sometime during the middle of the fifth century C.E.
The sutra purports to be the last chapter of a longer
Sanskrit text, and its full title is Chapter on the Mind
Ground of the Bodhisattvas of the Fanwang jing. How-
ever, there is no conclusive evidence that this framing
text ever existed.
The Fanwang jingconsists of two fascicles: The first
enumerates the stages of practice of the bodhisattva
PATH, and the second, which had been circulating as
an independent text, contains a list of the ten major
and forty-eight minor PRECEPTS. The set of precepts il-
lustrated in the Fanwang jingis popularly called the
“bodhisattva precepts” or the “Fanwangprecepts”;
thus the second fascicle on its own is often called the
Sutra of Bodhisattva Preceptsand is used in East Asian
countries as a bodhisattva PRATIMOKSA(collection of
rules). Traditionally, East Asian Buddhist monks and
nuns are ordained using a set of rules drawn from the
Sifen lu(Four-Part Vinaya) of the Indian DHARMA-
GUPTAKAschool. The Fanwangprecepts were rarely
used by themselves for ordination in China and Korea
but instead were treated as a supplementary set of Ma-
hayana precepts.
Composed at a time when mainstream Buddhist
and Mahayana texts on monastic discipline had just
been transmitted into China, the contents of the Fan-
wang jingreflect Chinese Buddhist concerns about the
impact a foreign morality would have on the indige-
nous culture. These concerns are reflected in the em-
phasis placed in the sutra on filial piety and obedience,
two subjects of vital concern to Confucians. In addi-
tion, several minor precepts concern the relationship
between the Buddhist order and the state, which claim
Buddhism’s autonomy from secular power. Also of
particular interest is that whereas VINAYArules are in-
tended only for monks and nuns, the Fanwangpre-
cepts are said to apply universally to both the LAITY
and monastics, as illustrated by the sutra’s stated au-
dience of monks, nuns, laypeople, and bodhisattvas.
In some instances, the sutra notes that certain pre-
cepts are intended either for laypeople or for mem-
bers of the Buddhist order. For example, the major
precepts against killing, stealing, and illicit sexual ac-
tivity apply both to members of religious orders and
to lay believers, whereas the fifth major precept, a pro-
hibition against selling liquor, was principally directed
at the laity.
Numerous commentaries were written on the Fan-
wang jing,representing the significant role its Ma-
hayana bodhisattva precepts played in East Asian
Buddhism. Many leading scholars in China, including
ZHIYI(538–597) and FAZANG(643–712), wrote com-
mentaries on the text, most focusing on the second fas-
cicle. In Korea, more than fifteen commentaries are
known to have been written on the sutra, including
works by the eminent monks WO ̆NHYO(617–686),
Su ̆ngjang (d.u.), U ̆ijo ̆k (d.u.), and Taehyo ̆n (fl. 753).
Six of these commentaries are extant, coming primar-
ily from the Silla period. In Japan, SAICHO (767–822)
made the Fanwang jingone of the most influential texts
in Japanese Buddhism by arguing that its set of pre-
cepts should serve as the sole basis for ORDINATIONin
the Tendai school, the Japanese branch of the TIANTAI
SCHOOL.See also:Apocrypha; Mahayana Precepts in JapanBibliography
Groner, Paul. “The Fan-wang chingand Monastic Discipline in
Japanese Tendai: A Study of Annen’s Futsu jubosatsukai
koshaku.” In Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha,ed. Robert E.
Buswell, Jr. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990.EUNSUCHOFASTING. SeeAscetic PracticesFAXIANFaxian (ca. 337–ca. 418) is the first Chinese monk
whose travel to India is documented. Not only did Fa-
xian bring firsthand knowledge of India to China, he
also brought back a series of scriptures.
After being ordained at the age of twenty, Faxian rec-
ognized that the VINAYA(canon of monastic rules) avail-
able in China was incomplete. He therefore vowed to
travel to India to search for Vinaya texts. He left
Chang’an in 399 and proceeded via DUNHUANGand
across the Pamir mountains into Uddiyana in north-
western India. Between 405 and 407, Faxian studied in
Patalputra, then in Tamralipti in eastern India, and
later in Sri Lanka. He set sail for home in 411, and af-
ter an odyssey that lasted until 413 he landed at the
Shandong Peninsula. During his fifteen-year pilgrimage,
Faxian had traveled to approximately thirty kingdoms.
Faxian went to Jiankang (Nanking) and began trans-
lating the texts he had collected in India and Sri Lanka.
Two of these were of the Vinaya of the MAHASAMGHIKA
SCHOOL(T1425, T1427), two were MAHAYANAscrip-FASTING