At Baoshan Lingquan si 宝山霊泉寺, where the Northern Qi and Sui dynasty Dilun master Lingyu 霊裕 lived, one finds a stone stele created with the donation of the maternal relative of the Imperial Household Lou Rui 婁叡 upon which the Huayan jing’s 華厳経 “Mingnan” chapter (明難品) is engraved, as well as one comprised of several verses from its “Jingxing” (浄行品) and other chapters and a verse from the Wuliang yi jing 無量義経. I also have discovered at the Fusinian Library a rubbing of a stele upon which the “Chufaxin pusa gongde” chapter (初発心菩薩功徳品) is engraved. Based on the titles of donors and the steles’ shape, text format, and typeface, it appears that these three steles were all made around the same time during the Northern Qi dynasty.
The “Mingnan” and “Jingxing” chapters include teachings, practices, and vows (such as the ten stages of faith) for those beginning Buddhist practice. The “Chufaxin pusa gongde” chapter, which holds that the merit of giving rise to bodhicitta is the same as that of a buddha, was very important for laypeople. According to these steles’ inscriptions, many laypeople took part in their creation along with Lingyu. In this way, we can see that he greatly emphasized sutra passages that were useful for those at the very beginning stage of Buddhist practice and had them engraved on steles.
