Baiju piyu jing 百句譬喻經

The Parable Sutra, Chinese title Baiju piyu jing 百句譬喻經, Baiyujing 百喻經 or Baipijing 百譬經, Sanskrit title supposedly Apadāna-sūtra (no originals have been found so far), is a literary work of popular Buddhist instruction in China. The original was compiled by Saṃghasena (Ch. Sengjiasina 僧伽斯那, 5th cent.), which was translated under the Southern Qi dynasty 南齊 (479-502) by Guṇavṛddhī (Ch. Qiunapidi 求那毗地, d. 502), with a length of 4 juan (modern versions have either 1 or 2 fascicles). It belongs to the so-called Jātaka scriptures (benyuan bu 本緣部) relating the life and the teachings of the Buddha.

Using the form of parables and analogies, it explains the fundamental teachings of Buddhism through one hundred (actually ninety-eight) examples, such as karmic cause and effect (yinguo baoying 因果報應), the Eightfold Path (bazhengdao 八正道), generosity (dāna, Ch. bushi 布施), observance of moral precepts (chijie 持戒), etc.

At the end of each story, a didactic summary is included. Some parables still hold meaning today even without being interpreted through Buddhist doctrine. The Republican writer Lu Xun 魯迅 (1881-1936) once helped fund the printing of the Parable Sutra, and in 1926 he wrote an inscription for a new edition titled Chihuaman 癡華鬘, in which he highlighted the significance of these ancient Indian parables. This new edition removed the didactic sections of the Baiyujing, leaving only the stories, thus making it a purely literary work.