Jīvaka is a legendary physician frequently mentioned in Buddhist sources. Buddhist traditions from around Asia present him as a model healer and lay patron of the monastic order. The extant biographies can be divided into three relatively distinct streams of transmission (Pāli, Sanskrit-Tibetan, and Chinese), and regionally specific legends about Jīvaka have grown around this core narrative. While the other versions of the legend have been translated into English, the Chinese biography of Jīvaka has yet to be. Jīvaka’s legend is found in Chinese in several different versions dating from the fourth to fifth centuries. The translation below is of the longer recension of the Chinese Jīvaka biography, called the Āmrapāli and Jīvaka Avadāna Sutra (Foshuo nainü Zhiyu yinyuan jing 佛說㮈女祇域因緣經), found in text number 553 of the Taishō Tripiṭaka. The translation was completed by William Giddings, while this introduction was authored by Pierce Salguero.
Tag: Chinese Buddhism
Where Are the Nuns in Chinese Pure Land Buddhist History?
This study is a survey and analysis of accounts preserved in premodern Chinese Buddhist hagiographic collectanea of nuns primarily identified as Pure Land. Dating from the seventh to the nineteenth centuries, these accounts, while relatively scanty and often sparse in detail, provide important glimpses into the place of monastic women in a tradition known more for its emphasis on female domestic piety.
Śrāvaka Ordination in a Mahāyāna Embrace: Triple Platform Ordination in Chinese Buddhism
The use of Chinese tradition bhikṣuṇī ordinations to revitalize female monastic lineages in other traditions has led to disputes as to their Mahāyāna status. Here we examine the Chinese Buddhist triple plat- form ordination in terms of its Mahāyānic features using a polythetic rather than monothetic definition of what constitutes Mahāyāna Buddhism. Our examination of these ordinations’ organizational structures, preceptors and preceptees, and daily lifestyle, as well as the rites themselves for each of the three ordinations and the instructive lectures that accompany the rites, reveals that the Mahāyāna spirit pervades and embraces the entirety of these ordinations.