University of Virginia Library

APPENDIX A: THE TEXT

The biographical collection, the Lives of the Nuns,[1] one of a number
of Chinese Buddhist biographical writings, is unique not only because
it is devoted to women but also because it covers the time of the founding
of the Buddhist assembly for women. Several other collections survive
from the same period, but these are all devoted to the lives of
monks.

The most important complete biographic documents in addition to
the Lives is Shih Hui-chiao's Kao seng chuan (Lives of eminent monks)
consisting of 257 major biographies and a number of subbiographies
completed "around a.d. 530."[2] Another collection, much smaller, is
found in the last three chüan of Shih Seng-yu's[3] Ch'u san-tsang chi
chi (Collected notes on the translation of the Buddhist scriptures into
Chinese).[4]

A third collection, by Shih Pao-ch'ang, the compiler of the Lives of
the Nuns, was a collection of monks' biographies titled the Ming seng
chuan (Lives of famous monks) (hereafter MSC).[5] This work is now
lost, except for the table of contents and a few extracts made by the
Japanese monk Shūshō in the year 1235.[6] Coincidentally, one extract
is also found nearly word for word in the Lives in the biography of the
Nun Feng (no. 55). This strengthens the assumption that Pao-ch'ang is
truly the compiler of the Lives because his name is not associated with
the Lives in any extant Chinese bibliographic catalogue,[7] Buddhist or
non-Buddhist, until the T'ang dynasty (618-907) catalogue K'ai-yüan
shih chiao lu (The T'ang k'ai-yüan reign period collection of Buddhist
writings),[8] and the K'ai-yüan shih chiao lu lüeh ch'u (The condensed
T'ang k'ai-yüan reign period catalogue of Buddhist writings).[9] Although
the attribution of the Lives to Pao-ch'ang first appears in a
T'ang-dynasty catalogue, we need not suspect that the Lives is an
orphan text to which a name has been arbitrarily assigned.

Nevertheless, in the T'ang-dynasty encyclopedia, Fa yüan chu lin
(The forest of pearls in the garden of the law) (hereafter FYCL),[10] the
Lives is not to be found in the FYCL list of nine titles attributed to
Pao-ch'ang.[11] The FYCL does not quote from the Lives, nor does it
quote from Pao-ch'ang's MSC. The Li tai san pao chi (LTSPC) lists

only the first eight of the nine titles given in the FYCL.[12] Of the eight,
only the MSC is undated. Elsewhere in the LTSPC, however, a date of
519 is given to the MSC.[13] Therefore, the Lives was most likely compiled
between 516 and 519, despite the late attribution of the date.[14]

It is a curious detail that the Lives is not quoted in the major encyclopedic
collections, whether Buddhist or not, from which are taken
the surviving fragments of lost works such as the Ming hsiang chi
(Records of mysterious omens) (hereafter MHC). The collections thus
do not quote from the Lives, although they quote the sources of many
of the Lives. These major collections were compiled in the north, and
probably the Lives circulated only in the limited area of the south
where it was originally compiled. The T'ang dynasty, consolidating
the rulership of the entire country, which had been unified under the
Sui dynasty (581-618), brought easier travel and concourse than was
possible during the chaotic and warring disunion of the Northern and
Southern dynasties. Only then could the Lives became more widespread
and thus finally appear in the T'ang catalogues of scriptures
with their attribution to Pao-ch'ang.[15]

The text of the Lives as it now stands is part of the Chinese Buddhist
canon, the Ta tsang ching (Great storehouse of scriptures), in the
Taishō edition (T.) (vol. 50, no. 2063), which is the basic text for our
translation. The Lives, with the exeption of one biography, also
appears in the Ku chin t'u shu chi ch'eng (Complete collection of
books and records ancient and modern) (hereafter KCTSCC), vol.
506, a Ch'ing-dynasty (1636-1911) encyclopedia. The text of the
Lives in KCTSCC corresponds to the Ming-dynasty (1368-1644) edition
of the Buddhist canon as given in the Taishō edition.

One other of Pao-ch'ang's works to survive, the Ching lü yi hsiang
(Different manifestations of the scriptures and the law) (T. 53, no.
2121), is the first title of the nine mentioned above in the FYCL.

Sources of the Text

In his preface Pao-ch'ang declares, "I have been examining epitaphs
and eulogies, and searching in collections of writings."

Most of the extant sources for the Lives are fragments from a now-lost
work, the MHC, compiled by Wang Yen after 479.[16] In the MHC
we find the most fragments of possible sources for the Lives. Of the
sixty-five biographies, five appear in the FYCL. All these five, biographies

10, 16, 22, 37, and 39, are taken from the MHC as quoted in
the FYCL, and a different version of biography 10 is found in the Chin
nan-ching ssu chi (Notes on the convents and monasteries of the
southern capital of the Chin dynasty), a book no longer extant but
quoted in the FYCL.[17]

A detailed comparison of the different versions of the biographies of
the same nun reveals how Pao-ch'ang used and changed his sources.
The five, and possibly six, biographies that have more than one extant
version are biography 10, Tao-jung, with four versions;[18] biography
16, Hui-yü, with three versions;[19] biography 22, Hui-mu, with two
versions (both have been translated to demonstrate the differences);[20]
biography 37, Fa-yüan, with two versions;[21] biography 52, Ching-hsiu,
with three versions.[22] The sixth biography, Hui-ch'iung (no. 20),
is distantly connected to that of a certain Fa-ch'iung in the collection
Kuang hung ming chi (The extended collection making known the
illustrious) (hereafter KHMC).[23]

The two most interesting of these few biographies are Tao-jung (10)
and Ching-hsiu (52). The first interests us because it has four versions.
No two versions are identical, but the fact that there is much overlapping
strongly suggests a common, and much longer, source. Ching-hsiu's
biography interests us because we have the original source used
by Pao-ch'ang. Ching-hsiu's original biography was written by Shen
Yüeh, a famous man of letters.[24] He wrote a lengthy biography of the
nun, which is included in Tao-hsüan's collection, the KHMC.[25] A
comparison of the two versions indicates that Pao-ch'ang used, condensed,
and edited Shen Yüeh's writing as the original source.

Shen Yüeh also must have had contact with other nuns because he
wrote a eulogy for Seng-ching (no. 39). That eulogy, although not
included in the Lives with the biography, is preserved in the KCTSCC,
vol. 506, p. 14b. The translated eulogy is appended to Seng-ching's
translated biography.

Literary Prototypes

The Lives, unique in content, is part of a long tradition of biographical
writing in China composed not merely for the sake of history itself
but for edification, example, and instruction. Within the biographical
form it is possible to evaluate individuals and their actions, whether
for good or ill, as statements of admonition and encouragement.[26]

The most obvious of the prototypes for the women in the Lives is
the Lieh nü chuan (Lives of women) (hereafter LNC)[27] compiled some
time between 77 b.c. and 6 b.c. by Liu Hsiang, a scholar of the Former
Han dynasty (206 b.c.-a.d. 8).[28] The LNC is intended to be a
vehicle for moral instruction and memorials for women by relating the
lives of those who are worthy of emulation and serve as models of
righteouness and upright conduct. The moral qualities of these
women, paragons of traditional society, are the apex of what is
expected and admired in women within the traditions of that society.

The Lives contains this type of biographical documentation. The
two collections, however, have a different structure, the LNC being
arranged categorically, including types such as the virtuous and wise,
the chaste and obedient, or those able in reasoning. The eighth category,
possibly not by Liu Hsiang, contains warnings about the pernicious
and depraved.[29] The type of women in this last category does
not appear in the Lives and would be contrary to Pao-ch'ang's purpose.
All the other Buddhist biographies, as well as the LNC, divide
their material by categories, and Pao-ch'ang did likewise in his MSC.

The Lives is divided chronologically. Pao-ch'ang in his preface,
however, singles out four types of women whom he especially
admires: the ascetics (Shan-miao, no. 26, and Ching-kuei, no. 47); the
contemplatives (Fa-pien, no. 31, and Seng-kuo, no. 27); the faithful
and steadfast (Seng-tuan, no. 24, and Seng-chi, no. 8); and the teachers
of great influence (Miao-hsiang, no. 4, and Fa-ch'üan, no. 44).
Reading these biographies, we see that Pao-ch'ang has chosen extreme
examples, the most spectacular being the ascetics who commit suicide
by fire in honor of the Buddha; the steadfast are those who refuse marriage
by using daring means to escape. The contemplatives go into
trances so deep that they are like wood and stone. The teachers have
hundreds of disciples and followers.

The Lives also serves as a model or exemplar for Buddhist women,
but in this case the values are Buddhist. Nevertheless, in the Lives,
when the biographer records secular values such as filiality, obedience,
and upholding tradition, we see attempts on the part of the compiler
to show clearly that Buddhist values and way of life did not fundamentally
go against the traditions of society, or against Confucian ethics
and morals. One difference is that the women of the LNC are praised
or blamed because of their effect on father, husband, or son, the three
men to whom a woman is to be obedient throughout her life. The

nuns, on the contrary, are in most cases praised and honored for their
own worth, for their own self-development, often in the face of opposition.

The vocabulary of praise and blame are different—with some overlapping—between
the LNC and the Lives. The emphasis changed
from Confucian-inspired ideals, such as i (righteousness) or jen
(human heartedness), to Buddhist ideals such as keeping the precepts
or teaching the Buddhist law. Women in the LNC commit suicide for
more passive reasons, as, for example, to preserve their reputation or
that of their families—a Confucian ideal woman. In the Lives women
who commit suicide do it for religious reasons, a very positive attitude
of doing something in honor of the Buddha, his law, and his monastic
assemblies.

The terminology of praise in the Lives often conforms to Buddhist
texts as models. For example, the text known as the Mahāprajāpatī
Scripture provides a compact example for the women to follow.[30]
Much of the content of the nuns' experiences has direct prototypes in
the Buddhist scriptures. The biographies demonstrate and give proof
of the efficacy of the Buddhist Way. The two clearest examples are the
sacrifice of one's life by fire as advocated in the Flower of the Law
Scripture and the protection given by the bodhisattva Kuan-yin as
promised in the Kuan-yin Scripture. Many rituals and practices derive
directly from the scriptures.

Despite the Buddhist inspiration of most of the biographies, there
are several that seem to have a secular background. The biography of
Miao-yin (no. 12), for example, illustrates a nun highly involved in
the secular world, carrying on actions specifically prohibited to
nuns.[31] Miao-yin is an adviser to the emperor, and she hobnobs with
all the famous people of her day. Everyone flocks to her because of her
influence. She is literate and clever; she is a famous person, the type of
cleric whom Pao-ch'ang admired.