由於齋醮法會的內容每隨人、地、時、事、物而變易,其類別與文字不盡相同。可是既然成為經常性舉辦的宗教活動,為著供應四面八方信徒的不時之需,又能獲得恰如其份的實物和儭酬,供給面不得不想方設法,製訂出一套合適的供 需模式,既能在需求者面前表現出具有職業化的熟練手法,取得大眾的信任;同時,又能排除同業間的惡性競爭而共存,這在圓仁《入唐巡禮行記》中都已作了如實的見證載錄。只是這種伴隨宗教法會所產生的新興文體,在文體論述極具發達的六朝,卻隻字未提,若論源流,劉勰的《文心雕龍》〈祝盟〉差或近似。也因如此,學者總想把握這個隨著人、地、時、事、物等場合而變易不居的內容,試圖以簡馭繁。第一個分析齋文結構是郝春文,他將這類作品稱為「齋文」,並將全篇結構分成「號頭」、「嘆德」、「齋意」、「道場」、「莊嚴」、「號尾」等六個部份。其次宋家鈺則謹守四段式的文體結構。最後太史文(Stephen F. Teiser)將「《雜齋文》一本」(據 S.1441V+S.5637 整理)之「患文」分為「嘆德」、「齋意」、「患者」、「道場」、「莊嚴」、「願文」、「號尾」七部份,並解析其句式。三位學者的分析主要還是出於 S.2832 號「夫嘆齋分為段」的啟示再作細部的調整。筆者則參考眾多敦煌齋願文獻和傳統載籍,以及日本十世紀末作品「真如藏本.《玉澤不渴鈔》」「序體願文十番目錄」及其文例,認為「嘆德」、「齋意」、「道場」、「莊嚴」四段雖然是齋願文體的主要內容,但是必須加上頭尾及齋主部分,頭可以是嘆佛或嘆德,也可感嘆人生無常;至於莊嚴與發願可一而再,再而三地生發;迴向的對象從諸神佛到齋主,以及死去親人或生靈,都可含括在內。 因此勿論齋醮法會的整體流程是繁複還是簡略,時間或長或短,完全以齋會的類別與規模、齋主的地位、齋襯的多寡而定。甚至從傳統文獻,以及南唐‧釋應之《五杉練若新學備用》卷下自述的作意及〈道場齋疏并齋文〉文例,說明十世紀中葉以後,從齋願文中分出部分內容,先向神佛表白讀誦鋪排物件的簡短疏文,有如日本「諷誦體願文」的結構樣式,也和目前越南、台灣的法會疏文結構樣式類似。
About the formal procedure of Zhai Jiao Fa Hui, no matter being complex or simple,are mostly recorded in the Buddhism or Taoism documentary, then being used and followed among congregation in ceremony. As for randomly citing words or chants in some less formal circumstances, however, are rarely well documented unless it’s related to politics or happen to leave a trace in some fiction or literature. It is fortunate that Dun-Huang manuscripts have filled up the lost detail and lead us to lay a vivid eye on those ceremonies hosted in past centuries. Down to an ordinary man or woman, up to a king or Emperor, for the wondering ghost of our beloved past, or simply for our daily mundane life, we all are seeking some sort of comfort and relief in this not so perfect world and trying to get rid of all the agony, holding a dream toward beautiful afterlife and walk into reincarnation peacefully. The financial support from those donors, either it’s personal donation or from some specific group, no matter the purpose of donation are to go to heaven in afterlife or just to witness the elysium in the west sky, are all use to invite some highly regarded monks and priests, through holding a sacred ceremony, to invite deities to come to the gathering and noted the effort of these heartily followers, and let their wish come true someday. This is the reason why Zhai Jiao Fa Hui being so popular and also a common value of different Mahayana denominations. Since the context of Zhai Jiao Fa Hui might be differed by attendee, purpose, time, and place, its wording also have to change accordingly. However it change, on the other hand, also have to meet the demand of constantly gathering all through the year and the limited preparation time, the supply side thus gradually come up with a “regular model” to provide a quick while suitable solution for each situation. As the consequence, they not only can maintain a spiritual, though professional, outlook to the folks and give proper comfort in each and every circumstances., but they can also avoid cut-throat competition from their peers which might eventually nudge each other out of business. These are well documented in Yuan Ren’s “Zhu Tang Xun Li Xing Ji”. It is quite intriguingly that, for unknown reason, the related discussion on this new literature is still unfound in Six Dynasty era, especially considering that is the high tide of analytical discussion on many Chinese literature forms. If tracing its source, Liu Xie’s “Wen Xin Diao Long” might barely be deemed as a related works. As a result, scholars then tried to do the work and categorize all the documentary and sor