Lidai sanbao ji 歷代三寶紀

Lidai sanbao ji 歷代三寳紀, also called Kaihuang sanbo lu 開皇三寶錄, Kaibao lu 開皇錄, Sanbaolu 三寶錄, Changfang lu 長房錄 or Fanglu 房錄, is a catalogue and history of Buddhist writings compiled during the Kaiyuan reign-period 開皇 (581-600) of the Sui dynasty 隋 (581-618) by Fei Changfang 費長房.

Fei Changfang 費長房 was a native of Chengdu 成都 (present-day Sichuan). He originally left household life to become a monk and was widely learned, with particular expertise in Buddhist "metaphysics" (xuanli 玄理). During the suppression of Buddhism in the Northern Zhou empire in 574, he returned to lay life. In the early Sui period, he was summoned to serve as a scripture-translation erudite (fanjing boshi 翻經學士) and participated in translation work at the state-sponsored translation bureau of Daxingshan Monastery 大興善寺, where he served as a recorder (bishou 筆受) for the many translations made by the monks Nalantiyeśa (Ch. Naliantiyeshe 那連提耶舍, 489-589) and Jñānagupta (Ch. Shenajueduo 闍那崛多, 523-c. 600). In 597, he completed the Lidai sanbao ji and presented it to Emperor Wen of Sui 隋文帝 (r. 581-604).

The catalogue, with a length of 15 juan, is divided into four parts. The "Imperial chronology" (1-3, Dinian 帝年) covers the reign years from the year 687 BCE, traditionally dated as the year of the Buddha's birth, through the various Chinese dynasties up to the Sui. It mainly records major events in Buddhist history. The "Dynastic records" (4-12, Dailu 代錄) document the translation of Buddhist scriptures under successive dynasties, from the Han 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) through the Sui, amounting to 2,146 titles in 6,235 juan. Appended to the scriptures are brief biographies of 198 monks and laypersons. The "Catalogue of scriptures entered into the Canon" (13-14, Ru zang lu 入藏錄) is classified according to Mahāyāna sutras, vinaya, and śāstra texts, and Hīnayāna (Theravada) sutras, vinaya, and śāstras, with further distinction between translated works and works with unknown translators. Twelve detailed categories thus record 1,076 titles in 3,298 juan. The final part, "General catalogue" (15, Zongmu 總目), includes a memorial to the throne, a general preface to the catalogue, the complete table of contents of the work, summaries of the essential items from six earlier book catalogues consulted by the author, and records from twenty-four catalogues that are no longer extant.

Fei's catalogue has two principal distinguishing features. It combines accounts of scripture translations with biographical notices of the translators, a practice that differs from that of the more technical catalogue of Sengyou 僧祐 (445-518), Chu sanzang jiji 出三藏記集, and arranges entries according to the chronological succession of dynasties. Second, it marks the first appearance of a list of books "included in the Canon" (ruzanglu 入藏錄). This development is closely connected with the gradual formation of a Chinese-language Buddhist canon during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period 南北朝 (300~600). The catalogue's shortcomings lie in imprecise verification and the large number of apocryphal and unreliable entries it contains. This work is preserved in all important Buddhist canons.