法華文句記 1.23

1.23

「佛赴緣」下，欲分節經文，先辨分文有無得失。於中四：先、汎引諸經論，次、古講者之失，三、明品非章段，四、汎示分節。初文者，全非分文。次、古失者，古來講者多無分節，至安公來，經無大小始分三段，謂序、正、流通。「殆」者危也。非今正意，亦幾也（幾，巨依切，近也），《西京賦》云「人生幾亡」。言「起盡」者，章之始末也。若分節已，大小各有總別起盡。三、「又佛說」下，意明立品但從義類不從文相，故貫散二相不可立品，亦非分節。四、「增一」下，經論亦有分節之例，況末代弘經須識賓主，故小乘三藏各有所開。《增一．序》云：「阿難說經無量數，今且總略為一聚，我今分之為三分，契經一分，律二分，阿毘曇經為三分。契經今當為四段，初名增一，二名中，三名曰長多，《瓔珞》雜經在後為四分，乃以四含名為四段」，故今承此借為分節。

From 'The Buddha responded to conditions' onward, wishing to divide and section the text of the sūtra, the presence, absence, merits, and faults of dividing the text are first distinguished. Therein are four parts: first, citing various sūtras and treatises in general; second, the faults of ancient lecturers; third, clarifying that chapters are not structural divisions; fourth, generally showing division and sectioning. The first text completely does not divide the text. Second, regarding the ancient faults, the lecturers from antiquity onward mostly did not divide into sections, until Master Dao’an came; without distinguishing whether a sūtra was Great or Small [Vehicle], it was first divided into three sections, namely: preface, main body, and transmission. *Dai* means danger. It is not the main meaning here; it also means nearly (*ji*, *ju-yi* cut, meaning close), as the *Xijing Fu* says, 'a human life is nearly lost.' 'Beginning and end' refers to the start and finish of a section. Once divided into sections, both the great and the small each have an overall and specific beginning and end. Third, from 'Furthermore, what the Buddha preached' onward, the intent clarifies that establishing chapters only accords with categories of meaning and not textual forms; therefore, the two forms of verse and prose cannot establish chapters, nor are they structural divisions. Fourth, from 'Ekottara' onward, sūtras and treatises also have precedents of division and sectioning; furthermore, when propagating the sūtra in the final age, one must recognize guest and host, so the three piṭakas of the Hīnayāna each have their divisions. The preface to the *Ekottarikāgama* says: 'Ānanda spoke sūtras in immeasurable numbers; now we briefly gather them into one cluster; I now divide them into three portions: sūtras are one portion, vinaya two portions, and abhidharma sūtras are three portions. Sūtras shall now be made into four sections: the first is named Ekottara, the second is named Madhyama, the third is named Dīrgha, and the *Ratnamālā* and miscellaneous sūtras are placed behind as the fourth portion, thus using the four Āgamas as four sections'; hence we now follow this and borrow it for division and sectioning.