Foguo Weibai 仏国惟白, who lived at the end of the Northern Song dynasty, is the 7th Chan Master of the Yunmen Sect 雲門宗 and the 3rd Abbot of Fayun Temple 法雲寺 of Bianjing 汴京. His works Jianzhong jingguo xudenglu 建中靖国続灯録, Zhiyaolu 指要録, and Wenshu zhinan tuzan 文殊指南図讃 are extant. The Zhiyaolu, the oldest extant dictionary of the Buddhist canon based on the imperial edition of the Northern Song dynasty, is especially important. However, it can be said that there are few studies on the ideas reflected in the work of Weibai. This paper will attempt to elucidate his idea of repaying indebtedness, based on the paragraphs of “description of five benefits and five repayings” seen at the end of the eighth volume of the Zhiyaolu. After surveying the development of the idea in ancient China, the paper will point out the characteristics and influences of Weibai’s idea of the five indebtednesses.
