Annotated Translations and Study of the Major Literature of the Five Positions in the Caodong School

Abstract

This thesis annotates and translates the commentary of the Five Positions (Wuwei 五位) of the Caodong lineage 曹洞宗. The Five Positions in the Caodong tradition is the progressive stages of awakening in Chan practice. It introduces a distinctive conception with a unique Mahayana notion that emptiness and existence are mutually dependent and relatively equivalent. Liangjie良价 (807-869) conducts an overview to access Chan practice and unveils the advanced meditation status serving as the framework and the direction that closely coheres with the basic technique for Chan practice. There are three categories of the Five Positions in the Caodong tradition, the Five Positions of Improper and Proper (Pianzheng wuwei 偏正五位), the Five Positions of Merit and Honor (Gongxun wuwei 功勳五位), and the Five Positions of Sovereign and Minister (Juncheng wuwei 君臣五位). They are theoretically relevant to each other. The Five Positions of Improper and Proper is the doctrinal foundation for the Five Positions of Merit and Honor and the Five Positions of Sovereign and Minister, which illustrate the teaching of the Five Positions of Improper and Proper in different aspects. This thesis focuses on the Five Positions of Improper and Proper to explore Liangjie’s point of view and approach to the Five Positions for Chan practice. It aims at clarifying the original meaning and the purpose and attempting to reorient the Five Positions from the later study that is associated with Yijing 易經. This thesis contains two parts, the introduction and annotated translations. In the introduction, the Five Positions and the primary sources for translation are investigated. The relevant issues and the disputes regarding the Five Positions and the documents will also be discussed. In annotated translations, Five Positions and the commentaries of the Five Positions are translated and explained in this part.

這篇論文是一份曹洞宗五位相關文獻的譯註，原文翻譯取自曹洞宗早期主要原始文獻。論文分成兩部分：第一部分緒論、第二部分譯註本文。第一部分主要是介紹曹洞宗早期有關五位的文獻，對後來發展的文獻也有涉略。期間文獻中所產生的議題與爭論，也會在這一部分提出，並予以分析討論。第二部分譯註三種曹洞宗的五位，所有翻譯文獻以論註方式呈現，在每一位的譯註後面注釋翻譯的內容。為忠於翻譯內容，譯註和注釋中，除了對內容和注解相關議題外，在此不做其他討論。這篇論文以良价 (807-869) 所提出的偏正五位為主題，相對後來發展的五位說法，藉以釐清良价五位的意義與修行。