VINAYA: from india to china 173
the rst centuries AD. According to the Chu sanzang jiji,^32 the rst vinaya
text for nuns translated into Chinese was the Biqiuni Jie
(Bhikuprtimoka), a prtimoka text translated by Dharmaraka in the
second half of the third century AD. Sengyou adds, however, that the
text is lost. Still, since Sengyou mentions this work, A. Hirakawa is of
the opinion that it must have existed.^33
According to the Biqiuni zhuan 34 (Biographies of Bhikus),
the rst Chinese nun was Zhu Jingjian (ca. 292–361)^35 When in
the beginning of the fourth century, she wanted to become a nun, she
was told that in China the rules for nuns were not complete, but that in
foreign countries these rules existed. Yet, according to the Biqiuni zhuan,
in the middle of the fourth century Zhu Jingjian and four other women
were ordained before the bhikusagha (“community of monks”) on the
basis of a karmavcan and of a prtimoka of the Mahsghika school.
There is, however, no evidence of the spread of these Mahsghika
works, as pointed out by Z. Tsukamoto.^36 Also after Zhu Jingjian’s
ordination the search for vinaya rules clearly continued. This search
is described in three short comments in the Chu sanzang jiji.^37 These
narrate in detail the translation into Chinese of a bhikuprtimoka
at the end of 379 AD or in the beginning of 380 AD. The text had
been obtained in Kucha (Ku) by the monk Sengchun , and has
been translated by Tanmochi (?Dharmaji)^38 and Zhu Fonian
. According to A. Hirakawa,^39 it is beyond doubt that this no
longer extant work once existed.^40 The above comments also mention
(^32) Sengyou, T.2145.55.14c28.
(^33) Hirakawa 1970, p. 234. On the earliest bhikuprtimokas, see also Nishimoto
1928; Heirman 2000b, pp. 9–16.
(^34) T.2063, a collection of biographies of Buddhist nuns compiled by Baochang
between 516 and 519. It has been translated by Tsai 1994. See also De Rauw
- 35
Baochang, T.2063.50.934c2–935a5.
(^36) Tsukamoto 1985, vol. 1, p. 424.
(^37) Sengyou, T.2145.55.81b21–24, 81b25–c17 and 81c18–82a17. These passages have
been translated and annotated in Tsukamoto 1985, vol. 1, pp. 636–641, note 17. 38
Tsukamoto 1985, vol. 1, p. 426.
(^39) Hirakawa 1970, pp. 234–235.
(^40) See also Sengyou, T.2145.55.10a26–29: an “Indic” ( , cf. Boucher 2000b) text
obtained by Sengchun in Ku at the time of Emperor Jianwen (. 371–372 AD) of
the (Eastern) Jin and brought by him to Guanzhong (i.e., the present-day Shenxi),
where he had it translated by Zhu Fonian, Tanmochi and Huichang. This text is fur-
ther mentioned in the following catalogues: Fajing et al., T.2146.55.140b11; Daoxuan,
T.2149.55.250a15–18; Jingmai, T.2151.55.358a24–26; Zhisheng, T.2154.55.510c3 and
648c6–7; Yuanzhao et al., T.2157.55.807b9 and 984c7–8.