Vinaya Sect in Han Buddhism

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The Vinaya (Disciplinary) sect is also called the "Vinaya sect of the South Mountain" because its founder, the prominent Tang (618-907) monk Daoxuan, lived on Zhongnan Mountain in the South.

Daoxuan (596-667) came from Wuxing in present-day north Zhejiang. He began reading Confucian classics while a child and by nine was able to compose poetry and rhapsodies. At 16 he began his monastic life with Monk Zhijun as his master, and at 20 he was bestowed with the Upasampanna (Complete Commandments). He then came under the tutelage of Zhishou, an erudite in the viyana (monastic rules), who taught him the commandments and the Dharmagupta Vinaya. However, after he finished one round of study of the vinaya he decided that was not what he wanted. Instead, he wished to start learning Chan Buddhism. His master was not reconciled to this and demanded that he repeat his lesson 20 times on the Dharmagupta Vinaya before starting his Chan lessons. The master’s word was final, and he had no choice but to continue to study under Zhishou. In 624 (7th year of the Wude reign, Tang Dynasty), he went to Zhongnan Mountain and settled in the Baiquan Monastery. Shortly afterwards, he went on an itinerary to collect different theories of Buddhist discipline. On the basis of the Dharmagupta Vinaya, he drew on the strengths of different sects of Buddhism and came up with his own understanding of the vinaya, thereby creating the Vinaya sect of the Southern Mountain.

The vinaya is a code of conduct for Buddhists. For lay Buddhists there are the Pancasila (Five Commandments) and the Eight Commandments. There are the Sikasapada (Ten Prohibitions) for sramaneras (novices), 250 commandments for bhiksus (mendicants) and 500 commandments for bhiksunis (nuns). The Chinese Buddhists began to be disciplined in the commandments during the Jiaping reign (249-254) of the Kingdom of Wei during the Three Kingdoms Period, when the Indian monk, Dharmakala (3rd century) translated The Heart of Sanghika-vinaya and started training Chinese monks in the commandments. Translations of more canonical writings on the commandments emerged in the years that followed. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589), studying the vinaya became quite popular among Chinese Buddhists. The Dharmagupta Vinaya was translated into Chinese by Sramana Buddhayasa from Kubha and Zhu Fonian, a Chinese monk translator. The Dharmagupta Vinaya was put together by Dharmagupta one hundred years after Sakyamuni achieved nirvana by garnering passages from the canons of Theravada that he thought were identical to his own viewpoints, and his compilation comes in four parts: commandments for mendicants, commandments for nuns, the code for peaceful life, and the code for houses and miscellany.

Famous persons who made names for themselves in the study of the Dharmagupta Vinaya prior to Daoxuan were Facong and Huiguang, both of whom lived during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen (471-499) of the Northern Wei Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, joining Daoxuan in preaching the Dharmagupta Vinaya were Fali (569-635) of the Riguang Temple at Xiangzhou and Huaisu (625-698) of the Dongta Temple of the West Taiyuan Monastery. These three masters all wrote works on the creed, and they held different opinions on the embodiment of commandments. By “embodiment of commandments” is meant the function a Buddhist acquires to forestall erroneous thoughts and to prevent evil in his heart when he is ordained with the commandments. According to Fali, the embodiment of commandments is neither rupadharma (physical phenomenon) nor mental dharmas. Daoxuan, under the influence of Xuanzang’s Yogacara theory, believed that the embodiment is a mental thing. Huaisu, on his part, held that it is a physical phenomenon. Their depositions on the Dharmagupta Vinaya were known as the “Three Major Commentaries,” which circulated in society at the same time, but only the Vinaya sect of South Mountain founded by Daoxuan has been able to survive to this day.

The Vinaya sect of South Mountain divides the teachings of the Buddha into two categories, that is, the classics designed to educate the multitudes such as Agama Sutras, and Pranna Sutras which provide the code of conduct for the multitudes.

The Vinaya sect of South Mountain has had its ups and downs like other religious sects in Chinese history. It flourished when someone was advocating and disseminating it. Otherwise, it just went downhill. By the Yuan-Ming interregnum the Vinaya sect of South Mountain sank to an all-time low, and it did not show signs of a revival until the early Qing Dynasty, when Jiguang, the abbot of the Longchang Monastery on Baohua Mountain in Jurong County (Jiangsu Province), and a disciple of Ruxin, who was then preaching the Dharmagupta Vinaya at the Linggu Temple of Jinling (present-day Nanjing), converted his monastery into a grand domain for the preaching of the Vinaya Sect principles only. The facility was later continuously expanded thanks to the efforts of Jiguang’s disciples, and it soon achieved a nationwide reputation as the uninterrupted venue for two major summons ceremonies (one held in spring and the other in autumn) for the ordination of commandments every year.

During the 20th century Hongyi (1880-1942) came to the fore because of his studies and dissemination of the Dharmagupta Vinaya. Born in Tianjin to a rich family whose ancestral home was in Zhejiang, Hongyi devoted himself to vinaya studies after he became a monk in 1918, the seventh year of the Republic. He was the author of A Record of Forms of Bhiksu Rules in the Four-division Vinaya and Some Important Contents of the Southern Mountain Vinaya Prepared for Reading at Home. He was held in high esteem by Buddhists at home and abroad for his exemplary practice of the commandments.