妙法蓮華經文句 序品釋首節
遇到艱深經文，我們最想得到的，往往是一把萬用鑰匙：記住一個解釋，往後每一句都照樣打開。
智者卻先給四個方向。這一句如何由眾生之機與聖者之應而生？它以什麼言教引導人？眼前示現如何顯出所本？它又怎樣回到自己的心與行？同一句經文，可能需要其中一問，也可能需要幾問相互照明。
但四個方向不是四格表。若每一句都硬填四欄，解釋反而會遮住經文。智者說實際落筆可以只存三、二、一；可貴的是得其意，不以筆墨繁多為功。
這個提醒也適用於分段。完全不分，後學看不見起訖；分得太細，讀者又只見科目，不見經義。蘭菊各美，不等於任意；能顯理而不成爭，才是分文的用途。
所以，真正的讀經方法不是把經文送進預製格子，而是不斷校準自己正在問什麼。只問歷史因緣，可能忘了教法如何落在當下；只問自己的感受，可能離開經文本身；只談高遠根本，可能像日夜數他人珍寶，自己仍無半分受用。
下次讀到一句經文，不妨先停一下：它在全段中做什麼？它回應誰？它用什麼方式說？它指向何處？它在我身上要求什麼？
問題不必每次全問，方向不可遺失。千車不必同形，只須不失共同之轍；萬流不必同名，只須真的入海。
Why can we not read a scripture by holding to just one method of interpretation? When we meet a difficult scripture, what we most want is often a master key: remember one interpretation, then use it to open every sentence that follows.
Zhiyi instead gives four directions. How does this sentence arise through the receptive capacity of beings and the response of the sage? Through what teaching does it guide people? How does the manifest trace before us disclose its origin? And how does it return to our own mind and practice? A single scriptural sentence may call for one of these questions, or for several to illuminate one another.
Yet the four directions are not a four-column form. If every sentence is forced to fill all four columns, the explanation will obscure the scripture instead. Zhiyi says that an actual written explanation may retain only three, two, or one; what matters is grasping the intent, not taking pride in an abundance of ink.
The same warning applies to textual divisions. With no divisions at all, later students cannot see where a passage begins or ends; with divisions too fine, readers see only the outline and no longer the scriptural meaning. That orchids and chrysanthemums each have their beauty does not mean that anything goes. The purpose of dividing a text is fulfilled only when the divisions disclose principle without becoming grounds for contention.
The true method of reading scripture, then, is not to feed the text into prefabricated compartments, but continually to recalibrate the question we are asking. If we ask only about historical causes and conditions, we may forget how the teaching bears upon the present. If we ask only about our own feelings, we may leave the scripture itself behind. If we discuss only the lofty origin, we may become like someone who counts another person's jewels day and night while possessing not half a coin.
The next time you meet a sentence of scripture, pause first: what does it do within the whole passage? To whom does it respond? By what means does it speak? Toward what does it point? What does it ask of me?
Not every question must be asked every time, but none of the directions may be lost. A thousand carts need not have the same form, provided they do not leave their common track; ten thousand streams need not bear the same name, provided they truly enter the sea.
隋天台智者大師說《妙法蓮華經文句》〔灌頂法師私記・唐天寶戊子朗和尚條倫治定本・卷端序＝鏡中沙門神逈述〕· 大正藏 T34n1718〔起 T34 0001b18〕。段/行首〔T34 …〕＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨（換頁一枚）。
〔T34 0001b18〕妙法蓮華經文句卷第一上 天台智者大師說 序品第一〔佛出世難，佛說是難，傳譯此難，自開悟難，聞師講難，一遍記難。余二十七於金陵聽受，六十九於丹丘添削，留贈後賢，共期佛慧〕 委釋經題已如上說。「序」者，訓庠序，謂階位、賓主、問答悉庠序也。經家從義，謂次、由、述也。如是等五事冠於經首，次序也；放光六瑞起發之端，由序也；問答釋疑，正說弄引，敘述也。具此三義，故稱為序。「品」者，《中阿含》云跋渠，此翻為品。品者，義類同者聚在一段，故名品也。或佛自唱品，如《梵網》；或結集所置，如《大論》；或譯人添足，如羅什。今〈藥王本事〉是佛唱。〈妙音〉、〈觀音〉等是經家、譯人未聞。諸品之始，故言第一。 佛赴緣作散花、貫花兩說，結集者按說傳之，論者依經申之，皆不節目。古講師但敷弘義理、不分章段，若純用此意，後生殆不識起盡。又佛說貫、散，集者隨義立品。《增一》云：契經一分，律一分，阿毘曇一分。契經更開四，謂《增一》、《長》、《中》、《雜》。《增一阿含》明人天因果，《長阿含》破邪見，《中阿含》明深義，《雜阿含》明禪定。律開五部及八十誦。阿毘曇開《六足》、《八犍度》等。《阿含》謂：「施、戒、慧、六度皆足也，謂根、性、道、定等八種聚也。」天親作論，以七功德分〈序品〉，五示現分〈方便品〉，其餘品各有處分。 昔河西憑、江東瑤，取此意節目經文，末代尤煩。光宅轉細，重雰翳於太清，三光為之戢耀，問津者所不貴。曇鸞云：「細科煙颺，雜礪塵飛。」蓋若過、若不及也。廬山龍師，分文為序、正、流通，二十七品統唯兩種：從〈序〉至〈法師〉，言方便、言真實，理一說三故；〈寶塔〉下，身方便、身真實，實遠唱近故。又從〈方便〉至〈安樂行〉是因門，從〈踊出〉下是果門。齊中興印、小山瑤，從龍受經，分文同。玄暢從〈序〉至〈多寶〉為因分，從〈勸持〉至〈神力〉為果分，從〈囑累〉盡經為護持分。又有師云：「從〈序〉至〈學無學人記〉，是《法華》體；從〈法師〉至〈囑累〉，明受持功德；從〈藥王〉盡經，美諸菩薩本願。」有師作四段：初品為序段；從〈方便〉至〈安樂行〉，開三顯一段；從〈踊出〉訖〈分別功德〉，開近顯遠段；後去餘勢，流通段。光宅雲從印受經，初三段次各開二，謂通序、別序，正謂因門、果門，流通謂化他、自行。二序各五，二正各四，二流通各三，合二十四段〔云云〕。 〔T34 0002a04〕夫分節經文悉是人情，蘭菊各擅其美，後生不應是非諍競，無三益、喪一道。三益者，世界等三悉檀也；一道者，第一義悉檀也。 天台智者分文為三：初品為序；〈方便品〉訖〈分別功德〉十九行偈，凡十五品半，名正；從偈後盡經，凡十一品半，名流通。又一時分為二：從序至〈安樂行〉十四品，約迹開權顯實；從〈踊出〉訖經十四品，約本開權顯實。本迹各序、正、流通。初品為序，〈方便〉訖〈授學無學人記品〉為正，〈法師〉訖〈安樂行〉為流通。〈踊出〉訖「彌勒已問斯事佛今答之」半品，名序；從「佛告阿逸多」下，訖〈分別功德品〉偈，名為正；此後盡經為流通。今記從前三段消文也。 問： 一經云何二序？ 答： 《華嚴》處處集眾，《阿含》篇篇如是，《大品》前後付囑，皆不乖一部，兩序阿妨？ 今不安五義者，本門非次首故也。迹門但單流通者，說法未竟也，有無之意云爾。今帖文為四：一、列數；二、所以；三、引證；四、示相。 列數者：一因緣、二約教、三本迹、四觀心。始從「如是」終于「而退」，皆以四意消文，而今略書，或三、二、一，貴在得意不煩筆墨。 二、所以者， 問： 若略則一，若廣匪四，所以云何？ 答： 廣則令智退，略則意不周，我今處中說，令義易明了。因緣亦名感應，眾生無機雖近不見，慈善根力遠而自通，感應道交故，用因緣釋也。夫眾生求脫，此機眾矣；聖人起應，應亦眾矣。此義更廣，處中在何？然《大經》云：「慈善根力有無量門，略則神通，若十方機感，曠若虛空。」今論娑婆國土音聲佛事則甘露門開，依教釋者中說明矣。若應機設教，教有權實、淺深不同，須置指存月、亡迹尋本。故肇師云：「非本無以垂迹，非迹無以顯本。」故用本迹釋也。若尋迹，迹廣徒自疲勞，若尋本，本高高不可極，日夜數他寶，自無半錢分，但觀己心之高廣，扣無窮之聖應，機成致感，逮得己利，故用觀心釋也。 三、引證。〈方便品〉云：「十方諸佛為一大事因緣故出現於世。」若人天、小乘，非一、非大，又非佛事，不成機感。實相名一，廣博名大，佛指此為事，出現於世，是名一大事因緣也。又云：「以種種法門，宣示於佛道。」當知種種聲教，若微若著、若權若實，皆為佛道而作筌罤，《大經》云：「麁言及軟語，皆歸第一義。」此之謂也。〈壽量品〉云：「今天人阿修羅，皆謂我少出家，出釋氏宮，去伽耶城不遠，得三菩提。然我實成佛已來，無量無邊阿僧祇劫，以斯方便導利眾生。」〈方便品〉又云：「我本立誓願，普令一切眾，亦同得此道，如我等無異。」又〈五百受記品〉云：「內祕菩薩行，外現是聲聞，實自淨佛土，示眾有三毒，又現邪見相；我弟子如是，方便度眾生。」此則師弟皆明本迹〔云云〕。〈譬喻品〉云：「若人信汝所說，即為見我亦見於汝，及比丘僧并諸菩薩。」當知隨有所聞，諦心觀察，於信心中得見三寶：聞說是法寶，見我是佛寶，見汝等是僧寶〔云云〕。 四、示相者，且約三段示因緣相。眾生久遠蒙佛善巧，令種佛道因緣，中間相值，更以異方便助顯第一義而成熟之。今日雨花動地，以如來滅度而滅度之。 復次，久遠為種，過去為熟，近世為脫，地涌等是也。 復次，中間為種，四味為熟，王城為脫，今之開示悟入者也。復次，今世為種，次世為熟，後世為脫，未來得度者是也。雖未是本門，取意說耳。其間節節作三世九世，為種、為熟、為脫，亦應無妨。何以故？如來自在神通之力，師子奮迅大勢威猛之力，自在說也。以如是等故，有序分也。眾見希有瑞，顒顒欽渴，欲聞具足道，佛乘機設化，開示悟入佛之知見，故有正說分也。非但當時獲大利益，後五百歲遠沾妙道，故有流通分也。 又示教相者，此序非為人天清升作序，非為二乘小道作序，不為即空通三作序，不為獨菩薩法作序，乃為正直捨方便、但說無上佛道作序耳。此正不指世間為正，不指螢光析智為正，不指燈炬體法智為正，不指星月道種智為正，乃指日光一切種智為正。此流通非為楊葉木牛木馬而作流通，非流通半字，非流通共字，非流通別字，純是流通圓滿修多羅滿字法也。 次示本迹者，久遠行菩薩道時，宣揚先佛《法華經》，亦有三分上中下語，亦有本迹，但佛佛相望是則無窮，別取最初成佛時所說《法華》三分上中下語，專名為上，名之為本。何以故？最初成佛，初說法故，為上為本，此意可知；中間行化，助大通智勝、然燈等佛，宣揚《法華》三分者，但名為中，但名為迹。何以故？前有上故，前有本故。今日王城所說三分，但名為下，但名為迹，乃至師子奮迅之力，未來永永所說三分，亦指最初為上為本。譬如大樹雖有千枝萬葉，論其根本，不得傳傳相指同宗一根，此喻可解〔云云〕。 〔T34 0003a08〕次示觀心相者，當約己心論戒、定、慧為三分，修行以戒初、定中、慧後；若法門以慧為本，定、戒為迹。又戒、定、慧各各作三分，前方便白四羯磨結竟，為戒三分；二十五方便正觀歷緣，又善入出住百千三昧等為定三分；因緣所生法，即空、即假、即中為慧三分。 已約三分示四種相，當用此義。從「如是」去、至「作禮而退」已還，悉作四意消文。但準望此義比知則易，分別顯示其辭則難，行者善思量之，語異意同，千車共轍、萬流醎會者也。
The canonical text stands in Chinese only. This edition renders the essence, the plain reading, the exposition and the apparatus into English — never the sūtra itself. Switch to 漢讀本 or 並行雙語 above to read it.
《妙法蓮華經文句》第一卷上，天台智者大師說。
〔題下注：佛出現在世間很難，佛宣說這部經很難，把它傳承翻譯出來很難，自己由此開悟很難，聽聞師長講解很難，只聽一遍便把它完整記下也很難。我二十七歲時在金陵聽受，六十九歲時在丹丘增補刪修，把這部書留贈後世賢者，共同期望成就佛慧。〕
一、為什麼稱作序品
經題已經在前一部中詳盡解釋過了。現在先解釋『序』字。序，可訓作庠序，也就是階位有次第，賓主有次第，問答也都有安詳、不越次的秩序。結集經典的人依照義理，把序解作次序、發起所由與敘述三義。
『如是、我聞』等五事放在經文最前面，這是次序；佛放光、現出六種瑞相，成為全經發起的開端，這是由序；經中問答解除疑惑，為正說作弄引，這是敘述。具足這三重意義，所以稱為序。
再解釋『品』字。《中阿含》把它稱為跋渠，譯成漢語便是品。凡是義理種類相同的內容，聚集在同一篇段中，所以名為品。有的品名由佛親自說出，例如《梵網》；有的由結集經典的人安置，例如《大論》；有的由翻譯者補足，例如羅什。現在經中的〈藥王本事品〉是佛親自說出品名；〈妙音品〉、〈觀音品〉等，究竟是結集者所立還是譯者所加，沒有聽到明確說法。這一品居所有品的開始，所以稱作第一。
二、經文為何必須分節
佛隨順眾生因緣，所說有如散花，也有如把花貫穿成鬘的兩種情形。結集者依照佛說傳持下來，造論者依經申明義理，原來都沒有分節立目。古代講師也只敷演弘揚義理，不分章段。如果完全沿用這個方式，後來的學人恐怕連一段從哪裡開始、到哪裡結束都不能辨認。
況且，佛說本有散說與相貫之說，結集者也隨義建立品目。《增一阿含》說，契經是一分，律是一分，阿毘曇是一分。契經又開成四部，就是《增一阿含》《長阿含》《中阿含》《雜阿含》；《增一阿含》說明人天因果，《長阿含》破除邪見，《中阿含》說明深義，《雜阿含》說明禪定。律又開為五部及八十誦。阿毘曇則開為《六足》《八犍度》等。
《阿含》又說，布施、持戒、智慧以及六度都可以稱作足，根、性、道、定等則成為八種法聚。天親造《法華論》，以七種功德分判〈序品〉，以五種示現分判〈方便品〉，其餘各品也各有相應的分判位置。
三、古師怎樣分判全經
從前河西憑、江東瑤依這一層意思，開始為經文分節立目；到了後代，分科尤其繁多。光宅的分判轉得更細，彷彿濃重雲霧遮蔽高空，日、月、星三光都因此收斂光耀，求路問津的人並不珍重這樣的繁細。曇鸞曾說：『細碎科目如煙飛揚，雜亂砥石如塵飄散。』這大概是在說：分得過細固然不當，完全不分也同樣有所不及。
廬山龍師把全經分為序、正說、流通三部分，又把二十七品統攝為兩類。從〈序品〉到〈法師品〉，一方面說方便，一方面說真實；真理本來是一，言說卻開為三，所以屬於第一類。從〈寶塔品〉以下，一方面顯現身的方便，一方面顯現身的真實；實際成佛久遠，卻示現近時成道，所以屬於第二類。他又把〈方便品〉至〈安樂行品〉判為因門，把〈踊出品〉以下判為果門。
齊代中興寺的印師與小山瑤都從龍師受經，分文方法相同。玄暢則把〈序品〉到〈多寶品〉判為因分，把〈勸持品〉到〈神力品〉判為果分，把〈囑累品〉到經末判為護持分。
又有一位法師說：從〈序品〉到〈授學無學人記品〉，是《法華經》的本體；從〈法師品〉到〈囑累品〉，說明受持經典的功德；從〈藥王品〉到全經末尾，讚美諸菩薩的本願。
另有一位法師把全經分為四段：第一品是序段；從〈方便品〉到〈安樂行品〉，是開三顯一段；從〈踊出品〉到〈分別功德品〉，是開近顯遠段；此後則是前義的餘勢，屬於流通段。
光宅法雲從印師受經。他先把序、正說、流通三段各開為兩段：序分為通序、別序；正說分為因門、果門；流通分為化他流通、自行流通。接著，通序與別序各開五段，因門與果門各開四段，化他與自行兩種流通各開三段，總共合成二十四段。
四、分節可以不同，不可因而爭競
經文如何分節，終究是後人依自己的理解所作安排；蘭花與菊花各自有它的美。後來的學人不應因此互判是非、彼此爭競，否則既得不到三種利益，又會喪失一道。所謂三種利益，是世界等三種悉檀的利益；所謂一道，就是第一義悉檀。
五、智者的三分與迹、本二門
天台智者把全經分為三部分。第一品是序分；從〈方便品〉起，到〈分別功德品〉的十九行偈為止，共十五品半，名為正說分；從這十九行偈之後直到經末，共十一品半，名為流通分。
又可以把全經一次分成兩門。從〈序品〉到〈安樂行品〉共十四品，是依迹開權顯實；從〈踊出品〉到經末共十四品，是依本開權顯實。本門與迹門又各自具備序、正說、流通三分。
迹門方面，第一品是序分；從〈方便品〉到〈授學無學人記品〉是正說分；從〈法師品〉到〈安樂行品〉是流通分。
本門方面，從〈踊出品〉起，到『彌勒已問這件事，佛現在將要回答』這句所在的半品為止，名為序分；從『佛告阿逸多』以下，到〈分別功德品〉的偈頌為止，名為正說分；從此以後直到經末，名為流通分。眼前的記錄在逐文解釋時，採用前面全經序、正說、流通三段的分法。
六、一部經為何可以有兩個序
有人問：一部經為什麼會有兩個序？
回答說：《華嚴經》每到一處法會都重新集眾，《阿含經》每一篇都各有『如是我聞』等開頭，《大品般若》前後都有付囑。這些安排都沒有違背同屬一部經的事實，那麼有兩個序又有什麼妨礙？
本門之序沒有另安『如是、我聞』等五義，是因為它不在全經次第的最前端。迹門只設一段流通，是因為當時全經說法還沒有完畢。某處有、某處沒有的用意，就是如此。
七、貼合經文的四重與四種解釋
現在要貼合經文逐段解釋，先立四重：第一，列出數目；第二，說明為什麼如此；第三，引經作證；第四，顯示實際相狀。
先列解釋經文的四種意思：第一因緣，第二約教，第三本迹，第四觀心。從全經開頭的『如是』起，一直到經末的『而退』為止，每一句都以這四種意思消解經文。可是實際寫下來時只作簡略記錄，有時寫三種，有時寫兩種，有時只寫一種；可貴的是得到原意，不必讓筆墨變得煩重。
八、為什麼恰好用四種解釋
第二，說明所以如此。
有人問：如果要簡略，一種解釋就夠了；如果要廣說，也不會只有四種。為什麼偏偏定為四種？
回答說：說得太廣，會使人的智慧畏難退縮；說得太略，意思又不能周全。現在採取適中的說法，使義理容易明白。
因緣也名為感應。眾生若沒有能感的機緣，即使離聖者很近也不能得見；聖者慈悲善根的力量，雖然相距遙遠仍能自然相通。眾生之感與聖者之應彼此交會，所以用因緣解釋。眾生求解脫，能感的機緣非常多；聖者發起回應，所應的方法也非常多。這層義本來還可以廣說，那麼適中的界線在哪裡？《大經》說，慈悲善根的力量有無量法門，簡要說便是神通；十方眾生的機感，廣闊得如同虛空。現在只論娑婆國土以音聲作佛事，甘露之門便由此開啟。依教解釋，正是從無量之廣收在適中的說法中。
聖者隨眾生之機施設教法，所說有權宜與真實，也有淺深不同；因此必須放下指月的手指而保存所指之月，忘卻外在示現而尋求根本。肇師說：沒有根本，便無從垂下示現；沒有示現，也無從顯明根本。所以用本迹來解釋。
如果只追尋外在示現，示現廣大，徒然使自己疲勞；如果只向高遠的根本追尋，根本高得沒有窮極。這就像日夜替別人數算珍寶，自己卻連半文錢也沒有。若能觀察自己心地的高與廣，便能叩發無窮的聖者回應；自身之機成熟，感應得以到來，終於得到自己的利益。所以用觀心來解釋。
九、四種解釋的經證
第三，引經作證。
〈方便品〉說，十方諸佛為了一大事因緣而出現在世間。若所求只在人、天或小乘，便既不是一，也不是大，又不是諸佛本事，不能成為這裡所說的機感。實相名為一，廣博名為大，佛把這件事指作所要成辦的大事；諸佛為此出現於世，所以名為一大事因緣。
〈方便品〉又說，佛以種種法門向眾生宣示佛道。由此可知，各種音聲教法，無論隱微或顯著，無論權宜或真實，都只是為佛道所作的筌與罤。《大經》說，粗重的言語與柔軟的言語，最後都歸向第一義，說的正是這個意思。
〈壽量品〉說：『今天、人、阿修羅都以為我年少出家，離開釋氏宮室，在離伽耶城不遠的地方證得正覺；可是我實際成佛以來，已經過了無量無邊阿僧祇劫。我以這種方便引導、利益眾生。』
〈方便品〉又說：『我本來立下誓願，要普遍使一切眾生也同樣得到這條道路，與我完全沒有差別。』
〈五百受記品〉又說：『內在祕藏菩薩行，外表卻示現為聲聞；實際上自己正在清淨佛土，卻向眾人示現具有貪、瞋、癡三毒，又示現邪見之相。我的弟子就是這樣，以方便度化眾生。』這說明老師與弟子都顯出根本與示現的兩層關係。
〈譬喻品〉說：『如果有人相信你所說的話，便是見到我，也見到你，以及比丘僧與諸菩薩。』由此應知：凡有所聽聞，都要專心如實觀察，並在信心之中得見佛、法、僧三寶。聽到所說，是見法寶；見到我，是見佛寶；見到你們，是見僧寶。
十、以三分顯示因緣相
第四，顯示相狀。先依序、正說、流通三段，顯示因緣相。
眾生在久遠以前便蒙佛以善巧方便，使他們種下佛道因緣；中間與佛相遇，又由不同方便幫助顯明第一義，使善根成熟；到了今天的法華會上，天雨妙花、大地震動，佛又以如來滅度之事，使眾生得到滅度。
再換一個角度說：久遠時是下種，過去時是成熟，近世是解脫，從地涌出的菩薩等便是這樣。
再說：中間時是下種，四味教法是成熟，王城法華會是解脫，今天開、示、悟、入佛知見的人便是這樣。
再說：今世是下種，下一世是成熟，後世是解脫，未來得到度脫的人便是這樣。這裡雖然還沒有正式進入本門，只是先取其意思來說。每一段中又都可以各作過去、現在、未來三世，合成三節九世；每一層都可再說下種、成熟、解脫，也沒有妨礙。
為什麼可以如此自在地說？因為如來具有自在神通之力、師子奮迅之力與大勢威猛之力，能夠自在說法。由於有這些因緣，所以全經有序分。
大眾看見從未見過的瑞相，人人仰望，渴求聽聞具足之道；佛乘著眾生機緣施設教化，使眾生開、示、悟、入佛的知見，所以有正說分。不只當時與會者獲得大利益，後五百歲的眾生也能遙沾妙道，所以有流通分。
十一、以三分顯示教相
再顯示教相。這個序不是為人天得到清淨上升而作，不是為二乘小道而作，不是為即空而通於三類作序，也不是只為菩薩一類法門作序；它只為正直捨棄方便、但說無上佛道而作序。
這裡的正說，不把世間法指作正，不把如螢火般的析法智慧指作正，不把如燈炬般的體法智慧指作正，不把如星月般的道種智指作正，只把如日光般的一切種智指作正。
這裡的流通，不是為楊葉、木牛、木馬而作流通，不是流通半字之法，不是流通共字之法，也不是流通別字之法；它純粹是流通圓滿修多羅的滿字法。
十二、以三分顯示本迹相
接著顯示本迹相。佛在久遠以前行菩薩道時，曾宣揚先佛的《法華經》，當時也有上、中、下三分之語，也有根本與示現。可是若一尊佛再向前追一尊佛，便會無窮無盡。因此另取釋尊最初成佛時所說《法華》的上、中、下三分，專名為上，也名為本。
為什麼如此安立？因為那是最初成佛、最初說法，所以稱作上、稱作本。這個意思可以明白。
中間時期，釋尊隨緣教化，曾幫助大通智勝佛、然燈佛等佛宣揚《法華》三分；這些只名為中，只名為迹。為什麼？因為在它以前已有所謂上，也已有所謂本。
今天在王城所說的三分，只名為下，只名為迹。乃至憑師子奮迅之力，在未來長久無盡的歲月中所說的三分，也都仍把最初所說指作上、指作本。
譬如一棵大樹雖有千枝萬葉，要論它的根本，不能每一枝再指前一枝為根，層層傳指；所有枝葉同屬一個根。這個譬喻可以幫助理解。
十三、以三分顯示觀心相
接著顯示觀心相。應當依自己的心來說戒、定、慧三分。若依修行先後，戒在最初，定在中間，慧在最後；若依法門的根本與示現來說，慧是本，定與戒是迹。
戒、定、慧自身又各可分成三段。戒的三段，是前方便、白四羯磨、最後結竟。定的三段，是二十五方便、正觀中歷緣對境，以及善巧進入、出離、安住百千三昧等。慧的三段，是觀因緣所生之法即空、即假、即中。
十四、語異而意同
以上已經依三分顯示四種相，讀經時應當運用這層意義。從『如是』開始，直到『作禮而退』以前，都可用四種意思解釋經文。只要依這項準則推比，便容易知道；若要把每一重意思都分別寫明，文字就很難安排。
修行人應當善加思量：不同說法可以有不同語句，而所要指出的意思仍然相同；如千輛車共同循一條車轍，萬條河流會入大海而同成一味。
The first half of the first fascicle of the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, taught by the Tiantai Master Zhiyi.
[Note beneath the title: It is difficult for a buddha to appear in the world, difficult for a buddha to teach this scripture, difficult to transmit and translate it, difficult to awaken through it oneself, difficult to hear a teacher explain it, and difficult to record it completely after hearing it only once. I received the teaching in Jinling at the age of twenty-seven and augmented and abridged it in Danqiu at the age of sixty-nine. I leave this work to worthy people of later generations so that together we may aspire to accomplish the Buddha's wisdom.]
1. Why Is It Called the Introduction Chapter?
The title of the scripture was explained in detail in the preceding work. We now begin by explaining the word “introduction.” An introduction may be understood through the order of an ancient academy: ranks have their sequence, host and guests have their sequence, and questions and answers proceed calmly without overstepping their place. Those who compiled the scriptures interpreted “introduction” according to the meaning as having three senses: sequence, occasion, and narration.
The five matters beginning with “Thus” and “I heard” stand at the very front of the scripture: this is sequence. The Buddha emits light and manifests six auspicious signs, forming the occasion from which the whole scripture begins: this is the introduction as occasion. Questions and answers resolve uncertainty and serve as a lead-in to the main teaching: this is narration. Because all three meanings are present, it is called an introduction.
Next comes the word “chapter.” The Madhyama Āgama calls it varga, translated into Chinese as “chapter.” Material of the same doctrinal kind is gathered into a single section, and for that reason it is called a chapter. Some chapter titles are spoken by the Buddha himself, as in the Brahmā's Net Sūtra; some are supplied by those who compiled the scriptures, as in the Great Treatise; and some are completed by the translator, as in Kumārajīva's work. In the present scripture, “The Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King” is a chapter title spoken by the Buddha himself. As for “The Bodhisattva Wonderful Sound,” “The Universal Gateway of the Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World's Sounds (Guanshiyin),” and the like, no clear account has been heard as to whether their titles were supplied by the compilers or added by the translator. Since the present chapter stands at the beginning of all the chapters, it is called the first.
2. Why Must the Scripture Be Divided into Sections?
In adapting to the causes and conditions of beings, the Buddha sometimes taught as though scattering flowers and sometimes as though stringing flowers into a garland. The compilers transmitted the Buddha's teaching accordingly, and authors of treatises clarified its meaning on the basis of the scriptures; originally they did not divide the text and establish headings. Ancient lecturers likewise unfolded and propagated the meaning without separating it into chapters and sections. If this method were followed without qualification, later students might be unable even to distinguish where a passage begins and ends.
Moreover, the Buddha's teaching itself included both scattered statements and connected discourse, and the compilers also established chapter titles according to meaning. The Ekottarika Āgama says that the discourses form one division, the discipline one division, and the abhidharma one division. The discourses are further opened into four collections: the Ekottarika, Dīrgha, Madhyama, and Saṃyukta Āgamas. The Ekottarika explains causes and results among humans and gods, the Dīrgha refutes wrong views, the Madhyama explains profound meanings, and the Saṃyukta explains meditative concentration. The discipline is further opened into five divisions and eighty recitations, while the abhidharma is opened into works such as the Six Feet and the Eight Granthas.
The Āgamas also say that giving, keeping precepts, wisdom, and the six perfections may all be called “feet,” while faculties, natures, paths, concentrations, and the like form eight collections of dharmas. Vasubandhu composed the Treatise on the Lotus Sūtra, dividing the Introduction chapter according to seven accomplishments and the Skillful Means chapter according to five manifestations; each of the remaining chapters likewise has its corresponding analytical place.
3. How Did Earlier Masters Divide the Whole Scripture?
Formerly Ping of Hexi and Yao of Jiangdong drew upon this principle and began to divide the scriptural text and establish headings. In later generations, divisions became especially numerous. Guangzhai's analysis turned finer still, like dense clouds and mist obscuring the high sky until the three lights—the sun, moon, and stars—withdrew their radiance; those seeking a route or asking for the ford did not value such intricacy. Tanluan once said, “Minute analytical headings scatter like smoke; jumbled whetstones drift like dust.” The point seems to be that overly fine division is certainly improper, but complete absence of division also falls short.
Master Long of Mount Lu divided the whole scripture into introduction, main teaching, and transmission, and gathered its twenty-seven chapters under two categories. From the Introduction chapter through the Dharma Teacher chapter, the scripture speaks both of verbal skillful means and verbal reality. Principle is originally one, but speech opens it into three, so these chapters belong to the first category. From the Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa chapter onward, it manifests both bodily skillful means and bodily reality. Buddhahood was actually attained in the distant past, but awakening is manifested as recent, so these chapters belong to the second category. He also classified the chapters from Skillful Means through Peaceful Practices as the gate of cause and those from Emerging from the Earth onward as the gate of result.
During the Qi dynasty, Master Yin of Zhongxing Monastery and Xiaoshan Yao both received the scripture from Master Long and divided the text in the same way. Xuanchang instead treated the Introduction through Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa as the division of cause, Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra through The Supernormal Powers of the Tathāgata as the division of result, and Entrustment through the end of the scripture as the division of protection and preservation.
Another Dharma master said that the Introduction through Predictions for Those in Training and Beyond Training constitutes the body of the Lotus Sūtra; the Dharma Teacher through Entrustment explains the merit of receiving and upholding the scripture; and The Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King through the end of the scripture praises the original vows of the bodhisattvas.
Another Dharma master divided the whole scripture into four sections: the first chapter is the introductory section; Skillful Means through Peaceful Practices is the section of opening the three to reveal the one; Emerging from the Earth through Distinguishing Qualities is the section of opening the recent to reveal the distant; and the remainder carries forward the preceding meanings as the section of transmission.
Fayun of Guangzhai received the scripture from Master Yin. He first divided each of the three sections—introduction, main teaching, and transmission—into two: the introduction into the common introduction and specific introduction; the main teaching into the gate of cause and gate of result; and the transmission into transmission for transforming others and transmission for one's own practice. He then opened each of the common and specific introductions into five sections, each of the cause and result gates into four, and each of the two forms of transmission into three, making twenty-four sections in all.
4. Divisions May Differ, but They Must Not Become Grounds for Contention
How the scripture is divided ultimately reflects the arrangement later readers make according to their own understanding; orchids and chrysanthemums each have their beauty. Later students should not therefore pronounce one another right or wrong and fall into contention. If they do, they will fail to obtain the three benefits and will also lose the one path. The three benefits are those of the first three siddhāntas, beginning with the worldly; the one path is the siddhānta of ultimate meaning.
5. Zhiyi's Three Divisions and the Trace and Origin Gates
The Tiantai Master Zhiyi divides the whole scripture into three parts. The first chapter is the introduction. From the Skillful Means chapter through the nineteen lines of verse in the Distinguishing Qualities chapter—fifteen and a half chapters in all—is the main teaching. From the end of those nineteen lines through the end of the scripture—eleven and a half chapters—is the transmission.
The whole scripture may also be divided at once into two gates. The fourteen chapters from the Introduction through Peaceful Practices constitute opening the provisional to reveal the real on the basis of the trace. The fourteen chapters from Emerging from the Earth through the end of the scripture constitute opening the provisional to reveal the real on the basis of the origin. Both the Origin Gate and the Trace Gate possess their own introduction, main teaching, and transmission.
Within the Trace Gate, the first chapter is the introduction; Skillful Means through Predictions for Those in Training and Beyond Training is the main teaching; and the Dharma Teacher through Peaceful Practices is the transmission.
Within the Origin Gate, the half chapter beginning with Emerging from the Earth and ending where “Maitreya has now asked about this and the Buddha is about to answer” occurs is the introduction. From “The Buddha told Ajita” through the verses in the Distinguishing Qualities chapter is the main teaching. From that point through the end of the scripture is the transmission. In explaining the text passage by passage, the present record follows the earlier division of the whole scripture into introduction, main teaching, and transmission.
6. How Can One Scripture Have Two Introductions?
Someone asks: why would a single scripture have two introductions?
The answer is that the Avataṃsaka Sūtra gathers an assembly anew at each teaching site, every individual discourse in the Āgamas has its own opening such as “Thus have I heard,” and the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra has entrustments both before and after. None of these arrangements violates the fact that the work is one scripture. What difficulty, then, could there be in two introductions?
The introduction to the Origin Gate does not repeat the five matters such as “Thus” and “I heard” because it does not stand at the beginning of the sequential whole. The Trace Gate has only one section of transmission because the teaching of the whole scripture had not yet been completed at that point. This is the reason something is present in one place and absent in another.
7. Four Stages and Four Approaches for Joining the Explanation to the Text
We now begin explaining the text passage by passage. First establish four stages: enumerate the approaches; explain why they are used; cite scripture as evidence; and show their actual forms.
First enumerate the four approaches to explaining the text: causes and conditions, the teaching, origin and trace, and contemplating the mind. From “Thus” at the beginning of the scripture through “withdrew” at its end, every sentence may be resolved through these four meanings. In the actual written record, however, the explanation is abbreviated: sometimes three approaches are written, sometimes two, and sometimes only one. What matters is grasping the original intent; the writing itself need not become burdensome.
8. Why Are There Exactly Four Approaches?
Second, explain why this is so.
Someone asks: if brevity is desired, a single interpretation should suffice; if breadth is desired, there would not be only four. Why establish precisely four?
The answer is that an explanation too broad makes people's wisdom recoil from the difficulty, while one too brief cannot make the meaning complete. The present account takes a middle course so that the principle is easy to understand.
Causes and conditions is also called stimulus and response. If beings lack a receptive capacity able to evoke a response, they cannot see the sage even when nearby. Through the power of the sage's compassion and wholesome roots, those far away can nevertheless connect naturally. The stimulus of beings and the response of the sage meet, and so the text is explained through causes and conditions. Beings seek liberation through very many receptive capacities, and the sage initiates very many appropriate responses. This meaning could itself be explained at length, so where does the middle course lie? The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says that the power of compassion and wholesome roots has immeasurable Dharma gates, but in brief it is supernatural power; the responsive capacities of beings throughout the ten directions are as broad as space. Here we consider only the Sahā world, where sound performs the Buddha's work and thereby opens the gate of ambrosia. Interpretation in terms of the teaching gathers immeasurable breadth into a middle account in precisely this way.
The sage establishes teachings according to beings' capacities. What is taught may be provisional or real, shallow or profound. One must therefore set aside the finger that points at the moon while preserving the moon it indicates, and forget the outward Trace while seeking its Origin. Master Sengzhao said: without the Origin there is nothing from which to extend a Trace, and without the Trace there is no means of revealing the Origin. This is why the text is interpreted in terms of Origin and Trace.
If one pursues only outward traces, their vast number merely exhausts the seeker; if one seeks only the lofty and distant origin, its height has no limit. This is like counting another person's jewels day and night while possessing not half a coin oneself. If instead one contemplates the height and breadth of one's own mind, one can evoke the sage's inexhaustible responses. When one's own receptive capacity matures, stimulus and response can meet and one finally obtains a benefit that is truly one's own. This is why the text is interpreted through contemplating the mind.
9. Scriptural Evidence for the Four Approaches
Third, cite scripture as evidence.
The Skillful Means chapter says that buddhas throughout the ten directions appear in the world for the sake of one great cause and condition. If what is sought were only a human, heavenly, or Lesser Vehicle result, it would be neither one nor great, nor would it be the work proper to buddhas, and so it could not be the receptive capacity and response meant here. The true mark is called “one,” breadth is called “great,” and the Buddha identifies this as the great matter to be accomplished. Because buddhas appear in the world for this purpose, it is called the one great cause and condition.
The Skillful Means chapter also says that the Buddha reveals the Buddha path to beings through many Dharma gates. From this we know that all teachings conveyed by sound—whether subtle or manifest, provisional or real—are only traps and snares serving the Buddha path. The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says that coarse words and gentle words finally return to ultimate meaning. This is precisely the point.
The Lifespan of the Tathāgata chapter says: “Today humans, gods, and asuras all suppose that I left the Śākya palace while young, renounced the household life, and attained complete awakening not far from the city of Gayā. In truth, however, it has been immeasurable, boundless asaṃkhyeya kalpas since I attained buddhahood. I use this skillful means to guide and benefit beings.”
The Skillful Means chapter also says: “I originally made a vow to enable all beings universally to attain this path just as I have, without any difference.”
The Five Hundred Disciples Receive Their Predictions chapter further says: “Inwardly they conceal bodhisattva practice while outwardly appearing as śrāvakas. In truth they are purifying their own buddha lands, yet before the assembly they manifest the three poisons of greed, anger, and delusion and display the appearance of wrong views. My disciples are like this: they liberate beings through skillful means.” This shows that teacher and disciples alike reveal the two levels of Origin and Trace.
The Parable chapter says: “If anyone trusts what you teach, that person thereby sees me, sees you, and also sees the community of monks and the bodhisattvas.” From this we should understand that whatever one hears must be contemplated attentively and in accord with reality, so that within faith one sees the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha. Hearing what is taught is seeing the Dharma jewel; seeing me is seeing the Buddha jewel; and seeing you is seeing the Saṅgha jewel.
10. Showing the Aspect of Causes and Conditions through the Three Divisions
Fourth, show the actual forms. Begin with the aspect of causes and conditions as disclosed through introduction, main teaching, and transmission.
In the distant past, beings received the Buddha's skillful means and thereby planted causes and conditions for the Buddha path. When they encountered the Buddha in the interval, different skillful means helped reveal ultimate meaning and brought their wholesome roots to maturity. At today's Lotus assembly, exquisite flowers rain from the sky, the earth trembles, and the Buddha uses the matter of the Tathāgata's passing into extinction to bring beings to extinction.
Seen from another angle, the distant past is sowing, the past interval is ripening, and the recent age is liberation; the bodhisattvas emerging from the earth and others are examples of this.
Again, the intermediate period is sowing, the teachings of the four flavors are ripening, and the Lotus assembly at the royal city is liberation; those who today open, reveal, awaken to, and enter the Buddha's knowledge and vision are examples of this.
Again, the present life is sowing, the next life is ripening, and a later life is liberation; those who attain liberation in the future are examples of this. Although the Origin Gate has not yet formally begun here, its meaning is provisionally drawn upon. Each of these periods can in turn be treated through past, present, and future, making three phases and nine ages; at every level, sowing, ripening, and liberation may again be discussed without contradiction.
Why can the teaching be presented with such freedom? Because the Tathāgata possesses the power of sovereign supernatural mastery, the power of the lion's expansive advance, and the power of great, mighty authority, and can therefore teach the Dharma freely. These causes and conditions account for the scripture's introduction.
The assembly beholds auspicious signs never seen before. Everyone looks upward and thirsts to hear the complete path. Responding to beings' receptive capacities, the Buddha establishes transformative teachings that enable them to open, reveal, awaken to, and enter the Buddha's knowledge and vision. This accounts for the main teaching. Not only did those present in the assembly receive great benefit; beings in the latter five-hundred-year period can also be touched from afar by the wondrous path. This accounts for the transmission.
11. Showing the Aspect of Teaching through the Three Divisions
Next, show the aspect of teaching. This introduction is not made so that humans and gods may attain purified ascent, not made for the lesser path of the two vehicles, not made for the teaching of emptiness shared by three classes, and not made only for the distinctive Dharma gate of bodhisattvas. It is made solely for setting skillful means aside directly and teaching only the unsurpassed Buddha path.
This main teaching does not call worldly dharmas “main,” does not call the wisdom that analyzes dharmas, like a firefly's light, “main,” does not call the wisdom that directly realizes dharmas, like a lamp or torch, “main,” and does not call the wisdom of paths, like the light of stars and moon, “main.” It calls only the wisdom of all modes, like the radiance of the sun, “main.”
This transmission does not transmit yellow leaves, wooden oxen, or wooden horses; it does not transmit the half-letter Dharma, the shared-letter Dharma, or the distinct-letter Dharma. It transmits solely the full-letter Dharma of the perfect sūtra.
12. Showing the Aspect of Origin and Trace through the Three Divisions
Next, show the aspect of origin and trace. While practicing the bodhisattva path in the distant past, the Buddha propagated the Lotus Sūtras of earlier buddhas; at that time too there were upper, middle, and lower divisions, as well as origin and trace. But if each buddha were traced back to yet another buddha, the regress would be endless. We therefore take the upper, middle, and lower divisions of the Lotus taught when Śākyamuni first attained buddhahood and designate them specifically as the “upper,” also calling them the origin.
Why establish the terms in this way? Because this was his first attainment of buddhahood and first teaching of the Dharma, it is called the upper and called the origin. The meaning is readily understood.
During the intermediate period, Śākyamuni taught according to conditions and assisted buddhas such as Great Universal Wisdom Excellence and Dīpaṃkara in propagating the three divisions of the Lotus. These are called only the middle and only traces. Why? Because what was called upper and what was called origin already preceded them.
The three divisions taught today at the royal city are called only the lower and only traces. Even the three divisions that he will teach throughout the boundless future by the power of the lion's expansive advance will still point to the first teaching as the upper and the origin.
It is like a great tree with a thousand branches and ten thousand leaves. To speak of its root, one cannot point from branch to earlier branch, one after another without end, and call each the root; every branch and leaf shares a single root. This simile helps make the meaning clear.
13. Showing the Aspect of Contemplating the Mind through the Three Divisions
Next, show the aspect of contemplating the mind. Precepts, concentration, and wisdom should be described as three divisions on the basis of one's own mind. In the sequence of practice, precepts come first, concentration in the middle, and wisdom last. From the standpoint of origin and trace within the Dharma gate, wisdom is the origin, while concentration and precepts are traces.
Precepts, concentration, and wisdom may each in turn be divided into three parts. The three parts of precepts are the preliminary preparations, the formal motion and three proclamations, and final completion. The three parts of concentration are the twenty-five preparatory practices; the main contemplation as one encounters conditions and engages objects; and skillfully entering, emerging from, and dwelling in hundreds and thousands of samādhis. The three parts of wisdom are contemplating dharmas born of causes and conditions as at once empty, provisional, and the middle.
14. Different Words, the Same Intent
The four aspects have now been shown through the three divisions, and this meaning should be applied when reading the scripture. From “Thus” through “bowed in reverence and withdrew,” every passage may be explained through the four approaches. Once this standard is used for comparison, the application is easy to know; if every layer had to be written out separately, the prose would be difficult to arrange.
Practitioners should reflect well: different explanations may employ different words while still pointing to the same intent, like a thousand carts following a common track and ten thousand streams entering the sea to become one taste.
《法華文句》序品釋一開始，沒有立刻解釋『如是我聞』，而是先談序與品，再用很長的篇幅回顧古人如何分節，最後才提出自己的三分、二門與四種解釋。這個順序透露出一個根本問題：讀者尚未理解一段文字位於全經何處，逐字解釋便容易只見一句，不見一句在全經中承擔的作用。
可是，分段也是後人所作。既然不是佛口親自標出的唯一界線，它憑什麼引導讀經？智者沒有迴避這個問題。他一方面說完全不分會使後學不識起訖，一方面又說分節悉是人情，蘭菊各有其美。首節真正建立的，不是一張不可更動的表，而是一種能用分節、又不被分節所困的讀法。
一、序不是裝飾，品不是書架標籤
序有次、由、述三義。經首先安放共同的開頭，使讀者知道法會的基本條件，這是次；光明與瑞相使大眾生疑、發問，這是由；問答解除疑惑，把全經帶向正說，這是述。序因此不是正文之前可有可無的裝飾，而是讓正說得以發生的秩序。
品則以義類相同為原則，把相關內容聚成一段。它先幫讀者看見一段的共同主題，再讓不同篇段各守自己的位置。品名可以由佛說出，可以由結集者安置，也可能由譯者補足；來源並不全同。智者保留未聞之處，正說明篇章名稱雖是讀經入口，卻不能因名稱便利，便替每一品杜撰同一種來歷。
序與品放在一起，便形成兩個方向：序說一部經如何開始，品說相同義類如何聚合。前者建立前後秩序，後者建立內容邊界。有了這兩層，逐句解釋才不會把經文切成彼此無關的碎片。
二、分文出於人情，為何仍不可少
智者先說佛法有散說，也有相貫之說。若只保存義理而不標章段，熟悉者或許能讀，後學卻可能不知道一義從何起、到何處止。三藏分部、經律論各有聚類，論書又依經段分功德、分示現，都證明按義分聚本有教學之用。
他接著長列古師分文，不只是保存方法史，也讓讀者親眼看見同一部經可以被切成不同形狀。有的重序、正、流通，有的重因、果，有的重受持功德，有的細開二十四段。每一種都想使經義可見，卻也可能因越分越細，反使求路者被科目遮住。
所以，蘭菊之喻並不是說所有分法不分高下，也不是說既然出於人情便可任意。它先撤掉爭競：分文是為了顯理，不是為了證明分文者勝過別人。若一面研究經文，一面因科判失去利益與第一義，那張分段表即使再精細，也已違背它原來的用途。
三、三分與二門，兩張圖如何同時成立
智者先把全經分成序、正說、流通。這張圖看的是一部經如何發起、展開、傳向後世。序讓法會條件具足，正說承擔主要教義，流通使法不只停在當時一座。
他又把全經分為迹門與本門，每門仍各有序、正說、流通。這張圖看的不是全經只有一條線，而是同一部經先依示現開顯，再依久遠根本開顯；兩門各有自己的發起、正說與流通。
因此，三分與二門不是兩個互相排斥的答案。三分是每一場完整說法的功能次第，二門是全經兩大部位；二門之中各具三分，正如一座大宅有前後兩院，每院都各有入口、正堂與通向外界的門路。
有人追問：同一部經怎能有兩個序？智者用多會集眾、多篇各有開頭、前後皆有付囑作答。一部之所以仍是一部，不在每個部位只能有一次發起，而在多次發起共同服務於同一經旨。本門不重安經首五事，迹門也只有一段流通，則提醒讀者：結構可以相應，卻不必為求整齊而強作完全對稱。
四、全首節的眼：得意而不煩筆墨
智者說逐文解釋可從因緣、約教、本迹、觀心四個方向進入，隨即補上一個極重要的限制：實際落筆可以只寫三種、兩種，甚至一種；要緊的是得到原意，不以繁重筆墨為能事。
這句話與前面的蘭菊之戒彼此照應。古師分文可能因過細而遮住經文；四種解釋若被寫成每句必須填滿的四格，也會重犯同一種病。四釋是綱，用來提醒讀者不要把一句經文壓成單一平面；它不是格式，用來證明每一欄都已填滿。
因此，本首節另立列數、所以、引證、示相四步。先說有哪些方向，再回答為何恰取這四種，接著以經文作證，最後顯示它們如何進入序、正說、流通。這條教學弧使方法先被理解，再被使用；若只背四個名稱，卻不明白為何如此、如何如此，便還沒有得到它的意。
五、四個方向，其實是一條由經到心的路
因緣先問：一段經文中，眾生以什麼機緣感發，聖者如何回應？眾生沒有能感之機，即使近也不能見；機緣成熟，即使遠也能相通。如此讀經，法會便不只是過去發生的事件，而是感與應如何交會的場域。
約教再問：聖者的回應以什麼方式成為眾生可聽、可解的教法？十方化事廣大無邊，本段卻收在娑婆以音聲作佛事。如此收束，不是否定其他方式，而是讓讀者知道眼前經文以何種聲教開門。
本迹接著問：所見的言教與身相，如何顯出所從之本？手指能指月，卻不是月。若只追逐無數示現，容易疲勞；若越過示現空談高本，又會無處著手。正確的轉折，是藉迹顯本，得月而不再執指。
觀心最後把讀者從他人之寶轉回自己。若日日數算經中聖者的高深，自己的生命卻沒有得到半分受用，理解仍停在門外。觀己心不是把經義縮成個人感受，而是讓因緣、教法、本迹所指在自己的機感與行持上接受檢驗。由此，四個方向不是四條互不相干的路，而是從感應、言教、所指，逐步回到能行之心。
六、引證不是堆砌經句，而是校準方向
智者為四釋引經，次第十分清楚。一大事因緣證明諸佛出世所為，不可縮成只求人天或小乘之利；種種法門宣示佛道，證明微顯、權實的言教都以佛道為歸；久遠成佛與近時示現、師弟內行外現，證明本與迹不能只取一邊；信所說而見佛、見說者、見眾僧菩薩，則把聞法、信受、觀察連成觀心之證。
引證的作用，是防止四個方向變成任意聯想。每一釋都必須回到經文自己提供的語勢：因緣要見一大事，約教要見種種法門同歸佛道，本迹要見久近、內外的相依，觀心要見聞法如何成為信與見。離開這些經證，四釋便可能只剩四個方便套用的名詞。
七、示相：同一三分，為何能顯四種相
到了示相，智者不再把四釋逐項排成整齊表格，而是依序、正說、流通三分的文勢，讓四種相各自展開。因緣相以久遠下種、中間成熟、今日與未來解脫，說明三分都在感應之中；教相辨明這個序為何發起、正說以何智為正、流通何種圓滿之法；本迹相從最初、中間、今日、未來層層定位；觀心相則以戒、定、慧再現三分。
這種寫法正好實踐前面所說的省筆。四意始終都在，具體段落卻隨所釋之文顯出最有力量的一面。若硬把每一段拆成四個同樣長的答案，反而會破壞本文正在示範的讀法。
觀心相尤其把全首節的結構落到修行。依修行次第，戒先、定中、慧後；依法門根本，慧本而定戒為迹；戒、定、慧自身又各有前中後三段。全經三分至此不只是一張篇章圖，也成為行者檢視自己準備、正行與完成的次第。
八、語可以不同，轍與海不可失
首節最後要求行者善加思量。依既立之義推比，知道某句可如何讀並不太難；若要把每一層都分別寫盡，文字必然艱難。因此，略書不是偷懶，而是相信讀者能依準則比知；善思也不是任意發揮，而是始終不失已經建立的方向。
千車可以形制各異，卻共同循轍；萬流可以來源各別，卻會入一海。這個結尾既回應古師分文，也回應四釋略書。語異不必成諍，意同也不等於含混。真正的共同車轍，是分文仍為顯理，解釋仍回經證，讀經最後仍能成為自己的行路。
文句記之眼
湛然先把序字拆為字訓與字義，再把次、由、述放回通、別二序的關係中；釋品時則依翻名、釋義、成立品目三步展開。這一鏡照使卷首釋題不是單純字典訓詁，而是從一個字便預先看見全經的發起與篇章秩序。
對古師分文，湛然沒有把『悉是人情』讀成廢除科判。他說後人分節可以寄文顯理，問題出在固執成諍；這正與智者隨後自立三分相合。分節有用而不可執，兩面缺一，蘭菊之喻都會被讀偏。
在四釋總綱上，湛然明標因緣、約教、本迹、觀心各自從哪一句開始，又說實際消文有時四釋不全寫，只存一二，餘者可以推比。這不是把缺寫補成缺義，而是替『得意不煩筆墨』劃出明確邊界：可以省辭，不可失旨。
湛然釋因緣，以慈貫穿始終而名善根力；釋本迹，以一月眾影照明指月，又特別說肇師之語只借其言、不取其原事；釋觀心，則把數他寶轉成通達自己心的高深與該廣。這些補語各自照明智者原段，卻都必須署在湛然名下，不能改寫成智者已逐字說出。
在示相段，湛然又指出四種相只依今經三分而顯，各段隨文勢取用四意，並非每段齊排。因緣相把序、正、流通都納入種、熟、脫；本迹相依最初、中間、今日、未來分層；觀心相先分修行與法門兩個視角，再說戒、定、慧各有三分。這些裁釋補足首節緊密的轉折：三分不是只用一次的外框，而會在不同讀法中反覆顯出功能。省寫不是省略結構，變換角度也不是另立經義；湛然的鏡照不另造第五種方法，而是讓原有四意各守入口、又彼此會通。
首節末尾，《記》指出經末本作而去，去也就是退；又說若要每一句都把四種意思寫盡，文辭確實困難，只須不失宗旨。它同時對醎、鹹之字存疑，而不因此改動本文。於是，《記》最後守住的仍是同一尺度：文字可考，異讀可誌，省筆可容；唯有把後釋倒作前說、把方便格式當成經義本身，才真正失去共同的轍。
Why, before a single scriptural sentence has been explained, does the commentary first discuss how the text should be divided? At the opening of its explanation of the Introduction chapter, the Fahua Wenju does not immediately interpret “Thus have I heard.” It first explains “introduction” and “chapter,” then surveys at length the ways earlier masters divided the text, and only afterward sets out its own three divisions, two gates, and fourfold interpretation. This order discloses a fundamental problem: until readers understand where a passage stands within the whole scripture, word-by-word explanation can easily see an isolated sentence while missing the work that sentence performs in the sutra.
Yet textual divisions are also made by later readers. If they are not the single boundaries spoken directly by the Buddha, on what authority can they guide our reading? Zhiyi does not evade the question. On one side, he says that refusing all division leaves later students unable to recognize beginnings and endings; on the other, he says that all division reflects human understanding and that orchids and chrysanthemums each possess their own beauty. What this opening section truly establishes is not an immutable chart, but a way of using divisions without becoming confined by them.
1. An Introduction Is Not Ornament, and a Chapter Is Not a Shelf Label
An introduction has three senses: sequence, occasion, and narration. The scripture first places its shared opening before the reader and thereby establishes the basic conditions of the assembly: this is sequence. The emitted light and the auspicious signs cause the assembly to wonder and ask questions: this is occasion. The questions and answers resolve uncertainty and lead the entire scripture toward the main teaching: this is narration. The introduction is therefore not optional ornament placed before the real text; it is the order that allows the main teaching to take place.
A chapter, by contrast, gathers material of a common doctrinal kind into one section. It first helps readers perceive the shared subject of a passage and then lets distinct passages retain their own positions. A chapter title may have been spoken by the Buddha, supplied by the compilers, or completed by the translator; its source is not always the same. Where the transmission says that no definite account was heard, Zhiyi preserves that uncertainty. A chapter title may be an entrance into reading, but its convenience does not license us to invent the same history for every title.
Placed together, “introduction” and “chapter” point in two directions: the first explains how a scripture begins, and the second how related meanings gather. One establishes an order of before and after; the other establishes boundaries of content. Only with both in view can sentence-by-sentence explanation avoid cutting the scripture into unrelated fragments.
2. If Dividing the Text Reflects Human Understanding, Why Is It Still Necessary?
Zhiyi first says that the Buddha's teaching may be scattered like flowers or strung together like a garland. If meaning alone is preserved without marking sections, a practiced reader may still follow it, but later students may not know where one point begins or ends. The divisions of the Tripiṭaka, the classifications within sūtra, vinaya, and abhidharma, and the treatises' allocation of virtues and manifestations to scriptural passages all show that gathering material by meaning has a pedagogical use.
He then gives a long catalogue of earlier divisions, not merely to preserve a history of methods but to let readers see the same scripture cut into different shapes. One account emphasizes introduction, main teaching, and transmission; another emphasizes cause and result; another, the merit of upholding the scripture; still another opens the text into twenty-four fine sections. Each tries to make the scriptural meaning visible, yet each may divide so finely that the outline itself obscures the path.
The image of orchids and chrysanthemums therefore does not say that all divisions are equally sound, nor that human judgment makes them arbitrary. It first removes contention: a division exists to disclose principle, not to prove the superiority of the person who devised it. If one studies scripture while losing the three benefits and the path of ultimate meaning through contention over outlines, then even the most intricate chart has betrayed its purpose.
3. Three Divisions and Two Gates: How Can Both Maps Be True?
Zhiyi first divides the whole sutra into introduction, main teaching, and transmission. This map shows how a scripture is initiated, unfolded, and carried to later generations. The introduction completes the conditions of the assembly, the main teaching bears the principal doctrine, and the transmission prevents the Dharma from remaining confined to that one gathering.
He then divides the whole sutra into the Trace Gate and the Origin Gate, with introduction, main teaching, and transmission present within each. This second map does not treat the sutra as a single line. It sees the same scripture first opening through the manifest trace and then opening through the distant origin, with each gate possessing its own initiation, main teaching, and transmission.
The three divisions and two gates are therefore not rival answers. The three divisions are the functional sequence of a complete teaching, while the two gates are the two great regions of the whole sutra. Each of the two gates contains the three divisions, just as a great residence may have a front and rear court, each with an entrance, a central hall, and a passage leading outward.
Someone then asks how one scripture can have two introductions. Zhiyi answers by pointing to renewed assemblies at the different gatherings of the Avataṃsaka, a fresh “Thus have I heard” at the opening of each discourse in the Āgamas, and entrustments both before and after in the Mahāprajñāpāramitā. A scripture remains one not because every function can occur only once, but because its several beginnings all serve the same purport. The Origin Gate does not repeat the five matters of the scriptural opening, and the Trace Gate has only one section of transmission; the correspondence of structures need not be forced into perfect symmetry.
4. The Eye of the Whole Section: Grasp the Intent Without Burdening the Page
Zhiyi says that a passage may be entered from four directions—causes and conditions, the teaching, origin and trace, and contemplating the mind—then immediately adds a crucial restriction: an actual written explanation may record only three, two, or even one. What matters is grasping the original intent, not making heavy brushwork into an accomplishment.
This statement echoes the earlier warning conveyed by the orchids and chrysanthemums. Earlier masters could divide a text so finely that their divisions obscured it; the fourfold interpretation would repeat the same error if turned into a four-cell form that every sentence must fill. It is a guiding framework, reminding readers not to compress a sentence into a single plane. It is not a format for proving that every box has been completed.
The section accordingly establishes four pedagogical stages of its own: enumerating the approaches, explaining why they are needed, citing scripture as evidence, and showing their actual forms. It first states the directions, then explains why these four are chosen, then verifies them through scripture, and finally shows how they enter introduction, main teaching, and transmission. The method must be understood before it is used. Memorizing four labels without knowing why and how they work is not yet grasping their intent.
5. Four Directions Form a Single Path from Scripture to Mind
Causes and conditions first asks: what capacity in beings evokes this passage, and how does the sage respond? Without a capacity able to evoke a response, beings may stand near a sage and still fail to see; when the capacity matures, even those far away may naturally connect. Read in this way, the assembly is not merely an event in the past but the field in which stimulus and response meet.
The teaching next asks: through what means does the sage's response become a teaching that beings can hear and understand? The transformative activity of the ten directions is immeasurably broad, but this section gathers it into the use of sound to perform the Buddha's work in the Sahā world. Such a focus does not deny other means. It lets readers know through what gate the teaching before them opens.
Origin and trace then asks: how do the verbal teaching and bodily manifestation that we see disclose the origin from which they proceed? A finger can point to the moon but is not the moon. Pursuing numberless manifestations alone is exhausting; leaping past all manifestations to speak abstractly of a lofty origin leaves us nowhere to begin. The proper turn is to disclose the origin through the trace, obtaining the moon without continuing to cling to the finger.
Contemplating the mind finally turns readers from another person's treasure back to their own lives. If we spend each day counting the depth of the sages in scripture but receive not half a coin of benefit ourselves, our understanding remains outside the gate. Contemplating one's own mind does not reduce scriptural meaning to private feeling. It tests what causes and conditions, teaching, origin, and trace indicate within one's own capacity and practice. The four directions are thus not unrelated roads: they move from stimulus and response, through verbal teaching and what it points toward, back to the mind capable of practice.
6. Scriptural Evidence Calibrates the Direction
Zhiyi's citations for the four approaches proceed in a clear order. The one great cause and condition shows that the reason buddhas appear cannot be reduced to human, heavenly, or Lesser Vehicle benefits. The many Dharma gates that reveal the Buddha path show that teachings both subtle and manifest, provisional and real, all return to buddhahood. Buddhahood in the distant past together with the recent manifestation, and the teacher's and disciples' inward practice together with their outward appearance, show why neither origin nor trace can be taken alone. Finally, trusting what is taught and thereby seeing the Buddha, the speaker, the monastic assembly, and the bodhisattvas joins hearing, faith, and observation as evidence for contemplating the mind.
The citations keep these four directions from becoming arbitrary associations. Each approach must return to the movement supplied by the scripture itself: causes and conditions must see the one great matter; the teaching must see the many Dharma gates converge on the Buddha path; origin and trace must see the interdependence of distant and recent, inward and outward; contemplating the mind must see how hearing becomes faith and vision. Apart from these scriptural warrants, the four approaches could become no more than four convenient labels.
7. Showing the Forms: How Can the Same Three Divisions Disclose Four Aspects?
When it comes to showing the actual forms, Zhiyi does not arrange the four approaches in a neat table. He follows the movement of introduction, main teaching, and transmission and lets each aspect unfold in its strongest way. Causes and conditions uses sowing in the distant past, ripening in the interval, and liberation today and in the future to show all three divisions within stimulus and response. The aspect of teaching distinguishes what this introduction initiates, what wisdom counts as the main teaching, and what perfect Dharma is transmitted. Origin and trace are placed layer by layer through the first, intermediate, present, and future teachings. Contemplating the mind reexpresses the three divisions through precepts, concentration, and wisdom.
This manner of writing enacts the economy stated earlier. All four meanings remain present, yet each passage displays the aspect most powerful for the text at hand. Forcing every passage into four answers of equal length would destroy the very way of reading the work is demonstrating.
The aspect of contemplating the mind especially brings the whole framework into practice. In the order of cultivation, precepts come first, concentration in the middle, and wisdom last; from the standpoint of origin and trace within the Dharma gate, wisdom is the origin and concentration and precepts are traces; precepts, concentration, and wisdom each also have their own beginning, middle, and end. The sutra's three divisions have now become more than a map of chapters: they are a way for practitioners to examine preparation, main practice, and completion in themselves.
8. Words May Differ, but the Track and the Sea Must Not Be Lost
At the close, the section asks practitioners to reflect carefully. Once the established principle is understood, it is not difficult to infer how a sentence may be read; writing every layer out separately, however, would make the prose unmanageable. Concision is therefore not laziness but trust that readers can infer from an articulated standard. Careful reflection is not free invention, because it must never abandon the directions already established.
A thousand carts may differ in construction while following a common track; ten thousand streams may rise from different sources while entering one sea and becoming a single taste. This ending answers both the many divisions of earlier masters and the abbreviated use of the fourfold interpretation. Different words need not produce contention, and shared intent need not become vague. The common track is that textual division continues to disclose principle, interpretation continues to answer to scriptural evidence, and reading scripture finally becomes one's own path.
Through the Eye of the Wenjuji
Zhanran first separates the graph for “introduction” into its lexical gloss and its contextual meaning, then places sequence, occasion, and narration back within the relation between the common introduction and specific introduction. For “chapter,” he proceeds in three steps: translating the name, explaining the meaning, and establishing why chapters are formed. Seen through this mirror, the opening explanation of the title is not mere dictionary gloss. From a single word it already anticipates how the whole sutra begins and how its chapters are ordered.
When discussing earlier masters' divisions, Zhanran does not read “all reflect human understanding” as abolishing textual analysis. Later divisions may use wording to disclose principle; the problem lies in clinging to them and turning them into contention. This agrees with Zhiyi's own three divisions immediately afterward. Divisions are useful but must not be grasped. If either side is omitted, the image of orchids and chrysanthemums is misread.
For the general framework of the fourfold interpretation, Zhanran clearly marks the sentence at which each approach—causes and conditions, the teaching, origin and trace, and contemplating the mind—begins. He also says that an actual explanation may not write all four, retaining only one or two while leaving the rest to inference. This does not convert an unwritten explanation into a missing meaning. It draws a precise boundary around “grasp the intent without burdening the page”: words may be omitted, but the purport may not.
In explaining causes and conditions, Zhanran says that compassion pervades beginning and end and is therefore called the power of wholesome roots. In explaining origin and trace, he uses one moon and its many reflections to illuminate pointing at the moon, and expressly says that Sengzhao's words are borrowed without adopting their original application. In explaining contemplating the mind, he turns “counting another's treasure” into penetrating the height, depth, and breadth of one's own mind. Each gloss illuminates Zhiyi's passage, but each must remain attributed to Zhanran rather than being rewritten as something Zhiyi stated word for word.
In the section showing actual forms, Zhanran further explains that the four aspects are disclosed only through the three divisions of the present sutra and are applied according to the movement of each passage, not laid out in four equal columns. The aspect of causes and conditions gathers introduction, main teaching, and transmission into sowing, ripening, and liberation. The aspect of origin and trace is layered through the first, intermediate, present, and future teachings. The aspect of contemplating the mind first distinguishes the viewpoints of cultivation and Dharma gate, then shows three divisions within precepts, concentration, and wisdom. These explanations supply the tight transitions in Zhiyi's section: the three divisions are not an outer frame used once, but repeatedly disclose their functions through different ways of reading. Economy does not omit structure, and a change of viewpoint does not invent another scriptural meaning. The Wenjuji does not create a fifth method; its mirror lets the four original meanings keep their entrances while meeting one another.
At the end of the section, the Wenjuji notes that the sutra's final wording is “departed,” which also means “withdrew.” It agrees that writing out all four meanings for every sentence would indeed make the prose difficult, provided the guiding purport is not lost. It also records uncertainty over two variant graphs for “salty” without altering the main text on that account. The mirror therefore keeps the same measure to the end: wording may be examined, variants recorded, and economy allowed. What truly loses the common track is to turn later explanation into earlier speech, or to mistake a convenient format for the scriptural meaning itself.
考據Apparatus
本單元是智者說、灌頂記之序品釋總綱。它先釋序、品二字，繼而說明分節經文的必要與限度，再立全經三分、迹本二門及四釋讀法，最後用三分示四種相。嚴格域不含其後逐句釋通、別二序。
一、科判定位
嚴格域明定為 T34n1718〔0001b23–0003a18〕：起於「委釋經題已如上說」〔0001b23〕，末句「千車共轍、萬流醎會者也」跨〔0003a17–0003a18〕；下一節「○序有通、別」起於〔0003a19〕，不納入。卷題、智者署名、品題與六難夾註位於〔0001b18–0001b22〕，只作前鄰接資料。
首節在序品之首、迹門之首，尚未逐句消釋經首如是。其功能是先交代題義、分文、全經結構與讀法。依本文自有轉折分十四科：
| 次第 | 行域 | 本論內容 |
|---|---|---|
| 一 | 0001b23–0001c03 | 釋序的次、由、述與品的跋渠、義類，並列品名三種成立來源 |
| 二 | 0001c03–0001c14 | 說分文之必要，以三藏、四阿含、五部律、八十誦、六足、八犍度及《法華論》示分聚 |
| 三 | 0001c14–0002a04 | 全錄河西憑、江東瑤、龍師、印、小山瑤、玄暢、匿名諸師及光宅分文 |
| 四 | 0002a04–0002a06 | 以「蘭菊各擅其美」〔0002a04〕止後學諍競，繫三益與一道 |
| 五 | 0002a07–0002a16 | 天台三分與迹、本二門各自序、正、流通 |
| 六 | 0002a16–0002a20 | 問一經何以有二序，舉《華嚴》《阿含》《大品》作答 |
| 七 | 0002a20–0002a24 | 先列帖文四重，再列因緣、約教、本迹、觀心，明可略書而貴在得意 |
| 八 | 0002a24–0002b10 | 回答何以用四釋，依次成立因緣、約教、本迹、觀心 |
| 九 | 0002b10–0002b29 | 引《法華》《大經》與肇師語，分證四釋 |
| 十 | 0002b29–0002c15 | 以久遠、過去、今日、未來及種、熟、脫示因緣相；「其間節節作三世九世」首字在〔0002c09〕，「後五百歲遠沾妙道」首字在〔0002c15〕 |
| 十一 | 0002c15–0002c25 | 依序、正、流通示教相 |
| 十二 | 0002c25–0003a08 | 依最初、中間、今日、未來說本迹相，以大樹同根收束 |
| 十三 | 0003a08–0003a14 | 「次示觀心相」首字在〔0003a08〕，以戒、定、慧依修行、法門兩個視角各作三分 |
| 十四 | 0003a14–0003a18 | 囑行者準此義比知，末句跨〔0003a17–0003a18〕，以萬車、萬流收束 |
T34n1719 的正釋從卷題、夾註接入正文，逐科對位至〔0158b22〕；到〔0158c10〕另起通、別二序。兩本在此同步換科，足證首節終於〔0003a19〕之前。
二、成立與傳本
本節一句繫於卷端傳承：神逈序稱本文「迺是灌頂法師私記，合二十卷」〔0001a23–0001a24〕，又記天寶戊子朗和尚條倫；現行本卷題則只署「天台智者大師說」〔0001b20〕。故本節義說歸智者，文字傳錄歸灌頂及後世治定；不因筆錄、治定而把湛然或神逈之語倒入正文。
嚴格域前品題下夾註云「〔佛出世難，佛說是難，傳譯此難，自開悟難，聞師講難，一遍記難。〕」〔0001b21〕，又記「〔余二十七於金陵聽受，六十九於丹丘添削〕」〔0001b21–0001b22〕。《文句記》以「始末四十餘年」〔0151b10〕釋二十七、六十九為年齡節點，並分釋添、削〔0151b13–0151b14〕。這些均屬鄰接傳錄資料，不改首節嚴格起點。
三、所帖經文與所引
（一）序、品與品名來源
本論說「《中阿含》云跋渠，此翻為品」〔0001b27–0001b28〕。現行 T01n0026 可見首品題「中阿含七法品第一」〔0421a08〕，全帙三百零九個目錄節點含二百二十二經目及多個品目；其正文與結構節點未得跋渠或跋伽連文，故只能證品類編排，不能假造《中阿含》逐字引點。
古疏與音義另保存兩說：T39n1785 作「品者，梵語稱為跋渠，此為品也，品是類義」〔0047a06〕；T54n2128 則作「跋渠〔此言訛也正言伐伽此譯云部謂部類也或言群同其義〕」〔0693c03〕。兩說並錄，不判音寫正誤。
本論續列三種品名來源：
| 本論原句 | 今本對讀 | 限度 |
|---|---|---|
| 「或佛自唱品，如《梵網》」〔0001b29–0001c01〕 | T24n1484 有「心地法品」〔0997c16〕，佛語又稱「持我心地法門品而去」〔1003b17〕及「次第說我上心地法門品」〔1003b18〕 | 只證本文內佛自說品名 |
| 「或結集所置，如《大論》」〔0001b29–0001c01〕 | 《文句記》傳《大品》本唯序、魔事、囑累三品〔0152b12〕 | 是湛然所傳，不冒充現行《大品》自誌 |
| 「或譯人添足，如羅什」〔0001c01〕 | 《文句記》續稱「乃依四意以類加之」〔0152b15〕，成九十品；現行 T25n1509 可見〈序品〉〔0057c11〕、〈魔事品〉〔0533a06〕、〈囑累品〉〔0753c28〕 | 今本只證三題皆在九十品形態，不自證誰所增補 |
本文又說「今〈藥王本事〉是佛唱。〈妙音〉、〈觀音〉等是經家、譯人未聞」〔0001c01–0001c02〕。未聞二字是保留歸屬未明，不可替作者判為結集者或譯人。
（二）三藏、四阿含、六度與八犍度
| 本論原句 | T02n0125 今本 | 異同 |
|---|---|---|
| 「契經一分，律一分，阿毘曇一分」〔0001c07〕 | 「我今當為作三分」〔0549c25〕後作「契經一分律二分，阿毘曇經復三分；」〔0549c26〕 | 本論把序數壓平為三個一分 |
| 「契經更開四，謂《增一》、《長》、《中》、《雜》」〔0001c08–0001c09〕 | 「契經今當分四段，次名增一、二名中，三名曰長多瓔珞，雜經在後為四分。」〔0549c28–0549c29〕 | 次序不同，今本長、多瓔珞句法照錄 |
| 「施、戒、慧、六度皆足也」〔0001c11〕 | 「人尊說六度無極：布施、持戒、忍、精進、禪、智慧力如月初」〔0550a13–0550a14〕 | 本論語較紊；《記》判為六度，不作六足論 |
本論以「律開五部及八十誦。阿毘曇開《六足》、《八犍度》等」〔0001c10〕示分聚。T25n1509 問「《八犍度阿毘曇》、六分阿毘曇等，從何處出」〔0070a06〕，答迦旃延「欲解佛語故，作《發智經八犍度》」〔0070a11–0070a14〕。《文句記》轉述為後人不能全解而作略阿毘曇〔0153a27–0153b03〕，與 T1509 今本文字不同，並錄不判。
《文句記》另列八聚為業、使、智、定、根、大、見、雜〔0153a24–0153a26〕；本論只略舉根、性、道、定〔0001c11–0001c12〕，不硬湊成同一字列。
（三）天親《法華論》七功德與五示現
本論稱「天親作論，以七功德分〈序品〉，五示現分〈方便品〉」〔0001c12–0001c13〕。兩譯今本及《記》如下：
| 文本 | 七功德 | 五示現 |
|---|---|---|
| T26n1519 | 「一者序分成就；二者眾成就；三者如來欲說法時至成就；四者依所說法威儀隨順住成就；五者依止說因成就；六者大眾現前欲聞法成就；七者文殊師利菩薩答成就」〔0001b01–0001b05〕 | 「第一〈序品〉示現七種功德成就，第二〈方便品〉有五分示現破二明一」〔0010b22–0010b23〕 |
| T26n1520 | 第四作「所依說法隨順威儀住成就」〔0010c22〕，第七作「文殊師利答成就」〔0010c24〕 | 序品七種、方便品五分「示現破二明一」〔0019c15〕 |
| T34n1719 | 明列七項，第四作「所說法隨順威儀住成就」〔0153b08〕，第七作「答問成就」〔0153b13〕 | 另列歎法勝妙、歎法師功德、智眾定疑、定記、斷疑五分〔0153b19–0153b22〕 |
兩譯結語只見五分示現破二明一；《記》的五個名目是湛然展開，不冒稱兩譯逐字。
（四）古師分文與光宅二十四段
本論全錄河西憑、江東瑤、廬山龍師、齊中興印、小山瑤、玄暢、匿名諸師及光宅雲的分文〔0001c14–0002a04〕。《文句記》逐家傳釋〔0153b22–0154a12〕，其中明說「江東瑤即吳興小山寺」〔0153b23〕。
光宅現存疏 T33n1715 卷首署「光宅寺沙門 雲法師撰」〔0572c04〕。其先立序、正說、流通三段〔0574c13–0574c15〕，再於三段各開二〔0575a15–0575b17〕，第三重明說「通別兩序各開為五」〔0575b17〕及「二正說中各開為四，化他、自行二流通中各開為三」〔0575b18–0575b19〕，合為二十四段。這只獨立核到光宅；其餘古師無現存本人疏可交叉者，只署本論或《記》所傳。
（五）《大經》二引
| 本論原句 | T12n0374 今本 | 異同 |
|---|---|---|
| 「慈善根力有無量門，略則神通」〔0002b01–0002b03〕 | 「若有人問：『誰是一切諸善根本？』當言慈是。」〔0456b12–0456b13〕；又「我說是慈，有無量門，所謂神通」〔0457b03〕 | 本論合兩處，添力，並以略則代所謂；不是今本連文 |
| 「麁言及軟語，皆歸第一義」〔0002b17〕 | 「諸佛常軟語，為眾故說麁，麁語及軟語，皆歸第一義。」〔0485a07–0485a08〕 | 本論作麁言，今本作麁語 |
平行譯 T12n0375 作「我說是慈有無量門，所謂神通」〔0699b17〕。兩引皆守本論與今本之異，不以根經靜默改疏文。
（六）肇師語的實出處
本論引「非本無以垂迹，非迹無以顯本」〔0002b06〕。其實出 T38n1775《注維摩詰經卷第一并序》，卷首署「後秦釋僧肇撰」〔0327a13〕，原文作「非本無以垂跡、非跡無以顯本，本跡雖殊而不思議一也」〔0327b03–0327b05〕。故出處應標《注維摩詰經》卷首肇序，不泛標《肇論》；迹、跡異字並錄。《文句記》又明說「但借其言不用其事」〔0155b23〕，故只借本迹語式，不移入肇序原來的事例。
（七）四釋引證中的《法華經》
| 本論原句 | T09n0262 今本 | 異同 |
|---|---|---|
| 「十方諸佛為一大事因緣故出現於世」〔0002b11–0002b12〕 | 「諸佛世尊唯以一大事因緣故出現於世」〔0007a21〕 | 本論添十方、省唯以 |
| 「以種種法門，宣示於佛道」〔0002b14–0002b15〕 | 「以種種法門，宣示於佛道」〔0009b22〕 | 同文 |
| 「今天人阿修羅，皆謂我少出家」〔0002b18〕及「然我實成佛已來」〔0002b19〕 | 「我少出家」〔0042c07〕；「然我實成佛已來久遠若斯」〔0042c08〕 | 本論擷取長行並另作銜接 |
| 「我本立誓願，普令一切眾，亦同得此道，如我等無異」〔0002b21〕 | 「我本立誓願，欲令一切眾，如我等無異」〔0008b04〕 | 普令、亦同得此道非今本此偈逐字 |
| 「內祕菩薩行，外現是聲聞」〔0002b23〕 | 「內祕菩薩行，外現是聲聞」〔0028a17〕，後續亦見淨佛土、三毒、邪見相 | 同文部分可直對 |
| 「若人信汝所說，即為見我」〔0002b26〕 | 「若人有能，信汝所說，則為見我」〔0015b12〕，下接見汝、比丘僧及諸菩薩 | 本論省有能，以即代則 |
（八）一經二序所舉三書
本論以「《華嚴》處處集眾，《阿含》篇篇如是，《大品》前後付囑」〔0002a17–0002a18〕說明一部可容多序、多流通。《文句記》分釋：華嚴每會先集眾〔0154a23–0154a26〕；四阿含合多小經、每經首安五義〔0154a27–0154b02〕；《大品》一經有前後付囑〔0154b03–0154b06〕。
今本 T01n0026 第一經題「中阿含七法品善法經第一」〔0421a12〕，正文起「我聞如是」〔0421a13〕，可證多小經入一部的實體場景；不由一例外推二百二十二經首字面全同。T10n0279 可見〈世主妙嚴品〉〔0001b25〕、〈如來名號品〉〔0057c22〕、〈光明覺品〉〔0062b15〕，與《記》所舉多會品題相應。
《文句記》自「大品前後付囑」起於〔0154b03〕，下行逐字作「有多流通，故第二卷中有〈累教品〉」〔0154b04〕；現行 T08n0223 的卷第二十場景起於〔0362a07〕，品題「累教品第六十六」在〔0362a10〕，卷第二十七另立囑累品〔0416a20、0423c21〕。第二卷與第二十之異只並錄，不補字、不裁脫誤。
四、文句記釋要〔鏡〕
湛然的逐科釋讀如下。表中凡史說、分科、字疑，皆署《記》所釋，不倒作智者原說。
| 《文句》節點 | 《文句記》對位與釋要 |
|---|---|
| 卷題與夾註〔0001b18–0001b22〕 | 以二十七聽、六十九治說修補歷時〔0151b08–0151b10〕，並釋添破古、引經論與削繁長、成文體〔0151b13–0151b14〕 |
| 「委釋經題已如上說」〔0001b23〕 | 《記》釋「委釋」為別解題名〔0151b29–0151c01〕，把本品預釋與《玄義》相接 |
| 庠序〔0001b23〕 | 先釋字訓、次釋字義〔0152a07〕，以不忽卒、越次疏通次序，不以學舍為主義 |
| 次、由、述〔0001b24–0001b27〕 | 從字義釋〔0152a20〕，結為「品兼通別故須具三」〔0152b05〕 |
| 品、跋渠〔0001b27–0001b29〕 | 「先翻名、次釋義、後明立品所以」〔0152b07–0152b08〕；於「義類同者」〔0152b09〕後說諸品咸然 |
| 佛唱、結集、譯人〔0001b29–0001c02〕 | 傳《大品》「結集之家本唯三品」〔0152b12〕，後「乃依四意以類加之」〔0152b15〕；只作湛然所傳 |
| 分文有無〔0001c03–0001c06〕 | 「欲分節經文，先辨分文有無得失」〔0152c12〕，並記安公始分序、正、流通〔0152c15–0152c16〕 |
| 八犍度〔0001c10–0001c12〕 | 轉述後人不能全解作略阿毘曇，其句「後諸弟子為後代人」首字在〔0153b02〕 |
| 七功德、五示現〔0001c12–0001c14〕 | 列七項〔0153b03–0153b13〕，五分收至「五從舍利弗諸佛出五濁去」〔0153b22〕 |
| 古師分文〔0001c14–0002a04〕 | 逐家傳釋〔0153b22–0154a12〕，只作古說登錄 |
| 蘭菊〔0002a04–0002a06〕 | 說佛赴機、後代分節寄文顯理；固執成諍，進退俱非〔0154a12–0154a18〕 |
| 天台三分〔0002a07–0002a10〕 | 《記》於「天台」〔0154a18〕下說這是章安對古而別云，並續釋三分界 |
| 迹、本二門〔0002a10–0002a16〕 | 逐辨兩門與各自序、正、流通〔0154a20–0154b20〕 |
| 一經二序〔0002a16–0002a20〕 | 以三書逐例釋一部容多序、多流通〔0154a23–0154b06〕 |
| 四釋列數、略書〔0002a20–0002a24〕 | 實際消文「或四釋不備」〔0154b24〕，但存一二而餘者比知 |
| 四釋所以〔0002a24–0002a27〕 | 問「何故唯作此四釋耶」〔0154b26〕，以不多不少、處中答之〔0154b27–0154b29〕 |
| 四釋入口〔0002a27–0002b10〕 | 明標因緣、約教、本迹、觀心四小科入口〔0154c25〕 |
| 因緣〔0002a27–0002b02〕 | 「慈亘始末名善根力」〔0155a02〕，以無謀而會釋感應自通，至〔0155a27〕收束 |
| 約教〔0002b02–0002b05〕 | 以娑婆聲教對十方化事，結為教本〔0155a27–0155b10〕 |
| 本迹〔0002b04–0002b07〕 | 以一月眾影釋指月〔0155b21〕；肇語「但借其言不用其事」〔0155b23〕 |
| 觀心〔0002b07–0002b10〕 | 「達己心之高深」首字在〔0155c08〕，並說高深見本、該廣見迹〔0155c08–0155c09〕 |
| 示相總則〔0002b29–0002c01〕 | 唯約今經示四種相，各隨文勢用四意，非逐格齊列〔0156b21–0156b29〕 |
| 示因緣相〔0002b29–0002c15〕 | 以種、熟、脫貫三分，結「故序等三莫非感應」〔0157b18〕 |
| 示教相〔0002c15–0002c25〕 | 直釋為「教家之相故云教相」〔0157b19〕 |
| 示本迹相〔0002c25–0003a08〕 | 依本因所稟、本果所說、中間、今日、未來分層〔0158a05–0158a09〕 |
| 示觀心相〔0003a08–0003a14〕 | 「先總、次別」，總中再約修行、法門〔0158b05–0158b09〕 |
| 首節收束〔0003a14–0003a18〕 | 《記》說經末但云「而去」〔0158b19〕；「盡令用四其辭則難」〔0158b20〕，又疑鹹字〔0158b19–0158b22〕 |
五、諸家異釋
本論不是只列光宅一說，而把多種古分文完整排出：
一、河西憑、江東瑤取分節之意，後世越分越繁〔0001c14–0001c15〕。
二、廬山龍師先分序、正、流通；又把二十七品統作言方便、言真實與身方便、身真實兩種；另從〈方便〉至〈安樂行〉作因門，從〈踊出〉以下作果門〔0001c18–0001c22〕。
三、齊中興印、小山瑤從龍受經，分文相同〔0001c22–0001c23〕。
四、玄暢以〈序〉至〈多寶〉為因分，〈勸持〉至〈神力〉為果分，〈囑累〉至經末為護持分〔0001c23–0001c24〕。
五、一師以〈序〉至〈學無學人記〉為《法華》體，〈法師〉至〈囑累〉明受持功德，〈藥王〉以下美諸菩薩本願〔0001c24–0001c27〕。
六、一師作四段：初品序；〈方便〉至〈安樂行〉開三顯一；〈踊出〉至〈分別功德〉開近顯遠；其後餘勢流通〔0001c27–0001c29〕。
七、光宅雲從印受經，先以序、正、流通各開二，再以通、別二序各五、因果二正各四、化他自行二流通各三，合二十四段〔0001c29–0002a04〕。現存光宅疏可獨立交叉其二十四段。
智者在列諸家後明說「夫分節經文悉是人情，蘭菊各擅其美」〔0002a04〕，又戒後學不應是非諍競，以免失三益、喪一道〔0002a04–0002a06〕。這不是取消分文；本論隨即自立三分與二門。《文句記》也說後代分節可以寄文顯理，執著成諍才進退俱非〔0154a12–0154a18〕。故諸說並存而不替古師判勝負。
六、術語
| 詞 | 本論自釋 | 《文句記》所釋與限度 |
|---|---|---|
| 序 | 「訓庠序」；又以五事、六瑞、問答配次、由、述〔0001b23–0001b27〕 | 分字訓、字義；三義兼涉通、別序〔0152a07–0152b05〕 |
| 品 | 「跋渠，此翻為品」〔0001b27〕；「義類同者聚在一段」〔0001b28〕 | 先翻名、次釋義、後明立品所以〔0152b07–0152b10〕；T1785 與 T2128 異說並錄 |
| 悉檀 | 「三益者，世界等三悉檀也；一道者，第一義悉檀也」〔0002a05–0002a06〕 | 只依本段止諍功能，不在此另造四悉檀通訓 |
| 三分 | 初品為序，十五品半為正，十一品半為流通〔0002a07–0002a10〕 | 《記》承其界線而疏通〔0154a18–0154b20〕 |
| 迹門、本門 | 兩門各十四品，各有序、正、流通〔0002a10–0002a16〕 | 是本版部位語；兩門與全經三分互相嵌合，不互相抹除 |
| 四釋 | 「一因緣、二約教、三本迹、四觀心」〔0002a22〕 | 四小科入口由《記》明標〔0154c25〕；行文可略存一二而餘者比知 |
| 因緣 | 「亦名感應」；機、應眾多而感應道交〔0002a27–0002a28〕 | 以慈善根力與無謀而會釋之〔0155a02–0155a27〕 |
| 約教 | 從十方機感之廣收至娑婆音聲佛事〔0002b02–0002b05〕 | 本小科以聲教為處中〔0155a27–0155b10〕 |
| 本迹 | 「置指存月、亡迹尋本」〔0002b05〕 | 一月眾影為喻；肇語只借言不用事〔0155b21–0155b23〕 |
| 觀心 | 「但觀己心之高廣」〔0002b09〕 | 由數他寶轉為達己心高深、該廣〔0155c08–0155c09〕 |
| 通、別二序 | 下一節自釋通序通諸教、別序別一經〔0003a19–0003a21〕 | 於〔0158c10〕另開，反證本首節在此前閉合 |
七、譬喻・互讀・承衍
散花、貫花說的是佛說可隨機散布，也可前後相貫；蘭菊說分節各有其美，卻不可因科判而相諍；指與月、筌罤與魚兔，都把能指的方法與所指之義分開；數他寶而自己無半錢，則把理解轉回受用；千車共轍、萬流醎會，最後說語言雖異而旨歸可同。四種意象相互承接，形成方法、所指、實踐與會歸的教學弧，不宜拆成僵直欄格。
與《妙法蓮華經》序品互讀，放光六瑞、彌勒問、文殊答構成本文所謂由序與述序；本版根經序品可逐句回勘。本論開首「委釋經題已如上說」〔0001b23〕又與《法華玄義》互文：經題已由玄義詳釋，此處轉入經文消釋，顯出教相、釋經兩部的分工。
觀心一釋以「但觀己心之高廣」〔0002b09〕及戒、定、慧三分〔0003a08–0003a14〕把釋經推向行門；與《摩訶止觀》互讀時，只取由解入行的穩定接點，不把《止觀》後文名目倒寫成本首節。
《法華玄贊》T34n1723 與《法華文句》同釋一經，分屬慈恩、天台二鏡；可在同一根經句上並觀古疏讀法，但不以一疏裁另一疏。《注維摩詰經》卷首肇序則是「非本無以垂迹」〔0002b06〕的實出處；《記》已限定只借其言，故只承其本迹語式。
筌罤之音義另見 T54n2129〔0948a05〕：筌取魚、蹄取兔，並記罤為兔網。音義只說字義；本論如何以指月、筌罤說本迹與教法，仍以本段自說為主。
八、校本定位
（一）嚴格域十七組【大】／【甲】異讀
| 行錨 | 【大】 | 【甲】 | 短境 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0001b26 | 弄 | 壽胤 | 正說弄引 |
| 0001c02 | 唱 | 自唱 | 佛唱 |
| 0001c14 | 各 | 各憑 | 各有處分 |
| 0001c25 | 記 | 記品 | 學無學人記 |
| 0002a18 | 阿 | 何 | 兩序阿妨 |
| 0002a23 | 退 | 去 | 終于而退 |
| 0002a24 | 煩 | 繁 | 不煩筆墨 |
| 0002b04 | 釋 | 扶 | 依教釋者 |
| 0002b04 | 中 | 處中 | 中說明矣 |
| 0002b16 | 微 | 徹 | 若微若著 |
| 0002b16 | 罤 | 號 | 筌罤 |
| 0002c04 | 滅度 | 度脫 | 而滅度之 |
| 0002c05 | 涌 | 踊 | 地涌 |
| 0002c05 | 也 | 也〔云云〕 | 地涌等是也 |
| 0002c07 | 也 | 是也 | 開示悟入者也 |
| 0002c13 | 乘 | 承 | 佛乘機設化 |
| 0002c16 | 升 | 昇 | 人天清升 |
嚴格域分母固定為十七組，不把卷題、署名與夾註異讀混入。
（二）前鄰接題署、夾註六組
| 行錨 | 【大】 | 【甲】 |
|---|---|---|
| 0001b18 | 妙法蓮華經 | 法華 |
| 0001b18 | 上 | 缺 |
| 0001b20 | 天台智者大師說 | 缺 |
| 0001b21 | 序品第一 | 缺 |
| 0001b22 | 丹 | 舟 |
| 0001b22 | 慧 | 慧也 |
六組只作鄰接資料，分母與十七組分列。卷題所在第一行為〔0001b18〕；〔0001b21〕是品題與夾註錨，不是全品首行。
（三）通用字庫外字、目錄與頁錨
嚴格域通用字庫外字為「罤」〔0002b16〕，編碼 CB04590；【甲】作號。本版守正文罤，並在校記保留異讀。神逈序題字「䟽」〔0001a02〕屬另一單元，不併入本域分母。
全帙一級目錄題有兩形：〈序品〉不冠釋字，其餘二十七品題作釋某品；長品跨半卷另有十四個續目。首節檔名因此明標序品釋首節，不佔用全品層名。
頁錨取引文首字所在的最近前置大正藏行標；若引文跨行則標起訖。注中若有換行標，須先辨該行標是否仍在注域。例如「夫分節經文悉是人情」正文首字確在〔0002a04〕；末句「千車共轍、萬流醎會者也」跨〔0003a17–0003a18〕，故嚴格域終界記〔0003a18〕。
This unit is the general framework for the explanation of the Introduction chapter, taught by Zhiyi and recorded by Guanding. It first explains the words “introduction” and “chapter,” then establishes the necessity and limits of dividing a scriptural text, sets out the three divisions of the whole sutra, the Trace and Origin Gates, and the fourfold interpretation, and finally uses the three divisions to show four aspects. Its strict domain excludes the sentence-by-sentence explanation of the common and specific introductions that follows.
1. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
The strict domain is fixed as T34n1718〔0001b23–0003a18〕. It begins with 「委釋經題已如上說」 tr. “The detailed explanation of the scripture's title has already been given above”〔0001b23〕. Its final sentence, 「千車共轍、萬流醎會者也」 tr. “A thousand carts share one track, and ten thousand streams meet in a single salty sea,” spans〔0003a17–0003a18〕. The next section begins with 「○序有通、別」 tr. “The introduction has a common and a specific form”〔0003a19〕 and is not included. The fascicle title, attribution to Zhiyi, chapter title, and adjoining note on the six difficulties occur at〔0001b18–0001b22〕 and serve only as preceding adjacent data.
This opening section stands at the beginning of the Introduction chapter and the Trace Gate, before the commentary has begun to explain “Thus” at the start of the scripture word by word. Its function is first to establish the meaning of the title, the division of the text, the structure of the whole sutra, and its method of reading. The section's own transitions yield fourteen divisions:
| No. | Line Domain | Content of the Treatise |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0001b23–0001c03 | Explains sequence, occasion, and narration as the three senses of “introduction”; explains varga and common doctrinal kind as the senses of “chapter”; and lists three sources from which chapter titles may be established |
| 2 | 0001c03–0001c14 | Explains why textual division is necessary, using the Tripiṭaka, four Āgamas, five schools of vinaya, eighty recitations, Six Feet, Eight Granthas, and the Treatise on the Lotus Sūtra to show classification and gathering |
| 3 | 0001c14–0002a04 | Records in full the divisions of Ping of Hexi, Yao of Jiangdong, Master Long, Yin, Xiaoshan Yao, Xuanchang, anonymous masters, and Guangzhai |
| 4 | 0002a04–0002a06 | Uses 「蘭菊各擅其美」 tr. “orchids and chrysanthemums each possess their own beauty”〔0002a04〕 to arrest later students' contention and links this warning to the three benefits and the one path |
| 5 | 0002a07–0002a16 | Establishes Tiantai's three divisions and the introduction, main teaching, and transmission within each of the Trace and Origin Gates |
| 6 | 0002a16–0002a20 | Asks how one scripture can have two introductions and answers with the Avataṃsaka, Āgamas, and Mahāprajñāpāramitā |
| 7 | 0002a20–0002a24 | First enumerates four stages for joining the explanation to the text, then enumerates causes and conditions, the teaching, origin and trace, and contemplating the mind, explaining that the written account may be abbreviated while grasping the intent |
| 8 | 0002a24–0002b10 | Answers why four approaches are used and establishes, in order, causes and conditions, the teaching, origin and trace, and contemplating the mind |
| 9 | 0002b10–0002b29 | Cites the Lotus, the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, and Sengzhao's words as separate evidence for the four approaches |
| 10 | 0002b29–0002c15 | Uses the distant past, past, present, and future together with sowing, ripening, and liberation to show the aspect of causes and conditions; the first graph of 「其間節節作三世九世」 tr. “within these, every phase may be treated as three times and nine ages” is at〔0002c09〕, and the first graph of 「後五百歲遠沾妙道」 tr. “those in the latter five-hundred-year period are touched from afar by the wondrous path” is at〔0002c15〕 |
| 11 | 0002c15–0002c25 | Uses introduction, main teaching, and transmission to show the aspect of teaching |
| 12 | 0002c25–0003a08 | Uses the first, intermediate, present, and future teachings to show the aspect of origin and trace and closes with the image of the great tree's single root |
| 13 | 0003a08–0003a14 | The first graph of 「次示觀心相」 tr. “next, show the aspect of contemplating the mind” is at〔0003a08〕; precepts, concentration, and wisdom are each treated in three divisions from the viewpoints of cultivation and Dharma gate |
| 14 | 0003a14–0003a18 | Instructs practitioners to infer from this principle; the final sentence spans〔0003a17–0003a18〕 and closes with ten thousand carts and ten thousand streams |
The direct explanation in T34n1719 aligns section by section from the fascicle title and adjoining note through〔0158b22〕, then opens the common and specific introductions separately at〔0158c10〕. The synchronized change of section in the two texts confirms that this opening unit ends before〔0003a19〕.
2. Formation and Transmission
This section belongs to the transmission stated at the head of the fascicle. Shenjiong's preface says that the present words 「迺是灌頂法師私記，合二十卷」 tr. “were privately recorded by Dharma Master Guanding and comprise twenty half-fascicles”〔0001a23–0001a24〕, and also records Master Lang's arrangement in the wuzi year of the Tianbao era. The title of the extant fascicle, however, is attributed only as 「天台智者大師說」 tr. “spoken by the Tiantai Master Zhiyi”〔0001b20〕. The doctrinal exposition of this section therefore belongs to Zhiyi, while its written transmission belongs to Guanding and later textual settlement. Neither the process of recording nor that settlement licenses the insertion of Zhanran's or Shenjiong's words into Zhiyi's text.
The adjoining note beneath the chapter title, before the strict domain, reads 「〔佛出世難，佛說是難，傳譯此難，自開悟難，聞師講難，一遍記難。〕」 tr. “[It is difficult for a buddha to appear in the world, difficult for a buddha to teach this, difficult to transmit and translate it, difficult to awaken through it oneself, difficult to hear a teacher explain it, and difficult to record it after hearing it once]”〔0001b21〕. It further records 「〔余二十七於金陵聽受，六十九於丹丘添削〕」 tr. “[At twenty-seven I received the teaching in Jinling; at sixty-nine I augmented and abridged it in Danqiu]”〔0001b21–0001b22〕. The Wenjuji interprets twenty-seven and sixty-nine as ages, calling the interval 「始末四十餘年」 tr. “more than forty years from beginning to end”〔0151b10〕, and separately explains augmentation and abridgment〔0151b13–0151b14〕. All of these are adjacent transmission data and do not alter the strict starting point of the section.
3. Sutra Passages Explained and Works Cited
A. “Introduction,” “Chapter,” and the Sources of Chapter Titles
The treatise says, 「《中阿含》云跋渠，此翻為品」 tr. “The Madhyama Āgama says varga, which is translated as ‘chapter’”〔0001b27–0001b28〕. The title of the first chapter in the extant T01n0026 is 「中阿含七法品第一」 tr. “The Seven-Dharmas Chapter, first, in the Madhyama Āgama”〔0421a08〕. The work's 309 table-of-contents nodes include 222 discourse titles and numerous chapter titles, but neither baqu nor baqie is found in continuous wording within its text or structural nodes. The extant text can therefore attest classification by chapters but cannot supply an invented verbatim locus in the Madhyama Āgama.
Ancient commentaries and lexicons preserve two further accounts. T39n1785 reads 「品者，梵語稱為跋渠，此為品也，品是類義」 tr. “‘Chapter’ is called varga in Sanskrit and is rendered ‘chapter’; chapter means kind”〔0047a06〕. T54n2128 instead reads 「跋渠〔此言訛也正言伐伽此譯云部謂部類也或言群同其義〕」 tr. “Baqu [this wording is corrupt; properly it is faqie, translated as division, meaning a class or group, which has the same sense]”〔0693c03〕. The two accounts are recorded side by side without adjudication as to the correct transcription.
The treatise next lists three sources of chapter titles:
| Wording in the Treatise | Extant Parallel | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| 「或佛自唱品，如《梵網》」 tr. “Some chapter titles are proclaimed by the Buddha himself, as in the Brahmā's Net”〔0001b29–0001c01〕 | T24n1484 has 「心地法品」 tr. “Chapter on the Dharma Gate of the Mind-Ground”〔0997c16〕, and the Buddha's speech includes 「持我心地法門品而去」 tr. “uphold my Chapter on the Dharma Gate of the Mind-Ground and depart”〔1003b17〕 and 「次第說我上心地法門品」 tr. “explain in sequence my preceding Chapter on the Dharma Gate of the Mind-Ground”〔1003b18〕 | Establishes only that the Buddha speaks the chapter title within the text itself |
| 「或結集所置，如《大論》」 tr. “Some are established by the compilers, as in the Great Treatise”〔0001b29–0001c01〕 | The Wenjuji transmits that the original Mahāprajñāpāramitā had only the Introduction, Māra's Deeds, and Entrustment chapters〔0152b12〕 | This is Zhanran's transmitted account, not a claim presented as the extant Mahāprajñāpāramitā's own record |
| 「或譯人添足，如羅什」 tr. “Some are completed by the translator, as in Kumārajīva's work”〔0001c01〕 | The Wenjuji continues, 「乃依四意以類加之」 tr. “he then added them by class according to four meanings”〔0152b15〕, producing ninety chapters; the extant T25n1509 contains an Introduction chapter〔0057c11〕, Māra's Deeds chapter〔0533a06〕, and Entrustment chapter〔0753c28〕 | The extant form establishes only that all three titles occur within a ninety-chapter structure; it does not itself attest who added the others |
The text further says, 「今〈藥王本事〉是佛唱。〈妙音〉、〈觀音〉等是經家、譯人未聞」 tr. “In the present scripture, ‘The Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King’ was proclaimed by the Buddha; as for ‘The Bodhisattva Wonderful Sound,’ ‘The Universal Gateway of the Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World's Sounds (Guanshiyin),’ and the like, whether they came from the compilers or the translator has not been heard”〔0001c01–0001c02〕. “Has not been heard” preserves an unresolved attribution; it does not permit the editor to decide in place of the author that the title came from either the compilers or the translator.
B. The Tripiṭaka, Four Āgamas, Six Perfections, and Eight Granthas
| Wording in the Treatise | Extant T02n0125 | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| 「契經一分，律一分，阿毘曇一分」 tr. “The discourses are one division, the discipline one division, and the abhidharma one division”〔0001c07〕 | After 「我今當為作三分」 tr. “I will now make three divisions”〔0549c25〕, it reads 「契經一分律二分，阿毘曇經復三分；」 tr. “the discourses are the first division, the discipline the second, and the abhidharma texts the third”〔0549c26〕 | The treatise levels the ordinals into three instances of “one division” |
| 「契經更開四，謂《增一》、《長》、《中》、《雜》」 tr. “The discourses are further opened into four: the Ekottarika, Dīrgha, Madhyama, and Saṃyukta”〔0001c08–0001c09〕 | 「契經今當分四段，次名增一、二名中，三名曰長多瓔珞，雜經在後為四分。」 tr. “The discourses are now to be divided into four sections: the first is called Ekottarika, the second Madhyama, the third is named Dīrgha with many jeweled garlands, and the miscellaneous discourses come last as the fourth division”〔0549c28–0549c29〕 | The order differs; the syntax “Dīrgha with many jeweled garlands” is retained from the extant text |
| 「施、戒、慧、六度皆足也」 tr. “Giving, precepts, wisdom, and the six perfections are all ‘feet’”〔0001c11〕 | 「人尊說六度無極：布施、持戒、忍、精進、禪、智慧力如月初」 tr. “The Honored One among humans taught the limitless six perfections: giving, keeping precepts, patience, vigor, meditation, and the power of wisdom, like the new moon”〔0550a13–0550a14〕 | The wording of the treatise is more disordered; the Wenjuji identifies it as the six perfections rather than the six auxiliary treatises |
The treatise uses 「律開五部及八十誦。阿毘曇開《六足》、《八犍度》等」 tr. “The discipline is opened into five schools and eighty recitations; abhidharma into the Six Feet, Eight Granthas, and the like”〔0001c10〕 to show division and gathering. T25n1509 asks, 「《八犍度阿毘曇》、六分阿毘曇等，從何處出」 tr. “From where did the Abhidharma in Eight Granthas, the six-part abhidharma, and the like arise?”〔0070a06〕. It answers that Kātyāyanīputra, 「欲解佛語故，作《發智經八犍度》」 tr. “wishing to explain the Buddha's words, composed the Jñānaprasthāna in Eight Granthas”〔0070a11–0070a14〕. The Wenjuji instead recounts that later people could not understand the whole and therefore made an abbreviated abhidharma〔0153a27–0153b03〕. Its wording differs from the extant T1509 and is recorded side by side without adjudication.
The Wenjuji further lists the eight collections as karma, latent tendencies, wisdom, concentration, faculties, great elements, views, and miscellaneous matters〔0153a24–0153a26〕. The treatise itself only gives faculties, natures, paths, and concentrations in abbreviated form〔0001c11–0001c12〕; these are not forced into an identical list.
C. Seven Accomplishments and Five Manifestations in Vasubandhu's Treatise on the Lotus Sūtra
The treatise states, 「天親作論，以七功德分〈序品〉，五示現分〈方便品〉」 tr. “Vasubandhu composed a treatise, dividing the Introduction chapter by seven accomplishments and the Skillful Means chapter by five manifestations”〔0001c12–0001c13〕. The two extant translations and the Wenjuji read as follows:
| Text | Seven Accomplishments | Five Manifestations |
|---|---|---|
| T26n1519 | 「一者序分成就；二者眾成就；三者如來欲說法時至成就；四者依所說法威儀隨順住成就；五者依止說因成就；六者大眾現前欲聞法成就；七者文殊師利菩薩答成就」 tr. “First, accomplishment of the introductory division; second, accomplishment of the assembly; third, accomplishment of the arrival of the time when the Tathāgata wishes to teach; fourth, accomplishment of dwelling in accord with the deportment of the Dharma to be taught; fifth, accomplishment of reliance upon the cause of teaching; sixth, accomplishment of the assembly's manifest wish to hear the Dharma; seventh, accomplishment of Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī's answer”〔0001b01–0001b05〕 | 「第一〈序品〉示現七種功德成就，第二〈方便品〉有五分示現破二明一」 tr. “First, the Introduction chapter manifests the accomplishment of seven virtues; second, the Skillful Means chapter has five divisions that manifest the refutation of the two and clarification of the one”〔0010b22–0010b23〕 |
| T26n1520 | Its fourth item is 「所依說法隨順威儀住成就」 tr. “accomplishment of dwelling in accord with the deportment of the teaching relied upon”〔0010c22〕, and its seventh is 「文殊師利答成就」 tr. “accomplishment of Mañjuśrī's answer”〔0010c24〕 | The Introduction chapter has seven kinds, while the Skillful Means chapter has five divisions that 「示現破二明一」 tr. “manifest the refutation of the two and clarification of the one”〔0019c15〕 |
| T34n1719 | It expressly lists all seven, with the fourth as 「所說法隨順威儀住成就」 tr. “accomplishment of dwelling in accord with the deportment of the Dharma taught”〔0153b08〕 and the seventh as 「答問成就」 tr. “accomplishment of answering the question”〔0153b13〕 | It separately lists five divisions: praising the Dharma's excellence and wonder, praising the Dharma teacher's virtues, establishing certainty for the wise assembly, giving predictions, and severing doubt〔0153b19–0153b22〕 |
The conclusions of the two translations state only that the five divisions manifest the refutation of the two and clarification of the one. The five named items in the Wenjuji are Zhanran's elaboration and are not presented as verbatim wording from either translation.
D. Earlier Masters' Divisions and Guangzhai's Twenty-Four Sections
The treatise records in full the textual divisions of Ping of Hexi, Yao of Jiangdong, Master Long of Mount Lu, Yin of Zhongxing in Qi, Xiaoshan Yao, Xuanchang, anonymous masters, and Yun of Guangzhai〔0001c14–0002a04〕. The Wenjuji transmits explanations master by master〔0153b22–0154a12〕 and expressly says, 「江東瑤即吳興小山寺」 tr. “Yao of Jiangdong is [Yao] of Xiaoshan Monastery in Wuxing”〔0153b23〕.
The title of the extant Guangzhai commentary T33n1715 attributes it to 「光宅寺沙門 雲法師撰」 tr. “composed by Dharma Master Yun, a monk of Guangzhai Monastery”〔0572c04〕. It first establishes the three sections of introduction, main teaching, and transmission〔0574c13–0574c15〕, then opens each of the three into two〔0575a15–0575b17〕. At the third level it expressly states, 「通別兩序各開為五」 tr. “the common and specific introductions are each opened into five”〔0575b17〕 and 「二正說中各開為四，化他、自行二流通中各開為三」 tr. “within the two main teachings, each is opened into four; within the two transmissions, for transforming others and for one's own practice, each is opened into three”〔0575b18–0575b19〕, making twenty-four sections. Independent confirmation extends only to Guangzhai; where no commentary by the other masters is extant for cross-reading, their accounts remain attributed to the treatise or the Wenjuji.
E. Two Citations from the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra
| Wording in the Treatise | Extant T12n0374 | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| 「慈善根力有無量門，略則神通」 tr. “The power of compassion and wholesome roots has immeasurable gates; in brief, it is supernatural power”〔0002b01–0002b03〕 | 「若有人問：『誰是一切諸善根本？』當言慈是。」 tr. “If someone asks, ‘What is the root of all wholesome qualities?’ one should say it is compassion”〔0456b12–0456b13〕; it later reads 「我說是慈，有無量門，所謂神通」 tr. “I say that this compassion has immeasurable gates, namely supernatural powers”〔0457b03〕 | The treatise combines two passages, adds “power,” and substitutes “in brief” for “namely”; it is not continuous wording in the extant text |
| 「麁言及軟語，皆歸第一義」 tr. “Coarse words and gentle words all return to ultimate meaning”〔0002b17〕 | 「諸佛常軟語，為眾故說麁，麁語及軟語，皆歸第一義。」 tr. “Buddhas always speak gentle words; for the sake of beings they speak coarsely. Coarse speech and gentle speech all return to ultimate meaning”〔0485a07–0485a08〕 | The treatise has “coarse words,” while the extant text has “coarse speech” |
The parallel translation T12n0375 reads 「我說是慈有無量門，所謂神通」 tr. “I say that this compassion has immeasurable gates, namely supernatural powers”〔0699b17〕. Both citations preserve the differences between the treatise and the extant scripture; neither silently corrects the commentary from the root text.
F. The Actual Source of Sengzhao's Words
The treatise cites 「非本無以垂迹，非迹無以顯本」 tr. “Without the origin there is no means of extending a trace; without the trace there is no means of revealing the origin”〔0002b06〕. Its actual source is the preface to T38n1775, Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, whose heading is attributed 「後秦釋僧肇撰」 tr. “composed by the monk Sengzhao of the Later Qin”〔0327a13〕. The original reads 「非本無以垂跡、非跡無以顯本，本跡雖殊而不思議一也」 tr. “Without the origin there is no means of extending a trace; without the trace there is no means of revealing the origin. Though origin and trace differ, the inconceivable is one”〔0327b03–0327b05〕. The source should therefore be identified as Sengzhao's preface to the Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, not generically as the Zhaolun. The variant graphs for “trace” are recorded side by side. The Wenjuji further says 「但借其言不用其事」 tr. “it borrows only the wording and does not use the original matter”〔0155b23〕, so only the verbal pattern of origin and trace is borrowed, not the example to which Sengzhao originally applied it.
G. Lotus Sūtra Evidence for the Four Approaches
| Wording in the Treatise | Extant T09n0262 | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| 「十方諸佛為一大事因緣故出現於世」 tr. “Buddhas throughout the ten directions appear in the world for the sake of one great cause and condition”〔0002b11–0002b12〕 | 「諸佛世尊唯以一大事因緣故出現於世」 tr. “The buddha-world-honored ones appear in the world solely for the sake of one great cause and condition”〔0007a21〕 | The treatise adds “throughout the ten directions” and omits “solely” |
| 「以種種法門，宣示於佛道」 tr. “Through many Dharma gates, [he] reveals the Buddha path”〔0002b14–0002b15〕 | 「以種種法門，宣示於佛道」 tr. “Through many Dharma gates, [he] reveals the Buddha path”〔0009b22〕 | The wording is identical |
| 「今天人阿修羅，皆謂我少出家」 tr. “Today humans, gods, and asuras all suppose that I left home while young”〔0002b18〕 and 「然我實成佛已來」 tr. “Yet in truth, since I attained buddhahood”〔0002b19〕 | 「我少出家」 tr. “I left home while young”〔0042c07〕; 「然我實成佛已來久遠若斯」 tr. “Yet in truth it has been this long since I attained buddhahood”〔0042c08〕 | The treatise excerpts the prose and supplies a separate transition |
| 「我本立誓願，普令一切眾，亦同得此道，如我等無異」 tr. “I originally made a vow to enable all beings universally to attain this path just as I have, without any difference”〔0002b21〕 | 「我本立誓願，欲令一切眾，如我等無異」 tr. “I originally made a vow, wishing to make all beings no different from me”〔0008b04〕 | “Universally enable” and “also attain this path” are not verbatim in the extant verse |
| 「內祕菩薩行，外現是聲聞」 tr. “Inwardly they conceal bodhisattva practice; outwardly they appear as śrāvakas”〔0002b23〕 | 「內祕菩薩行，外現是聲聞」 tr. “Inwardly they conceal bodhisattva practice; outwardly they appear as śrāvakas”〔0028a17〕, followed by purification of buddha lands, the three poisons, and the appearance of wrong views | The identical portion can be directly aligned |
| 「若人信汝所說，即為見我」 tr. “If someone trusts what you teach, that person thereby sees me”〔0002b26〕 | 「若人有能，信汝所說，則為見我」 tr. “If someone is able to trust what you teach, that person thereby sees me”〔0015b12〕, followed by seeing you, the community of monks, and the bodhisattvas | The treatise omits “is able” and substitutes one connective for another |
H. Three Works Cited to Explain Two Introductions in One Scripture
The treatise uses 「《華嚴》處處集眾，《阿含》篇篇如是，《大品》前後付囑」 tr. “The Avataṃsaka gathers an assembly at each place, every discourse in the Āgamas has ‘Thus,’ and the Mahāprajñāpāramitā has entrustments before and after”〔0002a17–0002a18〕 to explain that one scripture can accommodate multiple introductions and multiple sections of transmission. The Wenjuji explains each example separately: the Avataṃsaka gathers the assembly before every convocation〔0154a23–0154a26〕; the four Āgamas combine many short discourses, placing the five matters at the beginning of each〔0154a27–0154b02〕; and the Mahāprajñāpāramitā is one scripture with earlier and later entrustments〔0154b03–0154b06〕.
The title of the first discourse in the extant T01n0026 is 「中阿含七法品善法經第一」 tr. “The Discourse on Wholesome Dharmas, first, in the Seven-Dharmas Chapter of the Madhyama Āgama”〔0421a12〕, and its text begins 「我聞如是」 tr. “Thus have I heard”〔0421a13〕. This establishes a material example of many short discourses within one collection; it does not project the identical opening wording from one instance onto all 222 discourses. T10n0279 contains “The Wondrous Adornments of the Rulers of the Worlds”〔0001b25〕, “Names of the Tathāgata”〔0057c22〕, and “Awakening through Light”〔0062b15〕, corresponding to the multiple convocation titles cited in the Wenjuji.
The Wenjuji begins its discussion of 「大品前後付囑」 tr. “earlier and later entrustments in the Mahāprajñāpāramitā” at〔0154b03〕. The next line reads verbatim 「有多流通，故第二卷中有〈累教品〉」 tr. “There are multiple transmissions; hence the second fascicle contains the Entrusting the Teaching chapter”〔0154b04〕. In the extant T08n0223, the scene in fascicle twenty begins at〔0362a07〕, and the title 「累教品第六十六」 tr. “Entrusting the Teaching, Chapter Sixty-Six” appears at〔0362a10〕; fascicle twenty-seven separately establishes the Entrustment chapter〔0416a20、0423c21〕. The difference between “second fascicle” and “fascicle twenty” is recorded side by side without supplying a graph or adjudicating an omission.
4. Essential Explanations from the Wenjuji [the Mirror]
Zhanran's section-by-section explanations are set out below. Every historical account, division, and textual uncertainty in the table remains attributed to the Wenjuji and is not recast as Zhiyi's own statement.
| Wenju Node | Corresponding Passage and Essential Explanation in the Wenjuji |
|---|---|
| Fascicle title and adjoining note〔0001b18–0001b22〕 | Explains the interval between hearing at twenty-seven and settlement at sixty-nine〔0151b08–0151b10〕, then explains augmentation as adding refutations of earlier masters and citations from scriptures and treatises, and abridgment as removing prolixity and shaping the literary form〔0151b13–0151b14〕 |
| 「委釋經題已如上說」 tr. “The detailed explanation of the scripture's title has already been given above”〔0001b23〕 | Explains 「委釋」 tr. “detailed explanation” as the separate explanation of the title〔0151b29–0151c01〕, joining the preliminary explanation of this chapter to the Fahua Xuanyi |
| The ancient academy as a gloss for “introduction”〔0001b23〕 | First explains the lexical gloss and then the contextual meaning〔0152a07〕, using calmness and not overstepping one's place to elucidate sequence rather than treating the school building as the principal meaning |
| Sequence, occasion, and narration〔0001b24–0001b27〕 | Explains them through contextual meaning〔0152a20〕 and concludes 「品兼通別故須具三」 tr. “because the chapter includes both the common and the specific, all three are required”〔0152b05〕 |
| Chapter and varga〔0001b27–0001b29〕 | 「先翻名、次釋義、後明立品所以」 tr. “first translate the name, next explain the meaning, and finally clarify why chapters are established”〔0152b07–0152b08〕; after 「義類同者」 tr. “those of the same doctrinal kind”〔0152b09〕, says that the same principle applies to all chapters |
| Buddha's proclamation, compilation, and translator's addition〔0001b29–0001c02〕 | Transmits that the compilers' original Mahāprajñāpāramitā 「結集之家本唯三品」 tr. “originally had only three chapters”〔0152b12〕 and that afterward one 「乃依四意以類加之」 tr. “added [chapters] by class according to four meanings”〔0152b15〕; this remains Zhanran's transmitted account |
| Presence or absence of textual division〔0001c03–0001c06〕 | 「欲分節經文，先辨分文有無得失」 tr. “In wishing to divide the scriptural text into sections, first distinguish the gains and losses of having or not having textual divisions”〔0152c12〕; also records that Master Dao'an first divided texts into introduction, main teaching, and transmission〔0152c15–0152c16〕 |
| Eight Granthas〔0001c10–0001c12〕 | Recounts that later people could not understand the whole and therefore produced an abbreviated abhidharma; the first graph of 「後諸弟子為後代人」 tr. “later disciples, for people of later generations” is at〔0153b02〕 |
| Seven accomplishments and five manifestations〔0001c12–0001c14〕 | Lists the seven items〔0153b03–0153b13〕; the five divisions extend through 「五從舍利弗諸佛出五濁去」 tr. “fifth, from Śāriputra and the buddhas' appearance in the five turbidities onward”〔0153b22〕 |
| Earlier masters' divisions〔0001c14–0002a04〕 | Transmits explanations master by master〔0153b22–0154a12〕, solely as a record of earlier views |
| Orchids and chrysanthemums〔0002a04–0002a06〕 | Says that the Buddha responds to capacities and that later divisions may use wording to disclose principle; clinging to a division and turning it into contention makes both advance and retreat wrong〔0154a12–0154a18〕 |
| Tiantai's three divisions〔0002a07–0002a10〕 | Beneath 「天台」 tr. “Tiantai”〔0154a18〕, says that this is Zhang'an's distinct statement in response to the earlier masters, then continues to explain the boundaries of the three divisions |
| Trace and Origin Gates〔0002a10–0002a16〕 | Distinguishes the two gates and the introduction, main teaching, and transmission in each〔0154a20–0154b20〕 |
| Two introductions in one scripture〔0002a16–0002a20〕 | Explains the three scriptural examples one by one to show that one work may contain multiple introductions and multiple transmissions〔0154a23–0154b06〕 |
| Enumeration and abbreviated writing of the fourfold interpretation〔0002a20–0002a24〕 | In actual explanation, 「或四釋不備」 tr. “sometimes the fourfold interpretation is not written in full”〔0154b24〕; one or two approaches may be retained while the others are inferred |
| Why there are four approaches〔0002a24–0002a27〕 | Asks 「何故唯作此四釋耶」 tr. “Why are precisely these four interpretations made?”〔0154b26〕 and answers by taking a middle course that is neither too much nor too little〔0154b27–0154b29〕 |
| Entrances to the four approaches〔0002a27–0002b10〕 | Clearly marks the opening of the four subsections on causes and conditions, the teaching, origin and trace, and contemplating the mind〔0154c25〕 |
| Causes and conditions〔0002a27–0002b02〕 | 「慈亘始末名善根力」 tr. “Because compassion pervades beginning and end, it is called the power of wholesome roots”〔0155a02〕; explains the natural meeting of stimulus and response as occurring without contrivance and concludes at〔0155a27〕 |
| The teaching〔0002b02–0002b05〕 | Contrasts vocal teaching in the Sahā world with transformative activity throughout the ten directions and concludes by identifying the basis of teaching〔0155a27–0155b10〕 |
| Origin and trace〔0002b04–0002b07〕 | Uses one moon and its many reflections to explain pointing at the moon〔0155b21〕; regarding Sengzhao's words, says 「但借其言不用其事」 tr. “it borrows only the wording and does not use the original matter”〔0155b23〕 |
| Contemplating the mind〔0002b07–0002b10〕 | The first graph of 「達己心之高深」 tr. “penetrate the height and depth of one's own mind” is at〔0155c08〕; height and depth show the origin, while comprehensive breadth shows the trace〔0155c08–0155c09〕 |
| General rule for showing the forms〔0002b29–0002c01〕 | Shows the four aspects only through the present sutra, using the four meanings according to the movement of each passage rather than arranging them in equal columns〔0156b21–0156b29〕 |
| Showing the aspect of causes and conditions〔0002b29–0002c15〕 | Carries sowing, ripening, and liberation through the three divisions and concludes 「故序等三莫非感應」 tr. “therefore the three, introduction and the others, are none other than stimulus and response”〔0157b18〕 |
| Showing the aspect of teaching〔0002c15–0002c25〕 | Explains it directly as 「教家之相故云教相」 tr. “because it is the aspect belonging to the teaching, it is called the aspect of teaching”〔0157b19〕 |
| Showing the aspect of origin and trace〔0002c25–0003a08〕 | Layers the account through what was received in the causal stage of the origin, what was taught as the result of the origin, the intermediate period, the present, and the future〔0158a05–0158a09〕 |
| Showing the aspect of contemplating the mind〔0003a08–0003a14〕 | 「先總、次別」 tr. “first generally, then specifically”; within the general explanation, it again distinguishes the viewpoints of cultivation and Dharma gate〔0158b05–0158b09〕 |
| Conclusion of the opening section〔0003a14–0003a18〕 | The Wenjuji says the end of the scripture has only 「而去」 tr. “and departed”〔0158b19〕; it adds 「盡令用四其辭則難」 tr. “if all are made to use the four, the wording becomes difficult”〔0158b20〕 and also questions the graph for “salty”〔0158b19–0158b22〕 |
5. Explanations of Various Masters
The treatise does not list only Guangzhai's account. It sets out many earlier divisions of the text in full:
First, Ping of Hexi and Yao of Jiangdong adopted the principle of dividing the text into sections, and later generations made the divisions increasingly elaborate〔0001c14–0001c15〕.
Second, Master Long of Mount Lu first divided the scripture into introduction, main teaching, and transmission. He also gathered its twenty-seven chapters under verbal skillful means and verbal reality, and bodily skillful means and bodily reality. Separately, he treated Skillful Means through Peaceful Practices as the gate of cause and Emerging from the Earth onward as the gate of result〔0001c18–0001c22〕.
Third, Yin of Zhongxing in Qi and Xiaoshan Yao received the scripture from Master Long and used the same textual division〔0001c22–0001c23〕.
Fourth, Xuanchang treated the Introduction through Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa as the division of cause, Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra through The Supernormal Powers of the Tathāgata as the division of result, and Entrustment through the end of the scripture as the division of protection and preservation〔0001c23–0001c24〕.
Fifth, one master treated the Introduction through Predictions for Those in Training and Beyond Training as the body of the Lotus, the Dharma Teacher through Entrustment as explaining the merit of upholding the scripture, and The Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King onward as praising the original vows of the bodhisattvas〔0001c24–0001c27〕.
Sixth, one master made four sections: the first chapter as introduction; Skillful Means through Peaceful Practices as opening the three to reveal the one; Emerging from the Earth through Distinguishing Qualities as opening the recent to reveal the distant; and the remainder as transmission carrying the preceding meanings forward〔0001c27–0001c29〕.
Seventh, Yun of Guangzhai received the scripture from Yin. He first opened each of introduction, main teaching, and transmission into two; then opened each of the common and specific introductions into five, each of the two main teachings of cause and result into four, and each of the two transmissions—for transforming others and for one's own practice—into three, making twenty-four sections〔0001c29–0002a04〕. The extant Guangzhai commentary independently confirms this twenty-four-part structure.
After listing the masters, Zhiyi expressly says 「夫分節經文悉是人情，蘭菊各擅其美」 tr. “Dividing the scriptural text wholly reflects human understanding; orchids and chrysanthemums each possess their own beauty”〔0002a04〕. He warns later students not to pronounce one another right or wrong and contend, lest they lose the three benefits and forfeit the one path〔0002a04–0002a06〕. This does not abolish textual division: the treatise immediately establishes its own three divisions and two gates. The Wenjuji likewise says that later divisions may use wording to disclose principle; only clinging to them and turning them into contention makes both advance and retreat wrong〔0154a12–0154a18〕. The several accounts therefore remain side by side without adjudicating victory among the earlier masters.
6. Terminology
| Term | Treatise's Own Explanation | Wenjuji Explanation and Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | 「訓庠序」 tr. “glossed through the order of an ancient academy”; the five matters, six auspicious signs, and questions and answers correspond respectively to sequence, occasion, and narration〔0001b23–0001b27〕 | Separates the lexical gloss from the contextual meaning; the three senses involve both the common introduction and specific introduction〔0152a07–0152b05〕 |
| Chapter | 「跋渠，此翻為品」 tr. “varga, translated as ‘chapter’”〔0001b27〕; 「義類同者聚在一段」 tr. “those of the same doctrinal kind are gathered in one section”〔0001b28〕 | First translates the name, then explains the meaning, then clarifies why chapters are established〔0152b07–0152b10〕; the divergent accounts in T1785 and T2128 are recorded side by side without adjudication |
| Siddhānta | 「三益者，世界等三悉檀也；一道者，第一義悉檀也」 tr. “The three benefits are the first three siddhāntas, beginning with the worldly; the one path is the siddhānta of ultimate meaning”〔0002a05–0002a06〕 | Uses only the function of arresting contention in the present passage and does not construct a general explanation of the four siddhāntas here |
| Three divisions | The first chapter is the introduction, fifteen and a half chapters are the main teaching, and eleven and a half are the transmission〔0002a07–0002a10〕 | The Wenjuji accepts these boundaries and elucidates them〔0154a18–0154b20〕 |
| Trace Gate and Origin Gate | The two gates each contain fourteen chapters and each has an introduction, main teaching, and transmission〔0002a10–0002a16〕 | These are the present edition's structural names; the two gates and the three divisions of the whole scripture interlock without erasing one another |
| Fourfold interpretation | 「一因緣、二約教、三本迹、四觀心」 tr. “first causes and conditions, second the teaching, third origin and trace, fourth contemplating the mind”〔0002a22〕 | The Wenjuji clearly marks the four subsection entrances〔0154c25〕; the written exposition may retain only one or two while leaving the others to inference |
| Causes and conditions | 「亦名感應」 tr. “also called stimulus and response”; the many receptive capacities and responses meet along the path of stimulus and response〔0002a27–0002a28〕 | Explains it through the power of compassion and wholesome roots and through meeting without contrivance〔0155a02–0155a27〕 |
| The teaching | Gathers the breadth of receptive capacities throughout the ten directions into the use of sound to perform the Buddha's work in the Sahā world〔0002b02–0002b05〕 | This subsection takes vocal teaching as the middle course〔0155a27–0155b10〕 |
| Origin and trace | 「置指存月、亡迹尋本」 tr. “set aside the finger while preserving the moon; forget the trace while seeking the origin”〔0002b05〕 | One moon and its many reflections form the simile; Sengzhao's words are borrowed without adopting their original matter〔0155b21–0155b23〕 |
| Contemplating the mind | 「但觀己心之高廣」 tr. “simply contemplate the height and breadth of one's own mind”〔0002b09〕 | Turns counting another's treasure into penetrating the height, depth, and comprehensive breadth of one's own mind〔0155c08–0155c09〕 |
| Common and specific introductions | The next section explains the common introduction as common to the teachings and the specific introduction as specific to one scripture〔0003a19–0003a21〕 | The Wenjuji opens this as a new section at〔0158c10〕, confirming that the present opening unit closes before it |
7. Similes · Cross-Reading · Carrying Forward
Scattered flowers and a strung garland show that the Buddha's teaching may be dispersed according to capacities or connected from beginning to end. Orchids and chrysanthemums show that textual divisions each have their beauty but must not become grounds for contention. Finger and moon, as well as trap and snare in relation to fish and rabbit, distinguish the method that points from the meaning pointed toward. Counting another person's treasure while owning not half a coin turns understanding back toward lived benefit. A thousand carts sharing one track and ten thousand streams meeting in one salty sea finally show that words may differ while their purport converges. These four clusters of images carry one another forward into a pedagogical arc of method, referent, practice, and convergence; they should not be dismantled into rigid compartments.
Cross-read with the Introduction chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, the emission of light and six auspicious signs, Maitreya's question, and Mañjuśrī's answer constitute what this section calls the introduction as occasion and the introduction as narration. Every root-sutra passage can be checked in the present edition's Introduction chapter. The opening statement 「委釋經題已如上說」 tr. “The detailed explanation of the scripture's title has already been given above”〔0001b23〕 also cross-reads with the Fahua Xuanyi: the title has been explained there in detail, and the present work turns to sentence-by-sentence exegesis, displaying the division of labor between doctrinal classification and scriptural explanation.
The interpretation through contemplating the mind uses 「但觀己心之高廣」 tr. “simply contemplate the height and breadth of one's own mind”〔0002b09〕 and the three divisions of precepts, concentration, and wisdom〔0003a08–0003a14〕 to turn scriptural explanation toward practice. Cross-reading with the Mohe Zhiguan takes only this stable point of passage from understanding into practice and does not insert the later work's categories backward into the present section.
The Fahua Xuanzan, T34n1723, and the Fahua Wenju explain the same scripture as ancient mirrors of the Faxiang and Tiantai traditions. Their readings may be viewed side by side at the same root-sutra sentence, but neither commentary adjudicates the other. Sengzhao's preface to the Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra is the actual source of 「非本無以垂迹」 tr. “without the origin there is no means of extending a trace”〔0002b06〕; the Wenjuji has already limited its use to borrowing the wording, so only its verbal pattern of origin and trace is carried forward.
The lexical meanings of trap and snare are also attested in T54n2129〔0948a05〕: a trap takes fish, a snare takes rabbits, and the source identifies a variant graph as a rabbit net. The lexicon establishes word meaning only. How the treatise uses pointing at the moon, traps, and snares to explain origin and trace and the teaching remains governed by this passage's own account.
8. Placement of the Editions
A. Seventeen Variant Pairs between the Taishō and Edition A within the Strict Domain
| Line Anchor | 【大】 | 【甲】 | Short Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0001b26 | 弄 | 壽胤 | Lead-in to the main teaching |
| 0001c02 | 唱 | 自唱 | Proclaimed by the Buddha |
| 0001c14 | 各 | 各憑 | Each has its own division |
| 0001c25 | 記 | 記品 | Predictions for Those in Training and Beyond Training |
| 0002a18 | 阿 | 何 | What difficulty is there in two introductions? |
| 0002a23 | 退 | 去 | Ends with “withdrew” |
| 0002a24 | 煩 | 繁 | Does not burden the brushwork |
| 0002b04 | 釋 | 扶 | Interpretation in terms of the teaching |
| 0002b04 | 中 | 處中 | The middle account is clear |
| 0002b16 | 微 | 徹 | Whether subtle or manifest |
| 0002b16 | 罤 | 號 | Trap and snare |
| 0002c04 | 滅度 | 度脫 | Brings them to extinction |
| 0002c05 | 涌 | 踊 | Emerging from the earth |
| 0002c05 | 也 | 也〔云云〕 | The emerging-from-the-earth bodhisattvas and others are examples |
| 0002c07 | 也 | 是也 | Those who open, reveal, awaken to, and enter |
| 0002c13 | 乘 | 承 | Responding to the capacity, the Buddha establishes transformation |
| 0002c16 | 升 | 昇 | Purified ascent among humans and gods |
The denominator within the strict domain is fixed at seventeen pairs. Variants in the fascicle title, attribution, and adjoining note are not mixed into it.
B. Six Variant Pairs in the Preceding Adjacent Title, Attribution, and Note
| Line Anchor | 【大】 | 【甲】 |
|---|---|---|
| 0001b18 | 妙法蓮華經 | 法華 |
| 0001b18 | 上 | absent |
| 0001b20 | 天台智者大師說 | absent |
| 0001b21 | 序品第一 | absent |
| 0001b22 | 丹 | 舟 |
| 0001b22 | 慧 | 慧也 |
These six pairs are adjacent data only and are counted separately from the seventeen. The first line of the fascicle title is at〔0001b18〕;〔0001b21〕 is the anchor for the chapter title and adjoining note, not the first line of the whole chapter.
C. Graphs outside the General Character Set, Contents, and Page Anchors
The graph 「罤」 tr. “snare” at〔0002b16〕 is outside the general character set and is encoded as CB04590; edition A reads “sign.” The present edition retains the main-text graph for “snare” and records the variant in the apparatus. The graph 「䟽」 tr. “commentary” in the title of Shenjiong's preface〔0001a02〕 belongs to a different unit and is not included in this domain's denominator.
The first-level contents of the whole work have two forms: the Introduction chapter lacks the prefixed graph for “explanation,” while the other twenty-seven titles take the form “Explanation of Chapter X”; fourteen continuation headings mark long chapters crossing half-fascicle boundaries. The filename for the present unit therefore expressly identifies the opening section of the explanation of the Introduction chapter and does not occupy the filename reserved for the chapter as a whole.
A page anchor follows the closest preceding Taishō line marker containing the first graph of the quotation; when a quotation spans lines, both opening and closing lines are given. If a line marker appears inside a note, one must first determine whether it remains within that note's domain. For example, the first graph of 「夫分節經文悉是人情」 tr. “Dividing the scriptural text wholly reflects human understanding” is indeed in the main text at〔0002a04〕. The final sentence, 「千車共轍、萬流醎會者也」 tr. “A thousand carts share one track, and ten thousand streams meet in a single salty sea,” spans〔0003a17–0003a18〕; the strict domain therefore ends at〔0003a18〕.