宋初天臺宗對「請觀音懺」的檢討

A Review of Tiantai sect's Ritual of Invoking Kwan-yin (Avalokiteśvara) for Repentance in Early Sung China

Although the Tiantai sect was renowned for its strength in doctrinal studies, it also created a whole set of repentance rituals. Chih-yi's purpose was to combine these repentance rituals with contemplation practices.
Northern Sung gradually formed a society of commoners and a commodity economy. For the sake of accomplishing religious missions and adapting to the needs of the society, modifications of Chih-yi's repentance rituals were made and some new repentance rituals were created. Conducting repentance rituals was one of the most frequent activities after the Sung in Chinese Buddhism. Tsun-shih was the most important monk scholar in Sung's Tiantai Home Mountain (Shan-Chia) lineage because of his modification and creation of the repentance rituals. The Home Mountain lineage propagated repentance rituals so that it became part of lay life. Tsun-shih was widely known for his practice of repentance. He advocated the practice of repentance rituals in the hope that all members of the society would show their passion for improving the societal environment by undertaking these repentance rituals. By forming societies of practitioners, Tsun-shih propagated repentance rituals that were suited to the needs of his time. Repentance rituals were not the privilege of monastic members. They were important for all members of the society.
Chih-yuan belonged to Tiantai's Off Mountain (Shan-wai) lineage. Maintaining precepts and promoting self-repentance was basic to the practices of the Off Mountain lineage. By leading the life style of a hermit, and not being involved with mundane activities, he upheld the tradition of combining repentance practice with meditative practice. In order to highlight the importance of keeping precepts, he initiated a ritual to pay tribute to the Tang precept master Tao-hsuan. He opposed the Home Mountain lineage practice of promoting the repentance ritual within the society.
The repentance Ritual of Invoking Kwan-yin was an important ritual in Chih-yi's system. Chih-yi wrote commentaries on this text. Chih-yuan wrote commentaries on the same text as well. In Chih-yuan's commentary, besides illustrating Chih-yi's main points, Chih-yuan also aimed at refuting the Home Mountain lineage's position.
The Kwan-yin Repentance ritual had a special place within the Tiantai sect's ritual repentance system. Tiantai practitioners either in the Home Mountain or Off Mountain lineage all wrote commentaries on the Kwan-yin Repentance ritual. This article uses this particular repentance ritual as a basis for discussing elemental changes in repentance rituals in the Sung. It also analyzes the relationship between changes in repentance rituals and the Sung society.