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54-412: Although the hills around Yunju Temple may also be called Shijingshan , they have Chinese characters different from those of the district and hence are unrelated to Shijingshan District . It is 86 square kilometres (33 sq mi) in area, making it one of the smaller districts in the greater urban part of Beijing (the immense Mentougou District to the west of it dwarfs Shijingshan District), and

108-507: A Chinese version at least a century before a Sanskrit version. Nattier further argues that it is unusual for Avalokiteśvara to be in the central role in a Prajñāpāramitā text. Early Prajñāpāramitā texts involve Subhuti , who is absent from both versions of the Heart Sūtra . The Buddha is only present in the longer version of the Heart Sutra. Nattier claims the presence of Avalokitesvara in

162-545: A movement to engrave Buddhist sutras on stone steles that continued for over a thousand years; the last stone sutra stele engraved is dated to 1691 CE --- although by that time, the belief in the impending disaster of the Degenerate Age had subsided. The stone sutra steles varied in size and were engraved on both sides. In addition to text, they were also engraved sometimes with images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as well as Siddhaṃ Letters. The collection of stone sutra steles

216-439: A number of other differences, including one different line, and differences in terminology. The corresponding extant Sanskrit texts (ie. Heart Sutra and Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra in 25,000 lines), while agreeing in meaning, differ in virtually every word. Nattier's hypothesis has been rejected by several scholars, including Harada Waso, Fukui Fumimasa, Ishii Kōsei, and Siu Sai Yau, on the basis of historical accounts and comparison with

270-542: A practicing American Buddhist, favours the idea of a lost manuscript of the Large Perfection of Wisdom Sutra (Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra) with the alternate Sanskrit wording, allowing for an original Indian composition, which may still be extant, and located at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda . Harada rejects Nattier's claims that the central role of Avalokiteśvara points to a Chinese origin for

324-524: A reference to the 18 dhatus or elements of consciousness, using a conventional shorthand of naming only the first (eye) and last (conceptual consciousness) of the elements. Lines 17–18 assert the emptiness of the Twelve Nidānas , the traditional twelve links of dependent origination, using the same shorthand as with the eighteen dhatus. Line 19 refers to the Four Noble Truths . The bodhisattva, as

378-765: A stone stele found in a refreshment/rest stop pavilion donated by a Ming dynasty Buddhist stating the presence of Buddha relics or śarīra in Leiyin Cave, on November 27, 1981, archaeologists rediscovered the flesh śarīra (of Buddha) donated by Emperor Yangdi of the Sui dynasty dated to the 8th day of the 4th lunar month 616 CE. There are also over 22,000 scrolls of rare printed or manuscript sutras kept at Yunju Temple. The Ming dynasty's Yongle Southern Tripitaka (1420 CE) and Yongle Northern Tripitaka (1440 CE) are stored here as well as individual printed sutras and manuscripts. In total, 1,122 Buddhist sutras in 3572 volumes were produced at

432-507: Is 12.7 °C (54.9 °F). The average annual rainfall is 540.8 mm (21.29 in) with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 26.5 °C (79.7 °F), and lowest in January, at around −3.3 °C (26.1 °F). Yunju Temple Yunju Temple ( simplified Chinese : 云居寺 ; traditional Chinese : 雲居寺 ; pinyin : Yúnjū Sì )

486-542: Is Cave No. 5 popularly known as Leiyin Cave ( Chinese : 雷音洞 ). This cave is opened for public viewing and is a large cave covered with stone sutra steles on four walls with an area for Buddhist ceremonies. Formerly a statue of Maitreya, the next Buddha was enshrined here but it was removed by unknown persons during the early 1940s. In the early 1940s, a significant portion of the temple was destroyed; however substantial portions have since been restored. Based on inscriptions on

540-546: Is a Buddhist temple located in Fangshan District , 70 kilometers (43 mi) southwest of Beijing and contains the world's largest collection of stone Buddhist sutra steles. Yunju Temple also contains one of only two extant woodblocks for the Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka in the world as well as rare copies of printed and manuscript Chinese Buddhist Tripitakas . It also has many historic pagodas dating from

594-588: Is a popular sutra in Mahāyāna Buddhism . In Sanskrit, the title Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya translates as "The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom ". The Sutra famously states, "Form is emptiness ( śūnyatā ), emptiness is form." It has been called "the most frequently used and recited text in the entire Mahayana Buddhist tradition." The text has been translated into English dozens of times from Chinese, Sanskrit, and Tibetan, as well as other source languages. In

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648-627: Is also sometimes called the Fangshan Stone Sutra (Chinese: 房山石經 ). Venerable Jingwan initially vowed to engrave the entire Tripitaka; at least ten titles still survive today. His successors continued his work. One of them was involved in the engraving of the oldest extant copy (dated to 661 CE) of Tripitaka Master Xuanzang ’s 649 CE translation of the Heart Sutra . During the Sui and Tang dynasties, donors oftentimes determined which sutra to engrave on

702-603: Is currently kept. According to Conze (1967), approximately 90% of the Heart Sutra is derivable from the larger Sanskrit Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, including the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra in 25,000 lines), the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra in 8,000 lines), and the Śatasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra in 100,000 lines). Nattier (1992) questions

756-601: Is extensively studied by the various Tibetan Buddhist schools, where the Heart Sutra is chanted, but also treated as a tantric text, with a tantric ceremony associated with it. It is also viewed as one of the daughter sutras of the Prajnaparamita genre in the Vajrayana tradition as passed down from Tibet. The text has been translated into many languages, and dozens of English translations and commentaries have been published, along with an unknown number of informal versions on

810-457: Is home to 489,439 inhabitants (2000 Census). Its postal code is 100043. There are 9 subdistricts in the district: The western stretch of the 5th Ring Road lies in this area. The Beijing subway serves this area. China National Highway 109 runs through Shijingshan. Shijingshan District is currently served by 4 metro lines of the Beijing Subway system: In 2017, the regional GDP of

864-458: Is interpreted according to the two truths doctrine as saying that teachings, while accurate descriptions of conventional truth, are mere statements about reality—they are not reality itself—and that they are therefore not applicable to the ultimate truth that is by definition beyond mental understanding. The specific sequence of concepts listed in lines 12–20 ("...in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, ... no attainment and no non-attainment")

918-993: Is known as the Heart Sutra (a translation derived from its most common name in East Asian countries). But it is also sometimes called the Heart of Wisdom Sutra. In Tibet, Mongolia and other regions influenced by Vajrayana, it is known as The [Holy] Mother of all Buddhas Heart (Essence) of the Perfection of Wisdom. In the Tibetan text the title is given first in Sanskrit and then in Tibetan: Sanskrit : भगवतीप्रज्ञापारमिताहृदय ( Bhagavatīprajñāpāramitāhṛdaya ), Tibetan : བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་མ་ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པའི་སྙིང་པོ , Wylie : bcom ldan 'das ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po ; transl.  Mother of All Buddhas Heart (Essence) of

972-465: Is not part of the current Tibetan Buddhist Canon . The long version differs from the short version by including both an introductory and concluding section, features that most Buddhist sutras have. The introduction introduces the sutra to the listener with the traditional Buddhist opening phrase "Thus have I heard". It then describes the venue in which the Buddha (or sometimes bodhisattvas, etc.) promulgate

1026-475: Is the same sequence used in the Sarvastivadin Samyukta Agama ; this sequence differs in comparable texts of other sects. On this basis, Red Pine has argued that the Heart Sūtra is specifically a response to Sarvastivada teachings that, in the sense "phenomena" or its constituents, are real. Lines 12–13 enumerate the five skandhas. Lines 14–15 list the twelve ayatanas or abodes. Line 16 makes

1080-579: The Beilin Museum , Xian. All of the above stone steles have the same descriptive inscription : "(Tripitaka Master) Xuanzang was commanded by Emperor Tang Taizong to translate the Heart Sutra." A palm-leaf manuscript found at the Hōryū-ji Temple is the earliest undated extant Sanskrit manuscript of the Heart Sutra. It is dated to c. 7th–8th century CE by the Tokyo National Museum where it

1134-458: The Pala Empire period ( c.  750 –1200 CE) and in parts of India until at least the middle of the 14th century. The stature of the Heart Sutra throughout early medieval India can be seen from its title 'Holy Mother of all Buddhas Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom' dating from at least the 8th century CE (see Philological explanation of the text). The long version of the Heart Sutra

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1188-548: The Heart Sutra (T251) in the Chinese Tripiṭaka is the first extant version to use the title "Heart Sūtra" (心經 xīnjīng ). Fukui Fumimasa has argued that 心經 or Heart Sutra may mean dhāraṇī sutra . This sutra is classified by Edward Conze as belonging to the third of four periods in the development of the Prajñāpāramitā canon, although because it contains a mantra (sometimes called a dhāraṇī ), it does overlap with

1242-458: The Heart Sutra all includes the words "hṛdaya" or "heart" and "prajñāpāramitā" or "perfection of wisdom". Beginning from the 8th century and continuing at least until the 13th century, the titles of the Indic manuscripts of the Heart Sutra contained the words "bhagavatī" or "mother of all buddhas" and "prajñāpāramitā". Later Indic manuscripts have more varied titles. In the western world, this sutra

1296-533: The Heart Sutra could be considered evidence that the text is Chinese in origin as Avalokitesvara was never as popular in India. Nattier also points out that the "gate gate" mantra exists in several variations, and is associated with several different Prajñāpāramitā texts. According to Nattier, only 40% of the extant text of the Heart Sutra is a quotation from the Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa (Great Treatise on

1350-419: The Heart Sutra is quite natural. Siu also notes that Avalokitesvara's presence as the main speaker in the Heart Sutra is justifiable on several basis. However, the question of authorship remains controversial, and other researchers such as Jayarava Attwood (2021) continue to find Nattier's argument for a Chinese origin of the text most convincing explanation. The titles of the earliest extant manuscripts of

1404-595: The Heart Sutra, translated by Kumārajīva (344-413), that Xuanzang supposedly received from an inhabitant of Sichuan prior to his travels to India, was probably first composed in China in the Chinese language from a mixture of material derived from Kumārajīva's Chinese translation of the Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa , and newly composed text (60% of the text). According to Nattier, Xuanzang's version of this text (Taisho 251)

1458-631: The Heart Sutra. Harada notes that the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā ("Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra in 8,000 lines"), one of the two oldest prajñāpāramitā sutras, also has other speakers than the Buddha, namely Subhuti , Sariputra as well as Ananda . Harada also notes the blending of Prajñāpāramitā and Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhist belief beginning from at least Faxian and Xuanzang's time (i.e. 4th - 5th century CE and 7th century CE); and therefore Avalokiteśvara's presence in

1512-584: The Perfection of Wisdom . In other languages, the commonly used title is an abbreviation of Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayasūtraṃ : i.e. The Prajñāhṛdaya Sūtra) (The Heart of Wisdom Sutra). They are as follows: e.g. Korean: Banya Shimgyeong ( Korean : 반야심경 ); Chinese: Bo Re Xin Jing ( Chinese : 般若心经 ; pinyin : bō rě xīn jīng );Japanese: Hannya Shingyō ( Japanese : はんにゃしんぎょう / 般若心経 ); Vietnamese ( Vietnamese : Bát nhã tâm kinh,般若心經 ). Various commentators divide this text into different numbers of sections. In

1566-422: The Perfection of Wisdom), a commentary on the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra written by Nāgārjuna and translated by Kumārajīva; while the rest was newly composed. Based on textual patterns in the extant Sanskrit and Chinese versions of the Heart Sūtra , the Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa and the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra , Nattier has argued that the supposedly earliest extant version of

1620-539: The Perfection of Wisdom). The earliest extant copy of Kumarajiva's translation however, dates only to the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) . According to Huili's biography, Xuanzang learned the sutra from an inhabitant of Sichuan , and subsequently chanted it during times of danger on his journey to the West (i.e. India). Xuanzang however did not translate the Heart Sutra until some years after his return to China in 649 CE. Xuanzang's version of

1674-406: The Sanskrit origins of the Heart Sutra. Nattier states that there is no direct or indirect evidence (such as a commentary) of a Sanskrit version before the 8th century, and she dates the first evidence (in the form of commentaries by Xuanzang's disciples Kuiji and Woncheuk , and Dunhuang manuscripts ) of Chinese versions to the 7th century. Nattier believes that the corroborating evidence supports

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1728-622: The Tang and Liao dynasty. The exact year Yunju Temple was built is unknown; however construction started during the Northern Qi dynasty (550 CE – 570 CE). Around 611 CE, a high priest named Jingwan (? - 639 CE) made a vow to engrave Buddhist sutras on stone steles to insure Buddhism's future survival because of the challenges Chinese Buddhism had recently faced during the anti-Buddhist campaigns of Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei and Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou . Venerable Jingwan therefore set in motion

1782-505: The archetypal Mahayana Buddhist, relies on the perfection of wisdom, defined in the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra to be the wisdom that perceives reality directly without conceptual attachment thereby achieving nirvana. All Buddhas of the three ages (past, present and future) rely on the Perfection of Wisdom to reach unexcelled complete Enlightenment. The final lines of the Heart Sutra can be read in two different ways, depending on

1836-668: The district was 53.54 billion yuan, with GDP per capita at 87.5 thousand yuan. The district is the location of hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics BMX and track-cycling events at the location of the Laoshan Velodrome , as well as hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics Big Air snowboarding and freestyle skiing events at the Big Air Shougang . Shijingshan District has a humid continental climate ( Köppen climate classification Dwa ). The average annual temperature in Shijingshan

1890-536: The extant Sanskrit Buddhist manuscript fragments. Harada and Ishii, as well as other researchers such as Hyun Choo and Dan Lusthaus, also argue that evidence can be found within the 7th-century commentaries of Kuiji and Woncheuk , two important disciples of Xuanzang, that undermine Nattier's argument. Li states that of the Indic Palm-leaf manuscript (patra sutras) or sastras brought over to China, most were either lost or not translated. Red Pine ,

1944-623: The final, tantric phase of development according to this scheme, and is included in the tantra section of at least some editions of the Kangyur . Conze estimates the sutra's date of origin to be 350 CE; some others consider it to be two centuries older than that. The earliest extant dated text of the Heart Sutra is a stone stele dated to 661 CE. It was engraved three years before the death of Tripitaka Master Xuanzang and twelve years after its translation, by patrons from Yueyang County adjacent to Chang'an (today known as Xian) not far from where Xuanzang

1998-493: The internet. There are two main versions of the Heart Sutra: a short version and a long version. The short version as translated by Xuanzang is the most popular version of adherents practicing East Asian schools of Buddhism. Xuanzang's canonical text (T. 251) has a total of 260 Chinese characters. Some Japanese and Korean versions have an additional 2 characters. The short version has also been translated into Tibetan but it

2052-414: The interpretation of the character 咒, zhòu, meaning either mantra ( danini ), or "a superlative kind of practical knowledge or incantation ( vidyā ). According to Attwood, vidyā may be misunderstood, and the concluding mantra may have been a later addition. Therefore, the Perfection of Wisdom is the all powerful mantra/knowledge, the great enlightening mantra/knowledge, the unexcelled mantra/knowledge,

2106-449: The longer version, there exists the traditional opening " Thus have I heard " and Buddha along with a community of bodhisattvas and monks gathered with the bodhisattva of great compassion, Avalokiteśvara , and Sariputra , at Gridhakuta (a mountain peak located at Rajgir , the traditional site where the majority of the Perfection of Wisdom teachings were given). Through the power of Buddha, Sariputra asks Avalokiteśvara for advice on

2160-582: The other shore, awakening, svaha ." The Heart Sutra is "the single most commonly recited, copied, and studied scripture in East Asian Buddhism." It is recited by adherents of Mahayana schools of Buddhism regardless of sectarian affiliation with the exception of Shin Buddhists and Nichiren Buddhists . While the origin of the sutra is disputed by some modern scholars, it was widely known throughout South Asia (including Afghanistan) from at least

2214-495: The other skandhas to be equally empty—that is, dependently originated . Avalokiteśvara then goes through some of the most fundamental Buddhist teachings, such as the Four Noble Truths , and explains that in emptiness, none of these notions apply. This is interpreted according to the two truths doctrine as saying that teachings, while accurate descriptions of conventional truth, are mere statements about reality—they are not reality itself—and that they are therefore not applicable to

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2268-429: The practice of the Perfection of Wisdom. The longer sutra then describes, while the shorter opens with, the liberation of Avalokiteśvara, gained while practicing the paramita of prajña (wisdom), seeing the fundamental emptiness ( śūnyatā ) of the five skandhas : form ( rūpa ), feeling ( vedanā ), volitions ( saṅkhāra ), perceptions ( saṃjñā ), and consciousness ( vijñāna ). Avalokiteśvara addresses Śariputra , who

2322-746: The printed copies of the Khitan Tripitaka on which the Liao dynasty stone sutras were based have largely disappeared, this makes the Fangshan stone sutras of Yunju Temple a rare treasure house of Buddhist sutras. Since these stone steles were engraved with an eye on fidelity to the original, they can be used to potentially correct later printed Tripitakas. Since Venerable Jingwan's time a total of nine caves were excavated and filled with stone sutra steles, two underground depository rooms were also excavated and numerous temple halls were added and repaired. The most famous cave

2376-555: The stone stele; hence many sutras were engraved multiple times. Royal patronage began in the Sui dynasty (see below for rediscovery of Buddha relics). During the Tang dynasty , Princess Jinxian (ca. 713 - 755 CE) petitioned Emperor Xuanzong to donate over 4,000 manuscript scrolls of the Buddhist Tripitaka and land to support Yunju Temple's engraving of stone sutra steles. There is still a pagoda commemorating Princess Jinxian's support on

2430-400: The sutra, Avalokiteśvara addresses Śariputra , explaining the fundamental emptiness ( śūnyatā ) of all phenomena, known through and as the five aggregates of human existence ( skandhas ): form ( rūpa ), feeling ( vedanā ), volitions ( saṅkhāra ), perceptions ( saṃjñā ), and consciousness ( vijñāna ). Avalokiteśvara famously states, "Form is Emptiness (śūnyatā). Emptiness is Form", and declares

2484-417: The teaching and the audience to whom the teaching is given. The concluding section ends the sutra with thanks and praises to the Buddha. Both versions are chanted on a daily basis by adherents of practically all schools of East Asian Buddhism and by some adherents of Tibetan and Newar Buddhism . The earliest version of the Heart Sutra may have been translated by Zhi Qian in 222-250 CE. However because it

2538-546: The temple consisting of over 14,200 stone steles engraved on both sides. Yunju Temple also has one of only two extant complete woodblocks of the Chinese Tripitaka in the world: namely the Qianlong Tripitaka (1733). Carved on over 77,000 blocks, it attracts a large number of visitors. Yunju Temple also has two bone relics of the Buddha ( śarīra ) available for public viewing. There were originally six halls in

2592-729: The temple, arranged from east to west. On both sides of the halls, there was accommodation for guests and dormitories for monks. The temple contains a total of twelve pagodas from the Tang and Liao dynasties and three tomb pagodas from the Qing dynasty . Heart Sutra The way The "goal" Background Chinese texts Classical Post-classical Contemporary Zen in Japan Seon in Korea Thiền in Vietnam Western Zen The Heart Sūtra

2646-480: The top of Fangshan mountain. During the Liao dynasty , royal patronage attempted to complete the engraving of the incomplete Mahayana sutras and missing Mahayana titles. Also during this time, royal patronage attempted to engrave on stone stele the entire Liao dynasty's Khitan Tripitaka ( Chinese : 契丹藏 ). Because the Sui and Tang dynasty manuscripts on which the Sui and Tang dynasty stone steles were based as well as

2700-509: The ultimate truth that is by definition beyond mental understanding. Thus the bodhisattva, as the archetypal Mahayana Buddhist, relies on the perfection of wisdom, defined in the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra to be the wisdom that perceives reality directly without conceptual attachment , thereby achieving nirvana. The sutra concludes with the mantra gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā , meaning "gone, gone, everyone gone to

2754-481: Was already lost by Xuanzang 's time, its contents are unknown. According to Conze, Kumarajiva's (fl 4th century CE) translation of the short version of the Heart Sutra (T250) is the earliest translation of the Heart Sutra; however he believes it should be attributed to one of Kumarajiva's disciples. John McRae and Jan Nattier have argued that this translation was created by someone else, much later, based on Kumārajīva's Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa (Great Treatise on

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2808-532: Was doing his translation work at the time. It is part of the Fangshan Stone Sutra and located in Yunju Temple nearby Beijing. The second oldest extant dated text of the Heart Sutra is another stone stele located at Yunju Temple. It is dated to 669 CE. The third earliest extant dated text of the Heart Sūtra is a stone stele dated to 672 CE; formerly believed to be the oldest extant text which now stands in

2862-415: Was later translated into Sanskrit, or properly speaking, back-translated, since part of the sutra was a translation of a Sanskrit text. According to Nattier, excluding the new composition, Kumarajiva's version of the Heart Sutra (T250) matches the corresponding parts of Kumārajīva's translation of the Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa almost exactly; the other, Xuanzang's version (T251) are missing two lines with

2916-581: Was the promulgator of abhidharma according to the scriptures and texts of the Sarvastivada and other early Buddhist schools , having been singled out by the Buddha to receive those teachings. Avalokiteśvara famously states, "Form is empty (śūnyatā). Emptiness is form", and declares the other skandhas to be equally empty of the most fundamental Buddhist teachings such as the Four Noble Truths and explains that in emptiness none of these notions apply. This

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