The Qijie foming jing 七階仏名経, produced by the Sanjie movement and founded on tathāgatagarbha thought, is a scripture that was used in the movement’s six daily rituals for worship of buddhas. The portion of this scripture that was compiled in the earliest stage is not oriented toward the peace and stability of the state, but rather the individual elimination of sins and attainment of buddhahood. This analysis also leads to clarification of Sanjie thought and its transformations during the Sui through Tang periods, as well as the Buddhist beliefs and understandings of the laypeople who supported it.
This essay demonstrates that the Qijie foming jing contains sections that were completed during the lifetime of the movement’s founder Xinxing 信行, and sections that were added in later generations. Further, its introduction of buddha names whose earliest extant example is the writings of Zhiyi 智顗, as well as its use of the Zhancha shan’e yebao jing 占察善悪業報経 (which contains Daoist thought and circulated widely) during the process of its compilation clarifies, evidence that the scripture sought to adopt a position of compromise between elite and popular levels of Buddhist society.
