta fang kuang hua yen ching). See Répertoire,
pp. 37-38.
Mother of Monasticism Scripture, T. 24, no. 1463, reading mu instead
of hai in conformity with the Sung, Yüan, and Ming editions; and Répertoire,
p. 125.
Great Final Nirvāna Scripture (see biography 42, chap. 3 n. 30); Flower
of the Law Scripture (see biography 5, chap. 1 n. 53).
Discourse on the Completion of Reality (Ch'eng shih lun) (Satyasiddhishāstra),
T. 32, no. 1646; Great Final Nirvāna Scripture (see n. 84 above).
All except T'an-chi have biographies in Kao seng chuan. A partial biography
of T'an-chi appears in Pao-ch'ang's Meisōden-shō (Lives of famous
monks) in which the only specific date given is that in the year 458 the
emperor requested him to live in the capital. The biography also states that he
is the author of a work titled A Treatise on the Seven Schools. T'an-pin (biography
in Kao seng chuan 7:373.a), and Hui-tz'u (biography in Kao seng chuan
8:379.b), are both specifically credited with expertise in one or more of the
scriptures mentioned above. Seng-jou (biography in Kao seng chuan 8:378.c),
although not so credited with a specific scripture, is listed among the monks
known for their skill in explaining the scriptures.
T'an-pin (biography in Kao seng chuan 7:373.a.16); T'an-chi is probably
the same one who appears as a subbiography in T'an-pin's biography. His
is one of the few extant biographies in Pao-ch'ang's Meisōden-shō (Lives of
famous monks), chap. 16; Seng-jou (431-494) (biography in Kao seng chuan
7:378.c.4); Hui-tz'u (434-490) (biography in Kao seng chuan 8:397.b.23).
Infinite Life Scripture (Wu liang shou ching) (Sukhāvatīvyūha), T. 12,
no. 360, attributed to Sanghavarman. The biography gives the exact title of
the Sanghavarman translation. There are other related texts. See Répertoire,
p. 46.
The name of the convent is uncertain because in all major editions it has
been given two different names.
Cassia Park is tentatively identified as the Cassia Park founded in the
time of Emperor Ta of the Wu dynasty (222-252) and located on the south
face of the Falling Star Mountain in the capital district.
Omitting the four in conformity with the Sung, Yüan, and Ming editions.
Twenty is a common age for taking up the life of a nun.
Reading Hui-chi instead of Hui-ch'i in conformity with the Sung, Yüan,
and Ming editions. His biography is in Kao seng chuan 8:379.a.3.
Hui-hsi appears in the table of contents to Pao-ch'ang's Meisōden-shō
(Lives of famous monks) (Ming seng chuan ch'ao), chap. 17.
Chou Ying, in addition to his literary efforts, was also a very devout
and pious Buddhist layman. He had built his own retreat on Bell Mountain,
living like a monk even though he had a wife. He wrote a Treatise on the
Three Schools (San tsung lun), and Rhyme Tables of the Four Tones (Nan ch'i
shu, chap. 41; Nan shih, chap. 34).
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