San jie jiao “wu jin zang” de qi yuan yu fa zhan yan jiu =: The origin and evolution of the inexhaustible treasury in the Sanjie jiao

M.Phil.Sanjie Jiao (Religion of the Three Stages) was founded by Xinxing (540-594) in the early years of the Sui dynasty. The religious movement was widespread in the Sui and Tang dynasties, with a large number of followers and a great influence on society, the feudal regime and other Buddhist sects at that time. According to the time when the Buddha died, the world in which we lived and the roots of all beings, it was concluded by the Sanjie Jiao that we were in the third stage as well as the final dharma era, and that all beings must learn the dharma suitable for the third stage, among which the Inexhaustible Treasury was one of the most important doctrines. The Inexhaustible Treasury comes from the translation of Sanskrit word akṣayākara and its origins have been recorded in many Buddhist precepts, therefore Buddhist communities established before Sanjie Jiao also have practiced various methods of making profits to obtain endless offerings for the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. In the sixth century, Xinxing further developed the Buddhist idea of the Inexhaustible Treasury, encouraging donations to the Field of Compassion and the Field of Respect, and advocated cultivating the compassionate heart of a Mahayana bodhisattva, so as to develop the doctrine of the Inexhaustible Treasury into a special Buddhist financial institution focused on charity work. Through the study of Sanjie Jiao’s Inexhaustible Treasury, we can not only further understand the general situation and historical features of this sect, but also clarify the development of Han Buddhism in the Sui and Tang dynasties, the transformation of the economic forms of temples, the relationships between Buddhist sects and many other Buddhist issues. This paper will rely on Sanjie Jiao’s writings and other Buddhist texts, historical records, literary classics, and stone inscriptions, using the method of textual analysis to explore the origin and evolution of the Inexhaustible Treasury in Sanjie Jiao. This will clarify the origin and the development of the Inexhaustible Treasury, the specific contents and characteristics of the Inexhaustible Treasury in Sanjie Jiao, as well as its influence on Chinese society and Buddhism itself.三階教由信行（540-594）創立於隋朝初年，在隋唐兩代廣為流傳，信眾甚多，勢力頗大，對當時的社會、封建政權和佛教其他教派均產生了相當深遠的影響。該教依據佛滅的時間、所處的世界、眾生的根機判定當前正處在第三階末法時代，眾生必須修習適合第三階的佛法，而“無盡藏”便是其中最為重要的教義之一。“無盡藏”源自梵語“akṣayākara”的意譯，在佛教的戒律中已有記載，因此三階教創立以前的佛教僧團也曾對“無盡藏”有所施用。六世紀時，信行又進一步發展了佛教有關“無盡藏”的思想，鼓勵佈施“悲田”和“敬田”，提倡大乘菩薩慈悲心，進而將三階教的“無盡藏”發展成一種帶有慈善性質的特殊的佛教金融型態。通過對三階教“無盡藏”的研究，我們不僅可以進一步了解三階教的概況及其歷史面目，還能藉此對隋唐時期漢傳佛教的發展、寺院經濟形式的轉變、佛教教派間的關係等諸多佛教問題有所啟迪。本篇論文將主要依托三階經典和其他佛教典籍、歷史資料、文學典籍、碑文石刻等，運用文本分析、比較研究等方法對三階教“無盡藏”的起源與發展變化情況做進一步的探究，從而釐清佛教“無盡藏”思想的起源與演變、三階教“無盡藏”的具體內容和特點，以及其對中國社會和佛教自身的影響等問題。郭敬."2020年7月".Parallel title from English abstract.Thesis M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2020.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-107).Abstract also in English.Title from PDF title page (viewed on March 9, 2022).Guo Jing