Shisong lü 十誦律

Shisong lü 十誦律 is a Buddhist monastic disciplinary text (vinaya), also known as the Sarvāstivāda-vinaya in "Ten recitations" (Ch. Sapoduo bu shisong lü 薩婆多部十誦律). It belongs to the Sarvāstivāda lineage (Ch. Sapoduo bu 薩婆多部) of the Theravāda tradition (Shangzuo bu 上座部). It was translated in the Later Qin empire 後秦 (384-417) by Puṇyatāra (Ch. Furuoduoluo 弗若多羅, fl. 404) and Kumārajīva (Ch. Jiumoluoshi 鳩摩羅什, 344-413). Puṇyatāra died before the work was completed, and the translation was continued by Dharmaruci (Ch. Tanmoliuzhi 曇摩流支) from Kucha, resulting in a text of fifty-eight juan. Later, during the Eastern Jin period 東晉 (317-420), the Kashmiri monk Vimalākṣa (Ch. Beimoluocha 卑摩羅叉) revised and supplemented the text, expanding it into the present 61 juan. According to tradition, the Vinaya originally comprised eighty recitations (yong 誦). It was transmitted by Mahākāśyapa (Ch. Dajiaye 大迦葉), but was later reduced to ten recitations under the Fifth Patriarch Upagupta (Ch. Youbojue 優波掘, 3rd cent. BCE).

The first through third recitations contain eight categories of regulations: the four pārājikas or serious offences causing the loss of the status of monk (si boluoyi 四波羅夷), thirteen saṃghāvaśeṣas or offenses requiring suspension (shisan sengcan 十三僧殘), two aniyatas or unlimited sanctions (er buding 二不定), thirty naiḥsargika or forfeitures (sanshi nisaqi 三十尼薩耆), ninety prayaścittikas or offenses requiring expiation (jiushi boyiti 九十波逸提), four prātideśanīyas or actions that require confession (si boluoti tisheni 四波羅提提舍尼), one hundred and seven śaikṣa or aspirant rules (yibailingyi zhongxue 一百另七眾學), and seven methods for the settlement of disputes (qi mie zheng 七滅諍).

The fourth recitation comprises seven topics: the conferral of full ordination (shou ju zu jie 受具足戒), the poṣadha or initial fasting ceremony (busa 布薩), pravāraṇā or confession ceremony (zizi 自恣), the vārṣika or rain retreat (anju 安居), leather goods, medicine, and robes. The fifth recitation covers eight topics: the kaṭhina or donation robe (jiaxina yi 迦絺那衣), the Kauśāmbī dispute (Ch. Jushemi 俱舍彌), observing and caring for each other (zhanbi 瞻彼), the Pāṇḍuloga matter of quarrelsome and selfish monks (Ch. Bantuluojia 般荼盧伽), confession (hui 悔), prohibition (zhe 遮), bedding, and disputes. The sixth recitation consists of miscellaneous regulations, including matters referred to as "procedural cases" (wei da shi 謂達事). The seventh recitation is the Vinaya for nuns (bhikṣuṇī-vinaya, Ch. nilü 尼律) and comprises six categories of rules. The eighth recitation comprises "supplementary regulations" (zengyi fa 增一法), comprising twenty-one items. The ninth recitation is the "Questions of Upāli" (Youboli wen fa 優波離問法), which can be divided into twenty-four sections. The tenth recitation includes the "Bhikṣu Recitation" (Biqiu song 比丘誦), two types of Vinaya material and miscellaneous recitations, the four pārājikas, and the saṃghāvaśeṣa rules (Sengjia boshisha fa 僧伽婆尸沙法).

Finally, the text is appended with the "Preface to the Well-Recited Vinaya" (Shan song pini xu 善誦毗尼序), divided into four sections, which recount the origins and process of the compilation of the Vinaya, rulings on permissions and prohibitions concerning karmavācanā or legal procedures (jiemo 羯磨), recitation of the precepts (shuojie 說戒), the rain retreat, clothing and food, medicine, dwellings, and related matters.

Among the four complete Vinaya collections transmitted to China, the Shisong lü was the earliest to be translated and propagated. During the Jin 晉 (265-420) and Southern Dynasties 南朝 (420-589) periods, it was already widely practised. By the Tang period 唐 (618-907), however, the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya (Sifen lü 四分律) came to dominate all other Vinaya traditions, and the Shisong lü gradually fell out of favour and was no longer widely studied.

Some scholars hold that the Shisong lü is the earliest extant Buddhist Vinaya text and preserves a relatively large body of material from early Buddhism. As such, it is an important source for research into the organisation of the Buddhist community, behavioural norms, ethical concepts, economic life, and even the broader social conditions of ancient India. Furthermore, the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya (Genben shuo yiqie you bu pinaiye 根本說一切有部毘奈耶), translated and transmitted during the Tang period by Yijing 義淨 (635-713), is generally regarded as belonging to the same textual system as the Shisong lü. For this reason, the latter is commonly referred to as the "Old Vinaya" (jiulü 舊律), while Yijing's translation is known as the "New Vinaya" (xinlü 新律).

A Sanskrit original of this Vinaya has not been discovered to date. However, in earlier times, a Sanskrit Prātimokṣa-sūtra (Ch. Biejie shuojing 別解脫經) was found in Kucha; it is extremely close in content to the rules stipulated in the Shisong lü. In addition, among Sanskrit manuscript materials discovered in Xinjiang, there are fragments of a bhikṣuṇī prātimokṣa and portions of the "Seventeen Matters" (shiqi shi 十七事) that correspond to passages in the Shisong lü.

All commentaries on this Vinaya have been lost and survive only in bibliographic records. The sole extant related work is Sengju'S 僧琚 Shisong jiemo biqiu yaoyong 十誦羯磨比丘要用.