Precepts of Initial Perfection初真戒律

Also known as

Precepts of Initial Perfection, Ten Precepts of Initial Perfection, Most High Precepts of Initial Perfection

Author / transmission

Wang Changyue

Period

Qing · Established by Wang Changyue when he opened an ordination platform at the White Cloud Temple, Beijing, in the thirteenth year of Shunzhi (1656); first printed in the early Kangxi era.

Canon division

Outside the Canon

Collected in

Outside the Canon (collected in the Daozang Jiyao and the Zangwai Daoshu)

Category

Precepts and Rules

Fascicles

One Fascicle (Juan)

Synopsis

The Chuzhen Jielü (Precepts of Initial Perfection) is the precept text for the first of the "Three Altars of Great Precepts" (santan dajie) established by the early-Qing Longmen precept master Wang Changyue. Its contents include taking refuge in the Three Treasures, the Ten Precepts of Initial Perfection (not to be disloyal or unfilial; not to plot in secret malice; not to kill sentient beings; not to indulge in lechery, corrupting one's perfection; not to obstruct others' success; not to slander the worthy and virtuous; not to drink wine or eat meat; not to be insatiably greedy; not to associate with the unworthy; not to be careless in speech and laughter), the Nine Precepts for Female Adepts, the Three Precepts (the Refuge Precepts), the Five Precepts, and the Eight Precepts, together with the ritual for conferring the precepts, precept robes and certificates, and rules of daily deportment (sitting, reclining, eating, and moving about). Wang Changyue reformed the previous practice of secret transmission, conferring the precepts openly and accepting disciples widely; the "Initial Perfection – Medium Ultimate – Celestial Immortality" Three Altars of Great Precepts thereafter became the standard ordination system for Quanzhen priests from the Qing dynasty onward, and this text forms its foundation, ranked alongside the Zhongji Jie (Precepts of Medium Ultimate) and the Tianxian Dajie (Great Precepts of Celestial Immortality).

Key Ideas

• The Ten Precepts of Initial Perfection and the Nine Precepts for Female Adepts
• The first of the Three Altars of Great Precepts
• The ritual for conferring the precepts and rules of daily deportment
• The establishment of the Quanzhen system of open precept conferral

Structure

One fascicle, containing the precept articles, ordination ritual, and detailed rules of deportment.

Editions

• Daozang Jiyao edition
• Zangwai Daoshu, vol. 12
• White Cloud Temple ordination woodblock edition

Translations

• Partially translated in Livia Kohn, Cosmos and Community (2004)

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikipedia: Wang Changyue
• CTEXT search

Related scriptures

Related figures