This paper examines how Buddhist preachers in late medieval China expanded the meaning of the temporal register of an oft-used phrase “[at] one time” (Ch. yishi 一時, Skt. ekasmin samaye, Pāli ekaṃ samayaṃ) in the opening formula of Buddhist scriptures. Through an analysis of the “sutra lecture texts” (jiangjingwen 講經文) found in the Dunhuang manuscripts, this study explores how these…