Fǎyuàn Zhūlín Xiàozhù - Selected Chinese Buddhist Texts (Complete Six Volumes)

Author: Shi Daoshi
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-12-01
Features: The Gems of the Law Garden, compiled by Tang monk Shi Daoshi. The respected Song-era monk Fu Shi Daoshi highly praised this book, describing it as "selecting the essence of the literary garden and inhaling the fragrance of Da Xi's peony, categorizing and compiling it into one hundred chapters. Scholars can easily grasp the key points. It took ten years to complete and circulated throughout the world. This book was completed in the first year of the Zongzhang era (668 AD) during the Tang Dynasty. It was first recorded in Volume 5 of Da Xuan's Tang Dynasty Inner Canon Records and later included in the Song Dynasty canon. The Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing canons were all in one hundred volumes, except for the Jiaozhou canon, which was revised to one hundred and twenty volumes. The Siku Quanshu and the Sibu Congkan both used the Jiaozhou edition. However, the ancient copies did not match the volume count, and the chapter order was chaotic, with continuous leaves and disintegrated sections, making it difficult to search. During the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty, the Jiang family of Changshu's Yan Garden reprinted it as one hundred volumes. Jiang Mingpei, known as Yan Garden Master, was originally the magistrate of Qian County in Shandong. In the first year of the Xisi era (1821 AD), he was dismissed from office due to an incident, and his concubine Dong Shu decided to compile this book. She corrected errors and restored the original one hundred volumes. The details are recorded in the preface to the reprinted Gems of the Law Garden and the postscript. The current annotations are based on this edition. This book is in the form of a classified compendium. Citations are annotated with sources, identifying them as originating from specific scriptures, decrees, or works. For anecdotes heard or seen without recorded sources, it is clearly stated that they are based on the accounts of certain individuals. The sources are well-documented, not fictional, and highly consistent with historical methods. Therefore, since its inclusion in the Siku Quanshu, Qing Dynasty Chinese scholars have particularly valued this book, and many entries in various collections of books have recorded it.