Rules for Nuns according to The Dharmaguptakavinaya (Set of 3 Volumes)

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The present work provides the first complete annotated translation into English of the Chinese version of the bhiksunivibhanga of the Dharma-guptakavinaya. This vinaya laid the foundation of Chinese monastic life. As the Dharmaguptakavinaya came into being in symbiosis with other vinaya traditions, a comparison is made with these other traditions on important issues.

In the Introduction, the place of the Dharmaguptaka tradition, the career of a Buddhist nun and the rules of discipline are discussed. The notes to the English translation provide relevant references to technical terms and to parallel passages from the discipline for monks as well as from other vinaya traditions.

The work is supplemented with indexes, glossaries and a concordance of the rules for nuns and monks of the Dharmaguptaka tradition.

Ann heirman (b. 1965) graduated from the Ghent University, Belgium in 1994. She has been working at the same university since 1995, first as Research Assistant with the National Fund for Scientific Research (Belgium), at present as Professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Culture and in the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies.

In 1998, she obtained her Ph.D. In Oriental Languages and Cultures from Ghent University. She has mainly published on Buddhist monastic discipline (articles in Indian Journal of Buddhist Studies, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Etudes Asiatiques, Buddhist Studies Review and many others).

It is a pleasure to have in our Buddhist Tradition Series this learned and informative book on Buddhist nuns. Besides making use of previous scholarship on this issue, Dr. Heirman explains everything of importance about these nuns, including the start during the lifetime and later development. She takes up each related problem and solves it intelligently. So this work deserves the study on Buddhist nuns.

The purpose of this work is, on the one hand, to give an annotated English translation of the Chinese version of the bhiksunivibhanga (i.e. discipline for nuns) of the Dharmaguptakavinaya, (Taisho Shinshu Daizokyo, Vol.22, No.1428, pp.714-778), and on the other hand, to study the life and the career of a Buddhist nun as described in the vinaya literature.

Given the fact that the Dharmaguptakavinaya is the most important vinaya in China and that it lays the foundation of the monastic life, I have chosen to translate and to study the discipline for nuns of this vinaya. One should, however, always keep in mind that the Dharmaguptakavinaya came into being in symbiosis with other vinaya traditions, often only transmitted in Chinese. Consequently, while translating and studying the bhiksunivibhanga of the Dharmaguptakavinaya, I have carefully considered these other traditions.

An accurate translation of the discipline for nuns is only possible after a thorough comparison with the discipline for monks, and the precise identification of the technical terms within the monastic discipline. Furthermore, a comparison with the other vinaya traditions enables us to clarify unclear passages. Relevant references to technical terms and to parallel passages from the discipline for monks as well as from other vinaya traditions are therefore mentioned extensively in the notes to the translation.

Special attention goes to the precise content of the vinaya terminology used in the bhiksunivibhanga. The translation and the study of the bhiksunivibhanga of the Dharmaguptakas as well as a comparison with the other traditions enables us to further develop the study of the vinaya concepts. In addition, a detailed overview of the Chinese terms used in the Dharma-guptakavinaya to render these concepts is given.

The above outline gives the work an encyclopaedical character. For this reason, it is organized so that it may be used as a reference book

. In the introduction, I discuss the place of the Dharmaguptaka tradition, the career of a Buddhist nun and the content of the precepts. I also give a short overview of the most important ceremonies. The introduction is followed by an annotated translation of the bhik.yunivibhattga of the Dharmaguptakavinaya. The whole is completed with a number of indexes and glossaries and a concordance: (1) an extensive index of technical terms Buddhist Sanskrit-Chinese, with reference to the page and the line of the Chinese text (given in addendum); (2) a glossary of technical terms Chinese-Buddhist Sanskrit and (3) English-Buddhist Sanskrit; (4) an index of proper names Buddhist Sanskrit-Chinese, with reference to the page and the line of the Chinese text; (5) a glossary of proper names Chinese-Buddhist Sanskrit; (6) a concordance of the precepts for nuns and monks.

I would like to express my thanks to all who have contributed to the establishment of this work.

I am indebted to Prof. Dr. Charles Willemen (Ghent) who in-troduced me to the world of Buddhism. My gratefulness also goes to Prof: Dr. Pol Vanden Broucke (Ghent), Prof. Dr. Eddy Moerloose (Ghent), Prof. Dr. Frank Van Den Bossche (Ghent), Prof. Dr. Oscar von Hinuber (Freiburg), and Dr. Jin-il Chung (Gottingen) for their many valuable suggestions. I owe special thanks to Prof. Dr. Bart Dessein (Ghent) and Dr. Siglinde Dietz (Gottingen) for their generous, encouraging and constructive advice. And last but not least, I want to thank Mr. Andrew Glass (Seattle) for having looked through my English manuscript.

**Contents and Sample Pages**