Chapter 5 · Grading the Teachings — Five Periods and Eight Teachings

Part Two · The Teaching

Open the scripture library. Some sutras speak of existence, others of emptiness. Some urge you to leave the world; others tell you to enter it and liberate beings. The Buddha taught so much—do the teachings contradict one another? Tiantai's answer to this question is called 「grading the teachings.」 It does not decide who is wrong. It sets the teachings of the Buddha's lifetime into their sequence and medicinal character. Who arranged them, how, and on what grounds? This chapter lets the source texts state their case. You need only carry the opening question and watch it find a place, one step at a time.

1 · The Principle — Capacities and Conditions Differ; All Is True and Not False

At the opening of the Meaning of the Four Teachings, Zhiyi first establishes the principle. The source punctuation consists only of 「full stops」 and is reproduced as recorded:

「The capacities and conditions of sentient beings are not uniform. Therefore the gates of teaching differ in many ways. A sutra says: From the night of attaining the Way to the night of nirvāṇa, every Dharma that was taught is true and not false.」 〔智顗撰《四教義》·T46n1929 0721a06–08·待譯〕 『In today's words: The capacities and conditions of sentient beings are not uniform, and therefore the gates of teaching differ in many ways. A sutra says: From the night of attaining the Way to the night of entering nirvāṇa, every Dharma taught in between is true and not false.』

The gates of teaching differ in many ways because the capacities and conditions of sentient beings are not uniform. Yet from the night of awakening to the night of nirvāṇa, 「every Dharma that was taught is true and not false.」 The opening question has found its ground. Difference is not contradiction; it is the difference between prescriptions. One physician gives different prescriptions to different patients. The prescriptions differ, but the medicine does not contradict itself. Grading the teachings returns each prescription to its patient and proper time.

2 · The Four Teachings — Flavors of Medicine

Zhiyi gathers differences in the Dharma into four teachings:

「The four teachings are: first, the Tripiṭaka Teaching; second, the Shared Teaching; third, the Distinct Teaching; fourth, the Perfect Teaching. These four are all called teachings because teaching means explaining principle and transforming beings.」 〔同書·0721a19–21〕 『In today's words: The four teachings are: first, the Tripiṭaka Teaching; second, the Shared Teaching; third, the Distinct Teaching; fourth, the Perfect Teaching. These four are all called teachings because teaching means explaining principle and transforming the minds of beings.』

Tripiṭaka, shared, distinct, and perfect—later generations abbreviated them as 「Tripiṭaka, shared, distinct, perfect,」 while the source's first term is 「Tripiṭaka Teaching.」 What is a teaching? The four characters 「explaining principle and transforming beings」 answer for themselves. The four teachings are four kinds of discourse at differing depths. All are the Buddha's words, but their medicinal strength varies. The Outline of the Four Teachings unfolds each in turn throughout the work; its translation lies ahead. For now, remember: four medicinal flavors, one cabinet.

3 · The Eight Teachings — Prescriptions and Flavors

Above the four teachings stand the modes of teaching. The General Meaning of the Eight Teachings, attributed at its opening to Guanding and at its close recorded by Mingkuang, as noted in the preceding chapter, says:

「Only because beings' capacities and conditions differ in kind does the Buddha manifest forms in response to them. He deploys the provisional for the sake of the real, and therefore there are eight.」 〔《天台八教大意》·T46n1930 0769a13–14·待譯〕 『In today's words: Only because the capacities and conditions of sentient beings differ in kind does the Buddha manifest forms in response to them. He deploys the provisional for the sake of the real, and therefore there are eight.』

Which eight? Chegwan's textbook gives the full list. This is Chegwan's synoptic statement describing Zhiyi; the text inside the 〔〕 brackets is an interlinear note in the source:

「The Five Periods are: first, the Avataṃsaka Period; second, the Deer Park Period 〔說四阿含〕; third, the Vaipulya Period 〔說維摩思益楞伽楞嚴三昧金光明勝鬘等經〕; fourth, the Prajñā Period 〔說摩訶般若光讚般若金剛般若大品般若等諸般若經〕; fifth, the Lotus and Nirvāṇa Period. These are the Five Periods, also called the Five Flavors. The Eight Teachings are sudden, gradual, secret, indeterminate, Tripiṭaka, shared, distinct, and perfect. These are the Eight Teachings. The first four, beginning with sudden, are the modes of transformation, like prescriptions in the world. The last four, beginning with Tripiṭaka, are called the dharmas of transformation, like distinguishing the flavors of medicine.」 〔諦觀錄《天台四教儀》·T46n1931 0774c14–19·待譯〕 『In today's words: The Five Periods are: first, the Avataṃsaka Period; second, the Deer Park Period, when the four Āgamas were taught; third, the Vaipulya Period, when scriptures including the Vimalakīrti, Siyi, Laṅkāvatāra, Śūraṅgama Samādhi, Golden Light, and Śrīmālā were taught; fourth, the Prajñā Period, when the Mahāprajñāpāramitā, Radiant Praise Prajñā, Diamond Prajñā, Great Prajñā, and other Prajñā scriptures were taught; fifth, the Lotus and Nirvāṇa Period. These are the Five Periods, also called the Five Flavors. The Eight Teachings are sudden, gradual, secret, indeterminate, Tripiṭaka, shared, distinct, and perfect. These are the Eight Teachings. The first four, beginning with sudden, are the modes of transformation, like prescriptions in the world. The last four, beginning with Tripiṭaka, are called the dharmas of transformation, like distinguishing the flavors of medicine.』

The simile is Chegwan's own. Sudden, gradual, secret, and indeterminate are modes of transformation—the manner of writing a prescription: when the medicine is given, and whether openly or without the patient's awareness. Tripiṭaka, shared, distinct, and perfect are dharmas of transformation—the flavor of the medicine itself. Mode and flavor combine. The same medicine may be administered suddenly or gradually. Thus a four-by-four arrangement is gathered into eight names. Chegwan also marks its limit:

「Yet beneath the two teachings of secret and indeterminate, the doctrinal principles are only Tripiṭaka, shared, distinct, and perfect. This completes the four modes of transformation.」 〔同卷·0775b09–11〕 『In today's words: Yet beneath the two teachings of secret and indeterminate, the doctrinal principles are only Tripiṭaka, shared, distinct, and perfect. This completes the four modes of transformation.』

The modes of transformation do not create another set of dharmas. Among the eight names are four modes of transformation and four dharmas of transformation. Prescriptions vary, but the medicine remains those four flavors. (The four-character phrase 「Five Periods and Eight Teachings」 comes from this fascicle by Chegwan and does not occur in the Profound Meaning or the Zhiguan, as recorded in the preceding chapter. Here it is retained as synoptic language.)

4 · The Five Flavors — A Sequence, Not a Sentence to Be Served

The Five Periods are also called the Five Flavors. What are the flavors? The Outline of the Four Teachings pairs them with the periods one by one 〔待譯〕. The Avataṃsaka Period is like milk coming from a cow 〔0775a01〕; in the Deer Park Period, curds come from milk 〔0775a11〕; in the Vaipulya Period, raw ghee comes from curds 〔0775a19〕; in the Prajñā Period, refined ghee comes from raw ghee 〔0775a25–26〕; in the Lotus and Nirvāṇa Period, clarified essence comes from refined ghee 〔0775c02〕. Milk, curds, raw ghee, refined ghee, clarified essence: each flavor is richer than the last. As positive scriptural evidence, the Profound Meaning explicitly cites the Nirvāṇa Sutra:

「As fascicle thirteen of the Nirvāṇa Sutra says: 『From the Buddha come the twelve divisions of scripture; from the twelve divisions of scripture come the sūtras; from the sūtras come the Vaipulya scriptures; from the Vaipulya scriptures comes Prajñā; from Prajñā comes Nirvāṇa.』」 〔《妙法蓮華經玄義》·T33n1716 0806b01–03·待譯；正文題「天台智者大師說」，序另題「沙門灌頂述」——二署分立〕 『In today's words: As fascicle thirteen of the Nirvāṇa Sutra says: From the Buddha come the twelve divisions of scripture; from the twelve divisions of scripture come the sūtras; from the sūtras come the Vaipulya scriptures; from the Vaipulya scriptures comes Prajñā; from Prajñā comes Nirvāṇa.』

The simile of milk, curds, and clarified essence describes a sequence of generation: the later flavor comes from the earlier; it is not made in a separate kitchen. The Profound Meaning immediately prevents a mistaken reading. The Five Flavors are not a prison term that everyone must serve:

「There are people who receive a single flavor. Those of wholly single capacity in the Avataṃsaka assembly immediately obtain clarified essence and do not pass through the Five Flavors.」 〔同書·0810b10–11〕 『In today's words: There are people who receive a single flavor. Those of wholly single capacity in the Avataṃsaka assembly immediately obtain clarified essence and need not pass through the Five Flavors.』

Some enter clarified essence directly through one flavor; others pass through two, three, or four. The Five Periods are a map, not an itinerary carved into every person. The map shows how the Dharma flavors give rise to one another. Where you enter depends on your capacity.

5 · The Method — Record and Use What Accords

Where did the art of grading the teachings come from? It was not arranged out of empty space. The Profound Meaning describes its method:

「Meanings cannot stand in pairs, and principle admits no two things that both subsist. If something has a profound basis and also accords with the sutras, record and use it. What has neither textual basis nor meaning cannot be trusted and accepted.」 〔同書·0800a23–25〕 『In today's words: Meanings cannot stand in pairs, and principle admits no two things that both subsist. If something has a profound basis and also accords with the sutras, record and use it. What has neither textual basis nor meaning cannot be trusted and accepted.』

What accords with scripture is recorded and used; what has neither text nor meaning cannot be trusted. This is the household rule of grading the teachings: scripture decides. The Profound Meaning describes the inheritance behind it in this way, in the voice of its narrative:

「The Great Master Nanyue had realization in his own mind and also collated it with scriptures and treatises. He carefully followed the Buddha's words; the Tiantai master transmitted it and used it accordingly.」 〔同書·0800a25–26〕 『In today's words: The Great Master Nanyue had realization in his own mind and also collated it with scriptures and treatises, following the Buddha's words in every case. The Tiantai master transmitted it and used it accordingly.』

Realization in one's own mind, then collation with scripture and treatise. The pair of master and disciple from Chapter 2 reappears here as a method: personal realization is the starting point; collation against scripture is the gate. Only after both are passed is something used. The Profound Meaning also recounts and challenges the earlier classifications of southern and northern masters one by one. The old southern assignment of Five Periods is itself among the positions challenged: the earliest appearance of a name in the text is not necessarily Zhizhe's own teaching, and the source makes each passage's attribution clear. Establishing his own outline, Zhizhe states, 「These three names are the same as the old ones, but their meanings differ」 〔0806a17〕. Names may be inherited; meanings return to their proper places.

6 · Ordering, Not Passing Judgment

Who ordered the teachings for me? Zhizhe's lineage did. It established the principle that capacities and conditions differ; used the Four Teachings to distinguish medicinal flavors; used the Eight Teachings to distinguish prescriptions and flavors; used the Five Flavors to clarify sequence without imposing a sentence; and took 「what also accords with the sutras, record and use it」 as its household rule. Grading the teachings describes how this lineage reads the sacred teachings of the Buddha's lifetime; it does not pass judgment on the rank of other schools. Following the same rule, this book records without adjudicating. Return to the scripture library. The sutras on its shelves differ, but now you have a diagram of the medicine cabinet: which flavor, which prescription, which patient. Once the order becomes familiar, the next question arises naturally: how can a sutra title unfold into a complete body of learning? The Fivefold Profound Meaning is the next chapter.

Author · Shi Huijing CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · 二〇二六 · 夏