勅修百丈清規 4.71

4.71

ters. The manner and proceeding of the serving of tea, sweet hot water, and the

meal reception are identical as before. The appointment and resignation of the

primary seat official do not mix with those of the dual order officials, nor is

there any ceremonial form of transfer between the old and new officials.

Format of the Signboard

The Venerable Abbot, master of the temple, will serve tea at the prac-

tice hall today after the noon meal. This is especially intended for the

newly appointed primary seat official. For expressing congratulations,

the administrative officials as well as the practitioners are invited. May

you grant your participation.

Date and month

Respectfully stated by So-and-so

Office of the Abbot’s Assistants

VI. The Appointment and Resignation

of the Dual Order Officials

1. Appointment and Resignation

of the Training Faculty

Each member of the training faculty should be selected on account of both

his ability and virtue. If one critically characterizes those mediocre officials of the present day, [we see that] they indulge in lengthy entertainment with drink and food as their major function, and thereby compel those who remain in poverty and in the practice of the path to withdraw more and more into the storehouse of the scriptures. Why should such indulgence in a pleasant lifestyle be necessary in the monastic community? The abbot must rectify this kind of evil trend.

In the Ancient Regulations, only five official titles were mentioned, namely, the administrative head ( jianyuan), the director of practitioners’ affairs, the kitchen official, the maintenance official, and the treasury official. When his term ended, by striking [the octagonal wooden post] with the mallet at the practice hall the official announced his resignation to the practitioners and thereby rejoined them in the practice hall. In the beginning there were no individual quarters, and the monastic institution flourished. Today, the number of retired officials in many temples, large and small, has often surpassed a hundred, and that of service men and workmen twice as many. On the contrary, the practice hall is vacant with no one residing in it. During the era of Taiding (1324–1328 in the Yuan dynasty), his excellency Grand Minister Tuohuan of the Commission for Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs had his agency classify all Zen temples into three groups of “higher” (shang), “middle” (zhong), and “lower” (xia). This was done in order to limit the number of administrative officials in these different classes of institutions. This practice must be maintained.

When their term is about to end, officials must beforehand convey their resignation from their posts directly to the abbot. When the date of resignation is determined, the abbot has the attendant notify the dual order officials. That evening, when the evening bell is rung, the former administrative officials as a group visit the abbot and, after burning incense, declare their resignations, perform a prostration with unopened sitting cloth, and present the account book (kuji) and the keys to the abbot before leaving the office. If the [resigning official] is someone whom the abbot wishes to stay on, he sees him off by escorting him to the administrative office. The abbot’s assistant burns incense, serves him sweet hot water, and urges him to stay on.

Next day, as early as the bell indicating the fifth watch of the night (3:00 A.M.), the training faculty officials, carrying incense in their sleeves, visit the

abbot’s office, and after performing a prostration with unopened sitting cloth,

express their intent to resign. If there is someone whom the abbot wishes to

stay on, he performs the same propriety as before, and, serving him sweet hot

water, encourages him to stay on. The abbot now has the guest reception atten-

dant invite, according to the name list, his new officials together with the west

hall guest and residents of the retiree’s hall, to meet him at his tea reception

after the morning gruel.

In the practice hall, when the first serving of rice gruel is completed, the

former administrative officials enter the hall from the rear entrance. The

administrative head strikes the octagonal wooden post with its mallet once

and announces:

May I speak to the practitioners. So-and-so and others were assigned

through the abbot’s compassion to administrative offices during the

past term. Because of the declining power of our minds, we have con-

veyed our resignation to the venerable abbot and we are now return-

ing to the practice hall to join you. Respectfully announced.

After striking the post once again, they proceed toward the seat of the

abbot, passing to the left of the altar of the guardian bodhisattva, and per-

form the propriety of two prostrations with opened sitting cloth and three

prostrations with unopened sitting cloth. After the first opening of the sit-

ting cloth, the former administrative head says:

So-and-so and others were selected to serve during the last term. We fear,

however, that our performance may not have fully matched the expecta-

tion of your reverence, and cannot help feeling regretful about it, sir.

After the second opening, he enquires about the well-being of the master

and the officials conclude their formal greeting with three prostrations with

unopened sitting cloth. Stepping back and going around the altar, they line up

before the altar, perform three prostrations with fully opened sitting cloth, then

turn to make a round of the hall, starting from the primary seat official’s raised

platform. Returning to mid-hall, they bow to the altar and leave the hall.

After breakfast, the attendant of the abbot’s office escorts the new offi-

cial appointees to the reception hall. When the serving of tea is over, the

abbot rises and burns incense, returns to his seat, and announces:

The former dual order officials conveyed to me their intent to resign.

Since these posts cannot be left vacant, I have requested So-and-so

and others to take the administrative offices, and So-and-so and oth-

ers to take the offices of the training faculty.

In this manner, he calls all the names [of the new officials] one after another in reference to their respective office titles.

The abbot steps forward and stands before the incense burner. His assistant invites the new appointees to proceed, and then proceeds first toward the master and performs a prostration with unopened sitting cloth. The new administrative officials likewise step forward and perform the propriety of two prostrations with opened sitting cloth and three prostrations with unopened sitting cloth. At the first opening of the sitting cloth, the leader says:

We, So-and-so and others, have joined this community only recently.

Hence we know little about how things should be carried out. We fear

that our appointment may have been a mistake and cannot help feel-

ing apprehensive, sir.

With the second opening, he says:

On this day and at this time, we respectfully wish that all is well and

felicitous with your reverence, the master of the temple.

They complete the meeting with three prostrations with unopened sitting cloth. The abbot responds with a single prostration. Next, the new appointees to the offices of the training faculty proceed forward and perform the same propriety of two prostrations with opened sitting cloth and three prostrations with unopened sitting cloth, uttering the same greetings as before. As they change seats, the abbot’s office serves sweet hot water to all the officials.

(According to the Xianshun Regulations, this morning event, i.e., consisting of “inviting the new appointees to take seats, burn incense, and drink sweet hot water,” was still practiced in various temples up to that time [Southern Song dynasty, 1265–1275]. An alternative, it is said, is that if there was a plan to have a special serving in the evening of that day, the morning rite could be omitted. The point is that whether or not this special serving should be conducted depends on the abbot’s discretion.)

After the serving of sweet hot water has been completed, both of the dual order officials thank the abbot either by performing a prostration with opened sitting cloth or a prostration with unopened sitting cloth, if the former propriety is excused.

The alms-serving attendant tolls the practice hall bell, and the practitioners return to their respective seats where they take the meal. The abbot enters the hall, first escorting the primary seat official of the front hall, followed by the lower-ranking training officials who reach their seats in proper order. Each official performs a prostration with unopened sitting cloth toward the abbot. Next [the abbot] escorts the primary seat official of the rear hall and receives a prostration with an unopened sitting cloth from that official. The new administrative officials as a group must take their positions beforehand on the raised platform that begins with the west hall ranking official’s seat. When the abbot returns to his position, the director of practitioners’ affairs proceeds toward him and bows, remaining there by his side.

(If the director of practitioners’ affairs has already resigned, the abbot’s guest reception assistant takes the role.)

The abbot gives the list of names of the new appointees to the director of practitioners’ affairs, who in turn, after bowing, goes behind the altar of the guardian bodhisattva, strikes the wooden post with the mallet, and announces:

On behalf of the abbot, may I speak to the practitioners. The former

administrative officials conveyed their wish to resign from their posts.

Since these posts cannot be left vacant, the Venerable Master, abbot

of this temple, has invited the following resident practitioners to take

charge of the following positions: So-and-so is appointed to such-and-

such post, and so on. Respectfully announced.

Once again, after striking the post, the abbot’s assistant immediately ushers the group of new administrative officials in front of the master. The director of practitioners’ affairs performs a prostration with unopened sitting cloth and says:

The administrative officials are requested to take charge of their respec-

tive posts.

Again, he strikes the octagonal wooden post with the mallet. The administrative officials perform in unison the propriety of two prostrations with opened sitting cloth and three prostrations with unopened sitting cloth. The statements are identical as before. The officials step back, go around behind the altar, line up before the altar, and perform three prostrations with fully opened sitting cloth. The director of practitioners’ affairs leads them in a round through the hall and returns to mid-hall, where they bow in unison. Immediately he steps aside and moves toward the raised platform of the west hall official, leaving the officials before the altar. The novice attendant of the practice hall office announces:

May the practitioners congratulate the new administrative officials.

All the practitioners in unison perform a prostration with unopened sitting cloth. The novice attendant then announces:

May the new administrative officials thank the practitioners.

The administrative officials perform in unison a prostration with unopened sitting cloth. For the third time, the attendant announces:

May the practitioners escort the new administrative officials back to

their offices.

As soon as the alms-serving attendant begins to toll the practice hall bell, the abbot, seeing them off, enters their office, receives their prostration with unopened sitting cloth, and returns to the practice hall. After seeing off the abbot, the new officials exchange the standing positions with those of the former officials, thus completing the rite of the ceremonial transfer of duties. They then exchange a prostration with unopened sitting cloth with them, and see the former officials off. The abbot’s assistant expresses congratulations to the new officials. Next, leading the practitioners, the training faculty officials express congratulations to the new administrative officials.

After all this has been completed, the practice hall attendant once again announces:

May the practitioners escort the new primary seat official to his quar-

ters.

Again, the practice hall bell is tolled and the new primary seat official

is escorted to his quarters and is congratulated there, in similar manner. The

bell is tolled once again, signaling the end of escorting the official. The atten-

dant once again announces:

May the fellow practitioners escort the new director of practitioners’

affairs to his practice hall office.

Once again, the bell is tolled, the conduct of escorting and offering con-

gratulations takes place, followed by another toll of the bell to signal its com-

pletion. In this manner, each new official is announced one by one:

May the retired dual order officials escort the new rear hall primary

seat official, the new secretarial official, the new Tripiṭaka hall offi-

cial, and the new guest reception official to their respective quarters.

The manner of escorting, offering congratulations, and ceremonial trans-

fer between the old and new officials are all identical as before. There fol-

lows another announcement:

May the practitioners escort the former primary seat official and the

former head administrative official to their respective quarters.

Again, the tolling of the bell signals the completion of this propriety,

and it is announced again:

May the retired dual order officials escort the remaining former train-

ing faculty officials and the former administrative officials to their

respective retirees’ halls.

The manner of proprieties are again identical as before. Finally, the prac-

titioners escort the abbot back to his office.

At the practitioners’ quarters, prior to the foregoing, the new and for-

mer masters of the quarters meet, exchange their positions, and perform

mutual prostrations with unopened sitting cloth. Without seeing off the old

master, the new master receives congratulations.