A Study of the Explanation Process of Dunhuang Venerable Monk Facheng’s Yogacara-Bhumi-Sastra
Xu Jian1, Zhang Yongquan2
1.School of Humanities and Communication, Zhejiang University of Finance & Economics, Hangzhou 310018, China 2.Center of Studies of History of Chinese Language, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Abstract：Facheng was a famous monk who was active in the Hexi area during the Tubo and the Guiyijun (归义军) Period. He was proficient in three languages of Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan, and was known for preaching and translating Buddhist sutra. A large number of manuscripts related to the explanation of Yogacara-Bhumi-Sastra by Facheng have been found in the Dunhuang manuscripts, which can be roughly divided into three categories: the original paper of Yogacara-Bhumi-Sastra (《瑜伽师地论》), Fenmenji of Yogacara-Bhumi-Sastra (《瑜伽师地论分门记》) and Shouji of Yogacara-Bhumi-Sastra (《瑜伽师地论手记》). Originally, Yogacara-Bhumi-Sastra was used as a teaching material by the listening monks. Fenmenjiof Yogacara-Bhumi-Sastra was the material for the listening monks to record the Facheng-teachings of Yogacara-Bhumi-Sastra, and the Shoujiof Yogacara-Bhumi-Sastra was the notes for the listening monks to record the Facheng-teachings of Yogacara-Bhumi-Sastra sentence by sentence, all of which were the products of the Facheng-teachings. Moreover, the audience of Facheng’s teaching was monks who had officially become monks, and the purpose of the teaching was to promote Buddhadharma and teach the monks, and so its teaching activities were typical of monastic lecturing. Different from the secular lecturing, the process of monastic lecturing did not have many complicated rituals, such as bell ringing, entering the hall, worshiping Buddha, sitting on the seat, making Buddhist prayers, saying prayers, scattering flowers, etc. Monastic lecturing was “based on the scriptures, the meaning of the section”, which was carried out around the scriptures themselves. Previous researchers have mostly focused on secular lecturing in the teaching, and rarely discussed monastic lecturing and its process. With the help of the materials of Facheng’s teaching in the Dunhuang manuscripts, this paper sorts out the process of Facheng’s teaching of Yogacara-Bhumi-Sastra in detail, and divides it into five steps: copying the scriptures in advance, reading the scriptures, explaining the title of the scripture, classifying the scriptures, and explaining the scriptures. The first step is to copy the scriptures in advance, which is analogous to what we prepare for the listening materials in advance now. This is a systematic and organized activity, usually taken charge of by the monks familiar with the Buddhist classics in the temple, and command other monks to sort out and copy the scriptures for listening. The second step is to read the scriptures, which is taken charge of by the dujiang (都讲) and its purpose is to let the monks check and review the listening materials which they get and make punctuations, and prepare for the subsequent class explanation. The third step is explaining the title of the scripture, summarizing the scripture and elaborating the meaning of the scripture, which is similar to the “making a certain topic” in the Confucian lecture activities, and is a necessary work before the lecture. The fourth step is classifying the scriptures, which is different from the traditional three-part scripture. Facheng classified the scriptures in detail. There are classifications for the topic of the scripture, and classifications for the scripture content, especially for the scripture content, until it can not be divided any more. The fifth step is the explanation of the meaning of the scripture, which is the core step of the explanation process and needs to explain the scripture sentence by sentence. Facheng’s explanation does not involve dujiang. He promoted the explanation process in the form of self-questioning and self-answering to attract the attention of the monks. What is innovative in this article lies in making full use of the unearthed documents, sorting out the materials of Facheng’s teaching Yogacara-Bhumi-Sastra, and summarizing the process of its explanation, which provides material support for the study of the preach, especially monastic lecturing.
徐键, 张涌泉. 敦煌高僧法成《瑜伽师地论》讲解流程考[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2024, 54(11): 5-13.
Xu Jian, Zhang Yongquan. A Study of the Explanation Process of Dunhuang Venerable Monk Facheng’s Yogacara-Bhumi-Sastra. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2024, 54(11): 5-13.
2024, Vol. 54 
