This article deals with the Chinese translation of the Sutra of Impermanence (Foshuo wuchang jing 佛說無常經) and its relation to funeral rituals. Yijing translated this sutra on the 23rd day ofthe 9th month of 701 (during the reign of Empress Wu of the Tang Dynasty) at Dafuxian Monastery in Luoyang. Soon after, it was transmitted to Japan and Korea, where new commentaries were written. It also became a scripture for Buddhist funeral processions in East Asia. The sutra discusses impermanence and the inevitability of aging, illness, and death. It is very similar to Anicca-sutta, Dukkha-sutta, and Anatta-sutta found in the Saṃyuttanikāya of the Pali canon. Thus there is no doubt about the historical authenticity of the Sutra of Impermanence, which carries the message to the Buddha’s disciples and people of the time that when facing significant occasions such as birth and death, they should not hesitate to put aside their bodies, go forward with energy, and practice Buddhist rules peacefully and wholeheartedly, and should not indulge in evil thoughts or funeral rituals. However, after the nirvana of Buddha, his disciples laid emphasis on the chanting ritual of the Sutra of Impermanence, thus altering the ritual into a law. In the mid-second century, Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa slightly altered the funeral rituals and changed them into a ritual system of “three awakenings”:“praising the Buddhas in three worlds,”“chanting the principal sutra,” and “merit-dedication and vow-making” by monks in the monastery every day. At this time, Hinayana had advanced to Mahayana and the common funeral rituals had become a form of Mahayana cultivation. After the Sutra of Impermanence was translated and brought into China, it quickly merged with the Chinese traditional solemn funeral rituals, and funerals became highly ritualized Buddhist ceremonies, gradually losing their original features. There are now very few people who genuinely understand the doctrine of the Sutra of Impermanence. In this democratic age of the 21st century, we should understand it correctly, make adjustments in the traditional funeral rituals and Buddhist funeral rituals and, in the course of the conditioned origination of life, perceive the principles of impermanence and selflessness and act accordingly.
