DDB: 君臣五位 | the five stages of the ruler and his vassals

Digital Dictionary of Buddhism

君臣五位

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: the five stages of the ruler and his vassals

Senses:

One of the four types of five stages associated with Chan master Dongshan Liangjie 洞山良价 (807–869). See 洞山五位. This particular schema was devised by Caoshan Benji 曹山本寂 (840–901), disciple of Liangjie, and explains the concept of the independency and identity of ultimate reality and temporal phenomena 正偏五位 through the metaphor of the relationship between the ruler and his vassals. Benji does this through five stages which correspond in meaning (in altered order) to the five stages of Liangjieʼs 正偏五位, as follows:

君 the ruler is the ruler alone (corresponds to 正中來).
臣 vassals are vassals alone (corresponds to 偏中至).
臣向君 vassals see the ruler (corresponds to 偏中正).
君視臣 the ruler sees his vassals (corresponds to 正中偏).
君臣道合 the ruler is one with his vassals (corresponds to 兼中到).

The 'ruler' is a metaphor for ultimate reality 正位, and 'vassals' are a metaphor for temporal phenomena 偏位. The above schema was widely used in the Caodong/Sōtō schools 曹洞宗 to systematize and explain the essence of Buddhism. See the entry in Zengaku daijiten for a secondary interpretation of the meaning of this schema and its relationship to 正偏五位. 〔續傳燈錄 T 2077.51.519b16〕 . [Stefan Grace; source(s): ZGDJT, Yokoi, Nakamura, FGD]

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[Dictionary References]

Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 0255c

Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 422

Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 288a

Fo Guang Dictionary 2818

Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)3865b

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Entry created: 2018-04-05