[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [勅修百丈清規](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt) › 8 # 勅修百丈清規 8 English (machine translation) 8 - **Language:** English ### [8.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.1) Recompiled by imperial decree by the abbot of Dazhi Shousheng Chan Monastery, the subject monk Dehui ### [8.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.2) Collated by imperial decree by the abbot of Dalongxiang Jiqing Monastery, the subject monk Dasu ### [8.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.3) Chapter Nine: Dharma Instruments ### [8.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.4) In the high antiquity of the world, there was transformation without formal teaching; when transformation was insufficient, rites and music arose. The song of hitting the ground with clods did not equal the music of the Nine Accomplishments; drinking from hollowed rocks did not match the mellow brew of the five clarified wines. Yet culture arises from natural substance, and value resides in the fundamental. When our Indian Sage first revealed transformation, he held that everyone's wondrous awakening is fundamentally devoid of the ordinary and the sacred, and that the complete truth of every thing admits of neither purity nor defilement. It does not rely on cultivation and realization, nor does it involve purposeful effort. Yet the ignorant were utterly lost and confounded, as if deaf and blind. Thereupon, in accordance with capacities he instituted teachings and struck the gaṇḍī, thereby assembling the multitude, expounding it as the Three Pitakas, and cultivating it as meditative concentration, until after forty-nine years the deportment of transformation came to an end. The Sanskrit word gaṇḍī applies generally to anything made of earthenware, wood, bronze, or iron that produces sound, such as bells, chiming stones, cymbals, drums, clappers, boards, conches, and chanting. Monastic groves down to the present day imitate their design and use them, thereby startling the dull and indolent, solemnizing teachings and commands, guiding the dark and obstructed, and harmonizing the spiritual and human. As for great samādhi constantly responding and great function constantly tranquil, hearing is not an existing hearing and awareness is not an awareness. Struck and beaten, the mysterious style is proclaimed; without thought and without action, the days of transformation naturally endure. How harmonious—the realm of benevolence and longevity, the city of pure peace! ### [8.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.5) Bells ### [8.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.6) The Great Bell ### [8.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.7) This is what initiates the monastic grove's signals. Struck at dawn, it shatters the long night and alerts the sleeping; struck at dusk, it awakens the dark pathways and clears the gloom. The pestle should be pulled slowly, and the sound raised should be prolonged. In all, there are three rounds of thirty-six strikes each, making one hundred and eight strikes in total. The opening and closing three strikes are slightly tighter. The postulant who rings the bell visualizes and recites the verse, saying: '(May this sound of the bell transcend the Dharma realm, / Heard throughout the dark obscurities of the Iron Enclosure Mountains; / The defilements of hearing purified, may they realize complete penetration, / And all sentient beings achieve right awakening.)' He also recites the name of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, striking in accord with the name; its benefit is extremely great. On occasions of: ### [8.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.8) The sacred birthday festival, scripture reading, ascending to and descending from the hall, the three and eight chanting days, the Buddha's birthday, attainment of awakening, and nirvāṇa, establishing and concluding the Śūraṅgama assembly, chanting scriptures, congee and meal gatherings in the hall, and settling-in time: eighteen strikes each. As for receiving and seeing off officials, the abbot, and venerable elders, it is not limited to a set number. The monastery storehouse oversees it. ### [8.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.9) The Sangha Hall Bell ### [8.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.10) Whenever the assembly is gathered, it is struck. Whenever the abbot joins the assembly and enters the hall, it is struck seven times. At the congee and midday meals when descending from the hall, when relaxing from meditation, and when stepping down from the platforms to patrol the hall and take tea on the new moon and full moon days: three strikes each (if the abbot does not join the hall, or is on leave, it is not struck). At chanting before the hall, with each recitation of the Buddha's name, it is struck lightly once, with one struck at the end in rapid repetition. The hall administrator's office oversees it. ### [8.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.11) The Main Hall Bell ### [8.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.12) When the abbot walks with incense in the morning and dusk, it is struck seven times. Whenever the assembly is gathered in the main hall, it must be struck in alternating response with the Sangha hall bell. The hall keeper oversees it. ### [8.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.13) The Records of Spiritual Resonances says: 'Krakucchanda Buddha made a green stone bell at the Sūtra Cloister in India. At sunrise, various transformation Buddhas appeared together with the sun, secretly expounding and visibly preaching the twelve divisions of scripture; those who heard the Dharma and attained sainthood were countless.' The Ekottarika Āgama says: 'When the bell is struck, all the sufferings of the evil destinies completely cease.' Furthermore, the Records of Jinling says: 'A commoner died suddenly and entered the underworld administration, where he saw a man fettered in five wooden cangues and manacles, who told him, saying: "I am the former ruler of the Southern Tang. Because Song Qiqiu mistakenly executed those who surrendered at Hezhou, I was brought to this. Whenever I hear the sound of the bell, my suffering temporarily ceases. I rely on you to return and tell the succeeding sovereign to make a bell for me." When the commoner returned, he reported the matter fully to the Latter Ruler, who thereupon had a great bell cast at Qingliang Temple, inscribed: "Offered so that Emperor Liezu Xiaogao may be released from the underworld and delivered from hardship."' ### [8.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.14) Boards ### [8.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.15) The large board: at the two times of congee and the midday meal, it is struck in three long rounds. Following the wooden fish, it is struck three times in rapid succession; this is called the long board. At chanting, the Śūraṅgama assembly, and warning against fire and candles, it is struck three times each. To announce the night watches, it is struck in sequence according to the watch. The abbot's quarters, the monastery storehouse, the head seat's dormitory, and the various dormitories each have a small board; at the lifting of silence, they are all struck in a long roll. When announcing to the assembly, they are struck two times each. The communal dormitory has boards inside and outside. The outer board: every day when the assembly greets with folded hands, three strikes; at zazen and at attending instruction, three strikes each; it is struck in sequence waiting for the assembly to return to the hall. When tea and hot water are offered, it is struck in a long roll. The inner board: when taking up lodging and returning to the dormitory, three strikes; when tea and hot water cups are distributed, two strikes; when collecting the cups, one strike; when leaving the seats, three strikes; for a small-gathering hot water offering, it is struck in a long roll. ### [8.16](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.16) The Wooden Fish ### [8.17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.17) At the two times of congee and the midday meal, it is struck in two long rounds. For general communal labor of the monks, it is struck in one long round. For general communal labor summoning the postulants, two rounds. ### [8.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.18) Tradition says: 'Fish stay awake day and night; striking wood carved in their likeness is to alert against drowsiness and indolence.' ### [8.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.19) The Mallet ### [8.20](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.20) At the congee and midday meals, when opening the bowls in the Sangha hall, chanting the Buddha's name, announcing the food, distributing the food, distributing donations, and announcing to the assembly, it is struck. The karmadāna oversees it. When descending from the hall, the sacred monk's attendant strikes it. When the administrators ask to step down, and when administrators are invited, it is also struck. When an abbot enters the monastery, opens the hall, and is about to preach the Dharma, the leader from among the other monasteries strikes it; this is called 'striking the mallet.' ### [8.21](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.21) One day the World-Honoured One ascended the seat. When the assembly had gathered and settled, Mañjuśrī struck the mallet and said: 'Clearly observe the Dharma of the Dharma King; the Dharma of the Dharma King is like this.' The World-Honoured One then descended from the seat. ### [8.22](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.22) Chiming Bowls ### [8.23](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.23) In the main hall in the morning and dusk when the abbot and administrators walk with incense, and when the assembly reads and chants scriptures and dhāraṇīs, the hall custodian strikes it. When robes are auctioned, the karmadāna strikes it. When postulants are tonsured, the chanting ācārya strikes it. A small handheld chiming bowl is kept constantly on the person of the hall postulant; whenever the assembly chants, he strikes it to signal the beginnings and stops. ### [8.24](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.24) Cymbals ### [8.25](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.25) Whenever the karmadāna bows to the abbot and the two ranks as they leave their rows to offer incense, and in the canon hall during praises and blessings and the turning of the revolving case, postulants strike them. Whenever receiving, guiding, or seeing off the deceased, when postulants are tonsured, when the assembly practices the path, and when welcoming a new abbot into the monastery, they are struck in all cases. ### [8.26](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.26) Drums ### [8.27](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.27) The Dharma Drum ### [8.28](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.28) Whenever the abbot ascends the hall, gives small gatherings, gives general sermons, or conducts private instruction in the abbot's room, it is struck. The method of beating the drum: when ascending the hall, three rounds (first lightly tap the drum rim twice, then beat with heavy strokes slowly, making tight and slow alternate, light and heavy correspond, the sound flowing smoothly, rising and returning in an unbroken ring, rumbling and thundering like the stirring of insects by spring thunder. The first round prolongs the sound with long beats, pauses slightly, and shifts to the second round, which accelerates somewhat in unbroken sound without pausing; it then shifts immediately to the third round, beating throughout in an uninterrupted continuous sound; only after the abbot has completely mounted the seat does the sound cease, with the double mallets striking three times in rapid succession). For small gatherings, one round; for general sermons, five strikes; for private instruction in the abbot's room, three strikes; all should be struck slowly. ### [8.29](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.29) The Tea Drum ### [8.30](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.30) Struck in one long round. The attendant's office oversees it. ### [8.31](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.31) The Midday Meal Drum ### [8.32](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.32) Three rounds. As when ascending the hall, but the pacing is slightly more rapid. ### [8.33](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.33) The Communal Labor Drum ### [8.34](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.34) Struck in one long round. ### [8.35](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.35) The Watch Drum ### [8.36](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.36) In the morning and evening it is struck evenly three rounds. For the rest, it is struck according to the watches. The monastery storehouse oversees it. ### [8.37](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.37) Bath Drum ### [8.38](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.38) Four rounds are struck in sequence, awaiting the assembly (for details, see the Bath Master chapter). The bath master oversees it. ### [8.39](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.39) The above should each have their regular measure; do not allow them to lose standard. When a new abbot enters the monastery, all the dharma instruments are sounded together all at once. ### [8.40](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.40) The Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra says: 'Bodhisattva Ruciraketu at night dreamed of a golden drum, its shape grand and large, its brightness universally shining, like the light of the sun. In the light he was able to see the Buddhas of the ten directions beneath various jeweled trees seated on lapis lazuli thrones, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of retinues as they expounded the Dharma. There was a person resembling a brāhmaṇa, who struck the drum with a mallet, producing a great sound. The sound expounded verses of confession. When Bodhisattva Ruciraketu awakened from the dream, he went to where the Buddha was, and with the golden drum and verses of confession seen in his dream, he related them to the Tathāgata.' Also, the Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: 'Ānanda, listen further: in this Jeta Grove, when the meal is ready the drum is struck, and when the assembly gathers the bell is struck. The sounds of the bell and drum succeed one another. What do you think? Do these sounds come to the ear, or does the ear go to the place of the sound?' ### [8.41](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.41) Dharma Instruments Chapter (End) ### [8.42](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.42) Tang Stele Inscription (with Preface) for the Stūpa of the Late Chan Master Huaihai of Mount Baizhang in Hongzhou ### [8.43](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.43) Composed by Chen Xu, Gentleman for Court Service, Acting Palace Censor; ### [8.44](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.44) Written by Wu Yihuang, Acting Census Officer of Xinzhou, Supernumerary with Regular Status. ### [8.45](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.45) The constellations lodge near the Dipper; the mountain stands like a vulture. The foremost of the śramaṇas was called Chan Master Huaihai. He had his chamber here, his stūpa here, and conferred the Great Dharma here. His disciples, fearing that hills and valleys might shift and change, and the dates and periods be lost to record, entrusted a Confucian scholar to compose an inscription to commemorate him. When the western teaching spread to the central realm, taking their Six Perfections to reflect our Five Constants, halting evil and turning to good, they followed different paths to the same goal. Only the single lineage of Dhyāna transcends birth and death, and only those of great wisdom can attain it. From Kukkuṭapāda down to Caoxi, the records and genealogical charts are detailed. Caoxi transmitted it to Upādhyāya Huairang of the Guanyin Terrace on the Heng Peak; Guanyin transmitted it to Upādhyāya Daoyi of Jiangxi, who was posthumously imperial titled Chan Master Daji. Daji transmitted it to the Great Master. The succession in the central realm has been nine generations in all. The Great Master was surnamed Wang of Taiyuan, a man of Changle County in Fuzhou. His distant ancestors moved to the corner of Min during the Yongjia upheavals. The Great Master was born in the Semblance Age through the causes and conditions of the Great Matter. When he was conceived in the womb, pungent and foul foods were naturally abandoned; as he was about to be born, miraculous wonders immediately arrived. When he became a youth, his numinous and sagely nature was displayed. Were it not for having planted roots of virtue in past lives, how could he have reached this? He had his head shaved under Upādhyāya Huizhao of the Western Mountain, and received full ordination under Vinaya Master Fachao of Mount Heng. Soon after, he sighed and said: 'If one wishes to wash away the source of delusion, one must roam the ocean of Dharma. How can it be attained solely through realization? One must also rely on verbal teachings.' Thereupon he went to Lujiang to read the Fucha Tripiṭaka, not glancing at the courtyard for accumulated years. Having become a disciple of Daji, he completely obtained the mind-seal. His speech was concise and his principle refined; his countenance was harmonious and his spirit towering. Seeing him, one immediately gave rise to reverence; in his daily life he humbled himself. In goodness he did not court fame, hence the stele inscription of his late master alone obscured his appellation. In practice he was equal to the assembly, hence when his disciples performed manual labor, he invariably shared their toil. Forgetting both resentment and affection, he abandoned his old home; treating the worthy and the foolish alike, he universally instructed those who came to learn. He constantly held that the three bodies are without dwelling, the ten thousand practices are all empty, right and wrong are both cast aside, and the source and its flow are simultaneously obliterated. Using this doctrinal purport as a model for people, this was what the previous Buddhas taught as the Sudden Gate. Among Daji's followers were many dragons and elephants: some, their names heard by the emperor of ten thousand chariots, entered and relied on the imperial capital; some, spreading their transformation over an entire region, settled each their own commanderies and realms. Only the Great Master favored secluded retreat, dwelling amid the clouds and pines. Abandoning fame, his reputation for virtue grew ever higher; walking alone, his students grew ever more numerous. There were those who had thoroughly explored the lecture halls and visited the Chan gates, yet their attachments were not eliminated, and emptiness and existence were still obstructive. None failed to conceal their \[doubts\] and travel ten thousand li to resolve them with a single word: the net of doubt spread like clouds was sliced like ice by the blade of wisdom. From this, Qi, Lu, Yan, Dai, Jing, Wu, Min, and Shu dashed like shooting stars upon seeing his shadow, and arrived like a whirlwind upon hearing his voice. When their hunger and thirst were happily put to rest, there were often people who attained transcendent release. The Great Master initially resided at Shimen, relying on the stūpa of Daji. Next, he succeeded to his master's seat, proclaiming anew the supreme Dharma. Later, because the multitude assembled and gathered, and his intention was for seclusion and depth—Mount Baizhang stood isolated in a corner, cut off from human habitation on all sides. When he wished to divine a dwelling, he had to wait for a dānapati. The upāsakas You Chang and Gan Zhen requested to donate their family mountain, wishing to serve as his guides. Hermitages encircled it, offerings accumulated in abundance, and the assembly again surpassed that of Shimen. However, because the ground was numinous and the environment secluded, he had the intention of passing his final days here. On the seventeenth day of the first month of the ninth year of the Yuanhe era, he verified extinction upon his meditation bed at the age of sixty-six, with a monastic standing of forty-seven. On the twenty-second day of the fourth month of that year, his whole body was interred on the Western Peak. According to the text of the Vibhāṣā, he used the burial method of the pure-practicing brāhmaṇas, complying with his bequeathed instructions. Prior to this, a white light left the chamber, and a golden khakkhara sounded in the sky. The Numinous Stream dried up in the middle of spring, and the fir torches illuminated through the night. When subtle virtue evokes an unseen response, what does not occur? His disciples Fazheng and others, who had received his teachings, were all made gentle and subdued. Expounding them one after another, they did not let the entrustment fall to the ground. In future years of succession, they would naturally spread. His disciples, speaking and recounting, ever cherished their master's grace, glorifying the stūpa sanctuary. Piling up earth and heaping stones, their strength and minds were utterly exhausted. His disciples Shenxing and Fanyun collected his subtle words and compiled them into recorded sayings. All learners of today, though not having set foot across his threshold, uphold them as a model. Earlier, Vinaya Master Ling'ai of Minyue, the doctrinal authority of the region to whom the Three Learnings turned in reverence, once inquired about the presence or absence of Buddha-nature upon hearing of his reputation. The Great Master sent a letter to explain it. Today it circulates together with the recorded sayings among later students. I, Xu, was serving in the government of Jiangxi and have fully tasted the Great Master's Dharma flavor, so I did not decline the request of the multitude. The inscription reads: The Indian Hero established teachings, with both provisional and real. Without attaining the Sudden Gate, all is a dark room. When the ancestral master arrived, he only then transmitted the secret; like a thick darkness, where suddenly hangs the bright sun. (First) Only this Great Being vastly inherited the orthodox lineage. Although practicing wondrous deeds, he did not abide in true emptiness. Relying on no expedients, how could he await polishing? Placidly returning to the source, the ten thousand realms are completely penetrating. (Second) The assembly of hundreds and thousands completely dispelled their feverish illness. They all attained something, yet I truly had nothing to say. The mind originally is unarisen; the physical form is merely displayed as extinct. In this land it is ashes; in other realms, the moon in water. (Third) The Dharma is transmitted through human generations; the stūpa is closed in the mountain wilderness. The firs and pines are dark by day, yet the temple and stūpa still remain. The flourishing disciples, none failed to reach his door. Only by being able to awaken and illuminate does one repay the master's grace. (Fourth) Erected on the third day of the tenth month of the thirteenth year of the Yuanhe era. ### [8.46](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.46) On the side of the stele, the great assembly recorded five matters together, which still remain today and can serve as a mirror and warning; they are also recorded to the left: After the Great Master's passing, before inviting an abbot, the daily assembly discussed the reform of the mountain monastery, with five matters for the long term: First, the stūpa cloister shall always invite one fully ordained monk and have one śrāmaṇera sweep and sprinkle. Second, within the monastery boundaries, nunneries, nun graves, or nun stūpas shall not be established, nor shall lay households be permitted to dwell. Third, all who rely \[for refuge\] and postulants leaving householder life must rely exclusively on the single person of the abbot; the monastic assembly may not accept them individually. Fourth, beyond the terrace and in other places, manors and farmlands shall not be established. Fifth, the disciples dwelling in the mountain may not privately store money and grain either internally or externally. To clarify the stream lies in settling the source; may later successors forever revere and follow this. Jointly recorded by the great assembly on the day the stele was erected. ### [8.47](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.47) Record of the Pavilion of the Model for the Realm at Dazhi Shousheng Chan Monastery on Mount Baizhang ### [8.48](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.48) Eight generations after Great Master Bodhidharma, there was a great bhikṣu who resided at Mount Baizhang in Hong\[zhou\], whom people called Chan Master Baizhang. ### [8.49](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.49) Our present Son of Heaven, initiating a decree based on his former posthumous title Dazhi Juezhao (Great Wisdom Awakened Illumination), added the title Hongzong Miaoxing (Propagating the Lineage with Wondrous Practice). The monastery's name Shousheng is its old plaque. The mountain is three hundred li from the commandery seat. Before the monastery was established there, the forests and ravines were deep and obstructed, and the cliff paths were steep and sheer; no traces of woodcutters or fodder gatherers reached it. There was a dhūta named Sima, skilled in the art of building sites and topography. Viewing the mountain's towering height and the undulations of its ridges from head to tail, he knew it to be an auspicious land. The prophetic record he left said: 'If a Dharma King resides here, he will be a model for the realm.' The Chan Master's coming verified his words. Dehui of Dongyang, as the eighteenth-generation descendant of the Chan Master, succeeded to the abbacy of this mountain. Having newly built a hall for expounding the Dharma, he further erected a two-storied building above it to enshrine the Chan Master's portrait, hanging a plaque between its pillars reading: 'Pavilion of the Model for the Realm.' Originally, when Emperor Wenzong ascended the heavenly throne, he built a monastery at his former residence in Jinling named Longxiang Jiqing. He decreed that the founder Daxin should lead his followers and use the pure rules established by the Chan Master as the rules of decorum for daily activities and bodily deportment. Considering that the book had been in circulation for a long time, later people had mostly made arbitrary additions and deletions based on their own opinions, creating contradictions without any authoritative resolution. Dehui and Daxin studied under the same master and held the Dharma authority at the ancestral court; they greatly feared that future learners would transmit doubts not knowing what to follow, with no way to unify the views and hearings of the various quarters. Thereupon \[Dehui\] traveled to the capital, wishing to petition for its correction and revision. The present Grand Censor Sadi was then administering the law in the Censorate, and spoke to the Emperor on his behalf, securing an audience. An imperial decree was issued ordering Dehui to compile the old records and deliver them to Daxin, to have him select those versed in the master's teachings to jointly examine and finalize them, and promulgate them as the law for monastic groves. Furthermore, he bestowed upon the Chan Master his present title, praising and encouraging him. Dehui, bearing the imperial edict, was about to return south; since the completion of the pavilion had not yet been recorded, he consulted Jin, saying: 'I wish you to recount the origins of its construction, so that I may return and carve it \[on stone\].' I, Jin, observe that from ancient times, sages and worthies have arisen in succession according to their times, alternately loosening and tightening, cycling without end—this is how they adapt to changes. In the Buddha's teaching, vinaya rules must come first; the doctrines of the various sections, both Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna, are fully set forth, with various permissions and prohibitions, all regarding a single matter. As we became further removed from the sages, it was confined to specialized schools; the designations and numbers grew more numerous, and the Way became increasingly obscured. Therefore, Bodhidharma did not rely on expedients and directly pointed to the mind-source; the vinaya aspects were fully apparent, yet none could hinder him. As the world declined and customs deteriorated, falsehood overcame truth, and pursuing external conditions became thoughts of pride and deviance. Therefore, Baizhang broadly established rules to assist the vinaya, protecting and maintaining, so that in matters all was principle. The Buddha's Way was illuminated through Bodhidharma; the Buddha's affairs were perfected through Baizhang. The marvel of adapting to change rests in the person. Thereafter, Bodhidharma's transmission divided into five branches, two of which came from the Chan Master. The other masters advocated different lineages and principles, each making a name for their own house; yet when it came to settling and accommodating followers, none failed to take the Chan Master as their model. Thus the saying 'a model for the realm' can truly be verified as not false. Ever since the rulers and ministers of the central realm came to revere the Buddha Dharma, its brilliance and elevation have never exceeded the present. Dehui met with this ### [8.50](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.50) sagely era, received imperial support, and was thus able to promote the ancestral instructions and glorify the lineage tradition, allowing it to endure together with the state, everlasting and without end. Not only is he a model for the realm of today, but to the end of future time, all will have someone to rely on and inherit. I, Jin, have therefore carefully recorded this; as for the diligence of its planning and the beauty of its construction, I have no time to discuss them. The pavilion consists of five bays in room count; its height is one hundred and twenty feet; one-third of its height is taken as its depth, and three times its depth as its width. Work began in the summer, the sixth month of the first year of the Zhishun era, and was completed in the winter, the tenth month—which was indeed the year after Dehui came to reside on the mountain. Dehui had his imperial audience in the summer, the fifth month of the third year of the Yuantong era, and the decree was issued in the spring, the second month of the following year. Recorded by Huang Jin, Court Gentleman for Unto-duty, Erudite of the National University. Written by Jie Xisi, Hanlin Academician Waiting, Grand Master for Court Counsel, and Concurrent Compiler of the National History Academy. Seal-script title by Zhang Qiyan, Hanlin Academician Reader-in-waiting, Grand Master of Thorough Service, Drafter of Edicts, Co-Compiler of the National History, and Administrator of the Imperial Lecture. Jointly erected on stone by Zhao Shi'an, former Grand Master of Glorious Happiness and Vice Censor-in-chief, and Yishidong'a, Grand Master of Splendid Happiness and Grand Censor of the Various Circuits of Jiangnan. ### [8.51](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.51) Preface to the Old Pure Rules ### [8.52](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.52) Composed by Yang Yi, Hanlin Academician, Court Gentleman for Dispersion of Morning Crowds, Acting Left Policy Adviser, Drafter of Patents, Associate Compiler of the National History, Supervisor of the Bureau of Historiography, Pillar of State, State-Founding Marquis of Nanyang Commandery, with a fief of one thousand one hundred households, granted the Purple Robe and the Gold Fish Pouch. ### [8.53](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.53) Chan Master Dazhi of Baizhang took the view that from the inception of the Chan school at Shaoshi down to Caoxi, \[its monks\] mostly resided in Vinaya monasteries. Although separate compounds were arranged, they did not conform to proper models and measures in preaching the Dharma and acting as abbot, and he was constantly troubled by this. Thereupon he said: 'If the Dao of the Buddhas and Patriarchs is to spread widely the origin of transformation and hope not to perish in future times, should it merely follow alongside the Āgama teachings of the various Hinayāna sects?' Someone said: 'The Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra and the Yingluo jing are the Mahāyāna vinaya rules. Why not follow them?' The Master said: 'What our school honors is neither confined to the Great or Small Vehicles, nor is it different from the Great or Small Vehicles. We should comprehensively synthesize and find a middle path, establishing regulations and models that prioritize what is appropriate.' Thereupon he innovated and separately established a Chan dwelling. All who possessed the eye of the Way and possessed venerable virtue were titled 'elder', just as in the Western Regions those high in the Way and senior in monastic years were addressed as Subhūti and the like. Such a one served as the transformational leader and resided in the abbot's quarters, equivalent to the room of Vimalakīrti, not a private bedchamber. No Buddha hall was established, and only a dharma hall was erected, signifying that the direct transmission received from the Buddhas and Patriarchs is honored in the present generation. The gathered congregation of students, regardless of number or status, all entered the Sangha hall and were arranged according to their summer retreats. Long joined platforms were set up, and clothes racks were provided for hanging travel sacks and monastic requisites. When lying down, one had to recline diagonally with the pillow on the edge of the platform in the auspicious sleep on the right flank, for after sitting in meditation for a long time, one merely takes a brief rest, fully maintaining the four majestic demeanors. Except for entering the room to ask for instruction, which was left to the diligence or indolence of the students, and whether advancing or stepping back, was not restricted to a fixed norm. The entire assembly of the monastery met in morning consultations and evening gatherings; the elder ascended the hall and took the high seat, while the officers and assembly of followers stood in a goose-flock formation to listen attentively; the host and guest asked and responded to stimulate and manifest the essential purport of the school, demonstrating that they abide in accordance with the Dharma. Vegetarian meals and gruel were served as appropriate, distributed equally and universally at one time, aiming at frugality and signifying the dual operation of Dharma and food. Carrying out the practice of universal labor equalized effort between superiors and subordinates. Ten administrative offices, called dormitories, were established, each utilizing one head to oversee many people, managing affairs so that each took charge of their respective department. If anyone falsely assumed a name, misappropriated the monastic appearance, mingled among the pure congregation, and caused distinct clamor and disturbance, the karmadāna was to investigate and report it, remove their hanging bag from their assigned seat, and expel them from the monastery, so as to esteem the peace of the pure congregation. Or, if they committed an offense, they were beaten with a staff, the assembly was gathered to burn their robes, bowls, and monastic requisites, and they were expelled through a side gate, demonstrating shame and humiliation. Examining this single regulation, there are four benefits: first, it does not defile the pure assembly, thereby giving rise to reverent faith; second, it does not destroy the monastic form, thereby following the Buddha's regulations; third, it does not trouble the public authorities, thereby sparing judicial litigation; and fourth, it does not leak to the outside, thereby preserving the fundamental principles of the school. When monks gather from the four quarters, who can distinguish the sacred from the mundane? Even when the Tathāgata was present in the world, there was still the faction of the six groups of monks; how much more so in the present Semblance and Final Dharma ages—how could there be none at all? But as soon as people see a single monk with a fault, they immediately generalize with slander and ridicule, completely unaware that disparaging the assembly and damaging the Dharma causes immense harm. If the Chan gate today is to be largely free of impediments, it should follow the monastic models of Baizhang, making distinctions according to the circumstances. Moreover, laws are established to prevent wrongdoing; they are not for the virtuous. Nevertheless, it is better to have standards without offenses than to have offenses without teachings. Truly, Chan Master Dazhi's benefit in protecting the Dharma was great indeed! The independent operation of the Chan gate began with this elder. The broad essentials of the pure rules are revealed to later students to ensure they do not forget the root. Its various models and measures are gathered here in complete detail. I, Yi, have fortunately received the imperial decree to edit the Transmission of the Lamp; having completed the book and intending to present it, I therefore write this preface. Written on an auspicious day in the fine month of the jiachen year, the first year of the Jingde era. ### [8.54](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.54) Preface to the Chongning Pure Rules ### [8.55](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.55) Although the precedents of the Chan gate have no two kinds of vinaya, the family tradition of patch-robed monks is a distinct standard. If one realizes its practical use while on the path, it is naturally lofty beyond the ordinary rules; if one faces a wall in whatever one encounters, it truly reduces people's admiration and respect. For this reason, consulting with bodhisattvas and gathering widely from all quarters, whatever was helpful to what is seen and heard has been fully set forth in the general framework. Alas, the news from Shaolin was already like gouging flesh to make a wound; the regulations of Baizhang may be called creating a special new endeavor. How much more so as monastic groves have proliferated, becoming increasingly intolerable, and with laws and decrees multiplying, affairs have become even more numerous! Nevertheless, to adorn the community and establish the banner of the Dharma, not a single one can be lacking among the gates of Buddha-affairs. It is just like the three cumulative precepts of the bodhisattva and the seven categories of offenses of the śrāvaka: how could establishing rules esteem complexity? It is simply setting forth teachings in accordance with capacity. It is hoped that beginners and later students will examine them well, and that those of superior virtue and high standing will deign to provide verification. Preface by Zongze, Abbot of the Shifang Hongji Chan Monastery in Zhending Prefecture, Transmission-of-the-Dharma Great Master Cijue, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the second year of Chongning. ### [8.56](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.56) Preface to the Xianchun Pure Rules ### [8.57](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.57) The monastic standards were already detailed by Chan Master Dazhi of Baizhang. However, as the times grew distant, later generations followed convenience and gradually fell into routine habits; although there may have been differences among the various quarters, they never violated the major principles. When I lived among the assembly, I often saw fellow companions transcribing the daily pure rules of the monastic groves with mutual omissions and defects. Later, taking advantage of leisure days, I borrowed all the various editions, compared their differences, preserved their commonalities, and synthesized them. Personally transcribing them by hand, they became quite comprehensive, entitled 'General Essentials of the Collated Pure Rules for Monastic Groves' and divided into upper and lower fascicles, so as to facilitate perusal. Our school having pure rules is like the Ruists having the Classic of Rites: rites adapt to what is appropriate and increase or decrease according to the times. This book was composed to follow Dazhi for this reason. These were all investigated and recorded jointly by senior elders of earlier generations; I dare not privately add to or subtract from them based on what I have personally seen and heard, but merely, as stated before, compared their differences, preserved their commonalities, and synthesized them. May readers not find fault with it. Written by the bhikṣu Weimian of Houhu at the Jiwan Pavilion, two days before the start of the summer retreat in the jiaxu year, the tenth year of Xianchun. ### [8.58](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.58) Preface to the Zhida Pure Rules ### [8.59](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.59) Rites are the great constant of the world and the articulation of human feelings. Adapting and modifying, increasing or decreasing to suit the times, the human feelings of past and present obtain fundamental norms and institutions to gauge the Way, and thus the great constant of heaven and earth endures. Furthermore, our Sage regarded the prātimokṣa as life-span, and the Baizhang pure rules emerged from this. This is indeed the great constant of monastic etiquette and law. Yet from the Tang down to the present it has been nearly five hundred years; customs have repeatedly shifted and human feelings are not the same, so how could talk of adapting, modifying, increasing, or decreasing be avoided? In recent times, the two ancestors Dachuan and Xiaoweng preached the Way at South and North Mountains, and the daily rules flourished in their generation. In the wuyin year of Zhiyuan, I relied on Upādhyāya Shilin at Nanping and was still able to witness their remaining customs and lingering impact. When West Hall Youyun Ming produced a manuscript copy he had kept, I investigated, inquired, and compiled it into volumes. When the composition of this book began, some took a monk's receiving the precepts as the head, while others took the abbot's entering the monastery as the head. In the renwu year, I relied on my late master Jue'an at Chengtian and inquired day and night; thus, I was able to place the two ceremonies of praying for the emperor's longevity and the Tathāgata's descent and birth at the very front. The remaining sections were categorized and gathered into ten fascicles. Yet I did not dare transmit it to students. In the summer of the bingxu year, I stayed at Xuedou; West Hall Qianfeng Wan discussed its details. In the spring of the dinghai year, Upādhyāya Xixi Ze corrected its errors. What I gained from seeing and hearing was ripe indeed, yet I still felt ashamed at not having personally practiced it. In the summer of the renchen year, when I headed the assembly at Shuangjing, there were disputes over the hierarchy of seats during the minor-gathering tea service; various quarters often abolished it and did not perform it. On the grounds that the West Hall steps forward once, the Head Seat steps forward twice, the Prior steps forward three times, and the Rear Hall steps forward four times, while the Sutra Custodian, Karmadāna, Guest Master, and Attendants take their seats according to their offices, I requested Uncle Yunfeng to put this vigorously into practice, and upon its completion no one dared dispute it. In the yihai year of Yuanzhen, I filled a post at Tianning in Yongjia; in the gengzi year of Dade, I was appointed to Yongfu in Panyang; in the yisi year, I presided over Donglin on Mount Lu. In all cases, I practiced it without alteration. This approximates a middle path for human feelings. Yet compared to the ancient pure rules, does it not border on being cumbersome? After all, earthen clod mallets and clay drums cannot be sounded during an era when mouth organs and large bells play; soiled cups and simple drinks cannot be offered on days when sacrificial vessels are arrayed in rows. It is entitled 'Reserve Pure Rules for Chan Groves', meaning they are kept in reserve and not all used. 'Those who know me or condemn me will do so only on account of the Spring and Autumn Annals.' Written by Yixian of Donglin on Mount Lu, in the autumn of the xinhai year of Zhida. ### [8.60](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.60) Preface to the Imperially Revised Pure Rules of Baizhang ### [8.61](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.61) During the Tianli and Zhishun eras, Emperor Wenzong founded the Dalongxiang Jiqing Monastery in Jinling. When the monastery was completed, monks from the ten directions were summoned to reside there, and an imperial decree was issued to practice the Baizhang pure rules. In the seventh month of the autumn of the yihai year, the third year of Yuantong, the reigning Emperor renewed the mandate of the previous reign, stating: 'In recent years, the pure rules of the monastic groves have often seen inconsistent additions and deletions.' Thereupon, an imperial order was specially issued to Dehui, Abbot of the Dazhi Shousheng Chan Monastery on Mount Baizhang, to recompile them. As for the book, it was further decreed that Daxin, Abbot of the Dalongxiang Jiqing Monastery, should select śramaṇas of learning to collate and correct it together, aiming at harmonization so that it would be followed as a perpetual model. Dehui and the others received the mandate with utmost diligence. As the book was near completion, they entrusted me, Xuan, to write the preface. I, Xuan, once heard the masters say: 'Between heaven and earth, there is no single matter without rites and music. To be at peace in the position one occupies is rites; to take joy in the normalcy of daily life is music.' One day, Master Cheng Mingdao passed by Ding Monastery and happened to see the dining hall etiquette; sighing deeply, he remarked: 'The rites and music of the Three Dynasties are entirely preserved here!' Is this not due to the power of the pure rules' fundamental discipline? Could it be achieved without long habituation in practicing them? By following their necessary norms, the wondrous natural functioning operates within them; those who do not understand think this is an obstacle of matter and principle, but those who understand know that the dharma gate of peace and joy truly resides here. However, if this book were haphazard, disorderly, and lacking coherence, the intent of orderly harmony would fade over time. Therefore, the work of collation and correction has been of immense benefit to this book, and the purpose of the two courts in bestowing favor upon students will endure endlessly. When the Song Pure Rules circulated, Lord Yang Yi, Duke Wen, wrote a preface detailing its origins and particulars, with every item fully set forth; these are not repeated here. Preface by Ouyang Xuan of Luling, Direct Academician of the Hanlin Academy, Grand Master of the Fourth Class, Drafter of Patents, Associate Compiler of the National History, and Chancellor of the National University, in the first third of the third month of the spring of the bingzi year, the second year of Zhiyuan. ### [8.62](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.62) The Baizhang Pure Rules have been practiced in the world for a long time. From the Tang down to the present, they have undergone changes through successive dynasties, and it was unavoidable that propriety should be augmented or decreased in accordance with the times. Often various editions appeared in mixed circulation, leaving one not knowing which to follow, and students were bewildered by them. In the past, Chan Master Yishan Wan sent a letter to my late master Yunweng, agreeing with him to jointly edit and correct them so as to establish the institutions of a generation; but soon the three old masters passed away one after another. In my humble sphere, I secretly wished to carry out their intention, but was unable to do so. Later, I happened to fill the vacancy \[as abbot\] at Baizhang. It coincided with the Branch Secretariat petitioning for an additional posthumous title for the ancestral master, which had not yet received a response, whereupon I went to the imperial court to report it. Vice Censor-in-Chief Lord Sadi introduced me to an imperial audience with His Majesty, and I was able to state in person the rationale of the pure rules. Consequently, I received an imperial decree to recompile them and ordered Xiaoyin to edit and correct them, and \[His Majesty\] also bestowed an imperial edict to promulgate and implement them. Since receiving this command, I searched broadly for the original edition but could not find it. Only those compiled by Master Ze of Zhending in the Chongning era of the Song, Master Mian of Jinhua in the Xianchun era, and Master Xian of Donglin in the Zhida era of our present dynasty were worthy of adoption. Thereupon I brought together and compared these variants, arranging them in order: pruning the redundant, correcting errors, and supplying omissions. Where they had reciprocal merits and demerits, I preserved both, occasionally using interlinear small notes to arbitrate between them, in no case arbitrarily selecting or rejecting based on personal views. After they were gradually gathered together, Xiaoyin established a total of nine chapters, each headed by a short preface elucidating the general import of the chapter, divided into two fascicles so that those who read and practice them will find them orderly and not confused. It is my hope that the bequeathed intention of our ancestor's handed-down rules may thereby be complied with and maintained. Yet I, Dehui, am fearful: how could my uncultivated and meager learning adequately respond to the imperial intention above? Fabricating a new model is merely building on what others have completed; I am only fortunate to have brought the former masters' aspirations to fulfillment, aspiring that students may have no doubts. As for establishing the institutions of a generation, that is not something this foolish person would dare claim. Someone said: 'You are so zealous about this work as if you had designs upon the religious teaching. At present, the state's General Comprehensive Code is clearly promulgated and set forth in dense array, and even in following that, people may fall short; yet you wish to implement pure rules? How impractical!' I then replied to him: 'Even so, the state has never abolished these writings; it merely depends on how vigorously those who wield the Dharma practice them. The Buddhas and ancestors instituted precepts and established rules to be mutually complementary: to make bhikṣus outwardly restrain wrongs and inwardly propagate the Way. Although they dwell in groups of hundreds and thousands, sharing the same hall and identical mats, harmonising their sleep and meals, they coalesce into proper order without mingling with worldly customs, neither disturbing the state's statutes nor failing to provide quiet support to the kingly governance. When the practice of the General Code is obstructed there, it finds realization here; what is impractical about this?' The questioner apologised and withdrew. Therefore I have recorded this here together, to inform our brethren, that they may spur themselves on all the more. The Song-dynasty preface to the ancient rules by Duke Yang Wengong, as well as the personal prefaces compiled by the three masters, are all appended here. Respectfully written by the bhikṣu Dehui of Dongyang, in the third month, spring of the post-Zhiyuan wuyin year (1338). ### [8.63](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.63) Imperially Revised Pure Rules of Baizhang, Fascicle Eight (End) ### [8.64](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.64) Colophon on the Conferral of the Ancestral Title ### [8.65](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8.65) To Chan Master Baizhang Dazhi Juezhao was additionally conferred the master title 'Hongzong Miaoxing' (Propagator of the Sect of Wondrous Practice), with one imperial edict, bestowed by the present Emperor in the bingzi year of the Zhiyuan era (1336). Prior to this, an imperial decree was issued ordering the reinstatement and practice of the Baizhang Pure Rules, and soon thereafter an additional master title was granted to the Chan master; hence this decree was made. The court discussions initially planned to issue an imperial proclamation. At that time, I was among the members of the Hanlin Academy serving as an Academician, truly in charge of drafting edicts. One day, Dehui, the abbot of this mountain, came to visit together with Imperial Academy Professor Huang Jin, requesting me to compose a preface to the Pure Rules, and inquired into the deeds of Baizhang. Dehui recounted them in detail, and then brought up the deliberation on the encomium edict, intending to entrust it to me. I replied to him: 'If by any chance it falls to my brush, what I have just heard from the master is already conceived in my mind.' Later, impeded by clerical formalities, it was not realized. Twelve years later, I retired due to old age to live at home. Dehui came from Baizhang to visit me in the mountains, bringing the bestowed imperial edict in a casket and showing me a Chinese transcribed copy, requesting me to record the matter and carve it on stone. Reverently I reflect that the Heavenly Court honors and elevates the Śākya clan; through successive reigns, teachers and masters have been granted diverse titles. Yet as for the four characters 'Hongzong Miaoxing', only this Chan master is worthy to bear them without shame. The essentials for entering the gate of Buddhist learning are the three: morality, concentration, and wisdom—these are its main guidelines. The Chan master investigated the mind-dharma of past sages, eminently instructing his students with the single word 'reverence', employing vast and great wisdom within refined and profound cultivation, so that knowledge and practice mutually advanced, and essence and function were both fully equipped, overflowing in abundance, making him a model for all under heaven. Once the pure rules were promulgated, his teachings both inner and outer circulated boundlessly; calling him 'Propagator of the Sect of Wondrous Practice' is truly beyond any reproach. Dehui originally belongs to the Linji lineage, taking up the responsibility as his aim and making propagation his task; he has been dedicated to this matter from beginning to end. Above, he illustrates the ruler's favor; below, he elucidates the ancestral style. In the Chan gate, can there be filial sons and loyal subjects such as this? How could this not be praised as right! Respectfully written with hands clasped and head bowed by Ouyang Xuan, former Grand Academician of the Hanlin Academy, Glorious and Happy Grand Master, Drafter of Edicts, and Concurrently Historiographer of the State History, on the first day of the sixth month, dinghai year of the Zhizheng era (1347). _First 65 of 69 passages. [Read on](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8)_ ## Translations (1) - [The Baizhang Zen Monastic Regulations](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-bdk.8.1) — Shohei Ichimura 2006, English ## Linked texts (1) - [勅修百丈清規](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025.8.1) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.8) · Pramāṇa