This article entails a study of the Guiyuan jing 歸元鏡 (Mirror of the Return to the Origin), a play written by the seventeenth-century Chinese Buddhist monk Zhida 智達, along with an annotated translation of the three paratexts that he appended to the play. Drawing on hagiographical accounts of three celebrated Buddhist masters who were ardent devotees of Amitābha Buddha, the play establishes a patriarchal line of the Pure Land tradition. By situating this play within multiple efforts to draw up lists of Chinese Pure Land patriarchates, I argue that the dramatic genre both drove and facilitated Zhida’s ambition to construct an unprecedented continuous Pure Land lineage. The play builds up this lineage by employing two key mechanisms: the historical transmission of the Amitābha Sūtra and the reincarnations of the three masters and their disciples. I also trace the possible sources for the plot of the Guiyuan jing from various genres, including Buddhist scriptures, masters’ biographies and their own writings, vernacular narratives, anecdotes, miracle tales, and other historical records. Furthermore, in his paratexts, Zhida explicitly expresses his ideal of using a play as an expedient device to promote the Pure Land teaching and awaken common people. The wide circulation of the Guiyuan jing among Buddhists from the Qing Dynasty to this day demonstrates the success of Zhida’s goal. Zhida’s Guiyuan jing and his accompanying paratexts provide us with a rare example of a Chinese Buddhist monk’s engagement with playwriting and his opinions about theater, while also enriching our understanding of the Pure Land tradition in late imperial China.
目次
A Dramatized Version of a Pure Land Lineage 4 The Guiyuan jing’s Plot and Its Possible Sources 9 Section 1: Chuandeng zongxu 傳燈總敘 (General Narration of the Transmission of the Lamp) 11 Section 2: Fangbian guiyuan 方便歸元 (Skillful Means of Returning to the Origin) 11 Section 3: Shouzhu chuandeng 受囑傳燈 (Receiving an Order to Transmit the Lamp) 12 Section 4: Zhutian hufa 諸天護法 (Various Gods Protect the Dharma) 12 Section 5: Diankai shenyun 殿開神運 (Building the God Fate Hall) 13 Section 6: Qunxian jieshe 群賢結社 (A Group of Worthies Forms a Society) 13 Section 7: Zhenzhu qumo 真主驅魔 (The True Master Expels Demons) 14 Section 8: Fangxian ziqu 訪賢自屈 (Visiting the Worthy and Humbling Himself) 14 Section 9: Fengzhi taiseng 奉旨汰僧 (Inspecting Monks by Imperial Order) 14 Section 10: Fayuan shouzhu 發願受囑 (Arousing the Vow to Receive the Charge/Testament) 15 Section 11: Mengyan jiaxiang 夢驗佳祥 (Verifying the Propitious Signs in a Dream) 15 Section 12: Huzhou fangsheng 湖舟放生 (Releasing Living Creatures from a Boat on a Lake) 15 Section 13: Gongting juren 公庭鞫認 (Interrogation and Confession at the Court) 16 Section 14: Changduan wenyin 腸斷聞音 (Heartbroken [upon] Hearing the News) 16 Section 15: Renxian linnan 仁賢臨難 (The Benevolent Worthy Faces Disaster) 16 Section 16: Enzhan juanshi 恩沾蠲釋 (Rewarded by Favor and Pardoned) 17 Section 17: Ge’en yunshui 割恩雲水 (Cutting Worldly Ties and Becoming an Itinerant Monk) 17 Section 18: Qianli zhanfeng 千里瞻風 (Travelling One Thousand li to Observe a Teaching Style) 17 Section 19: Zhimi hufa 指迷護法 (Pointing Out Illusion and Protecting the Dharma) 18 Section 20: Nianjiu guanlu 拈鬮灌露 (Casting Lots and Pouring Nectar) 18 Section 21: Kaiquan xianshi 開權顯實 (Opening up the Expedient Teachings and Revealing the Truth) 19 Section 22: Chengjian lizu 懲奸禮祖 (Punishing the Scoundrel and Venerating the Patriarch) 19 Section 23: Hunyou diyu 魂遊地獄 (The Spirit Journeys to the Underworld) 20 Section 24: Huiyang midao 回陽覓道 (Returning to This World and Seeking the Way) 20 Section 25: Daochuan haiwai 道傳海外 (Spreading the Way Overseas) 20 Section 26: Yizhu chuandeng 遺囑傳燈 (Bequeathing the Testament to Transmit the Lamp) 21 Section 27: Anchui jieyin 暗垂接引 (Inconspicuously Conferring Guidance) 21 Section 28: Douji fayuan 逗機發願 (Adapting to Capacities and Arousing the Vow) 21 Section 29: Qibi gouchen 七筆勾塵 (Crossing Out Worldly Affairs with Seven Strokes of the Pen) 22 Section 30: Hufa soushan 護法搜山 (The Dharma Protector Searches the Mountain) 23 Section 31: Dongchang fawu 東昌發悟 (Attaining Enlightenment in Dongchang) 23 Section 32: Yibo huanyuan 衣鉢還元 (The Robe and the Bowl Restored) 24 Section 33: Bingmo shuangkun 病魔雙困 (Dually Trapped by Sickness and Demons) 24 Section 34: Anzhu tanjing 庵主談經 (The Abbess Discusses the Teachings) 24 Section 35: Enzhan huayu 恩沾化雨 (Rain Arrives in Response to [Zhuhong’s] Favor) 25 Section 36: Qingjian zhuqiao 請建朱橋 (Requests for Building the Zhu Bridge) 25 Section 37: Chaoshen qingzhi 潮神請旨 (Tide Deities Petition for the Decree) 26 Section 38: Zhuchuang chuifan 竹窗垂範 (Setting a Model by a Bamboo Window) 26 Section 39: Puji youhun 普濟幽魂 (Universally Rescuing Departed Souls) 27 Section 40: Banzhu xixing 頒囑西行 (Passing on a Testament and Going to the West) 27 Section 41: Mituo jieyin 彌陀接引 (Amitābha’s Guidance) 28 Section 42: Tongsheng Anyang 同生安養 (Reborn together in the Pure Land) 28 A Translation of Zhida’s Three Paratexts 29 Xiju gongtong 戲劇供通 (Theater for [the Purpose of] Attaining Enlightenment) 29 Kewen jueyi 客問決疑 (Dispelling a Guest’s Suspicion) 31 Wenda yinyuan 問答因緣 (Questions and Answers about Causes and Conditions) 35
