236 stephan peter bumbacher
as a Buddhist text. Furthermore, it preserves an earlier version than
the received Buddhist one and can thus be used to emend the latter.
On the other hand, the “forty-two sections” were altered by Yang Xi
in a signi cant way. His modi cations consist of three kinds: 1) he left
out sections and parts that were not suitable to his intentions, 2) he
substituted certain Buddhist terms by Daoist ones, and 3) he added
sentences of his own to some sections. In addition, he made it clear right
from the beginning that his version was no longer a document passed
down over some time but that it was newly and orally transmitted by
gods and immortals who came to visit him. Accordingly, his version
starts with the sentence
The Lord Green Youth of [the Isle of] Fangzhu visited [me] and declared:
[.. .]^159The most obvious modi cations appearing in Yang’s version are his
omissions. As can be seen from the synopsis of the texts, Yang Xi left
out entirely the very rst three sections of the Buddhist version—for
obvious reasons: They are de ning speci c Buddhist technical terms
and are describing speci c Buddhist practices Yang Xi considered un t
for inclusion in his own system, as it were. Take, for example, section
1 of the Buddhist version. Here the Buddha says:
Those who leave their families and go forth from their homes to practice
the Way are called shamen (Skt. ramaa or ascetics). Those who constantly
follow the 250 precepts in order to [realise] the four noble truths and pro-
gressively purify their intentions will become aluohan (Skt. arhat or “saints”).
[.. .] Next is the anahan or “nonreturner” (Skt. angmin): at the end of
his life the spirits (hun) of a “nonreturner” ascend the nineteen heavens
and there become an aluohan. Next is the situohan or “once-returner” (Skt.
sakdgmin): the “once-returner” ascends [to Heaven] once and returns
once and then becomes an aluohan. Next is the xutuohan or “stream-win-
ner” (Skt. srotpanna): the “stream-winner” dies and is reborn seven times
and then becomes an aluohan. [.. .]^160This section de nes the various grades of Buddhist sainthood which
was obviously of no use for Yang Xi. Similarly, he discarded the second
part of section nine that deals again with the various sorts of Buddhist
saints. The passage which is omitted in the Daoist version reads in its
Buddhist version:
(^159) Zhen gao 6.6a.
(^160) Sishier zhang jing 722a.