There are some Tun-huang manuscripts of the San-chieh-chiao (三階教) that have not been introduced by Keiki Yabuki and others. One of them is Pelliot 2849 (P2849), which I presume was transcribed in the 7th or 8th century. There are three texts in it. One of them is titled the Chih-fa (制法 Enacted Regulations, hereafter CF) and consists of twenty provisions with a prologue, the first five prescribing general remarks and the remaining fifteen enumerating particular cases. This paper starts with the hypothesis that the CF presents regulations for the San-chieh-chiao monastic life, and proves it through the analysis of mainly the first five provisions in comparison with other San-chieh-chiao texts. The results are as follows: 1. The model type of monk that the CF describes is called the "dumb sheep monk' (CF 1&2). "Dumb sheep" is a metaphor for monks who are very slow in reacting in religious matters and remain. silent. In the terminal age (末世) no judgments can be correct; therefore it is best for monks not to judge at all. If one is a "dumb sheep monk" then there is no fear of one's distinguishing between good and evil. The "dumb sheep monk" is also listed as a model for fellow trainee in the Tui-ken ch'i-hsing fa (対根起行法, TK). 2. While the San-chieh-chiao texts, as a whole, make great account of the teaching of the "four standards" (Catvāri pratisara?āni), the CF 3 emphasizes that the trainee should depend on the sūtra, not on persons, since there are many perverse people and very few righteous in the terminal age. This attitude is reflected in the fact that a rigid distinction is made between the sūtra's words and the text writer's words. 3. The phases of the stage that the CF shows are those of "bad world," "bad time," and "bad people" (CF 4). Under the situation called "the Third Stage" in the San-chieh-chiao teaching, the ways of practicing to enter the realm of enlightenment are to reflect on one's own evil, to venerate others' goodness, to concentrate on just one practice, to train oneself for one's own benefit, and so forth. 4. The sentences about fellow trainees in the CF 5 almost agree with those in the manuscripts of the San-chieh fo-fa (三階仏法, SC, written in 592) 4 in Japan. The style is imperative and fits with regulations, which is essential to the content of the CF but somewhat alien to the SC. It is presumable that the CF was enacted before 592, and the SC quoted the sentences from the CF. These studies verify the hypothesis mentioned above, that the CF gives regulations for the San-chieh-chiao monastic life. According to Hsin-hsing's biography in the Hsü kao-seng chuan (続高僧伝), he wrote a work named the Shang-tung so-chip chung-shih chu-fa (山東所制衆事諸法 ST) before moving to Ch'ang-an in 589. This is also presumed to contain regulations for the San-chieh-chiao, and it might be the CF itself. Even if the CF is different from the ST, it must have been written not long after he moved to Ch'ang-an. The latest date of the CF's enactment was presumably not long after 589. On the other hand, in some of the catalogues, such as the K'ai-yüan-shih-chiao-lu (開元釈教録), one of the San-chieh-chiao texts named the Ta-chung chih-fa (大衆制法) is listed. This text can probably be identified with the CF.
