The Chinese Buddhist canon refers to a traditional collection of Chinese language Buddhist texts which are the central canonical works of East Asian Buddhism. The traditional term for the canon is Great Storage of Scriptures ().Jiang Wu, "The Chinese Buddhist Canon" in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism, p. 299, Wiley-Blackwell (2014). The Chinese canon is a major source of scriptural and spiritual authority for East Asian Buddhism (the Buddhism of China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam). It is also an object of worship and devotion for Asian Buddhists and its reproduction is seen as an act of merit making.Jiang & Chia (2016), p. 3. The canon has also been called by other names like “Internal Classics” (), “Myriad of Scriptures” (), or “All Scriptures” ().Jiang & Chia (2016), pp. 18-19.
The development of the Great Storage of Scriptures was influenced by the Indian Buddhist concept of a Tripitaka, literally meaning "three baskets" (of Sutra, Vinaya, and Abhidharma), a term which referred to the scriptural canons of the various Indian Buddhist schools. However, Chinese Buddhists historically did not have access to a single Tripitaka from one school or collection.Jiang Wu, "The Chinese Buddhist Canon through the Ages: Essential Categories and Critical Issues in the Study of a Textual Tradition" in Spreading Buddha's word in East Asia: the formation and transformation of the Chinese Buddhist canon, p. 23, ed. Jiang Wu and Lucille Chia, New York: Columbia University Press (2015) Instead, the canon grew over centuries as various Indian texts were translated and new texts composed in China. These various works (4,878 individual texts according to the Chinese scholar He Mei) were later collected into a distinct Chinese canon.Lancaster, Lewis, "The Movement of Buddhist Texts from India to China and the Construction of the Chinese Buddhist Canon", pp. 226-227, in Buddhism Across Boundaries--Chinese Buddhism and the Western Regions, ed. John R McRae and Jan Nattier, Sino-Platonic Papers 222, Philadelphia, PA: Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania (2012)Jiang & Chia (2016), p. 19. The language of these scriptures is termed "Buddhist Chinese" (Fojiao Hanyu 佛教漢語), and is a variety of literary Chinese with several unique elements such as a distinctly Buddhist terminology that includes transliterations from Indian languages and newly coined Chinese Buddhist words.Lock, Graham; Linebarger, Gary S. Chinese Buddhist Texts: An Introductory Reader, Introduction. 2018Mair, Victor H.(梅维恒) 1994. Buddhism and the Rise of the Written Vernacular in East Asia: The Making of National Languages. The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 53, No. 3: 707–751. 汉译:佛教与东亚白话文的兴起:国语的产生(王继红、顾满林译), 载Zhu, Qingzhi(朱庆之)编Fojiao Hanyu yanjiu 佛教汉语研究 [Studies of Buddhist Chinese]. Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan 北京:商务印书馆 [Beijing: The Commercial Press]. 2009: 358–409.
The Chinese Buddhist Canon also contains many texts which were composed outside of the Indian subcontinent, including numerous texts composed in China, such as philosophical treatises, commentaries, histories, philological works, catalogs, biographies, geographies, travelogues, genealogies of famous monks, encyclopedias and dictionaries. As such, the Great Storage of Scriptures, the foundation of East Asian Buddhist teachings, reflects the cultural evolution and societal influences that China had on Buddhism over time, and the religious and scholarly efforts of generations of translators, scholars and monastics. This process began with the first translations in the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) after which a period of intense translation work followed in the succeeding dynasties. The first complete canons appear in the Eastern Jin and the Sui Dynasties, while the first woodblock printed canon (xylography), known as the Kaibao Canon, was printed during the Song dynasty between 971 and 983.Lancaster, Lewis R.; Park, Sung Bae. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue, p. x. University of California Press, Jan 1, 1979. Later eras saw further editions of the canon published in China, Korea and Japan like the Tripitaka Koreana (11th & 13th centuries) and the Qianlong Canon (1735-1738). One of the most widespread edition used by modern scholars today is the Taishō Tripiṭaka, produced in Japan in the 20th century. More recent developments have seen the establishment of digital canons available online, such as CBETA online (Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association).
History
Early period
In India, the early Buddhist teachings were collected into canons called tripiṭaka (‘three baskets’; Chin. 三藏 sānzàng ‘three stores’ or ‘three repositories’). Most canons contained sūtras (discourses of the Buddha, 經 jīng), monastic rule texts (vinaya; 律 lǜ); and scholastic treatises (abhidharma; 阿毘曇 āpítán or 阿毗達磨 āpídámó). Initially these sources were transmitted orally but later they were written down into various manuscript collections.Lock, Graham; Linebarger, Gary S. Chinese Buddhist Texts: An Introductory Reader, p. 1. 2018 Each of the Indian Buddhist schools had their own canon, which could differ significantly from that of other schools and be in different languages (prakrits like Gandhari and Pali, as well as classic Sanskrit and Hybrid Sanskrit). Some schools had extra pitakas or divisions, including a Dharani Pitaka, or Bodhisattva Pitakas.Baruah, Bibhuti. Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism. 2008. p. 52
According to Guangchang Fang, the history of the Chinese Buddhist Canon can be divided into four main periods: the handwriting era (from the Han up to the 10th century) which was also the era of intense translation effort, the era of woodblock printing (beginning in the Song dynasty with the Kaibao edition of the 10th century), the era of modern printing, and the digital era.Guangchang Fang (2016) Chinese Buddhist canon: approaches to its compilation, Studies in Chinese Religions, 2:2, 89-106, DOI: 10.1080/23729988.2016.1199154
The first Chinese translations of Buddhist texts appeared during the later Han Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Ming (r. 58–75 ce). The first sutra to be translated is said to be the Sutra of Forty-two Sections (四十二章經 sìshíèr zhāng jīng). Many of the early translators were monks from Central Asia, like the Parthian An Shigao (安世高), and the Kuchan translator Kumārajīva (鳩摩羅什; 343– 413).Lock, Graham; Linebarger, Gary S. Chinese Buddhist Texts: An Introductory Reader, p. 2. 2018 Later figures were native Chinese who traveled to India and studied Sanskrit texts there, like Faxian (法顯, c. 337–422 ce) and Xuanzang (玄奘, 602–664 ce). Most translators who produced significant translations did not work alone, making use of teams of translators and scribes. Thus, the texts of the Chinese canon were translated by various figures from different source texts (in different forms of Sanskrit and prakrit). This process happened over several centuries and thus the various texts of the Chinese canon reflect different translation styles and philosophies. According to a Yuan dynasty catalogue (the Zhiyuan fabao kantong zonglu 至元法寶堪同總錄), there were about 194 known translators who worked on about 1,440 texts in 5,580 fascicles (juans).Jiang & Chia (2016), p. 17. Jiang Wu writes that "for about a thousand years, translating, cataloging, and digesting these texts became a paramount task for Chinese Buddhists."
From the Han to the Song dynasty era, many translations were made and made new texts were also composed in China.Long, Darui; Chen, Jinhua. Chinese Buddhist Canons in the Age of Printing, Introduction. Routledge, May 21, 2020 During the Eastern Jin and the Sui Dynasties, the earliest canons were compiled using manuscripts. None of these early manuscript canons have survived. The earliest surviving manuscripts from the early Chinese canons are found in the Dunhuang text collections and the earliest catalogue of the contents of the canon is the Lidai sanbao ji 歷代三寳記 (Records of the Dharma Jewels through the Generations) by Fei Changfang (fl. 562–598). There are also many early manuscripts which have survived in the libraries of Japanese temples.
Another surviving early collection of Chinese Buddhist canonical material is the Fangshan Stone Sutras (房山石經) which a set of around 15,000 stone tablets containing Buddhist sutras carved at Yunju Temple (雲居寺).房山石经的拓印与出版 This project was begun in the 7th century by a devout monk named Jingwan. His followers at the temple continue to carve sutras on stone tablets for generations after (even well into the Ming dynasty). The earliest dated Heart Sutra from 661 comes from this collection of stone carved sutras.Lancaster, Lewis R. (1989). 'The Rock Cut Canon in China: Findings at Fang-shan,' in The Buddhist Heritage, edited by Tadeusz Skorupski [Buddhica Britannica 1]. 143-156. Tring: The Institute for Buddhist Studies.Li Jung-hsi (1979). 'The Stone Scriptures of Fang-shan.' The Eastern Buddhist. Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 104-113
Alongside the study, translation and copying of these numerous texts, Chinese Buddhists spent much time organizing, classifying and cataloguing them. In this effort, Chinese Buddhists were also influenced by the work of Confucian cataloging, especially the work of Liu Xiang (77–6 BCE).Jiang & Chia (2016), p. 18.
A key milestone in the organization of the canon was the compilation of the Kaiyuan Catalogue (Kāiyuán Shìjiàolù, 開元釋教錄, Kaiyuan Era Record of Buddhist Teachings, Taishō Tripitaka No. 2154) during the Tang dynasty by the monk Zhisheng (699-740). This catalogue provided the main blueprint for the restoration and organization of future canons after the Great Buddhist Persecution in 845. The Kaiyuan catalogue is also considered by modern scholars as a text which "closed" or fixed the core portion of the canon. As such, according to Jiang Wu "for centuries, despite the fact that the canon has continued to grow, this core body has remained stable, without much alteration."Jiang & Chia (2016), p. 36. This Kaiyuan set of core texts became the defining feature of the Chinese Buddhist canon. Any collection that did not include these was not considered a complete canon. However, many monasteries or temples who could not afford to maintain a full set would keep a “Small Canon” (xiaozang 小藏), which consisted of the essential Mahayana scriptures found within the canon. These are the Mahayana sutras contained in the first four sections of the canon: Prajñaparamita, Ratnakuta, Avatamsaka and Nirvana sections).Jiang & Chia (2016), p. 37.
The print era
The developments of the early manuscript canons influenced the compilation of the first printed canon (the Kaibao Canon) during the Song dynasty. The Kaibao was completed in 983 and comprised 130,000 woodblocks, organized according to the Kaiyuan catalogue.Lock, Graham; Linebarger, Gary S. Chinese Buddhist Texts: An Introductory Reader, p. 3. 2018 Printing technology brought about a revolution in how the canon was reproduced, as well as in its layout, style and the various social elements associated with its production.Jiang & Chia (2016), p. 38.
After the Song, the manuscript canons gradually disappeared and were replaced by printed canons. However, the practice of hand copying sutras remained an important religious practice, some figures famously copied sutras by hand in their own blood. Sutra copying was also retained as an elite art form that made use of ink mixed with gold and silver powder and produced richly decorated manuscripts. This shift from manuscript culture to xylography introduced several changes to the physical layout and other material aspects of the new printed canons. One of these changes was the use of the Thousand Character Classic for a library classification system. Each text was assigned a character from this classic work which was widely memorized by school children and thus known by all educated persons.