妙法蓮華經玄義 判教·出異
同一片日光先照高山；同一場說法落在不同根機中，也可能顯成不同的理解。判教之難，正從這裡開始。
有人沿時間分判：先有相，後無相，再到同歸與常住。有人沿經論義理分判：由四宗開五宗，或由四宗開六宗。有人看經中是否明說階級、十地、功德與行相，分成有相大乘與無相大乘。每一張圖都在回答：佛一代教法怎樣展開？
最後一說乾脆放下四宗、五宗、六宗、二相與半滿，只立一佛乘、一音教。諸佛常行一乘，眾生所見卻有三。差別既與聞者有關，便不能只憑教名多少，推定佛所說的真實有幾種。
所以，出異先不急著選一張圖，而把南三北七完整攤開。看清每一說把哪些經放在哪裡、用什麼原則開合，才有可能在下一步真正問難與去取。修行人讀到這裡，也可回問自己：我所執取的，究竟是佛所行的一乘，還是自己隨類所見的一幅圖？
If the Buddha teaches with only one sound, why do sentient beings hear three vehicles? The same sunlight first illumines the high mountains; the same teaching, received by different faculties, may likewise appear as different understandings. The difficulty of classifying the teaching begins precisely here.
Some classify along a timeline: first a teaching with marks, then one without marks, followed by common return and permanence. Some classify according to the meanings of scriptures and treatises: four schools are opened into five, or four into six. Others ask whether a scripture expressly teaches graded levels, the ten grounds, qualities, and characteristics of practice, and accordingly distinguish a Great Vehicle with marks from a Great Vehicle without marks. Each map answers the question: how does the Buddha’s lifelong teaching unfold?
The final view simply sets aside the four schools, five schools, six schools, two marks, and half and full, and establishes only the One Buddha-Vehicle and the one-sound teaching. The buddhas constantly practice the One Vehicle, yet sentient beings see three. Since difference is related to the hearer, the number of names for teachings alone cannot determine how many kinds of reality the Buddha taught.
Setting out divergent classifications therefore does not rush to choose one map. It lays out the three classifications of the South and seven of the North in full. Only by seeing clearly which scriptures each account places where, and by what principle each opens and combines them, can one genuinely proceed to challenge, accept, and reject. A practitioner reading here may also ask: am I grasping the One Vehicle practiced by the Buddha, or a map that appears according to my own kind?
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 0801a17〕。段/行首〔T33 …〕＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨（換頁一枚）。
〔T33 0801a17〕○二出異解者，即為十意：所謂南三、北七。 南北地通用三種教相：一、頓。二、漸。三、不定。《華嚴》為化菩薩，如日照高山，名為頓教。三藏為化小乘，先教半字，故名有相教。十二年後，為大乘人，說五時般若，乃至常住，名無相教。此等俱為漸教也。別有一經，非頓漸攝，而明佛性常住，《勝鬘》、《光明》等是也，此名偏方不定教，此之三意通途共用也。 一者、虎丘山岌師，述頓與不定，不殊前舊。漸更為三：十二年前明三藏，見有得道，名有相教；十二年後齊至法華，明見空得道，名無相教；最後雙林，明一切眾生佛性、闡提作佛，明常住教也。 二者、宗愛法師，頓與不定同前，就漸更判四時教，即莊嚴旻師所用。三時不異前，更於無相後、常住之前，指法華會三歸一，萬善悉向菩提，名同歸教也。 三者、定林柔、次二師，及道場觀法師，明頓與不定同前，更判漸為五時教，即開善光宅所用也。四時不異前，更約無相之後、同歸之前，指《淨名》、《思益》諸方等經，為褒貶抑揚教。 四者、北地師亦作五時教，而取提謂波利為人天教，合《淨名》、《般若》為無相教，餘三不異南方。 五者、菩提流支明半滿教，十二年前皆是半字教，十二年後皆是滿字教。 六者、佛馱三藏、學士光統所辨四宗判教：一、因緣宗，指毘曇六因四緣；二、假名宗，指《成論》三假；三、誑相宗，指《大品》、三論；四、常宗，指《涅槃》、《華嚴》等，常住佛性，本有湛然也。 七者、有師開五宗教，四義不異前，更指《華嚴》為法界宗，即護身自軌大乘所用也。 八者、有人稱光統云：四宗有所不收，更開六宗：指《法華》萬善同歸，諸佛法久後要當說真實，名為真宗。《大集》染淨俱融，法界圓普，名為圓宗。餘四宗如前，即是耆闍凜師所用。 九者、北地禪師，明二種大乘教：一、有相大乘。二、無相大乘。有相者，如《華嚴》、《瓔珞》、《大品》等，說階級十地功德行相也。無相者，如《楞伽》、《思益》，真法無詮次，一切眾生即涅槃相也。 十者、北地禪師，非四宗、五宗、六宗、二相、半滿等教，但一佛乘，無二亦無三，一音說法，隨類異解。諸佛常行一乘，眾生見三，但是一音教也。出異解竟。
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.
判教的第二項，是列出不同的解釋，共有十種意見，也就是南方三家、北方七家。
南北兩地通用的三種教相
南北兩地共同使用三種教相：第一是頓，第二是漸，第三是不定。
《華嚴》是為了教化菩薩，如同太陽照到高山，所以名為頓教。
三藏是為了教化小乘，先教半字，所以名為有相教。十二年以後，為大乘人宣說五時般若，乃至常住，名為無相教。這些都屬於漸教。
另外有一種經教，不屬頓、漸所攝，卻明說佛性常住，《勝鬘》《光明》等便是這一類。這名為偏方不定教。以上頓、漸、不定三意，是南北通行而共同採用的說法。
南方三家
第一，虎丘山岌法師所述的頓教與不定教，和前代舊說沒有不同；漸教則再分成三時。十二年以前明三藏，使人見有而得道，名為有相教。十二年以後一直到《法華》，明見空而得道，名為無相教。最後在雙林，明一切眾生都有佛性、一闡提也能成佛，名為常住教。
第二，宗愛法師所說的頓教與不定教也同前說，卻把漸教再判為四時，這就是莊嚴旻法師所採用的判法。前三時與前說沒有不同；他又在無相教之後、常住教之前，指出《法華》會合三乘而歸於一乘，一切善行全都趣向菩提，名為同歸教。
第三，定林寺僧柔法師、謝寺慧次法師兩人，以及道場寺慧觀法師，所明的頓教與不定教也同前說，卻把漸教再判為五時，這就是開善光宅所採用的判法。前四時與前說沒有不同；他又在無相教之後、同歸教之前，指出《淨名》《思益》等各部方等經，立為褒貶抑揚教。
北方七家
第四，北地法師也立五時教，卻取提謂、波利作為人天教，又把《淨名》《般若》合在一起，判為無相教，其餘三時與南方說法沒有不同。
第五，菩提流支明半滿教：十二年以前全是半字教，十二年以後全是滿字教。
第六，佛馱三藏與學士光統辨立四宗判教。第一是因緣宗，指毘曇所說六因、四緣；第二是假名宗，指《成論》三假；第三是誑相宗，指《大品》與三論；第四是常宗，指《涅槃》《華嚴》等，說常住佛性本來具足而澄明不動。
第七，有人開為五宗教，前四宗的意義與前說沒有不同，另外再指《華嚴》為法界宗。這就是護身寺的自軌法師——人稱『大乘』——所採用的判法。
第八，有人轉述光統的說法：四宗仍有不能收攝之處，所以再開為六宗。以《法華》所說一切善行同歸，以及諸佛說法經過很久以後必當宣說真實，名為真宗；以《大集》所說染與淨共同融通、法界圓滿普遍，名為圓宗；其餘四宗仍如前說。這就是耆闍凜法師所採用的判法。
第九，北地禪師明兩種大乘教：第一是有相大乘，第二是無相大乘。有相大乘如《華嚴》《瓔珞》《大品》等，宣說有階級的十地、各地功德與修行形相。無相大乘如《楞伽》《思益》，說真實之法沒有由言語詮說而排列的次第，一切眾生當下就是涅槃之相。
第十，北地禪師不取四宗教、五宗教、六宗教、二相教、半滿教等判法，只立一佛乘，沒有第二乘，也沒有第三乘；佛以一音說法，眾生隨各自種類而有不同理解。諸佛恆常行一乘，眾生所見卻有三乘，其實只是同一個一音教。
到這裡，十種異解全部列完。
The second part of Classifying the Teaching sets out the divergent interpretations. There are ten views in all: the three classifications of the South and seven of the North.
The Three Characteristics of the Teaching Common to North and South
The South and North shared three characteristics of the teaching: first sudden, second gradual, and third indeterminate.
The Avataṃsaka teaches bodhisattvas, like the sun shining upon the high mountains, and is therefore called the sudden teaching.
The Tripiṭaka teaches the Lesser Vehicle. Because it first teaches the half-word, it is called the teaching of marks. After the twelfth year, the Great Vehicle was taught for Great Vehicle persons: the five-period Prajñā teaching and, onward from there, permanence. This is called the teaching without marks. All of these belong to the gradual teaching.
There is also another kind of scriptural teaching that is not included within the sudden or gradual yet expressly clarifies the permanence of buddha-nature. The Śrīmālā and Golden Light, among others, belong to this class. This is called the off-to-one-side indeterminate teaching. The foregoing three ideas—sudden, gradual, and indeterminate—were current and commonly adopted in both South and North.
The Three Southern Classifications
First, Master Shanji of Huqiu Mountain set forth sudden and indeterminate teachings no different from the older explanations of previous generations, while further dividing the gradual teaching into three periods. Before the twelfth year, the Tripiṭaka was clarified, enabling people to see existence and attain the path; this was called the teaching of marks. From after the twelfth year through the Lotus, seeing emptiness and attaining the path was clarified; this was called the teaching without marks. Finally, at the Twin Trees, it was clarified that all sentient beings possess buddha-nature and that icchantikas can also become buddhas; this was called the teaching of permanence.
Second, Master Zong’ai likewise explained the sudden and indeterminate teachings as before, but classified the gradual teaching into four periods. This was the classification adopted by Master Sengmin of Zhuangyan Monastery. The first three periods did not differ from the preceding account. After the teaching without marks and before the teaching of permanence, he further identified the Lotus as gathering the three vehicles into the One Vehicle, with all wholesome practices wholly tending toward bodhi; this was called the common-return teaching.
Third, Master Sengrou of Dinglin Monastery, Master Huici of Xie Monastery, and Master Huiguan of Daochang Monastery likewise explained the sudden and indeterminate teachings as before, but classified the gradual teaching into five periods. This was the classification adopted by Kaishan and Guangzhai. The first four periods did not differ from the preceding account. After the teaching without marks and before the common-return teaching, they further identified the various Vaipulya scriptures, including the Vimalakīrti and Questions of Brahmā Viśeṣacintin, and established the teaching of praise and reproach, suppression and promotion.
The Seven Northern Classifications
Fourth, masters of the North also established a teaching of five periods, but took Tiwei and Boli as the human-and-deva teaching and combined the Vimalakīrti and the Prajñāpāramitā as the teaching without marks. The other three periods did not differ from the Southern explanation.
Fifth, Bodhiruci clarified the half-and-full teaching: everything before the twelfth year was the half-word teaching, and everything after the twelfth year was the full-word teaching.
Sixth, Tripiṭaka Master Fotuo and the scholar Guangtong distinguished four schools in classifying the teaching. The first was the school of causes and conditions, referring to the six causes and four conditions taught in the Abhidharma. The second was the school of provisional names, referring to the three provisionalities of the Satyasiddhi Treatise. The third was the school of deceptive marks, referring to the Large Prajñāpāramitā and the Three Treatises. The fourth was the school of permanence, referring to the Nirvāṇa, Avataṃsaka, and other scriptures, which teach that permanently abiding buddha-nature is originally possessed, limpid, and unmoving.
Seventh, some opened a teaching of five schools. The meanings of the first four schools did not differ from the preceding account, and the Avataṃsaka was further identified as the Dharma-realm school. This was the classification adopted by Master Zigui of Hushen Monastery, who was honorifically called “Mahāyāna.”
Eighth, some related Guangtong’s explanation in this way: the four schools still left some teachings uncontained, so they were further opened into six schools. The Lotus teaches that all wholesome practices share one return and that, after the Dharma of the buddhas has remained for a long time, the real must be taught; this was called the true school. The Great Collection teaches that defilement and purity interpenetrate together and that the Dharma realm is perfect and universally pervasive; this was called the perfect school. The other four schools remained as before. This was the classification adopted by Master Qishe Lin.
Ninth, meditation masters of the North clarified two kinds of Great Vehicle teaching: first, the Great Vehicle with marks; second, the Great Vehicle without marks. The Great Vehicle with marks includes the Avataṃsaka, Yingluo, and Large Prajñāpāramitā, which teach graded levels, the ten grounds, the qualities of each ground, and the characteristics of practice. The Great Vehicle without marks includes the Laṅkāvatāra and Questions of Brahmā Viśeṣacintin, which say that the real Dharma has no sequence arranged through verbal expression and that all sentient beings are immediately the mark of nirvāṇa.
Tenth, meditation masters of the North did not accept the classifications of four schools, five schools, six schools, two-marks teaching, or half-and-full teaching. They established only the One Buddha-Vehicle, without a second vehicle and without a third. The Buddha teaches the Dharma with one sound, while sentient beings form different understandings according to their respective kinds. The buddhas constantly practice the One Vehicle, yet sentient beings see three vehicles; in truth, there is only this one-sound teaching.
At this point, all ten divergent classifications have been set out.
判教為何不直接說出自家綱格，反而先列十種舊說？因為教相之難，不只在名目多，而在同一部經可以被放進不同時序、不同宗門與不同說法結構。智者在大意之後先出異解，灌頂的筆錄把南北諸家依原有次第完整展開；辨明每一說究竟怎樣安排經教，後面的問難與去取才有明確對象。
三個通用名稱，各自說了什麼
南北兩地先共同使用頓、漸、不定三名。頓以《華嚴》教化菩薩為眼，像日光先照高山。漸從三藏先教半字、有相，推到十二年後的大乘、般若乃至常住，說一條先後開展的教路。不定則另取不在頓漸之內、卻明佛性常住的經教，以《勝鬘》《光明》為例。
三名之下已經有三種觀看教法的方式：頓看最初所對的根機，漸看教說先後，不定看某部經是否落在既有次序之外。三藏、般若、常住的先後，與另有經教的旁出，構成漸與不定的分界。這一層是南北共同的底圖；十家之異，從底圖上再向不同方向分判。
南方三家，為何由三時增到五時
虎丘山岌保留頓與不定，只把漸分成三時：先是見有得道的有相教，再是見空得道的無相教，最後是雙林所明佛性、闡提成佛的常住教。這條次序以有、空、常住為三個關節。
宗愛把漸增為四時。前三時仍舊，卻在無相之後、常住之前安置《法華》，以會三歸一、萬善趣向菩提為同歸教。定林寺僧柔法師、謝寺慧次法師兩人，以及道場寺慧觀法師，再增為五時：前四時仍舊，又把《淨名》《思益》等方等經放在無相之後、同歸之前，名為褒貶抑揚教。
由三到四、由四到五，每次增加都不是把舊次序全部推翻，而是在無相與常住之間重新辨出一個教化作用。南方三家的差別，由此集中在《淨名》《思益》《法華》應當如何安放。
北方七家，不只沿一條時間線
北方第一家也立五時，卻把提謂波利放在最初的人天教，又把《淨名》與《般若》合為無相教，其餘三時仍同南方。它改變了開端與無相教的範圍，卻沒有另造後三時。第二家不用三時、四時的細分，只以十二年前後判半字、滿字。
其後三家改用宗來收攝經論。佛馱三藏與學士光統所辨四宗，以毘曇六因四緣為因緣宗，以《成論》三假為假名宗，以《大品》與三論為誑相宗，以《涅槃》《華嚴》等常住佛性為常宗。五宗保留前四，再增華嚴法界宗。六宗也保留原四，卻另增法華真宗與大集圓宗。五宗與六宗都從四宗開出，所增內容各不相同。本論又分別記下採用者：五宗為護身自軌大乘所用，六宗為耆闍凜師所用；分類數目、增列內容與人師傳承同時保存。
第九家又換一個角度，把大乘分成有相與無相。有相經教宣說階級、十地、功德與行相；無相經教則說真法沒有由言詮排列的次第，一切眾生即是涅槃相。這裡的分界，落在經教如何呈現修證差別。
一音之下，為何眾生所見有三
第十家把前面的四宗、五宗、六宗、二相與半滿全部放下，只說一佛乘，無二亦無三。佛以一音說法，眾生卻隨類形成不同理解；諸佛常行的是一乘，眾生所見則有三乘。
這個收尾把問題推到說法者與聞法者之間。同一佛乘如何顯成多種理解？多種教相究竟來自佛說有別，還是眾生領受有別？本單元把這一說也放入十意，與前面的時序、宗門、半滿、有相無相並列，讓異解的全貌先清楚呈現。
出異至此只完成一件事：使每一種判法各有自己的名稱、次序、所指經論與開合關係。當南三北七不再只是總稱，後文才能逐項檢驗其義是否成立，再辨哪些可取、哪些須捨。
釋籤之眼
湛然先把全段分成通用三意與諸師不同兩層，並指出頓、漸、不定雖然名目相同，舊說所明之義仍未周全。這一照使十意的數目有了邊界：三個通名是前置底圖，南三北七才是後列十家。
鏡中又把南、北落在南朝與北朝的地域，說江南盛弘《成實》，河北偏尚毘曇；但天台一家不因此歸入南宗。智者使用毘曇、《成實》與三論，是隨義取用，不以地域或學派偏黨。
湛然以『難則南北俱破，取則南北俱存』收住山門立場。破與取都須逐義而行：名同之處仍可辨其未盡，異說之中也可保存所長。這正為後面的明難與去取立下讀法次第。
最後，鏡中專解『護身自軌大乘』的句讀：大乘是護身寺自軌法師的美稱，用來尊重他所學習的教法。這一眼使人物稱號、宗名與書名各守其位，也使五宗一項仍保持原來的數目。
Why does Classifying the Teaching not state its own framework directly, but first list ten older explanations? The difficulty of the characteristics of the teaching lies not only in the abundance of names, but in the fact that one and the same scripture can be placed within different chronologies, schools, and structures of teaching. After the General Purport, Master Zhiyi first sets out divergent classifications, and Guanding’s record unfolds the masters of the South and North completely in their original order. Only when it is clear precisely how each explanation arranges the scriptural teachings can the later difficulties and acceptance and rejection have definite objects.
What Each of the Three Shared Names Says
The South and North first shared the three names sudden, gradual, and indeterminate. The sudden takes as its focus the Avataṃsaka teaching bodhisattvas, like sunlight first illuminating the high mountains. The gradual begins with the Tripiṭaka first teaching the half-word and marks, then extends to the Great Vehicle, Prajñāpāramitā, and permanence after the twelfth year, describing a path of teaching that unfolds in sequence. The indeterminate separately takes scriptures outside the sudden and gradual that nevertheless clarify the permanence of buddha-nature, with the Śrīmālā and Golden Light as examples.
Beneath the three names already lie three ways of viewing the teachings. The sudden attends to the faculties first addressed; the gradual, to the sequence of what is taught; and the indeterminate, to whether a scripture falls outside an established sequence. The sequence of Tripiṭaka, Prajñāpāramitā, and permanence, together with other scriptural teachings branching off to one side, forms the boundary between gradual and indeterminate. This layer is the shared base map of South and North; the differences among the ten classifications divide that base map in different directions.
Why the Three Southern Classifications Increase from Three Periods to Five
Shanji of Huqiu retains the sudden and indeterminate while dividing only the gradual into three periods: first the teaching of marks, in which one sees existence and attains the path; then the teaching without marks, in which one sees emptiness and attains the path; and finally the teaching of permanence, in which the Twin Trees disclose buddha-nature and the buddhahood of icchantikas. Existence, emptiness, and permanence form the three joints of this sequence.
Zong’ai increases the gradual to four periods. The first three remain as before, but after the teaching without marks and before the teaching of permanence he places the Lotus, calling its gathering of the three into the one and the tendency of all wholesome practices toward bodhi the common-return teaching. Master Sengrou of Dinglin Monastery, Master Huici of Xie Monastery, and Master Huiguan of Daochang Monastery increase the number again to five periods. The first four remain as before, but after the teaching without marks and before the common-return teaching they place the Vimalakīrti, Questions of Brahmā Viśeṣacintin, and other Vaipulya scriptures under the name teaching of praise and reproach, suppression and promotion.
In each increase from three to four and from four to five, the older sequence is not overturned in its entirety. Rather, another teaching function is distinguished anew between the teaching without marks and the teaching of permanence. The differences among the three Southern classifications thus center on where the Vimalakīrti, Questions of Brahmā Viśeṣacintin, and Lotus should be placed.
The Seven Northern Classifications Do Not Follow Only One Timeline
The first Northern classification also establishes five periods, but places Tiwei and Boli first as the human-and-deva teaching and combines the Vimalakīrti and Prajñāpāramitā as the teaching without marks; the remaining three periods stay the same as in the South. It alters the beginning and the scope of the teaching without marks without creating three new final periods. The second classification does not use the finer distinctions of three or four periods, but judges half-word and full-word solely by what comes before and after the twelfth year.
The next three classifications instead use schools to gather scriptures and treatises. The four schools distinguished by Tripiṭaka Master Fotuo and the scholar Guangtong take the Abhidharma’s six causes and four conditions as the school of causes and conditions, the Satyasiddhi Treatise’s three provisionalities as the school of provisional names, the Large Prajñāpāramitā and Three Treatises as the school of deceptive marks, and the permanently abiding buddha-nature of the Nirvāṇa, Avataṃsaka, and other scriptures as the school of permanence. The five-school classification retains those four and adds the Avataṃsaka Dharma-realm school. The six-school classification also retains the original four, but adds the Lotus true school and Great Collection perfect school. Both five and six open out from four, but what each adds is different. The treatise also records their adopters separately: the five schools were used by Zigui of Hushen, honorifically called Mahāyāna, while the six were used by Master Qishe Lin. The number of categories, added content, and lineages of masters are all preserved together.
The ninth classification shifts perspective again, dividing the Great Vehicle into with marks and without marks. Scriptures of the Great Vehicle with marks teach graded levels, the ten grounds, qualities, and characteristics of practice; scriptures of the Great Vehicle without marks say that the real Dharma has no sequence arranged by verbal expression and that all sentient beings are the mark of nirvāṇa. The boundary here concerns how scriptural teachings present differences in cultivation and realization.
Under One Sound, Why Do Sentient Beings See Three?
The tenth classification sets aside the preceding four schools, five schools, six schools, two marks, and half and full, and teaches only the One Buddha-Vehicle, without two and without three. The Buddha teaches the Dharma with one sound, but sentient beings form different understandings according to their kinds; what the buddhas constantly practice is the One Vehicle, while sentient beings see three vehicles.
This conclusion pushes the question into the space between speaker and hearer. How does the same Buddha-Vehicle appear as many kinds of understanding? Do the various characteristics of the teaching arise from differences in what the Buddha teaches, or from differences in how sentient beings receive it? This unit places this explanation too among the ten views, alongside chronologies, schools, half and full, and with marks and without marks, allowing the full shape of the divergent classifications to appear clearly first.
Setting out divergent classifications accomplishes only one thing at this point: it gives each classification its own names, sequence, indicated scriptures and treatises, and relations of opening and combining. Only when the three classifications of the South and seven of the North are no longer merely a collective label can the following passage examine, item by item, whether their meanings hold, and then distinguish what can be accepted from what must be rejected.
Through the Eye of the Shiqian
Zhanran first divides the whole passage into two layers: the three ideas in common use and the differences among the various masters. He further points out that although the names sudden, gradual, and indeterminate are the same, the meanings explained by the older accounts are still incomplete. This illumination fixes the boundary of the ten views: the three shared names are the preliminary base map, while the three Southern and seven Northern classifications are the ten systems subsequently listed.
The Mirror further locates South and North within the regions of the Southern and Northern dynasties, saying that the Satyasiddhi Treatise flourished south of the Yangzi while Abhidharma was especially esteemed north of the Yellow River. Yet the Tiantai house does not therefore belong to the Southern school. Master Zhiyi uses Abhidharma, the Satyasiddhi Treatise, and the Three Treatises according to their meanings, without partiality based on region or school.
Zhanran gathers the position of the mountain gate in the words, “when challenging, both South and North are refuted; when accepting, both South and North are preserved.” Refutation and acceptance must both proceed meaning by meaning: where names are the same, their incompleteness can still be discerned, and within divergent explanations, their strengths can still be preserved. This establishes the reading sequence for the later clarification of difficulties and acceptance and rejection.
Finally, the Mirror specially explains how to punctuate the phrase “Zigui of Hushen, Mahāyāna.” Mahāyāna is an honorific epithet for Master Zigui of Hushen Monastery, used out of respect for the teaching he studied. This insight keeps personal epithet, school name, and book title each in its own place, and it also preserves the original number of the five-school classification.
考據Apparatus
本單元位於判教五目之第二，先列南北通用的頓、漸、不定三名，再完整記錄南方三家、北方七家的十種異解。此處的工作是把前代判教依原有次第陳列清楚；逐項問難與去取，分屬後續科段。
一、科判定位
本單元起於「○二出異解者，即為十意：所謂南三、北七。」〔T33 0801a17〕，止於「諸佛常行一乘，眾生見三，但是一音教也。出異解竟。」〔0801b27〕，末字落在 0801b29；下一段「○三明難者，先難南地五時，其義不成，」〔0801c01〕已入明難。
《法華玄義釋籤》（T1717）將本單元分成兩層：「○次異解中二：先明三意通用，次明諸師不同。」〔T33 0951a15〕因此，開頭通用的頓、漸、不定不是十意中的前三意；十意專指其後由一至十的十家異解。前三家屬南方，後七家屬北方。
| 次第 | 所屬 | 人師或系統 | 本論所列要點 | 範圍 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 南 | 虎丘山岌 | 漸分有相、無相、常住三時；頓與不定仍同前說 | 0801a24–29 |
| 二 | 南 | 宗愛、莊嚴旻 | 漸分四時，在無相與常住之間增同歸教 | 0801a29–0801b03 |
| 三 | 南 | 定林僧柔、慧次、道場慧觀 | 漸分五時，在無相與同歸之間增褒貶抑揚教 | 0801b03–08 |
| 四 | 北 | 北地五時 | 以提謂波利為人天教，合淨名、般若為無相教 | 0801b08–10 |
| 五 | 北 | 菩提流支 | 十二年前為半字教，十二年後為滿字教 | 0801b10–11 |
| 六 | 北 | 佛馱三藏、光統 | 因緣、假名、誑相、常四宗 | 0801b11–15 |
| 七 | 北 | 五宗 | 四宗之外增華嚴法界宗；護身自軌大乘所用 | 0801b15–17 |
| 八 | 北 | 六宗 | 四宗之外增法華真宗、大集圓宗；耆闍凜所用 | 0801b17–21 |
| 九 | 北 | 二種大乘 | 以是否說階級、十地、功德、行相，分有相與無相 | 0801b21–25 |
| 十 | 北 | 一佛乘、一音教 | 不取前列諸種分判，只說一佛乘、一音而隨類異解 | 0801b25–29 |
本單元全屬智者講說、灌頂記錄，段內沒有另標章安私釋。題形則有兩層：章圖作判教·出異，正文自題出異解；兩形各守所在。
二、成立與傳本
本論卷前緣起所誌，是灌頂先在建業聽經文，後於江陵奉蒙玄義，往返補接而筆錄傳持，並明記《玄》《文》各十卷〔T33 0681a15–a23〕；本單元仍依全書題署作智者說、灌頂記，不另造著作層。
三、所引經論覆核
本單元多以經名、論名或類名支撐舊師判教，並非每一處都是逐字徵引。下列依本論次第，將可定位的今本場景、明確異文、集合名與所指待考項全部分列。
南北通用三種教相
華嚴日照高山
本論作：「《華嚴》為化菩薩，如日照高山，名為頓教。」〔T33 0801a18〕《大方廣佛華嚴經》（T278）今本作：「譬如日出，先照一切諸大山王、次照一切大山、次照金剛寶山、然後普照一切大地。」〔T09 0616b14〕又作：「先照菩薩摩訶薩等諸大山王，次照緣覺，次照聲聞，」〔0616b20〕日先照山與先照菩薩兩面皆有明文；頓教之名是舊師判語，不是經中自題。
三藏有相與般若無相
本論以三藏先教半字為有相，又以十二年後所說五時般若乃至常住為無相〔T33 0801a19–22〕。三藏在此是經教類名，不能強繫一部阿含。《摩訶般若波羅蜜經》（T223）今本作：「空相是深般若波羅蜜相，無相、無作、無起、無生無滅、無垢無淨。」〔T08 0325b18〕又作：「諸法無相故。諸法空、欺誑、無堅固，無覺者、無壽命者。」」〔0316a24〕這些可證般若空、無相的場景，不能反證五時架構是經文自說。
勝鬘、光明與佛性常住
本論作：「別有一經，非頓漸攝，而明佛性常住，《勝鬘》、《光明》等是也，」〔T33 0801a22〕《勝鬘師子吼一乘大方便方廣經》（T353）今本作：「一切法常住，是故我歸依。」〔T12 0217a27〕又作：「如來藏者離有為相，如來藏常住不變。」〔0222b11〕《金光明經》（T663）則有「無量壽命，而生疑惑。」」〔T16 0336b05〕與「真實法身；捨諸所重，肢節手足、」〔0340c07〕等場景。後一經未見佛性常住四字連文，舊師分類語與今本文各守其層。
南方三家
虎丘山岌的常住教
本論作：「最後雙林，明一切眾生佛性、闡提作佛，明常住教也。」〔T33 0801a28〕《大般涅槃經》（T374）分別作：「若復得作優婆塞者，亦得斷滅於一闡提，犯重禁者滅此罪已，則得成佛。」〔T12 0393b08〕、「乃至五逆、犯四重禁及一闡提，悉有佛性。」」〔0534c15〕及「清淨佛性常住不變。」〔0410c06〕。本論把三處義脈綰成常住教綱目，今本並無同一連句。
宗愛的同歸教
本論以「指法華會三歸一，萬善悉向菩提，名同歸教也。」〔T33 0801b02〕說第四時；六宗段又說：「指《法華》萬善同歸，諸佛法久後要當說真實，名為真宗。」〔0801b18〕《妙法蓮華經》（T262）今本作：「世尊法久後，要當說真實。』」〔T09 0006a23〕本論作諸佛，今本作世尊；會三歸一、萬善向菩提與同歸教是舊師綜判，不是今本一條連句。
褒貶抑揚教
本論作：「指《淨名》、《思益》諸方等經，為褒貶抑揚教。」〔T33 0801b07〕《維摩詰所說經》（T475）今本作：「法離於相，無所緣故；法無名字，言語斷故；法無有說，離覺觀故；法無形相，如虛空故；」〔T14 0540a07〕《思益梵天所問經》（T586）今本作：「若聞佛不說法亦信受，知諸法位性不可說故；」〔T15 0041a21〕兩處只證相關經中無相、不可說的場景；褒貶抑揚教仍是人師所立分類名。
北方七家
提謂波利與人天教
本論作：「四者、北地師亦作五時教，而取提謂波利為人天教，」〔T33 0801b08〕《太子瑞應本起經》（T185）有兩位賈客人名：「一名提謂，二名波利，」〔T03 0479a23〕《中本起經》（T196）又有受戒場景：「度二賈客，提謂波利，授三自歸，然許五戒，為清信士已。」〔T04 0147c08〕《歷代三寶紀》（T2034）既著錄「提謂波利經二卷」〔T49 0085b07〕，又說「經文舊錄別載有提謂經一卷。與諸經語同。」〔0085b13〕。現存人名、受戒與目錄三層可互證，具體《提謂波利經》文本仍所指待考；人天教是北地師的分類，不強繫上述任何一部為唯一所本。
同一項又合《淨名》《般若》為無相教〔T33 0801b09〕。前列《維摩詰所說經》與《摩訶般若波羅蜜經》皆有無相場景；合判為一時則是舊師之說。
半滿教
本論作：「五者、菩提流支明半滿教，十二年前皆是半字教，十二年後皆是滿字教。」〔T33 0801b10〕此處沒有題出一部經論，也沒有可誠實唯一化的今本，故只保存其時序分類。
光統四宗
本論全列：「一、因緣宗，指毘曇六因四緣；二、假名宗，指《成論》三假；三、誑相宗，指《大品》、三論；四、常宗，指《涅槃》、《華嚴》等，常住佛性，本有湛然也。」〔T33 0801b12〕四宗各有不同的今本覆核層：
| 宗名 | 本論所指 | 今本場景 | 關係 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 因緣宗 | 毘曇六因四緣 | 《阿毘曇毘婆沙論》（T1546）：「有六因，乃至廣說。論曰：此六因非佛經說，四緣是佛經說，今欲以因解緣，其事云何？」〔T28 0064c23〕；又列「六因、四緣、攝、相應、成就、不成就。」〔0092a20〕 | 六因、四緣同場；毘曇仍是類名，T1546 只是可定位的代表性今本 |
| 假名宗 | 《成論》三假 | 《成實論》（T1646）：「又因所成法皆是假名，無實有也。」〔T32 0261c04〕；「輪等和合故名為車，五陰和合故名為人。」〔0261c05〕；「若法有實，則非因成，因假名法更成假名，如因樹成林。」〔0265c13〕 | 今本有因成、和合、相續等假名論域，未見三假三名閉列；文本鏈所指待考 |
| 誑相宗 | 《大品》、三論 | 《摩訶般若波羅蜜經》（T223）有諸法空、欺誑、無堅固之文〔T08 0316a24〕；《中論》（T1564）作「「諸法不自生，亦不從他生，不共不無因，是故知無生。」」〔T30 0002b06〕；《十二門論》（T1568）作「眾緣所生法，是即無自性；若無自性者，云何有是法？」〔0159c26〕；《百論》（T1569）作「破成故，一切法空無所有。」〔0181a12〕 | 三論是集合名；誑相宗是光統判名，不是四部經論自題 |
| 常宗 | 《涅槃》《華嚴》等 | 《大般涅槃經》（T374）作「清淨佛性常住不變。」〔T12 0410c06〕；《大方廣佛華嚴經》（T278）作「法身堅固不可壞，充滿一切諸法界，普能示現諸色身，隨應化導諸群生。」〔T09 0408b05〕 | 佛性常住與法身法界各有場景；本有湛然是本論綱要，不是今本連句 |
五宗與六宗
五宗是在四宗上增華嚴法界宗。本論作：「七者、有師開五宗教，四義不異前，更指《華嚴》為法界宗，」〔T33 0801b15〕《大方廣佛華嚴經》既有法身充滿法界之文〔T09 0408b05〕，又有「如實說菩薩十地差別故；菩薩安住十地故；」〔0542b26〕；法界宗仍是五宗家的判攝。
六宗則以四宗為底，另增法華真宗、大集圓宗。本論先說：「八者、有人稱光統云：四宗有所不收，更開六宗：」〔T33 0801b17〕，再說法華真宗〔0801b18〕與「《大集》染淨俱融，法界圓普，名為圓宗。」〔0801b20〕。《妙法蓮華經》的法久後真實文已見前列；《大方等大集經》（T397）則有三組相應場景：
- 「如來法界無差別，為鈍根者說差別，宣說一法為無量，如大幻師示眾事。」」〔T13 0002c07〕
- 「一切眾生心性本淨，性本淨者，煩惱諸結不能染著，」〔0011c12〕
- 「譬如微妙淨琉璃寶，雖復在泥經歷百年，其性常淨出已如本。」〔0068a17〕
今本沒有染淨俱融、法界圓普八字連文；本論以此撮成舊師的圓宗綱要。
有相、無相二種大乘
本論先標：「九者、北地禪師，明二種大乘教：一、有相大乘。二、無相大乘。」〔T33 0801b21〕有相大乘的說明是：「有相者，如《華嚴》、《瓔珞》、《大品》等，說階級十地功德行相也。」〔0801b23〕三部今本分別可見：
| 經典 | 今本文 | 對應面 |
|---|---|---|
| 《大方廣佛華嚴經》（T278） | 「如實說菩薩十地差別故；菩薩安住十地故；」〔T09 0542b26〕 | 十地差別與安住 |
| 《菩薩瓔珞本業經》（T1485） | 「佛子！十地心者，一、四無量心；二、十善心；」〔T24 1014c16〕；「十住、十行、十向、十地、無垢地、妙覺地義相，今當說。」〔1017a07〕；「義名功德。」〔1017a09〕 | 階級、義相與功德 |
| 《摩訶般若波羅蜜經》（T223） | 「菩薩摩訶薩住初地時行十事：」〔T08 0256c14〕；「十地菩薩當知如佛。」」〔0257c07〕 | 逐地行事與十地定位 |
無相大乘的說明是：「無相者，如《楞伽》、《思益》，真法無詮次，一切眾生即涅槃相也。」〔T33 0801b24〕《楞伽阿跋多羅寶經》（T670）作：「言說別施行，真實離名字，」〔T16 0484c28〕，又作：「云何一切法離言說空？謂：妄想自性無言說，故一切法離言說，是名一切法離言說空。」〔0488c16〕《思益梵天所問經》（T586）作：「諸法實相即是涅槃。」〔T15 0041a03〕，又作：「若聞佛不說法亦信受，知諸法位性不可說故；」〔0041a21〕。兩經可支撐真實離名、法位不可說與實相涅槃的場景。
一切眾生即涅槃相的近字另見《維摩詰所說經》（T475）：「諸佛知一切眾生畢竟寂滅，即涅槃相，不復更滅。」〔T14 0542b18〕此句與當項所題《楞伽》《思益》的精確來源關係所指待考，不以《維摩詰所說經》靜默替換本論題名。
一佛乘與一音教
本論最後一家作：「十者、北地禪師，非四宗、五宗、六宗、二相、半滿等教，」〔T33 0801b25〕，所取則是：「但一佛乘，無二亦無三，一音說法，隨類異解。」〔0801b26〕《妙法蓮華經》（T262）今本作：「十方佛土中，唯有一乘法，無二亦無三。除佛方便說。」〔T09 0008a17〕《維摩詰所說經》（T475）今本作：「佛以一音演說法，眾生隨類各得解，」〔T14 0538a02〕。本論節取一乘中核，並把一音場景寫成隨類異解；今本作各得解。兩形並錄，不互相齊一。
四、釋籤釋要〔鏡〕
《法華玄義釋籤》卷首的〈釋籤緣起序〉末署「君山除饉男普門子屬辭」〔T33 0815a05〕，是普門子敬序；正書另署「天台沙門湛然述」〔0815b04〕。本單元正釋起於 0951a15，止於 0951b09；「○三明難中，先難南三，次難北七。」〔0951b10〕已屬下一單元。
湛然先判通用三名與諸師十解兩層，再說：「初文者，頓、漸、不定名雖不殊，但明義不了，是故須破。」〔T33 0951a16〕名稱相同，不表示義解已同；此處只是鏡中判語，本論的逐項問難尚在後文。
南三北七又被明確落在地域：《釋籤》以南朝、京江之南解南，以北朝、河北解北〔T33 0951a17〕。湛然接著以「江南盛弘《成實》，河北偏尚《毘曇》，」〔0951a21〕交代學脈背景，並說：「近代相傳以天台義指為南宗者，非也。」〔0951a28〕天台不因地理或取材而簡單歸入南宗。
鏡中的山門立場是：「自是山門一家相承，是故難則南北俱破，取則南北俱存。」〔0951a29〕這不是整體接受十家，而是容許逐義檢驗。湛然又說：「若今師所用《毘曇》、《成實》及三論等大小諸經，隨義引用不偏南北。」〔0951b03〕並以法相、觀門、融通分配所依文獻，結在不偏朋黨。
對『護身自軌大乘』的句讀，鏡中明說：「護身寺自軌法師，大乘是人為立號，以重其所習，故美之稱為大乘。」〔0951b07〕大乘是對自軌法師的美稱，不是書名，也不是第六宗。
五、諸家異釋
清代智銓《法華經玄籤證釋》（X0592）有本單元直接科段，起於「二、出異解。」〔X 0628c14〕，止於 0628c22，下一行「三、明難。」〔0628c23〕已換科。智銓補明：「○莊嚴旻。謂莊嚴寺僧旻也。」〔0628c14〕；又說：「柔次二師。謂齊土定林寺僧柔，齊京師謝寺慧次也。道場觀。謂宋京師道場寺慧觀也。」〔0628c14〕這些可補省稱所指，但不改本論原字。
對三論集合名，智銓作：「○三論，謂百論、中論、十二門論。」〔X 0628c17〕對《釋籤》大正文的法相宗徒，又提出：「○法相宗徒，徒悞，應是途字。」〔0628c17〕此為後注校語，不是 T1717 的大正校記，故兩形並存。智銓另以「○正用瓔珞，謂我一家明觀綱紀大體，正用瓔珞，本業經三觀也。」〔0628c21〕解鏡中觀門所依。
宋知禮《金光明經玄義拾遺記》（T1784）直接說：「古人判教所立五時，與今有異。」〔T39 0045a17〕隨後閉列有相、無相、褒貶、同歸、常住五時〔0045a19〕，又說：「若偏方不定教，非漸頓攝。」〔0045a21〕其「偏謂偏僻，方謂處所，指信相室為偏僻處。」〔0045a16〕是後出詞解；可說明偏方，不回灌為本論逐字。
宋智圓《維摩經略疏垂裕記》（T1779）明題《法花玄義》，重列古人四時、五時之判〔T38 0796c07〕；又說「古來南北通用三種判教，一頓，謂《華嚴》。」〔0851a10〕，並重述光統由四開六，以《法華》為真宗、《大集》為圓宗〔0851a24〕，末說：「具載《法華玄義》第十卷。」〔0851a25〕這是宋代對本單元的直接再引。
智圓《涅槃經疏三德指歸》（X0662）則以「少異頓異者，初為提謂說人天教，明三歸五戒飜邪向正，故云少異。」〔X 0385b19〕解提謂人天，又分辨「提謂五戒者，此准提謂經說。若依瑞應亦只三歸，」〔0385b22〕，末說：「故知今云五戒者，依提謂經耳。」〔0385c07〕古注自身已把《提謂經》與《瑞應》分層，故不宜混作一部。
六、術語
出異解。 先把既有異解列出。正文至出異解竟收束，下一科才入明難；本單元的列錄本身不是逐家裁決。
南三北七。 指南朝三家、北朝七家，共十意。這是地域與學脈的歷史分層，不只是兩組抽象主張。
頓、漸、不定。 南北通用的三個總名。舊師以華嚴日照高山說頓，以三藏、般若乃至常住的時序說漸，以另處明佛性常住說不定；同名不等於各家內涵全同。
偏方不定教。 舊師用來稱非頓、非漸而別處明常住的經教。後注以偏僻處所釋偏方，是後世詞解。
同歸教、褒貶抑揚教。 前者以法華會三歸一、萬善向菩提為名；後者以淨名、思益諸方等經為名。兩者都是舊師的時教分類。
半滿教。 以十二年前後分半字、滿字。它與有相、無相、常住的三時分法並列為不同分類，不合併成同一張表。
四宗、五宗、六宗。 四宗以因緣、假名、誑相、常為底；五宗增華嚴法界宗；六宗另以四宗為底，增法華真宗與大集圓宗。五、六各自從四開出，不能相加成十宗。
誑相宗。 光統四宗之一，所指為大品與三論所明諸法空、無自性、無堅固的場景；誑相是判攝法相，不是道德意義的欺騙。
有相、無相大乘。 有相依階級、十地、功德與行相立名；無相依真法離言說次第及眾生即涅槃相立名。第十家所說二相即回指此二種。
一佛乘、一音教。 第十家以佛常行一乘、一音說法，而眾生隨類異解，說明所見三乘。佛所行與眾生所見是句中兩層。
後世約詞。 五時八教、化儀、化法、藏通別圓、迹門十妙、本門十妙、一念三千，皆是後世通行約詞，不是本單元逐字用語。本單元只實有五時教、三藏等各自所在的字面，不以後世套語替換。
七、譬喻、互讀與承衍
本單元唯一正面展開的譬喻是華嚴日照高山。日先照大山王，經中又以菩薩為大山王；舊師因而用它說頓。譬只承擔先照高山與先化菩薩兩面，沒有在本段另配十家或十意。
與《妙法蓮華經》互讀，同歸教與真宗兩處都以會三歸一、法久後說真實為眼；與《大般涅槃經》互讀，常住教與常宗都取佛性、闡提及常住場景；與《維摩詰所說經》互讀，第十家的一音隨類異解得到直接平行。這些互讀只顯示舊判所取經義，不使經典自題為相應宗名。
出異把前代分判完整攤開，下一科明難即以「○三明難者，先難南地五時，其義不成，」〔T33 0801c01〕承接，再由研詳去取分辨可用之義。列錄、問難、去取三步各有次第，不能把後兩步的結論提前寫入本單元。
八、校本定位
一、本單元以 T1716《妙法蓮華經玄義》為底，起於 0801a17，止於 0801b29；0801c01 已入明難。《法華玄義釋籤》對位起於 0951a15，止於 0951b09。
二、本單元範圍內大正校記元素為零，沒有可列的正文異讀。此項只指 T1716 該範圍的校記，不抹去本論與今本引文的字異，也不抹去後注所提出的宗徒、宗途兩形。
三、章圖題判教·出異，正文題出異解；兩形各守位置。正文所說五時、半滿、四宗至六宗，也各還其人師分類，不整飭為後世一套綱目。
四、明確字異有兩組：本論諸佛法久後，今本《妙法蓮華經》作世尊法久後；本論隨類異解，今本《維摩詰所說經》作隨類各得解。兩形並錄不判。
五、提謂波利的具體文本、《成實論》三假閉列的文本鏈，以及一切眾生即涅槃相與本項所題《楞伽》《思益》的精確來源關係，皆明記所指待考，不以相近今本強作唯一來源。
六、頁錨依每枚引文首字之前最近同版行號；同列多引各繫自身首字，X 藏引文取新纂版行號，不以並列舊版行號代替。
This unit is the second of the five parts of Classifying the Teaching. It first lists the three names sudden, gradual, and indeterminate that were common to North and South, then records in full the ten divergent classifications of three Southern and seven Northern systems. Its work here is to arrange the classifications of earlier generations clearly in their original order; challenging them item by item and deciding what to accept and reject belong to the following sections.
1. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
This unit begins with 「○二出異解者，即為十意：所謂南三、北七。」 tr. “Second, setting out divergent interpretations—this consists of ten ideas, namely the three of the South and seven of the North”〔T33 0801a17〕 and ends with 「諸佛常行一乘，眾生見三，但是一音教也。出異解竟。」 tr. “The buddhas constantly practice the One Vehicle, while sentient beings see three; it is only the one-sound teaching. Setting out divergent interpretations is complete”〔0801b27〕, whose final graph falls at 0801b29. The next passage, 「○三明難者，先難南地五時，其義不成，」 tr. “Third, clarifying the difficulties: first challenging the five periods of the South, whose meaning cannot be established”〔0801c01〕, has already entered Clarifying the Difficulties.
The Fahua Xuanyi Shiqian (T1717) divides this unit into two layers: 「○次異解中二：先明三意通用，次明諸師不同。」 tr. “Next, divergent interpretations has two parts: first clarifying the three ideas in common use, and next clarifying the differences among the various masters”〔T33 0951a15〕. The sudden, gradual, and indeterminate in common use at the beginning are therefore not the first three of the ten ideas. The ten ideas refer exclusively to the ten systems numbered one through ten afterward. The first three are Southern and the latter seven Northern.
| Sequence | Region | Master or system | Main point listed by the root treatise | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South | Shanji of Huqiu | Divides the gradual into three periods—the teaching with marks, the teaching without marks, and permanence; sudden and indeterminate remain as in the preceding account | 0801a24–29 |
| 2 | South | Zong’ai and Sengmin of Zhuangyan | Divides the gradual into four periods, adding the common-return teaching between the teaching without marks and permanence | 0801a29–0801b03 |
| 3 | South | Sengrou of Dinglin, Huici, and Huiguan of Daochang | Divides the gradual into five periods, adding the teaching of praise and reproach, suppression and promotion between the teaching without marks and common return | 0801b03–08 |
| 4 | North | Northern five periods | Takes Tiwei and Boli as the human-and-deva teaching and combines the Vimalakīrti and Prajñāpāramitā as the teaching without marks | 0801b08–10 |
| 5 | North | Bodhiruci | Everything before the twelfth year is the half-word teaching, and everything afterward the full-word teaching | 0801b10–11 |
| 6 | North | Tripiṭaka Master Fotuo and Guangtong | Four schools: causes and conditions, provisional names, deceptive marks, and permanence | 0801b11–15 |
| 7 | North | Five schools | Adds the Avataṃsaka Dharma-realm school to the four; used by Zigui of Hushen, honorifically called Mahāyāna | 0801b15–17 |
| 8 | North | Six schools | Adds the Lotus true school and Great Collection perfect school to the four; used by Qishe Lin | 0801b17–21 |
| 9 | North | Two kinds of Great Vehicle | Divides the Great Vehicle into with marks and without marks according to whether it teaches graded levels, ten grounds, qualities, and characteristics of practice | 0801b21–25 |
| 10 | North | One Buddha-Vehicle and one-sound teaching | Does not accept the preceding classifications, but teaches only the One Buddha-Vehicle and one sound received in different ways according to kind | 0801b25–29 |
The entire unit belongs to Master Zhiyi’s oral teaching as recorded by Guanding; no separate private explanation by Zhang’an is marked within the passage. Its title also has two layers: the chapter map has Classifying the Teaching · Setting Out Divergent Classifications, while the root text titles itself Setting Out Divergent Interpretations. Each form retains its own place.
2. Formation and Transmission
The prefatory account of the root treatise records that Guanding first heard the scriptural commentary at Jianye, later reverently received the Profound Meaning at Jiangling, and wrote and transmitted the work by joining what he had heard across repeated journeys. It also expressly records that the Profound Meaning and Words and Phrases each comprised ten fascicles〔T33 0681a15–a23〕. This unit therefore continues to follow the attribution of the whole work: taught by Master Zhiyi and recorded by Guanding, without constructing another authorial layer.
3. Scriptures and Treatises Cited by Zhiyi
This unit mostly uses titles of scriptures and treatises or class names to support the classifications of earlier masters; not every occurrence is a verbatim quotation. Following the order of the root treatise, the sections below distinguish the locatable scenes in received texts, explicit wording differences, collective titles, and referents that remain under investigation.
The Three Characteristics of the Teaching Common to North and South
The Avataṃsaka Sun Illuminating the High Mountains
The root treatise reads, 「《華嚴》為化菩薩，如日照高山，名為頓教。」 tr. “The Avataṃsaka teaches bodhisattvas; like the sun illuminating the high mountains, it is called the sudden teaching”〔T33 0801a18〕. The received Avataṃsaka Sūtra (T278) reads, 「譬如日出，先照一切諸大山王、次照一切大山、次照金剛寶山、然後普照一切大地。」 tr. “It is like the sun rising: first it illuminates all kings of great mountains, next all great mountains, next the vajra-jeweled mountains, and only afterward universally illuminates the whole great earth”〔T09 0616b14〕. It also reads, 「先照菩薩摩訶薩等諸大山王，次照緣覺，次照聲聞，」 tr. “It first illuminates bodhisattva-mahāsattvas and the other kings of great mountains, next pratyekabuddhas, and next śrāvakas”〔0616b20〕. Both the sun first illuminating mountains and its first illuminating bodhisattvas are explicit in the text; the name sudden teaching is the classification of earlier masters, not a self-designation in the scripture.
Tripiṭaka with Marks and Prajñāpāramitā without Marks
The root treatise takes the Tripiṭaka’s initial teaching of the half-word as the teaching of marks and the five-period Prajñā teaching after the twelfth year, onward through permanence, as the teaching without marks〔T33 0801a19–22〕. Here Tripiṭaka is the name of a class of teaching and cannot be forcibly tied to a single Āgama. The received Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra (T223) reads, 「空相是深般若波羅蜜相，無相、無作、無起、無生無滅、無垢無淨。」 tr. “The characteristic of emptiness is the characteristic of profound prajñāpāramitā: signless, actionless, unarisen, neither arising nor ceasing, neither defiled nor pure”〔T08 0325b18〕. It also reads, 「諸法無相故。諸法空、欺誑、無堅固，無覺者、無壽命者。」」 tr. “Because the various dharmas are signless. The various dharmas are empty, deceptive, and insubstantial, without an awakener or one who has a lifespan”〔0316a24〕. These attest scenes of emptiness and signlessness in the Prajñāpāramitā; they do not prove that the framework of five periods was stated by the scripture itself.
The Śrīmālā, Golden Light, and Permanently Abiding Buddha-Nature
The root treatise reads, 「別有一經，非頓漸攝，而明佛性常住，《勝鬘》、《光明》等是也，」 tr. “There is another scriptural teaching, not included within sudden or gradual, that clarifies permanently abiding buddha-nature—the Śrīmālā, Golden Light, and the like”〔T33 0801a22〕. The received Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra (T353) reads, 「一切法常住，是故我歸依。」 tr. “All dharmas permanently abide; therefore I take refuge”〔T12 0217a27〕 and 「如來藏者離有為相，如來藏常住不變。」 tr. “The tathāgata-garbha is free from conditioned characteristics; the tathāgata-garbha permanently abides without change”〔0222b11〕. The Golden Light Sūtra (T663), in turn, has the scenes 「無量壽命，而生疑惑。」」 tr. “giving rise to doubts concerning immeasurable lifespan”〔T16 0336b05〕 and 「真實法身；捨諸所重，肢節手足、」 tr. “the real Dharma-body; relinquishing what is valued, the limbs, hands, and feet”〔0340c07〕. The latter scripture does not contain the four-graph expression “buddha-nature permanently abides” as a continuous phrase; the older classification and the received text each retain their own layer.
The Three Southern Classifications
Shanji of Huqiu’s Teaching of Permanence
The root treatise reads, 「最後雙林，明一切眾生佛性、闡提作佛，明常住教也。」 tr. “Finally, at the Twin Trees, it clarifies the buddha-nature of all sentient beings and the buddhahood of icchantikas, thereby clarifying the teaching of permanence”〔T33 0801a28〕. The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (T374) reads separately, 「若復得作優婆塞者，亦得斷滅於一闡提，犯重禁者滅此罪已，則得成佛。」 tr. “If he can again become an upāsaka, he can also destroy the condition of an icchantika; when one who has violated grave prohibitions extinguishes this offense, he can attain buddhahood”〔T12 0393b08〕, 「乃至五逆、犯四重禁及一闡提，悉有佛性。」」 tr. “Even those who commit the five heinous acts, violate the four grave prohibitions, and icchantikas all possess buddha-nature”〔0534c15〕, and 「清淨佛性常住不變。」 tr. “Pure buddha-nature permanently abides without change”〔0410c06〕. The root treatise binds the line of meaning from three places into the outline of a teaching of permanence; the received text has no single continuous sentence combining them.
Zong’ai’s Common-Return Teaching
For the fourth period, the root treatise says, 「指法華會三歸一，萬善悉向菩提，名同歸教也。」 tr. “It points to the Lotus gathering the three into the one, with the myriad wholesome practices all tending toward bodhi, and calls this the common-return teaching”〔T33 0801b02〕. In the section on six schools it also says, 「指《法華》萬善同歸，諸佛法久後要當說真實，名為真宗。」 tr. “It points to the Lotus: the myriad wholesome practices share one return, and after the Dharma of the buddhas has remained for a long time, the real must be taught; this is called the true school”〔0801b18〕. The received Lotus Sutra (T262) reads, 「世尊法久後，要當說真實。』」 tr. “After the Dharma of the World-Honored One has remained for a long time, the real must be taught”〔T09 0006a23〕. The root treatise has “the buddhas,” while the received text has “the World-Honored One.” Gathering the three into the one, the myriad wholesome practices tending toward bodhi, and the common-return teaching are the synthetic classification of earlier masters, not one continuous sentence in the received text.
The Teaching of Praise and Reproach, Suppression and Promotion
The root treatise reads, 「指《淨名》、《思益》諸方等經，為褒貶抑揚教。」 tr. “It points to the Vimalakīrti, Questions of Brahmā Viśeṣacintin, and the various Vaipulya scriptures as the teaching of praise and reproach, suppression and promotion”〔T33 0801b07〕. The received Vimalakīrti Sūtra (T475) reads, 「法離於相，無所緣故；法無名字，言語斷故；法無有說，離覺觀故；法無形相，如虛空故；」 tr. “Dharma is apart from characteristics because it has no object; Dharma has no name because words are cut off; Dharma has no teaching because it is apart from directed and sustained thought; Dharma has no form or characteristic because it is like empty space”〔T14 0540a07〕. The received Questions of Brahmā Viśeṣacintin Sūtra (T586) reads, 「若聞佛不說法亦信受，知諸法位性不可說故；」 tr. “If they hear that the Buddha does not teach the Dharma, they also believe and accept it, knowing that the position and nature of the various dharmas cannot be expressed”〔T15 0041a21〕. These two passages establish only scenes of signlessness and inexpressibility in the relevant scriptures; the teaching of praise and reproach, suppression and promotion remains a classification established by human masters.
The Seven Northern Classifications
Tiwei and Boli and the Human-and-Deva Teaching
The root treatise reads, 「四者、北地師亦作五時教，而取提謂波利為人天教，」 tr. “Fourth, masters of the North also establish a teaching of five periods, taking Tiwei and Boli as the human-and-deva teaching”〔T33 0801b08〕. The Sutra on the Original Arising of the Auspicious Response of the Crown Prince (T185) gives the names of the two merchants: 「一名提謂，二名波利，」 tr. “One was named Tiwei, and the second Boli”〔T03 0479a23〕. The Zhong Benqi Jing (T196) also has a scene of receiving precepts: 「度二賈客，提謂波利，授三自歸，然許五戒，為清信士已。」 tr. “He converted the two merchants Tiwei and Boli, conferred the three refuges and then allowed the five precepts, making them laymen of pure faith”〔T04 0147c08〕. The Lidai Sanbao Ji (T2034) records both 「提謂波利經二卷」 tr. “the Tiwei Boli Sūtra in two fascicles”〔T49 0085b07〕 and 「經文舊錄別載有提謂經一卷。與諸經語同。」 tr. “Old catalogs separately record a Tiwei Sūtra in one fascicle; its language is the same as that of the various scriptures”〔0085b13〕. The extant names, precept scene, and catalog records attest three distinct layers. The specific text of the Tiwei Boli Sūtra remains under investigation, while human-and-deva teaching is the Northern masters’ classification and is not forcibly assigned to any one of these works as its unique source.
The same item further combines the Vimalakīrti and Prajñāpāramitā as the teaching without marks〔T33 0801b09〕. The Vimalakīrti Sūtra and Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra listed above both contain scenes of signlessness; combining them as one period remains the account of earlier masters.
The Half-and-Full Teaching
The root treatise reads, 「五者、菩提流支明半滿教，十二年前皆是半字教，十二年後皆是滿字教。」 tr. “Fifth, Bodhiruci clarifies the half-and-full teaching: everything before the twelfth year is the half-word teaching, and everything after the twelfth year is the full-word teaching”〔T33 0801b10〕. No scripture or treatise is titled here, and no received text can honestly be made unique; only the chronological classification is therefore preserved.
Guangtong’s Four Schools
The root treatise lists all four: 「一、因緣宗，指毘曇六因四緣；二、假名宗，指《成論》三假；三、誑相宗，指《大品》、三論；四、常宗，指《涅槃》、《華嚴》等，常住佛性，本有湛然也。」 tr. “First, the school of causes and conditions, referring to the Abhidharma’s six causes and four conditions; second, the school of provisional names, referring to the three provisionalities of the Satyasiddhi Treatise; third, the school of deceptive marks, referring to the Large Prajñāpāramitā and the Three Treatises; fourth, the school of permanence, referring to the Nirvāṇa, Avataṃsaka, and the like—permanently abiding buddha-nature, originally possessed and limpid”〔T33 0801b12〕. Each of the four schools has a different layer of verification in the received texts:
| School | Referent in the root treatise | Scene in the received text | Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Causes and conditions | Abhidharma’s six causes and four conditions | The Abhidharma Mahāvibhāṣā Treatise (T1546) reads, 「有六因，乃至廣說。論曰：此六因非佛經說，四緣是佛經說，今欲以因解緣，其事云何？」 tr. “There are six causes, and so forth at length. The treatise says: these six causes are not taught in the buddha-sūtras; the four conditions are taught in the buddha-sūtras. We now wish to explain conditions through causes; what does this involve?”〔T28 0064c23〕. It also lists 「六因、四緣、攝、相應、成就、不成就。」 tr. “six causes, four conditions, inclusion, correspondence, possession, and non-possession”〔0092a20〕. | Six causes and four conditions occur together; Abhidharma remains a class name, and T1546 is only a locatable representative received text. |
| Provisional names | Three provisionalities of the Satyasiddhi Treatise | The Satyasiddhiśāstra (T1646) reads, 「又因所成法皆是假名，無實有也。」 tr. “Moreover, all dharmas formed from causes are provisional names and have no real existence”〔T32 0261c04〕; 「輪等和合故名為車，五陰和合故名為人。」 tr. “Because wheels and the other parts come together, it is called a cart; because the five aggregates come together, it is called a person”〔0261c05〕; and 「若法有實，則非因成，因假名法更成假名，如因樹成林。」 tr. “If a dharma had reality, it would not be formed from causes; a provisionally named dharma further forms another provisional name, as trees form a forest”〔0265c13〕. | The received text has the domains of provisional names through causal formation, conjunction, and continuity, but no closed list of three names for three provisionalities has been found; the textual chain remains under investigation. |
| Deceptive marks | The Large Prajñāpāramitā and the Three Treatises | The Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra (T223) contains a passage on the various dharmas being empty, deceptive, and insubstantial〔T08 0316a24〕. The Treatise on the Middle (T1564) reads, 「「諸法不自生，亦不從他生，不共不無因，是故知無生。」」 tr. “The various dharmas do not arise from themselves, nor do they arise from another, nor from both, nor without cause; therefore one knows they are non-arising”〔T30 0002b06〕. The Twelve Gate Treatise (T1568) reads, 「眾緣所生法，是即無自性；若無自性者，云何有是法？」 tr. “Dharmas arising from the many conditions are precisely without own-nature; if they lack own-nature, how could these dharmas exist?”〔0159c26〕. The Hundred Treatise (T1569) reads, 「破成故，一切法空無所有。」 tr. “Because establishment is refuted, all dharmas are empty and have no existence”〔0181a12〕. | The Three Treatises is a collective title; the school of deceptive marks is Guangtong’s classification, not the self-designation of the four scriptures and treatises. |
| Permanence | The Nirvāṇa, Avataṃsaka, and the like | The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (T374) reads, 「清淨佛性常住不變。」 tr. “Pure buddha-nature permanently abides without change”〔T12 0410c06〕. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra (T278) reads, 「法身堅固不可壞，充滿一切諸法界，普能示現諸色身，隨應化導諸群生。」 tr. “The Dharma-body is firm and indestructible, fills all Dharma realms, and can universally manifest bodies of every form, transforming and guiding the various beings in response”〔T09 0408b05〕. | Permanently abiding buddha-nature and the Dharma-body filling the Dharma realm each have a scene; “originally possessed and limpid” is the root treatise’s outline, not a continuous sentence in the received texts. |
Five Schools and Six Schools
The five-school classification adds the Avataṃsaka Dharma-realm school to the four. The root treatise reads, 「七者、有師開五宗教，四義不異前，更指《華嚴》為法界宗，」 tr. “Seventh, some masters open a teaching of five schools; the meanings of the four do not differ from the preceding account, and they further point to the Avataṃsaka as the Dharma-realm school”〔T33 0801b15〕. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra contains both a passage on the Dharma-body filling the Dharma realm〔T09 0408b05〕 and 「如實說菩薩十地差別故；菩薩安住十地故；」 tr. “because it accurately teaches the distinctions among the bodhisattvas’ ten grounds, and because bodhisattvas abide securely in the ten grounds”〔0542b26〕. The Dharma-realm school remains the classification of the five-school system.
The six-school classification likewise begins from the four but separately adds the Lotus true school and Great Collection perfect school. The root treatise first says, 「八者、有人稱光統云：四宗有所不收，更開六宗：」 tr. “Eighth, someone relates Guangtong’s words: the four schools leave something uncontained, so they are further opened into six schools”〔T33 0801b17〕. It then gives the Lotus true school〔0801b18〕 and says, 「《大集》染淨俱融，法界圓普，名為圓宗。」 tr. “In the Great Collection, defilement and purity interpenetrate together and the Dharma realm is perfect and universally pervasive; this is called the perfect school”〔0801b20〕. The Lotus Sutra passage on teaching the real after the Dharma has remained for a long time was listed above. The Mahāvaipulya Great Collection Sūtra (T397), in turn, contains three corresponding scenes:
- 「如來法界無差別，為鈍根者說差別，宣說一法為無量，如大幻師示眾事。」」 tr. “The Tathāgata’s Dharma realm is without distinction; for those of dull faculties, he teaches distinctions. He proclaims one Dharma as measureless, like a great illusionist displaying many things”〔T13 0002c07〕.
- 「一切眾生心性本淨，性本淨者，煩惱諸結不能染著，」 tr. “The nature of the minds of all sentient beings is originally pure; what is originally pure in nature cannot be stained by the afflictions and bonds”〔0011c12〕.
- 「譬如微妙淨琉璃寶，雖復在泥經歷百年，其性常淨出已如本。」 tr. “It is like a subtle and wondrous jewel of pure lapis lazuli: though it remains in mud for a hundred years, its nature is constantly pure, and when removed it is as it originally was”〔0068a17〕.
The received text has no continuous eight-graph phrase corresponding to “defilement and purity interpenetrate together; the Dharma realm is perfect and universally pervasive.” The root treatise uses this expression to epitomize the outline of the perfect school established by earlier masters.
Great Vehicle with Marks and without Marks
The root treatise first states, 「九者、北地禪師，明二種大乘教：一、有相大乘。二、無相大乘。」 tr. “Ninth, meditation masters of the North clarify two kinds of Great Vehicle teaching: first, the Great Vehicle with marks; second, the Great Vehicle without marks”〔T33 0801b21〕. Its explanation of the Great Vehicle with marks is, 「有相者，如《華嚴》、《瓔珞》、《大品》等，說階級十地功德行相也。」 tr. “With marks means the Avataṃsaka, Yingluo, Large Prajñāpāramitā, and the like, which teach graded levels, the ten grounds, qualities, and characteristics of practice”〔0801b23〕. The three received texts respectively show:
| Scripture | Received wording | Corresponding aspect |
|---|---|---|
| Avataṃsaka Sūtra (T278) | 「如實說菩薩十地差別故；菩薩安住十地故；」 tr. “because it accurately teaches the distinctions among the bodhisattvas’ ten grounds, and because bodhisattvas abide securely in the ten grounds”〔T09 0542b26〕 | Distinctions among and abiding in the ten grounds |
| Bodhisattva’s Necklace of the Primary Practice (T1485) | 「佛子！十地心者，一、四無量心；二、十善心；」 tr. “Child of the Buddha! As for the minds of the ten grounds: first, the mind of the four immeasurables; second, the mind of the ten wholesome courses”〔T24 1014c16〕; 「十住、十行、十向、十地、無垢地、妙覺地義相，今當說。」 tr. “I will now explain the characteristics of meaning of the ten abodes, ten practices, ten dedications, ten grounds, stainless ground, and ground of wondrous awakening”〔1017a07〕; 「義名功德。」 tr. “Meaning is called quality”〔1017a09〕 | Graded levels, characteristics of meaning, and qualities |
| Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra (T223) | 「菩薩摩訶薩住初地時行十事：」 tr. “When a bodhisattva-mahāsattva abides on the first ground, one practices ten matters”〔T08 0256c14〕; 「十地菩薩當知如佛。」」 tr. “One should know a bodhisattva on the tenth ground to be like a buddha”〔0257c07〕 | Practices on successive grounds and placement of the tenth ground |
The explanation of the Great Vehicle without marks is, 「無相者，如《楞伽》、《思益》，真法無詮次，一切眾生即涅槃相也。」 tr. “Without marks means the Laṅkāvatāra and Questions of Brahmā Viśeṣacintin: the real Dharma has no sequence in verbal expression, and all sentient beings are immediately the mark of nirvāṇa”〔T33 0801b24〕. The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra (T670) reads, 「言說別施行，真實離名字，」 tr. “Verbal expressions are separately employed, while reality is apart from names”〔T16 0484c28〕, and 「云何一切法離言說空？謂：妄想自性無言說，故一切法離言說，是名一切法離言說空。」 tr. “What is the emptiness in which all dharmas are apart from verbal expression? It means that the self-nature of delusive conception has no verbal expression; because all dharmas are apart from verbal expression, this is called the emptiness in which all dharmas are apart from verbal expression”〔0488c16〕. The Questions of Brahmā Viśeṣacintin Sūtra (T586) reads, 「諸法實相即是涅槃。」 tr. “The true mark of all dharmas is precisely nirvāṇa”〔T15 0041a03〕, and 「若聞佛不說法亦信受，知諸法位性不可說故；」 tr. “If they hear that the Buddha does not teach the Dharma, they also believe and accept it, knowing that the position and nature of the various dharmas cannot be expressed”〔0041a21〕. The two scriptures support scenes of reality apart from names, the position of dharmas being inexpressible, and the true mark as nirvāṇa.
A near-verbatim form of “all sentient beings are immediately the mark of nirvāṇa” appears separately in the Vimalakīrti Sūtra (T475): 「諸佛知一切眾生畢竟寂滅，即涅槃相，不復更滅。」 tr. “The buddhas know that all sentient beings are ultimately quiescent and extinguished, immediately the mark of nirvāṇa, and are not extinguished again”〔T14 0542b18〕. The precise source relationship between this sentence and the Laṅkāvatāra and Questions of Brahmā Viśeṣacintin titled in the present item remains under investigation; the Vimalakīrti Sūtra is not silently substituted for the titles given by the root treatise.
The One Buddha-Vehicle and One-Sound Teaching
The final classification in the root treatise reads, 「十者、北地禪師，非四宗、五宗、六宗、二相、半滿等教，」 tr. “Tenth, meditation masters of the North reject the teachings of four schools, five schools, six schools, two marks, half and full, and so forth”〔T33 0801b25〕. What it accepts is, 「但一佛乘，無二亦無三，一音說法，隨類異解。」 tr. “There is only the One Buddha-Vehicle, without a second and also without a third; the Dharma is taught with one sound and understood differently according to kind”〔0801b26〕. The received Lotus Sutra (T262) reads, 「十方佛土中，唯有一乘法，無二亦無三。除佛方便說。」 tr. “Within the buddha-lands of the ten directions, there is only the Dharma of One Vehicle, without a second and also without a third, apart from the buddhas’ skillful teaching”〔T09 0008a17〕. The received Vimalakīrti Sūtra (T475) reads, 「佛以一音演說法，眾生隨類各得解，」 tr. “The Buddha expounds the Dharma with one sound, and sentient beings each gain understanding according to their kinds”〔T14 0538a02〕. The root treatise excerpts the core of the One Vehicle and renders the one-sound scene as “understood differently according to kind”; the received text has “each gains understanding according to kind.” Both forms are recorded and are not made uniform.
4. Essential Explanations from the Shiqian [the Mirror]
The “Preface on the Origins of the Shiqian” at the beginning of the Fahua Xuanyi Shiqian ends with the attribution 「君山除饉男普門子屬辭」 tr. “Words composed by Pumenzi, a renunciant of Junshan”〔T33 0815a05〕, marking Pumenzi’s reverential preface; the main work bears the separate attribution 「天台沙門湛然述」 tr. “Set forth by the Tiantai śramaṇa Zhanran”〔0815b04〕. The direct explanation of this unit begins at 0951a15 and ends at 0951b09. The line 「○三明難中，先難南三，次難北七。」 tr. “Third, within Clarifying the Difficulties: first challenging the Southern three and next challenging the Northern seven”〔0951b10〕 already belongs to the next unit.
Zhanran first distinguishes the two layers of three shared names and ten explanations by the various masters, then says, 「初文者，頓、漸、不定名雖不殊，但明義不了，是故須破。」 tr. “As for the initial passage: although the names sudden, gradual, and indeterminate do not differ, the meanings clarified are incomplete; therefore they must be challenged”〔T33 0951a16〕. Identical names do not mean that the meanings understood are already identical. This is only a judgment in the Mirror; the root treatise’s item-by-item challenges remain in the following text.
The three Southern and seven Northern classifications are also explicitly located in regions: the Shiqian explains South through the Southern dynasties and the area south of the capital and the Yangzi, and North through the Northern dynasties and the region north of the Yellow River〔T33 0951a17〕. Zhanran then gives the background of the scholarly lineages with 「江南盛弘《成實》，河北偏尚《毘曇》，」 tr. “The Satyasiddhi Treatise flourished south of the Yangzi, while Abhidharma was especially esteemed north of the Yellow River”〔0951a21〕, and says, 「近代相傳以天台義指為南宗者，非也。」 tr. “The recent transmitted claim that the purport of Tiantai should be designated a Southern school is wrong”〔0951a28〕. Tiantai does not belong to the Southern school merely because of geography or the materials it employs.
The position of the mountain gate in the Mirror is, 「自是山門一家相承，是故難則南北俱破，取則南北俱存。」 tr. “This is the inheritance of the single house of the mountain gate; therefore, when challenging, both South and North are refuted, and when accepting, both South and North are preserved”〔0951a29〕. This does not accept the ten systems wholesale, but permits examination meaning by meaning. Zhanran further says, 「若今師所用《毘曇》、《成實》及三論等大小諸經，隨義引用不偏南北。」 tr. “As for the Abhidharma, Satyasiddhi Treatise, Three Treatises, and the various Great and Lesser Vehicle scriptures used by the present master: they are cited according to their meanings, without partiality toward South or North”〔0951b03〕. He distributes the supporting texts across Dharma characteristics, gateways of contemplation, and interpenetration, and concludes without sectarian partiality.
Concerning the punctuation of “Zigui of Hushen, Mahāyāna,” the Mirror says explicitly, 「護身寺自軌法師，大乘是人為立號，以重其所習，故美之稱為大乘。」 tr. “Master Zigui of Hushen Monastery: Mahāyāna is an epithet established for the person; because what he studied was respected, he was honorifically called Mahāyāna”〔0951b07〕. Mahāyāna is an honorific epithet for Master Zigui, not a book title and not a sixth school.
5. Explanations of Various Masters
The Qing-dynasty Zhiquan’s Fahua Jing Xuanqian Zhengshi (X0592) has a direct section for this unit. It begins with 「二、出異解。」 tr. “Second, setting out divergent interpretations”〔X 0628c14〕 and ends at 0628c22; the next line, 「三、明難。」 tr. “Third, clarifying the difficulties”〔0628c23〕, has already changed sections. Zhiquan further clarifies, 「○莊嚴旻。謂莊嚴寺僧旻也。」 tr. “Sengmin of Zhuangyan means Sengmin of Zhuangyan Monastery”〔0628c14〕. He also says, 「柔次二師。謂齊土定林寺僧柔，齊京師謝寺慧次也。道場觀。謂宋京師道場寺慧觀也。」 tr. “The two masters Rou and Ci mean Sengrou of Dinglin Monastery in the territory of Qi and Huici of Xie Monastery in the Qi capital. Guan of Daochang means Huiguan of Daochang Monastery in the Song capital”〔0628c14〕. These remarks identify the abbreviated names without changing the graphs in the root treatise.
Concerning the collective title Three Treatises, Zhiquan writes, 「○三論，謂百論、中論、十二門論。」 tr. “The Three Treatises means the Hundred Treatise, Treatise on the Middle, and Twelve Gate Treatise”〔X 0628c17〕. Concerning the main text of the Shiqian reading “followers of the Dharma-characteristics school,” he proposes, 「○法相宗徒，徒悞，應是途字。」 tr. “In ‘followers of the Dharma-characteristics school,’ the graph 徒 is an error and should be 途”〔0628c17〕. This is a later annotator’s textual comment, not a Taishō textual note for T1717, so both graph forms remain. Zhiquan further explains the Mirror’s text relied upon for the gateways of contemplation with, 「○正用瓔珞，謂我一家明觀綱紀大體，正用瓔珞，本業經三觀也。」 tr. “‘Principally uses the Yingluo’ means that when our house clarifies the guiding framework and overall substance of contemplation, it principally uses the three contemplations in the Bodhisattva’s Necklace of the Primary Practice”〔0628c21〕.
The Song-dynasty Zhili’s Supplementary Notes on the Profound Meaning of the Sūtra of Golden Light (T1784) says directly, 「古人判教所立五時，與今有異。」 tr. “The five periods established by the ancients in classifying the teaching differ from the present account”〔T39 0045a17〕. It then closes the list with the five periods of the teaching with marks, the teaching without marks, praise and reproach, common return, and permanence〔0045a19〕 and further says, 「若偏方不定教，非漸頓攝。」 tr. “As for the off-to-one-side indeterminate teaching, it is not included within gradual or sudden”〔0045a21〕. Its statement 「偏謂偏僻，方謂處所，指信相室為偏僻處。」 tr. “‘Off to one side’ means remote, while ‘side’ means a place; it points to Faith-Mark’s chamber as a remote place”〔0045a16〕 is a later terminological explanation. It can clarify “off to one side,” but is not backfilled as the root treatise’s verbatim wording.
The Song-dynasty Zhiyuan’s Chuiyu Ji to the Abridged Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra (T1779) expressly titles the Fahua Xuanyi with the received graphs 《法花玄義》 and relists the ancient classifications of four and five periods〔T38 0796c07〕. It also says, 「古來南北通用三種判教，一頓，謂《華嚴》。」 tr. “From ancient times, South and North commonly used three classifications of the teaching; the first is sudden, meaning the Avataṃsaka”〔0851a10〕, and restates Guangtong’s opening of four into six, with the Lotus as the true school and the Great Collection as the perfect school〔0851a24〕. It concludes, 「具載《法華玄義》第十卷。」 tr. “This is recorded in full in Fascicle Ten of the Fahua Xuanyi”〔0851a25〕. This is a direct Song-dynasty recitation of the present unit.
Zhiyuan’s Guide to the Three Virtues in the Commentary on the Nirvāṇa Sūtra (X0662), in turn, explains the Tiwei human-and-deva teaching with, 「少異頓異者，初為提謂說人天教，明三歸五戒飜邪向正，故云少異。」 tr. “‘Slightly different’ and ‘suddenly different’ means that the human-and-deva teaching was first taught to Tiwei, clarifying the three refuges and five precepts and turning the deviant toward the right; therefore it is called slightly different”〔X 0385b19〕. It further distinguishes, 「提謂五戒者，此准提謂經說。若依瑞應亦只三歸，」 tr. “As for Tiwei’s five precepts, this follows the Tiwei Sūtra; according to the Auspicious Response, there are only the three refuges”〔0385b22〕, and concludes, 「故知今云五戒者，依提謂經耳。」 tr. “Therefore one knows that the present reference to five precepts relies only on the Tiwei Sūtra”〔0385c07〕. The ancient commentary itself keeps the Tiwei Sūtra and Auspicious Response in separate layers; they should therefore not be conflated into one work.
6. Terminology
Setting out divergent interpretations. Existing divergent interpretations are first laid out. The root text concludes with setting out divergent interpretations complete, and only the next section enters Clarifying the Difficulties. Listing the classifications in this unit is not itself an adjudication of each system.
The three classifications of the South and seven of the North. Three classifications of the Southern dynasties and seven of the Northern dynasties, making ten ideas in all. This is a historical layering by region and scholarly lineage, not merely two groups of abstract claims.
Sudden, gradual, and indeterminate. Three general names common to South and North. Earlier masters explained the sudden through the Avataṃsaka sun illuminating the high mountains; the gradual through the sequence of Tripiṭaka, Prajñāpāramitā, and onward to permanence; and the indeterminate through the separate appearance elsewhere of scriptures clarifying permanently abiding buddha-nature. Sharing the names does not mean that all schools understood their content identically.
Off-to-one-side indeterminate teaching. The name used by earlier masters for scriptural teachings that are neither sudden nor gradual but separately clarify permanence elsewhere. A later commentary explains “off to one side” as a remote place; that is a later terminological explanation.
Common-return teaching; teaching of praise and reproach, suppression and promotion. The former is named from the Lotus gathering the three into the one and the myriad wholesome practices tending toward bodhi. The latter is named from the Vimalakīrti, Questions of Brahmā Viśeṣacintin, and other Vaipulya scriptures. Both are classifications of periods and teachings established by earlier masters.
Half-and-full teaching. Half-word and full-word are divided at the twelfth year. This stands alongside the three-period classification into the teaching with marks, the teaching without marks, and permanence as a different classification and is not merged with it into a single table.
Four, five, and six schools. The four schools take causes and conditions, provisional names, deceptive marks, and permanence as their base. The five add the Avataṃsaka Dharma-realm school. The six separately begin from the four and add the Lotus true school and Great Collection perfect school. Five and six each open from four; they cannot be added together into ten schools.
School of deceptive marks. One of Guangtong’s four schools. It points to scenes in the Large Prajñāpāramitā and the Three Treatises in which the various dharmas are empty, without own-nature, and insubstantial. “Deceptive marks” classifies the characteristics of dharmas; it is not moral deception.
Great Vehicle with marks and without marks. With marks is named from graded levels, the ten grounds, qualities, and characteristics of practice. Without marks is named from the real Dharma being apart from a sequence of verbal expression and sentient beings being immediately the mark of nirvāṇa. The “two marks” of the tenth classification refers back to these two kinds.
The One Buddha-Vehicle and one-sound teaching. The tenth classification says that the buddhas constantly practice the One Vehicle and teach the Dharma with one sound, while sentient beings understand differently according to kind and therefore see three vehicles. What the Buddha practices and what sentient beings see are two distinct layers of the sentence.
Later summary expressions. The Five Periods and Eight Teachings, modes of transformation, Dharmas of transformation, Tripiṭaka, Shared, Distinct, and Perfect, the ten subtleties of the Trace Gate, the ten subtleties of the Origin Gate, and three thousand in one thought-moment are all later summary expressions in common use, not the verbatim terms of this unit. The actual wording here includes five-period teaching and Tripiṭaka only in their respective locations; later formulas are not substituted for it.
7. Similes · Cross-Reading · Carrying Forward
The only simile directly unfolded in this unit is the Avataṃsaka sun illuminating the high mountains. The sun first illuminates the kings of great mountains, and the scripture in turn represents bodhisattvas as kings of great mountains; earlier masters therefore used the image to explain the sudden. The simile bears only the two aspects of first illuminating high mountains and first teaching bodhisattvas. This passage does not separately correlate it with the ten systems or ten ideas.
Read alongside the Lotus Sutra, both the common-return teaching and true school focus upon gathering the three into the one and teaching the real after the Dharma has remained for a long time. Read alongside the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, both the teaching of permanence and school of permanence draw upon scenes of buddha-nature, icchantikas, and permanent abiding. Read alongside the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, the final system’s one sound understood differently according to kind receives a direct parallel. These cross-readings reveal only the scriptural meanings selected by the earlier classifications; they do not cause the scriptures to designate themselves by the corresponding school names.
Setting out divergent classifications lays out the classifications of previous generations in full. The next section, Clarifying the Difficulties, continues immediately with 「○三明難者，先難南地五時，其義不成，」 tr. “Third, clarifying the difficulties: first challenging the five periods of the South, whose meaning cannot be established”〔T33 0801c01〕, after which detailed examination of acceptance and rejection distinguishes usable meanings. Listing, challenging, and accepting or rejecting are three steps in sequence; conclusions from the latter two cannot be written prematurely into this unit.
8. Placement of the Editions
First, this unit takes T1716, the Fahua Xuanyi (Profound Meaning of the Lotus), as its base text. It begins at 0801a17 and ends at 0801b29; 0801c01 has already entered Clarifying the Difficulties. The aligned passage in the Fahua Xuanyi Shiqian begins at 0951a15 and ends at 0951b09.
Second, the count of Taishō textual-note elements within the range of this unit is zero, and there are no variant readings of the main text to list. This applies only to the relevant range of T1716. It does not erase wording differences between the root treatise and received quotations, nor does it erase the two forms 『宗徒』 and 『宗途』 proposed by a later annotator.
Third, the chapter map is titled Classifying the Teaching · Setting Out Divergent Classifications, while the root text is titled Setting Out Divergent Interpretations; each form retains its own position. The root text’s five periods, half and full, and four through six schools likewise remain the classifications of their respective masters and are not regularized into one later framework.
Fourth, there are two explicit sets of graph differences: the root treatise has 『諸佛法久後』, while the received Lotus Sutra has 『世尊法久後』; the root treatise has 『隨類異解』, while the received Vimalakīrti Sūtra has 『隨類各得解』. The two forms in each set are recorded side by side without adjudication.
Fifth, the specific text concerning Tiwei and Boli, the textual chain for a closed list of the three provisionalities in the Satyasiddhi Treatise, and the precise source relationship between “all sentient beings are immediately the mark of nirvāṇa” and the Laṅkāvatāra and Questions of Brahmā Viśeṣacintin titled in this item are all expressly marked as under investigation. No nearby received text is forced into the position of a unique source.
Sixth, each page anchor follows the nearest same-edition line number preceding the first graph of its quotation. Multiple quotations in one row are each tied to the line number of their own first graph, and quotations from the X canon use the line number of the newly compiled edition rather than a parallel line number from an older edition.