The central status of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya in East Asian Buddhism has been confirmed and elevated by Daoxuan’s 道宣 （596-667） seminal commentaries, represented by the Sifenlü shanfan buque xingshichao 四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔. It is no exaggeration to say that Daoxuan’s interpretation based on the translated Vinaya canon marks a watershed in the theorization and systemization of the Vinaya teaching. However, recent studies by Wang Lei point out that Vinaya commentaries during the Six Dynasties already contained key conceptual frameworks and original theories which are oftentimes attributed to Daoxuan. By analyzing the Sibulü bing lun yaoyongchao 四部律幷論要用抄, a commentary dated to around the sixth century preserved in the Dunhuang manuscript collections, this paper investigates the essential connection between early Vinaya thinking in its formative phase and Daoxuan’s commentaries. Regardless of Daoxuan’s own relatively negative evaluation of his predecessors, his overall vision of the Vinaya canon and exegetical principal have been shaped by previous works, including the compromising tendency to harmonize the distinction between the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna position, the handling of internal conflicts between different Vinaya texts, and the recognition of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya’s unique quality as close to the Mahāyāna position. To advance the understanding of East Asian Buddhist monasticism, this paper calls for due attention to Dunhuang Vinaya commentaries and reevaluation of their continued influence on later generations.
