Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s5.t11.8

v1.c7.s5.t11.8

main facts of Indian Buddhism at that time that “sects and groups were developed from different origins, and they have similar inheritance but four main outlines”. There were four main sects. The first was A li ye mo he seng zhi ni jia ye, Zhouyun Holy Mass Sect. It was divided into seven branches. Each pitaka of their Triptitaka had more than 1,00,000 odes making it a total of 3,00,000 odes for the whole Triptika. These could be translated and edited into 1,000 scrolls. The second was A li ye shi ta bi luo ni jia ye, Zhouyun Holy Honor Seat Sect. With three branches, it had the same cannon as that of the first one. The third was the A li ye mu luo sa po xi di po to zhi ni jia ye, Zhouyun Holy Root Sect. With four branches, it also had the same cannon as that of the first one. The fourth was A li ye san mi li di ni jia ye, Zhouyun Holy Positive Power Sect. It had four branches, 2,00,000 songs in three cannons and 30,000 songs in regulation. There were many similar as well as different doctrines among the four sects whose practices developed according to current situations. We used to divide them into five sects that were not heard by western countries”. “There are also many other branches and sects with different names, which are same as I already talked, so no more unnecessary words. All in all, in India and states in South Sea, there are four *nikayas*.” Accounts of Yi Jing, based on his own observation, are very important for understanding Indian Buddhism in the seventh century. By Yi Jing’s records we can see that Buddhist disciplines’ sustenance and spread closely relates to sects. Yi Jing wrote: “Then there were people who manifest disciplines and gather differently. There were men who uphold disciplines and are divided differently. As I saw and heard, different cannons teach differently.”