妙法蓮華經玄義 判教相·五味半滿

This unit makes the two axes of the five flavors and half and full mutually accomplish one another. It first identifies the fault in using either alone, then judges each flavor in the sequence of the Avataṃsaka, Tripiṭaka, Vaipulya, Great Prajñā, and Lotus, and finally uses the Tathāgata’s praise of skillful means and the śrāvakas’ understanding to show that the half can accomplish the full. Although the passage is short, its scriptural scenes are dense. Wording from scripture, the treatise master’s synopses, and judgments from later commentary must remain distinct.

1. Doctrinal-Outline Placement

This unit occurs within the fifth chapter, the separate explanation of Classifying the Teaching. It begins with 「三、約五味半滿相成者」 tr. “Third, explaining how the five flavors and half and full mutually accomplish one another”〔T1716 0809a10〕 and ends with 「半滿相成，意在此也。」 tr. “The intent of half and full mutually accomplishing one another lies precisely here”〔T1716 0809a26〕. On the same line, 「四、明合不合者」 tr. “Fourth, clarifying correspondence and non-correspondence”〔T1716 0809a26〕 has already entered the next unit. The root text consists of one paragraph whose argumentative movement has four levels: the fault in using the five flavors or half and full alone; the general meaning of the two axes mutually accomplishing one another; the direct judgment flavor by flavor; and the half’s power to accomplish the full together with the śrāvakas’ understanding.

The corresponding passage in the Fahua Xuanyi Shiqian begins with 「三明半滿相成中意」 tr. “Third, clarifying the intent within half and full mutually accomplishing one another”〔T1717 0959b10〕 and ends with 「次述聲聞領解。」 tr. “Next, setting out the śrāvakas’ understanding”〔T1717 0959c07〕. The next line, 「四明合不合中二：先總明來意」 tr. “The fourth, clarifying correspondence and non-correspondence, has two parts: first, generally clarifying the intent of its arising”〔T1717 0959c08〕, has turned to the following unit. Zhanran first judges the initial level as 「初明單用有妨」 tr. “first clarifying the impediment in using either alone”〔T1717 0959b13〕 and the second as 「下正明相成。」 tr. “below, directly clarifying mutual accomplishment”〔T1717 0959b14〕. Direct clarification of mutual accomplishment is further divided into a brief clarification that leaves behind the faults and a direct judgment period by period; the direct judgment is then divided into assigning the five flavors and clarifying the function of half and full.

The whole unit belongs to teaching by Zhiyi recorded by Guanding. No marker in the passage changes into Guanding’s private explanation. Only much later does the Shiqian say 「是章安雜錄」 tr. “this is a miscellaneous record by Zhang’an”〔T1717 0962a04〕; that later statement cannot be projected backward to reclassify the authorial layer of the present unit.

2. Formation and Transmission

The origin account of the root treatise records that Zhiyi taught the Profound Meaning at Jiangling and Guanding received, recorded, and transcribed it. It also expressly records that the Xuanyi and Wenju each comprised ten fascicles〔T1716 0681a16–23〕. The present unit contains no marker of additional wording by the recorder and is therefore read according to the title attribution as teaching by Zhiyi recorded by Guanding.

3. Scriptures and Treatises Cited by Zhiyi

The unit does not write every scene as an explicit citation, but it densely draws upon the five flavors and half and full in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the pairings of wisdom and skillful means in the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra, and the poor-son parable and śrāvaka understandings in the Sutra of the Lotus Blossom of the Wondrous Dharma. The following twelve groups record the full inventory while preserving the separate graphs of the root treatise and the received texts.

4. Essential Explanations from the Shiqian [the Mirror]

Zhanran first says that although this unit temporarily sets aside the preceding three characteristics of the sudden, gradual, and indeterminate, the two meanings of half and full must still accomplish one another before the impediments in classifying all the Buddha’s teaching can be resolved. If the five flavors are presented without mutual accomplishment, then 「五味之處雖然，若不論相成於理未盡。」 tr. “Although the places of the five flavors are so, if mutual accomplishment is not discussed, the principle remains incomplete”〔T1717 0959b12〕. He divides the unit generally into the impediment in using either alone and the direct clarification of mutual accomplishment. Using only the five flavors yields skillful means without real wisdom; using only half and full yields real wisdom without skillful means and loses the benefit to faculties through the provisional gateways of raw and refined ghee.

Upon entering the direct clarification, the Shiqian states, 「次正明中意則不爾，互相成益」 tr. “Next, in the direct clarification, the intent is not so: they mutually accomplish and benefit one another”〔T1717 0959b22〕. It further says, 「五味則一道豎進，味味有半滿相成。復於味味，皆有祕密及以不定」 tr. “The five flavors form one path of vertical progress, and in every flavor half and full mutually accomplish one another. Further, within every flavor there are both the secret and the indeterminate”〔T1717 0959b23〕. The two-way relation of wisdom and skillful means is judged as, 「是則慧得方便，故慧解。方便得慧則方便解，權實俱遊，於茲明矣。」 tr. “Thus wisdom obtains skillful means, and therefore wisdom is liberated; skillful means obtains wisdom, and therefore skillful means is liberated. The provisional and real ranging together is clarified precisely here”〔T1717 0959b24〕. Mutual accomplishment is therefore mutual support, not a merging of the five flavors and half and full into one meaning.

The direct clarification of mutual accomplishment is further divided into briefly clarifying freedom from the faults and, from the Avataṃsaka onward, making the direct judgment〔T1717 0959b26〕. Their nonseparation still means that 「半滿相對，有開有合。」 tr. “Half and full are set against one another, with opening and combining”〔T1717 0959b27〕. The Shiqian explains the scriptural basis for the sequence of five flavors: 「今家五味次第，唯用《大經》，為有所據。然諸教意散在諸經，《大經》之文但略結示前諸教耳。」 tr. “Our tradition’s sequence of the five flavors uses only the Great Scripture as its basis. Yet the intent of the various teachings is scattered throughout the scriptures, while the text of the Great Scripture only briefly gathers and indicates the preceding teachings”〔T1717 0959b28〕. This explains why T374 provides the basis for the sequence without exclusively containing every scene from every period.

In the direct judgment flavor by flavor, the Avataṃsaka is judged only full because 「華嚴正隔小明大，於彼初分永無聲聞」 tr. “The Avataṃsaka directly separates the small and clarifies the great; in its opening section there are never any śrāvakas”〔T1717 0959c04〕. The following four flavors are described thus: 「後之四味，或單或帶，可以意知，是故不同舊人所判，況復次第永異他人。」 tr. “The latter four flavors are either single or carry another; this can be understood from the meaning. They therefore differ from the judgments of earlier people, and still more does their sequence differ permanently from that of others”〔T1717 0959c05〕. The final passage is separately judged, 「次功能中二：初舉化主稱歎，次述聲聞領解。」 tr. “Next, function has two parts: first raising the transforming teacher’s praise, and then setting out the śrāvakas’ understanding”〔T1717 0959c07〕. The praise of skillful means and the two groups of śrāvaka understandings thus return together to the function of the half accomplishing the full.

5. Explanations of Various Masters

Zhiquan’s explanation section by section. The Fahua Jing Xuanqian Zhengshi says, 「五味則一道豎進等，此釋玄文，破南師但用五味，北師偏用半滿，今家以五味成半滿，半滿成五味，故云味味皆有半滿。」 tr. “The five flavors form one path of vertical progress, and so forth. This explains the Xuanyi text, refuting the Southern masters’ use of only the five flavors and the Northern masters’ partial use of half and full. Our tradition uses the five flavors to accomplish half and full and half and full to accomplish the five flavors; hence it says that every flavor possesses half and full”〔X0592 0631c19〕. It further explains advance and withdrawal with, 「權實俱遊，行藏得所，謂五味半滿俱用，故云俱遊。五味半滿相成謂之行，謂相成法華醍醐滿字也。唯徧四味半滿謂之藏，謂不至法華醍醐滿字也。又俱遊論相成，行藏論用捨也。」 tr. “The provisional and real range together, and advance and withdrawal find their proper places. This means that the five flavors and half and full are both used, and so it says they range together. The five flavors and half and full mutually accomplishing one another is called advance, meaning mutual accomplishment in the full words of the Lotus as clarified essence. Pervading only the four flavors through half and full is called withdrawal, meaning not reaching the full words of the Lotus as clarified essence. Further, ranging together is discussing mutual accomplishment, while advance and withdrawal are discussing the function of use and relinquishment”〔X0592 0631c23〕. This is a later Qing-dynasty explanation and is not made the sole lexical meaning of the root treatise. In judging each flavor, it further says, 「或單或帶，謂單是鹿苑，帶是方等、般若。方等帶藏半，般若帶通半也。法華廢半，明滿易知，故略。」 tr. “Either single or carrying another means that the Deer Park is single, while Vaipulya and Prajñā carry another. Vaipulya carries the Tripiṭaka half, while Prajñā carries the Shared half. The Lotus abolishes the half; its clarification of the full is easy to understand and is therefore abbreviated”〔X0592 0632a07〕. It also distinguishes two earlier judgments: 「不同古人，指但用五味古人，即定林等。至光宅偏用半滿古人，即菩提流支也。」 tr. “‘Differing from ancient people’ points to ancient people such as Dinglin who used only the five flavors. The ancient person of Guangzhai who partially used half and full is Bodhiruci”〔0632a02〕; and 「不同舊人等，謂定林等。用從牛出乳，譬三藏十二年前有相教。乃至用從熟酥出醍醐，譬涅槃常住教。又菩提流支，十二年前皆半，十二年後皆滿。」 tr. “‘Differing from earlier people’ means Dinglin and the others, who used milk coming from a cow as a simile for the Tripiṭaka teaching with characteristics before the twelfth year, through to using clarified essence coming from refined ghee as a simile for the permanently abiding Nirvāṇa teaching. Further, Bodhiruci regarded everything before the twelfth year as half and everything after the twelfth year as full”〔0632a08〕. These are recorded side by side without adjudication.

Zhili illuminates the five-flavor scenes of faculties and teachings together. The Guanyin Yishu Ji explains the poor son removing excrement with, 「急追付財稱怨大喚，徐語除糞歡喜隨來，乃施方便說三界苦，以畏苦故斷見思集，既革凡成聖，名轉乳為酪。」 tr. “When urgently pursued so that wealth could be entrusted to him, he complained and cried loudly. When spoken to gently about removing excrement, he joyfully followed. Skillful means were then applied by teaching the suffering of the three realms. Through fear of suffering, he severed the accumulation of deluded views and thoughts; having changed from ordinary to noble, this is called turning milk into curds”〔T1729 0952c06〕. It then explains Vaipulya rebuke, 「四教俱演橫攝眾機，小聞彈訶漸能慕大密得通益，鈍根菩薩益同二乘，調此等機得生酥味。」 tr. “All four teachings are expounded, horizontally gathering the many faculties. Those of the small hear the rebukes and gradually come to aspire to the great, secretly gaining the benefit of the Shared. Bodhisattvas of dull faculties receive the same benefit as the Two Vehicles. Training these faculties produces the flavor of raw ghee”〔T1729 0952c09〕. Its conclusion, 「應知約教明五味者，不取濃淡，但語相生，以其頓乳即醍醐故。」 tr. “One should know that when the five flavors are clarified according to the teachings, thickness and thinness are not taken; only their arising from one another is discussed, because the sudden milk is itself clarified essence”〔T1729 0952c11〕, shows that the five flavors here concern generative sequence, not merely differences in the richness of dairy products.

Zhiyuan reorganizes half and full with the five flavors. The Niepan Xuanyi Fayuan Jiyao says, 「彈小褒大者，彈三藏，褒三教也。帶半者，帶二乘也。廢半明滿者，若以四教明之，則後三教俱得滿名。若在《法華》、《涅槃》，則前三悉是半字，唯圓名滿。」 tr. “Rebuking the small and praising the great means rebuking the Tripiṭaka and praising the other three teachings. Carrying the half means carrying the Two Vehicles. As for abolishing the half and clarifying the full, if explained through the four teachings, the latter three all receive the name full. If considered within the Lotus and Nirvāṇa, the first three are all half-words and only the Perfect is called full”〔T1766 0034a15〕. It further says, 「正譬說教次第者，以從牛初出於乳，譬佛出世先說《華嚴》，乃至最後變成醍醐，譬佛最後說《法華》、《涅槃》也，」 tr. “The direct simile for the sequence of teachings uses milk first coming from a cow to symbolize the Buddha’s first teaching the Avataṃsaka upon appearing in the world, through to the final transformation into clarified essence, symbolizing the Buddha’s final teaching of the Lotus and Nirvāṇa”〔T1766 0034c14〕. Its explanation of entrusting work and entrusting wealth appears separately: 「委業領財者，用《法華》窮子喻也。此喻委以大乘家業，以化菩薩。如諸部般若，多是空生、身子、滿願對揚也。付財定性者，會父子定天性也。」 tr. “Entrusting the work and taking charge of the wealth uses the poor-son parable in the Lotus. This simile entrusts the Mahāyāna family estate in order to transform bodhisattvas. In the various Prajñā scriptures, it is mostly Subhūti, Śāriputra, and Pūrṇa who expound in response. Entrusting the wealth and settling the family relation means joining father and son and settling their natural kinship”〔T1766 0035a17〕.

Yanshou preserves variant forms in a continuous transcription. The Zongjing Lu expressly introduces its passage with, 「如法華玄義云。約五味半滿相成者。」 tr. “As the Fahua Xuanyi says: concerning the five flavors and half and full mutually accomplishing one another”〔T2016 0621a09〕, and transcribes the text only through the first “the intent lies precisely here.” It reads, 「半滿有五味。則有方便慧解。」 tr. “Half and full contain the five flavors; therefore there is skillful means liberated through wisdom”〔T2016 0621a13〕, adding the graph 『則』 and punctuating it differently from the root treatise. It also reads, 「如來慇懃稱歎方便者。半有成滿之功。」 tr. “The Tathāgata earnestly praises skillful means because the half has the power to accomplish the full”〔T2016 0621a22〕, using 『慇懃』 where the root treatise has 『殷勤』. At 「意在此也。次約觀分別者。」 tr. “The intent lies precisely here. Next, distinguishing according to contemplation”〔T2016 0621a23〕, it changes topics. Its omission of the final evidence from the four great śrāvakas therefore establishes only the boundary of the excerpt and cannot prove that the root treatise lacked this passage.

Fazhao clearly distinguishes this from a mechanical assignment of half and full. The Fahua Jing San Dabu Dujiao Ji says, 「籤云五味則一道豎進，味味皆有半滿相成者，彼南師偏用五味，北師偏用半滿，今約五味半滿相成而用，則華嚴唯滿不半，乃至法華廢半明滿，非五味各有半滿也。」 tr. “The Shiqian says that the five flavors form one path of vertical progress and that every flavor has half and full mutually accomplishing one another. The Southern masters relied one-sidedly on the five flavors, while the Northern masters relied one-sidedly on half and full. When the five flavors and half and full are now used through mutual accomplishment, the Avataṃsaka is only full and not half, through to the Lotus abolishing the half and clarifying the full; it is not that each of the five flavors separately contains both half and full”〔X0585 0009a22〕. Its meaning corresponds to the Shiqian’s statement that the Avataṃsaka is only full and the latter four flavors are either single or carry another, but the final sentence remains Fazhao’s later explanation and is not passed off as Zhanran’s original wording.

6. Terminology

The five flavors. Milk, curds, raw ghee, refined ghee, and clarified essence form one path of vertical progress. The root treatise assigns them in sequence to the Avataṃsaka, Tripiṭaka, Vaipulya, Great Prajñā, and Lotus. In the present unit, the five flavors mark the sequence of teachings, not merely a hierarchy of value.

Half and full. The half is connected with skillful means and the gateways of the three vehicles, while the full is connected with the one real and the gateway of bodhisattvas. According to the flavor, the two can be used singly, set in opposition, carried together, or abolished and converged. They cannot be flattened into “wrong” and “correct.”

Mutual accomplishment. The five flavors keep the configuration of half and full within a before-and-after sequence, while half and full make the opening and combining of provisional and real within the five flavors visible. Mutual accomplishment means mutual benefit, not that the two sets of names are synonyms.

Wisdom liberated through skillful means; skillful means liberated through wisdom. In the first, wisdom obtains skillful means and is liberated; in the second, skillful means obtains wisdom and is liberated. The word order identifies what is liberated by means of what.

The provisional and real range together; advance and withdrawal find their proper places. The provisional and real are like a bird’s two wings: they move together while each retains its function. The root treatise does not define advance and withdrawal word by word. Zhiquan’s reading of ranging together as mutual accomplishment and advance and withdrawal as use and relinquishment is one later explanation.

Sudden and full, hired labor, rebuke, receiving instruction, entrusting wealth. These five expressions respectively reveal the Avataṃsaka’s Mahāyāna family estate, the Tripiṭaka’s poor son engaged in hired labor, Vaipulya’s use of the full to rebuke the half, the Great Prajñā’s carrying the half while discussing the full, and the Lotus wealth returning to the son. They are the treatise master’s classifications and assignments of similes, not identically named sections established by the scriptures themselves.

The power to accomplish the full. The skillful means of half-words can train and mature those of dull faculties, making possible the opening of the Buddha’s knowing-and-seeing through full words. Abolishing the half and clarifying the full does not erase the prior work of maturation performed by skillful means.

7. Similes · Cross-Reading · Carrying Forward

Only with two wings is a bird capable of flight; this unit borrows that image for the provisional and real ranging together. The wings do not replace one another but enable flight. The poor-son parable further links the Mahāyāna family estate, hired labor, receiving instruction, and entrusting wealth. From regarding oneself as a hired laborer and taking charge of the many things without desiring them, to all the wealth belonging to the son, the before-and-after sequence of the teaching becomes a process of father and son recognizing one another and the family estate returning to the son.

Read with the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the flavors arising from one another supply the vertical structure of progress, while half-words and full words supply the opening and combining of small and great. Read with the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra, wisdom obtaining skillful means and skillful means obtaining wisdom preserve two-way mutual support. Read with the Sutra of the Lotus Blossom of the Wondrous Dharma, the praise of skillful means, the cluster of jewels coming of itself, and abiding in real wisdom return classification of the teaching to sentient beings’ understanding.

This unit carries forward the preceding three characteristics of the sudden, gradual, and indeterminate by showing that the sequence of the five flavors becomes complete only through half and full mutually accomplishing one another. The next unit then distinguishes correspondence and non-correspondence among the various classifications. This short passage therefore turns the preceding sequence of teachings and periods into a testable opening and combining of the provisional and real and establishes a measure for the subsequent analysis of the various explanations.

8. Placement of the Editions

First, this unit takes T1716 as its base. Its body begins at 0809a10 and ends within the same paragraph at 0809a26. Although the next unit likewise begins at 0809a26, the byte ranges of the two passages do not overlap. Every page-line anchor is tied to the nearest line number preceding the first graph of the citation rather than using the opening anchor of the entire paragraph for every shorter quotation.

Second, the body range of this unit contains no Taishō variant-reading markers and no interlinear notes. This zero value follows from a closed count of the elements in the entire paragraph and is not inferred from zero occurrences of a single term.

Third, the direct commentary on this unit in the Fahua Xuanyi Shiqian contains two groups of Taishō variants. At 0959b14, the body reads 『云』 while a variant reads 『云云』; at 0959b25, the body reads 『則』 while a variant reads 『則解』. Both groups belong only to the later T1717 commentarial layer and are not listed backward as variants in the present T1716 unit.

Fourth, the Zongjing Lu excerpt has an additional graph 『則』 relative to T1716 and differs in the forms 『殷勤／慇懃』 and in punctuation. It is a later witness of continuous transcription and does not alter the base text. Tripiṭaka and Vaipulya are also classes of teaching; although representative scenes can be located, they are not forcibly tied to single exclusive scriptures.

Fifth, later summary expressions for the five flavors and half and full can be used for this unit only when marked in the apparatus or later-commentarial layer as later terminology. The present unit itself remains anchored in its actual wording: five flavors, half and full, single, carrying, abolishing, and mutual accomplishment.