妙法蓮華經玄義 生起
因為路標不是目的地，卻能使人不走錯路。
名指出法，循名才能識體；體須由行契會，所以有因果之宗；自行圓滿又發為利益他人的用；利益方法很多，最後須由教相分辨同異。五章不是五塊知識，而是一章生起下一章的路。
從佛一面看，法被說出、眾生被神力喚醒、祕藏被宣示、行因證果得以成立；從行者一面看，先聞名，再推理、起行、排惑利他，最後辨教。同一條路，一端由教下降，一端由行上求。
名字的限度，正是它的功用。知道名不是物，便不會執名；知道無名不能顯法，也不會輕視聽聞。從有限的名字起步，才可能走向不被名字拘住的實相。
Why begin with a name if a name is not truth? Because a road sign is not the destination, yet keeps people from taking the wrong road.
Name indicates Dharma, and only by following the name can one recognize the substance. The substance must be realized through practice, and so there is the purport of cause and fruit. The fulfillment of one’s own practice then becomes the function of benefiting others. Since the methods of benefit are many, their sameness and difference must finally be distinguished through the characteristics of the teaching. The five chapters are not five blocks of knowledge but a path on which one chapter gives rise to the next.
From the Buddha’s side, Dharma is taught, sentient beings are awakened by supernormal power, the secret treasury is revealed, and the cause of practice and fruit of realization are established. From the practitioner’s side, one first hears the name, then investigates the principle, begins practice, removes delusion, benefits others, and finally distinguishes the teachings. It is the same road: from one end teaching descends, while from the other practice seeks upward.
The limit of a name is precisely its function. Knowing that a name is not the thing prevents attachment to names; knowing that without names Dharma cannot be revealed prevents contempt for hearing. Only by beginning with a limited name can one walk toward the true mark that no name can confine.
隋天台智者大師說《妙法蓮華經玄義》〔私記緣起＝沙門灌頂述〕· 大正藏 T33n1716〔起 T33 0684c25〕。段/行首〔T33 …〕＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨（換頁一枚）。
〔T33 0684c25〕○三、生起者，能生為生，所生為起。前後有次第，麁細不相違。肇云：「名無召物之功，物無應名之實。無名無物，名、物安在？」蓋第一義中無相意耳。世諦為言，無名無以顯法，故初釋名。名，名於法，法即是體，尋名識體；體非宗不會，會體自行已圓，從體起用，導利含識；利益既多，須分別教相也。 〔T33 0685a02〕〈神力品〉中，約教次第，一切法本皆佛法。《大經》云「一切世諦，若於如來，即是第一義諦。」眾生顛倒，謂非佛法，今明言示之，故言一切法也。 欲說此法，先以神力駭動，故言一切自在神力。既見變通，醒悟渴仰，得為說教，教詮實相，故言祕密之藏也。稟教修行，即有因果，故言甚深之事也。欲分別四義與餘經同異，次明教相耳。 〈序品〉約行次第，初從經卷，若善知識，有所聞見，即聞名也。聞故推理體顯，顯體須行，行即因果，宗也。行自排惑，亦利眾生，是用也。分別同異，教相也。開、示、悟、入，亦約行次第，法本無開閉，今呼為方便門開，此聞名也。示真實相，體也。自迷得悟，悟因也。由因故悟果，宗也。悟故深入，亦令他入，用也。分別同異，教也。今之五義，依〈序品〉扶行次第也。
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.
五章為何依次而生
第三番說生起。能夠生出後一義的，叫作『生』；由前一義所生起的，叫作『起』。五章前後有一定次第，雖然由較容易明白處逐步進入較精細處，彼此卻不相違背。
僧肇曾從名與實的關係設問：名稱本身沒有召來事物的能力，事物本身也沒有回應名稱的實體；若名與物都不可固定，究竟能在何處執取名物？這是從第一義中一切相不可執取而說。然而，若依世俗言說來看，沒有名稱便無從顯示所說的法，所以五章首先釋名。
名稱用來指稱法，所指的法就是體；人循名稱而認識其體。體若沒有宗，便不能契會；契會其體，修行者自身的行因與證果才得圓滿。自身圓滿後，又從體發起力用，引導並利益一切有情。利益的方式既然很多，最後還須分別各種教說的形相。釋名、辨體、明宗、論用、判教由此依次生起。
約教說看次第
若依〈如來神力品〉來看，這是約教說成立的次第。首先，一切法本來都不離佛法。《大般涅槃經》的意思是：一切世俗諦，到了如來如實知見之中，就是第一義諦。眾生因顛倒而把某些法看成不是佛法，現在由佛明白指示，所以先說一切所有之法。
佛將要宣說此法，先以自在神力震動大眾，使人驚醒。眾生看見種種神變，便醒悟而生渴仰，於是可以為他們說教。教說所詮的是實相，因此稱為祕要之藏。眾生領受教法而修行，便有行因與證果，所以又說甚深之事。這四義說完，還要分辨它們與其他經教相同或不同，因而最後說教相。
約修行看次第
若依〈序品〉來看，這又是約修行成立的次第。修行者最初從經卷或善知識有所聽聞、有所看見，這就是聞到名稱。因聽聞而推求義理，所指的體便逐漸顯明。要使體顯明，必須實際修行；修行有因也有果，這就是宗。修行既能排除自己的迷惑，也能利益其他眾生，這就是用。最後分辨此法與其他教說的同異，這就是教相。
開、示、悟、入也可依同一次第理解。法本來沒有一扇實有的門可以說開或閉，現在把方便稱為門並加以開啟，是使人先聞其名；指示真實之相，是顯其體；自己從迷惑轉為領悟，是行因；由此行因而證得果，是宗；領悟後進一步深入，也使他人得以進入，是用；分辨這些義與其他教說的同異，便是教相。現在所說的五義，正是依〈序品〉扶助修行的次第而立。
Why the Five Chapters Arise in Sequence
The third pass explains how the chapters arise in sequence. What can produce the following meaning is called “arising”; what is produced from the preceding meaning is called “coming forth.” The five chapters have a fixed sequence before and after. Although they proceed step by step from what is easier to understand to what is more refined, they do not contradict one another.
Sengzhao once posed a question through the relationship between name and reality: a name itself has no power to summon a thing, and a thing itself has no reality that responds to a name. If neither name nor thing can be fixed, where ultimately can name and thing be grasped? This is spoken from the ultimate truth, in which no mark can be grasped. Yet viewed according to conventional speech, without names there is no way to reveal the Dharma being taught. The five chapters therefore begin with explaining the name.
Names are used to designate Dharmas, and the designated Dharma is the substance; people follow the name to recognize its substance. If the substance has no purport, it cannot be realized; only by realizing its substance can practitioners fulfill the cause of their own practice and its realized fruit. After their own fulfillment, effective power further arises from the substance to guide and benefit all sentient beings. Since there are many ways of benefiting them, the characteristics of the different teachings must finally be distinguished. Explaining the name, discerning the substance, clarifying the purport, discussing the function, and classifying the teaching arise in this sequence.
The Sequence Viewed in Terms of Teaching
Viewed according to “The Supernormal Powers of the Tathāgata” chapter, this is the sequence established in terms of teaching. First, no Dharma ever originally departs from Buddha-Dharma. The meaning of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra is that every conventional truth is the ultimate truth within the Tathāgata’s knowledge and vision of things as they truly are. Because sentient beings are inverted, they see some Dharmas as not Buddha-Dharma. The Buddha now indicates them clearly, and thus “all the Dharmas possessed” comes first.
When the Buddha is about to teach this Dharma, he first uses sovereign supernormal powers to shake the assembly and awaken people. When sentient beings see the different transformations, they wake, give rise to thirsting aspiration, and become ready to receive the teaching. What the teaching expresses is the true mark and is therefore called the treasury of secrets and essentials. When sentient beings receive the teaching and practice, there are a cause of practice and a fruit of realization; the text therefore next speaks of exceedingly profound matters. Once these four meanings have been taught, their sameness and difference from the other scriptures and teachings must still be distinguished. The characteristics of the teaching therefore come last.
The Sequence Viewed in Terms of Practice
Viewed according to the “Introduction” chapter, this is instead the sequence established in terms of practice. Practitioners first hear or see something in scripture scrolls or from a good spiritual friend. This is hearing the name. From hearing, they investigate the meaning, and the substance indicated gradually becomes clear. To make the substance clear, they must actually practice. Practice has a cause and a fruit, and this is the purport. Practice can remove one’s own delusions and also benefit other sentient beings, and this is function. Finally, distinguishing this Dharma’s sameness and difference from other teachings is the characteristics of the teaching.
Opening, revealing, awakening to, and entering can also be understood according to this same sequence. Dharma originally has no real door that can be called open or closed. Skillful means are provisionally called a door and opened so that people first hear the name. Revealing the mark of the real makes its substance manifest. Turning oneself from delusion to awakening is the cause of practice; realizing the fruit through that cause is the purport. After awakening, entering more deeply and also enabling others to enter is function. Distinguishing the sameness and difference of these meanings from other teachings is the characteristics of the teaching. The five meanings taught here are established precisely according to the sequence in which the “Introduction” chapter supports practice.
生起番很短，卻先在五章前放下一個難題：名稱不能把事物召來，事物也沒有一個固定自體等候名稱。既然名與物都不可執取，為何解經不從實相直說，反而把釋名放在第一？
答案不在否定名，也不在把名當實。若從究竟看，名不等於物，物也不受名拘束；若從眾生相互理解的言說看，沒有名稱，法便無從被指出。名的作用正因有限而成立：它不是所到之處，卻能使人知道從哪裏起步。
五章不是五塊，而是一條路
釋名先指出所要認識的法。循名尋法，經體才可顯明；體若只是被觀看的對象，尚未成為行者所會，所以須以自行因果為宗。自行圓滿若只停在自己，又沒有經的化導，因此從體與宗發起力用，利益眾生。利益方法既多，還須辨別何種言教適合何種根機，最後安立教相。
五章於是像一條不斷深入的路：由可聞之名到所指之體，由所會之體到能行之因果，由自行因果到化他之用，再由眾多利益回到教相分別。後一章不是外加，前一章也不因生出後章而失去作用。
同一條路，為何有教與行兩面
約教說看，一切法先被明白指出；神力使眾生驚醒渴仰，才堪領受祕藏；領受後修行，便有深因深果；最後再辨此說與其他教說的同異。這是佛如何使法成為可聞教說的次第。
約行人看，先從經卷或善知識聞名，因聞而推求義理，使體顯明；體須由行契會，因果於是成立；行既排除自己的惑，也能利益他人；最後仍須辨教說同異。這是眾生如何由聽聞走入修行的次第。
兩條路一由說者出發，一由聞者出發。所經五章相同，方向卻相對：佛使甚深之法落到可聞，行人由所聞之名回到甚深之法。生起所顯的，正是教與行如何在五章中相遇。
釋籤之眼
湛然把短文科成釋名、生起意、正生起、所依不同、能依所從五步，並以從麁至細解五章原序。名是能詮，最易先識；教相分別前四，故最後才立。
鏡中又提醒，名與體互為因依，不能在名外另執一個孤立實體。教、行兩途雖起點不同，都須由判教顯其妙旨；因此末章不是附錄，而是整條生起得以完成的一步。
The pass How the Chapters Arise in Sequence is very short, yet begins the five chapters with a difficult problem. A name cannot summon a thing into being, and a thing has no fixed substance waiting for its name. If neither name nor thing can be grasped, why does scriptural explanation not speak directly from the true mark but instead place explaining the name first?
The answer neither rejects names nor treats them as real. Viewed ultimately, a name is not the thing, and the thing is not confined by the name. Viewed within the speech through which sentient beings understand one another, without names there is no way to indicate Dharma. A name functions precisely because its limits are understood: it is not the place one arrives, yet it allows one to know where to begin.
The Five Chapters Are Not Five Blocks but One Path
Explaining the name first indicates the Dharma to be known. Only by following the name to seek the Dharma can the scripture’s substance become manifest. If the substance remains merely an object being observed, it has not yet become what practitioners realize, and therefore the cause and fruit of one’s own practice must be taken as the purport. If the fulfillment of one’s own practice stops with oneself, the scripture has no work of transformation and guidance. Effective power therefore arises from substance and purport to benefit sentient beings. Since methods of benefiting are many, one must still distinguish which verbal teaching fits which faculties, finally establishing the characteristics of the teaching.
The five chapters are thus like a path that continually deepens: from the audible name to the substance indicated, from the substance realized to practicable cause and fruit, from the cause and fruit of one’s own practice to the function of transforming others, and from the many benefits back to discerning the characteristics of the teaching. A later chapter is not an external addition, and a preceding chapter does not lose its function after giving rise to what follows.
Why Does the Same Path Have the Two Sides of Teaching and Practice?
Viewed in terms of teaching, all Dharmas are first clearly indicated. Supernormal powers awaken sentient beings and make them thirst to receive the secret treasury. Once they receive it and practice, there are profound cause and profound fruit. Finally, the sameness and difference of this teaching and the others are distinguished. This is the sequence by which the Buddha makes Dharma into an audible teaching.
Viewed in terms of practitioners, they first hear a name from a scripture scroll or a good spiritual friend. Through hearing, they investigate the principle and make the substance manifest. The substance must be realized through practice, and cause and fruit are thus established. Practice removes their own delusions and enables them to benefit others. Finally, they must still distinguish the teachings’ sameness and difference. This is the sequence by which sentient beings enter practice from hearing.
One path begins from the speaker and the other from the hearer. They pass through the same five chapters, but their directions face one another: the Buddha brings profound Dharma down into what can be heard, while practitioners return through the name they hear to profound Dharma. What How the Chapters Arise in Sequence reveals is precisely how teaching and practice meet within the five chapters.
Through the Eye of the Shiqian
Zhanran analyzes the short passage into five steps: explaining the name, the intent of sequence, the proper sequence, its different foundations, and what the dependent sequence follows. He explains the original order of the five chapters as proceeding from coarse to fine. Name is what expresses and is easiest to recognize first; the characteristics of the teaching distinguish the preceding four and are therefore established only at the end.
The mirror further reminds us that name and substance are mutually dependent; one cannot grasp an isolated substance outside names. Although the routes of teaching and practice have different starting points, both require classifying the teaching in order to reveal their wondrous purport. The final chapter is therefore not an appendix but a step by which the entire sequence is completed.
考據Apparatus
生起番回答五章為何依此次第相生：名使法可指，循名而識體，會體須有自行因果，由自行圓滿而起化他力用，利益多端又須教相分別。論主再以〈如來神力品〉約教、〈序品〉約行，顯示同一次第的兩種所依。
一、科判定位
本番起於「三、生起者，能生為生，所生為起」〔T33 0684c25〕，止於「今之五義，依〈序品〉扶行次第也」〔0685a17〕；下一行「四、開合者」〔0685a19〕已入第四番。
《法華玄義釋籤》（T1717）判為五科：「三生起中為五：初釋名，次明生起意」〔T33 0827c13〕，繼而以肇師以下正明生起、神力以下明所依不同、今之以下明能依所從。依本論可分：釋能生與所生；明由麁至細而前後不違；正說五章展轉；約〈神力品〉立教次第；約〈序品〉立行次第。
二、成立與傳本
本論緣起所誌為智者於江陵說玄義、灌頂受聞筆錄，並明記《玄》《文》各十卷〔T33 0681a16–a23〕。本番篇幅雖短，五步完整；全段未見換入章安私釋的明文，《法華玄義釋籤》也依論主正說連續科釋，故作智者講說、灌頂記錄。
傳本讀法須守兩個層次：前半是五章本身的名實與展轉，後半借根經場景說教、行兩路。根經沒有自行列出五章次第；教次第與行次第是論主依經所作的組織。
三、所引經論覆核
本番所引共三組，完整列如下。
| 《玄義》引文或場景 | 今本對讀 | 關係 |
|---|---|---|
| 肇云「名無召物之功，物無應名之實。無名無物，名、物安在」〔T33 0684c26〕 | 《肇論》（T1858）〈不真空論〉作「夫以名求物，物無當名之實；以物求名，名無得物之功」〔T45 0152c20〕，續以名實無當問萬物安在 | 本論撮義並改寫，不冒充僧肇原段逐字 |
| 《大經》云「一切世諦，若於如來，即是第一義諦」〔T33 0685a03〕 | 《大般涅槃經》（T0374）作「一切世諦，若於如來即是第一義諦」〔T12 0465b22〕 | 同文，標點各守其本 |
| 〈神力品〉所說一切所有之法、自在神力、祕要之藏、甚深之事〔T33 0685a02–a09〕 | 《妙法蓮華經》（T0262）長文起於「以要言之，如來一切所有之法」〔T09 0052a17〕 | 承前番已引場景；本番改按教次第展開，不另造第二來源 |
肇師引文先在第一義中破名實自性，論主隨即轉到世諦：若完全無名，法也無從顯示。故此引不是否定釋名，而是說明名既非實體，又有顯法之用。
《大般涅槃經》之句在本番證『一切法本皆佛法』；眾生顛倒而見其非，須由教示顯。〈神力品〉四項則依次展作法、神力、祕藏、甚深事，不把前番名、用、體、宗的證義機械重複，而改由說教發生的次第讀取。
四、釋籤釋要〔鏡〕
《法華玄義釋籤》先以「今之五章是從麁至細」〔T33 0827c17〕說明能詮之名最麁，故先居首；教相分別前四，故較細而居後，又總結「是則展轉遞為生起」〔0827c24〕。
肇師一段，《釋籤》依名與實皆無自性來解，但不讓答案落到另一個實體所依；它說「理性無體全依無明，無明無體全依法性」〔0828a02〕，從而顯名與體互為因依。這使『名於法、法即是體』不成為由名稱創造實體，也不成為離名另有可執的物。
末後兩路，《釋籤》以「若教若行俱須判教方顯妙旨」〔0828a10〕收束：〈神力品〉約教，〈序品〉約行，二途都須在末後辨其與餘經同異。因此教相居後，不是外加附錄，而是前四義完成後不可少的分辨。
五、諸家異釋
智銓《法華經玄籤證釋》（X0592）以「三、生起」〔X 0566c06〕直標本番，隨即說「肇法師不真空論云：夫以名求物，物無當名之實」〔X 0566c06〕，把本論『肇云』明確回接〈不真空論〉名實場景。這是後出古注的辨源，不把本論撮義改寫成僧肇逐字。
智旭《法華經玄義節要》（X0589）保存「三生起者，能生為生，所生為起」〔X 0510b18〕及其後五章次第，是直接節錄的結構見證。
限定所檢智圓著作範圍內，未見直接扣合本番五步與教、行兩路的連續釋文；只見五章玄義的鄰近框架。此為範圍受限的乾淨結果，不另虛立異說。
六、術語
生、起。 能生者名生，所生者名起。重點在前後展轉，不是說前一章在時間上製造後一章。
麁、細。 能詮之名較易識，先居；體、宗、用漸深；教相又分別前四，故後居。麁細是認識與分判次第，不是貶名而尊體。
名、法、體。 名用以指法，循名而識體；名不自帶實物，體也不因名而新生。世諦顯法與第一義無相須同時保存。
教次第、行次第。 前者由法、神力、祕藏、甚深事到分別教相；後者由聞名、推理、起行因果、排惑利他到分別同異。兩路同歸五章而起點不同。
七、譬喻、互讀與承衍
本番沒有另造長譬，卻以『尋名識體』呈現一條讀路：如循路標而到所指，路標不是目的地，沒有路標又難以辨路。名與體因此既不可混同，也不可截斷。
與前一引證番互讀，同一〈神力品〉長文先被用來證五章，此處又被讀作教次第；同一組經文在不同問題下呈現不同關係，而不是第二次重複引證。與〈序品〉互讀，聞名、推理、修行、利他與分教形成行者一側的次第。
生起之後緊接開合：既明五章為何依此次第展轉，下一番才可問五章如何收攝一經、又如何開成多門。承衍關係是先定縱向前後，再辨橫向開合。
八、校本定位
一、本單元以 T33n1716 為底，起於 0684c25，止於 0685a18；0685a19 已入開合番。
二、通解七番全範圍三處正文異讀標記在 0683b01、0684a08、0688a01；本單元範圍內無正文異讀標記。此結論來自異讀節點閉合清點。
三、頁錨依引文首字之前最近行號。肇師引文只標本論行錨；今本《肇論》另取其自身首字行錨，不以本論撮義反套今本。
四、本單元短而科足，教次第與行次第各有起訖；校讀不可因篇幅短而把兩路併成一句。
The pass How the Chapters Arise in Sequence answers why the five chapters produce one another in this order: the name makes it possible to indicate a Dharma; following the name, one recognizes the substance; realizing the substance requires the cause and fruit of one’s own practice; from the fulfillment of one’s own practice arises the effective power for transforming others; and because the ways of benefiting are many, the characteristics of the teaching must be distinguished. The treatise then uses “The Supernormal Powers of the Tathāgata” chapter in terms of teaching and the “Introduction” chapter in terms of practice, revealing two foundations for the same sequence.
1. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
This pass begins with 「三、生起者，能生為生，所生為起」 tr. “Third, as for how the chapters arise in sequence, what can produce is called arising and what is produced is called coming forth”〔T33 0684c25〕 and ends with 「今之五義，依〈序品〉扶行次第也」 tr. “The present five meanings follow the sequence in which the “Introduction” chapter supports practice”〔0685a17〕. The next line, 「四、開合者」 tr. “Fourth, as for opening and combining”〔0685a19〕, has already entered the fourth pass.
The Fahua Xuanyi Shiqian (T1717) analyzes the passage into five divisions: 「三生起中為五：初釋名，次明生起意」 tr. “Within the third pass, How the Chapters Arise in Sequence, there are five: first explaining the name, next clarifying the intent of arising in sequence”〔T33 0827c13〕. It continues with the passage beginning with Master Sengzhao as the proper explanation of the sequence, that beginning with Supernormal Powers as clarifying its different foundations, and that beginning “the present” as clarifying what the dependent sequence follows. According to the treatise, the five can be divided as follows: explaining producer and produced; clarifying that the movement from coarse to fine does not make before and after contradict; properly teaching how the five chapters unfold from one another; establishing the sequence of teaching through the “Supernormal Powers” chapter; and establishing the sequence of practice through the “Introduction” chapter.
2. Formation and Transmission
The origins recorded in this treatise state that Zhiyi taught the Profound Meaning at Jiangling and Guanding heard and transcribed it, and explicitly note that the Profound Meaning and Words and Phrases each comprised ten fascicles〔T33 0681a16–a23〕. Although this pass is short, all five steps are complete. No explicit passage shifts into Zhang’an’s private explanation, and the Shiqian treats the whole continuously as the treatise master’s proper teaching. It is therefore treated as Zhiyi’s oral teaching recorded by Guanding.
The transmitted text must be read on two levels. The first half concerns name and reality within the five chapters and how the chapters unfold from one another. The second half borrows scenes from the root scripture to explain two routes, teaching and practice. The root scripture does not itself list the sequence of the five chapters; the treatise master organizes the sequence of teaching and sequence of practice on the basis of the scripture.
3. Scriptures and Treatises Cited by Zhiyi
The three groups cited in this pass are listed in full below.
| Quotation or scene in the Fahua Xuanyi | Comparison with the extant text | Relationship |
|---|---|---|
| Sengzhao says, 「名無召物之功，物無應名之實。無名無物，名、物安在」 tr. “Names have no power to summon things, and things have no reality that responds to names. If there are no names and no things, where do name and thing abide?”〔T33 0684c26〕 | The “Treatise on the Emptiness of the Unreal” in the Zhaolun (T1858) has 「夫以名求物，物無當名之實；以物求名，名無得物之功」 tr. “If one seeks a thing through its name, the thing has no reality corresponding to the name; if one seeks the name through the thing, the name has no power to obtain the thing”〔T45 0152c20〕, and continues from the failure of name and reality to correspond by asking where the ten thousand things abide | The treatise digests and rewrites the meaning; it is not presented as Sengzhao’s verbatim original passage |
| The Great Scripture says, 「一切世諦，若於如來，即是第一義諦」 tr. “Every conventional truth, within the Tathāgata, is the ultimate truth”〔T33 0685a03〕 | The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (T0374) has 「一切世諦，若於如來即是第一義諦」 tr. “Every conventional truth, within the Tathāgata, is the ultimate truth”〔T12 0465b22〕 | Verbatim, with punctuation preserved according to each text |
| The “Supernormal Powers” chapter’s all the Dharmas possessed, sovereign supernormal powers, treasury of secrets and essentials, and exceedingly profound matters〔T33 0685a02–a09〕 | The long passage in the Sutra of the Lotus Blossom of the Wondrous Dharma (T0262) begins with 「以要言之，如來一切所有之法」 tr. “To state it in essential terms, all the Dharmas possessed by the Tathāgata”〔T09 0052a17〕 | This scene carries forward the citation already made in the preceding pass; the present pass unfolds it instead according to the sequence of teaching and does not fabricate a second source |
The passage from Master Sengzhao first breaks the intrinsic nature of name and reality within the ultimate truth. The treatise master then immediately turns to conventional truth: if there were no names at all, Dharma could not be revealed. The citation therefore does not negate explaining the name. It explains that although a name is not an entity, it still functions to reveal Dharma.
The sentence from the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra proves in this pass that “all Dharmas are originally Buddha-Dharma.” Sentient beings see them as otherwise through inversion, and they must be revealed through teaching. The four items in the “Supernormal Powers” chapter then unfold in sequence as Dharma, supernormal power, secret treasury, and profound matters. The pass does not mechanically repeat their earlier assignment as evidence for name, function, substance, and purport, but reads them anew according to the sequence in which teaching occurs.
4. Essential Explanations from the Shiqian [the Mirror]
The Fahua Xuanyi Shiqian first explains 「今之五章是從麁至細」 tr. “The present five chapters proceed from coarse to fine”〔T33 0827c17〕. The name that expresses is coarsest and therefore placed first; the characteristics of the teaching distinguish the preceding four and are therefore finer and placed last. It concludes, 「是則展轉遞為生起」 tr. “They thus unfold from one another in succession as arising in sequence”〔0827c24〕.
For the passage from Master Sengzhao, the Shiqian explains that neither name nor reality possesses intrinsic nature, but it does not let the answer rest on another substantial basis. It says, 「理性無體全依無明，無明無體全依法性」 tr. “The nature of principle has no substance and depends wholly upon ignorance; ignorance has no substance and depends wholly upon Dharma-nature”〔0828a02〕, thereby revealing the mutual dependence of name and substance. Thus “the name designates the Dharma, and the Dharma is the substance” neither means that a name creates a substance nor posits a graspable thing apart from names.
The Shiqian gathers the two final routes with 「若教若行俱須判教方顯妙旨」 tr. “Whether in teaching or in practice, both require classifying the teaching before the wondrous purport is revealed”〔0828a10〕. The “Supernormal Powers” chapter is explained in terms of teaching and the “Introduction” chapter in terms of practice; both routes must finally distinguish their sameness and difference from the other scriptures. Classifying the teaching comes last, therefore, not as an appended supplement but as an indispensable distinction once the first four meanings are complete.
5. Explanations of Various Masters
Zhiquan’s Fahua Jing Xuanqian Zhengshi (X0592) directly marks this pass with 「三、生起」 tr. “Third, How the Chapters Arise in Sequence”〔X 0566c06〕, then immediately says 「肇法師不真空論云：夫以名求物，物無當名之實」 tr. “Master Sengzhao’s Treatise on the Emptiness of the Unreal says: ‘If one seeks a thing through its name, the thing has no reality corresponding to the name’”〔X 0566c06〕. It thereby explicitly returns the treatise’s “Sengzhao says” to the scene concerning name and reality in the “Treatise on the Emptiness of the Unreal.” This later ancient commentary identifies the source without rewriting the treatise’s digest as Sengzhao’s verbatim words.
Zhixu’s Fahua Jing Xuanyi Jieyao (X0589) preserves 「三生起者，能生為生，所生為起」 tr. “Third, as for how the chapters arise in sequence, what can produce is called arising and what is produced is called coming forth”〔X 0510b18〕 and the subsequent sequence of the five chapters. It is a direct structural witness through selected passages.
Within the limited range of Zhiyuan’s works examined, no continuous explanation was found that directly corresponds to this pass’s five steps and its two routes of teaching and practice. Only a neighboring framework for the Fivefold Profound Meaning was found. This is a clean result within a bounded search; no separate interpretation is fabricated.
6. Terminology
Arising and coming forth. What can produce is called arising; what is produced is called coming forth. The emphasis lies on the successive unfolding of before and after, not on a preceding chapter temporally manufacturing a later chapter.
Coarse and fine. The name that expresses is easier to recognize and comes first. Substance, purport, and function become progressively more profound. The characteristics of the teaching distinguish the preceding four and therefore come last. Coarse and fine describe a sequence of knowing and discerning; they do not demean name in order to exalt substance.
Name, Dharma, and substance. A name indicates a Dharma, and by following the name one recognizes the substance. A name does not itself carry a physical thing, and the substance does not newly arise because of the name. Revealing Dharma through conventional truth and the absence of marks in the ultimate truth must both be preserved.
Sequence of teaching and sequence of practice. The first proceeds from Dharma, supernormal power, secret treasury, and profound matters to distinguishing the characteristics of the teaching. The second proceeds from hearing the name, investigating the principle, giving rise to the cause and fruit of practice, removing delusion and benefiting others, to distinguishing sameness and difference. The two routes return to the same five chapters from different starting points.
7. Similes · Cross-Reading · Carrying Forward
This pass creates no extended new simile, but “following the name to recognize the substance” presents a path of reading. It is like following a road sign to what it indicates: the sign is not the destination, yet without it the road is difficult to discern. Name and substance can therefore be neither conflated nor cut apart.
Read together with the preceding pass Citing Evidence, the same long passage in the “Supernormal Powers” chapter is first used there to prove the five chapters and is read here as the sequence of teaching. The same set of scriptural words reveals different relationships under different questions; this is not a second repetition of the evidence. Read together with the “Introduction” chapter, hearing a name, investigating a principle, practicing, benefiting others, and distinguishing teachings form the sequence from the practitioner’s side.
Opening and Combining immediately follows How the Chapters Arise in Sequence. Once it is clear why the five chapters unfold in this order, the next pass can ask how the five chapters gather the whole scripture and how they open into many gates. The carrying-forward relationship first establishes the vertical sequence of before and after, then distinguishes horizontal opening and combining.
8. Placement of the Editions
First, this unit takes T33n1716 as its base. It begins at 0684c25 and ends at 0685a18; 0685a19 has already entered Opening and Combining.
Second, the three body-text variant markers across the full range of the seven shared passes occur at 0683b01, 0684a08, and 0688a01. No body-text variant marker occurs within this unit’s range. This conclusion comes from a closed inventory of the variant nodes.
Third, page anchors follow the nearest line number before the first graph of a quotation. The citation from Master Sengzhao is given only the treatise’s line anchor; the extant Zhaolun receives its own first-graph line anchor. The treatise’s digest is not retroactively imposed upon the extant text.
Fourth, this unit is brief but structurally complete. The sequences of teaching and practice each have their own beginning and end; textual study must not compress them into a single sentence because of the passage’s short length.