The Rules of Purity for the Chan Monastery: An annotated translation and study of the Chanyuan qinggui

My dissertation includes the first complete translation into a Western language of Chanyuan qinggui (Rules of Purity for the Chan Monastery, henceforth abbreviated as CYQG), a twelfth-century text regarded as the earliest Chan monastic code still in existence. This comprehensive monastic code, written for use in the public monastery, provides us with a wealth of information about life in the Buddhist monasteries of Song China. The code offers very specific guidelines for itinerant monks, emphasizes the importance of studying under masters at various monasteries, prescribes the proper protocol for attendance of a retreat, and details the procedure for requesting an abbot's instruction. A significant portion of the text is devoted to the administrative hierarchy within the monastery, including a list of each position's duties and powers. An equal amount of attention is given to the interaction of the monks of these various ranks, especially with regard to the decorum at tea ceremonies, chanting rituals, and monastic auctions. The recorded observations of Japanese pilgrims attest to the fact that CYQG was adopted as the standard of discipline by monasteries throughout twelfth- and thirteenth-century China.;Although historians have traditionally considered the Chan monastic code to be an innovative step that was not based on any pre-existent legacy, in my translation and close study of CYQG, I have found that a great deal of its source material is based directly on the Vinaya and on the works of the Vinaya advocate Daoan (312-385) and the Lu master Daoxuan (596-667), a comparison that has yet to be made by modern scholars. At the same time, however, CYQG includes elements foreign to the original Vinaya texts, elements representing the incorporation of Chinese governmental policies and traditional Chinese etiquette. In short, after a thorough investigation of CYQG and the later monastic rules it inspired, I hope to demonstrate both a clear sense of continuity traceable to the original Vinaya texts as well as an adaptation to the surrounding Chinese culture.