作品简介  /  About This Work

隋唐以后诸祖，著述宏丰而复集性相二宗之大成者，当推永明、蕅益二公。后世学人，欲探玄旨，倘无力遍讨经论，直应将此二公遗集，精思细研，珍之味之，可谓以一钥开众锁之第一捷径也。今此百卷雄文，略分三章。所谓标宗章、问答章、引证章。标宗章，始于开篇卷一。问答章，始于卷六十一。引证章，始于卷九十四。倘按雍正《御录宗镜大纲》，三章起尽，略有不同。开篇卷一前半部分，属标宗章。卷一后半部分 “问。如上所标。已知大意。何用向下更广开释 ”，自此以下，至九十三卷终，皆属问答章。九十四卷至末尾，属引证章。今就文中，两段起止，皆为标示。此百卷文脉者，自卷初至卷四十六，多约性宗提持。卷四十七至卷九十三，多约相宗辨析。卷九十四之后，多属引证佛经祖语。百卷全文，约八十余万字。今此摘段，近四十万字，分作上下两册。无暇广览全书者，亦不失为一下手方便也。凡文中点示，要紧醒目处，皆作下划线或文字加粗，以为警心。今或有申说之处，皆前置 “按”字，并以括号划线，以别于宗镜原文。卷中名相分别，未显了处，皆以按语标其起尽始终，以期临文爽目，显义朗然。凡段末作省略号处，即指此篇未尽，仅摘其中几段而已。如上诸事，读者当知。   

寄舟道人释源恒 敬白 

Among the patriarchs who lived after the Sui and Tang dynasties, Grand Masters Yongming and Ouyi stand foremost for the breadth of their writings and for achieving a comprehensive synthesis of the teachings on nature and characteristics. Students of later generations who wish to explore the profound meaning of the Dharma but lack the capacity to study the scriptures and treatises extensively should devote themselves to the collected works of these two masters, studying them carefully, treasuring them, and reflecting deeply upon them. This may be regarded as one of the most direct approaches—one key opening many locks.

This monumental work of one hundred fascicles may broadly be divided into three sections: Establishing the Central Principle, Questions and Answers, and Scriptural Citations. The section on Establishing the Central Principle begins with Fascicle 1; Questions and Answers begins with Fascicle 61; and Scriptural Citations begins with Fascicle 94.

According to the Yongzheng-era Imperially Compiled Outline of the Zongjing Lu, the boundaries of these three sections differ slightly. The first half of Fascicle 1 belongs to Establishing the Central Principle. In the latter half of Fascicle 1, beginning with the question, “The general purport has already been understood from what was established above. Why is it necessary to elaborate further below?”, the text from that point through the end of Fascicle 93 belongs to Questions and Answers. Fascicles 94 through 100 belong to Scriptural Citations. In the present edition, the relevant points of transition are marked within the text.

With regard to the overall structure of the one hundred fascicles, Fascicles 1 through 46 deal primarily with the teachings on nature; Fascicles 47 through 93 deal primarily with the teachings on characteristics; and Fascicles 94 onward consist largely of citations from Buddhist scriptures and the teachings of the patriarchs.

The complete one-hundred-fascicle text contains more than eight hundred thousand Chinese characters. The present selections comprise nearly four hundred thousand Chinese characters and are divided into two volumes. For readers who do not have the time to study the entire work, these selections may serve as a practical point of entry.

Passages requiring particular attention are underlined or printed in bold for emphasis. Editorial explanations are prefaced by the Chinese character “按” (“Commentary”) and are placed in parentheses and underlined to distinguish them from the original text of the Zongjing Lu. Where distinctions among doctrinal terms are not immediately clear, commentary is provided to mark their beginning, development, and conclusion, so that the structure of the text and its meaning may be readily understood.

An ellipsis appearing at the end of a passage indicates that the original section continues and that only selected portions have been included here. Readers are asked to keep the foregoing points in mind.

Respectfully submitted by
Shi Yuanheng
Ji Zhou Daoren