History of the Extend Life Ten Phrase Kuan Yin Sutra in China and Japan

[curtstein]

Although it originated in China (see below for reference) this short chant died out there, but not before being transmitted to Japan, where it became quite popular (and remains so). (Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo, 延命十句觀音經)

To make things even more interesting, in very recent times, the Chinese Chan Master Sheng Yen learned of this chant while visiting Japan, and took it upon himself to reintroduce it to Chinese Buddhism. Based both on google search results and youtube searches, Chinese speaking Buddhists have received this "new old" chant with some enthusiasm.

It is well known that Hakuin played a big role in promoting the chant in Japan. But when was the chant first introduced in Japan? Does anyone know?

[For those interested in the gory details of the early history of the chant in China, check out Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesvara by Chün-fang Yü, especially Chapter 3.]

[curtstein]

Originally I asked "But when was the chant first introduced in Japan? Does anyone know?". But I can make that more specific, and also ask an additional more specific question about China:

1. Does anyone know of any Japanese source earlier than Hakuin referring to the Ten Phrase Kannon Sutra?

2. What was the Chinese source that the Japanese learned this chant from?

Hakuin himself claimed to learn the chant from an old Samurai who had been trying, without success, to popularize the chant. It was only after he was contacted by this old Samurai that Hakuin begain to enthusiastically (and very successfully) encourage others to take up this chant as a personal practice. The clear implication is that the chant was already known in Japan, but that it was not widely known of or widely practiced.

Satsu, another student of Hakuin's, is also reported to have practiced the chant prior to becoming his student.

[Meido]

I don't have definite information, but seem to recall that Hakuin himself cites the source as 高王觀世音真經, the High King Avalokiteshvara Sutra? Reading that short text, one could see that the Jukku Kannongyo might have come about as a distillation of, or pulling lines from, it.

Some info here speculating on early sources: https://www.japanesewiki.com/Buddhism/J ... ures).html

Though Hakuin is often mentioned in connection to its popularization, I have observed that it is also used in Tendai circles, fwiw. It's said that Hakuin added the characters 延命 to the title, so perhaps searching for 十句觀音經 among non-Zen sources might reveal something.

[curtstein]

I don't have definite information, but seem to recall that Hakuin himself cites the source as 高王觀世音真經, the High King Avalokiteshvara Sutra? Reading that short text, one could see that the Jukku Kannongyo might have come about as a distillation of, or pulling lines from, it.

Some info here speculating on early sources: https://www.japanesewiki.com/Buddhism/J ... ures).html

Though Hakuin is often mentioned in connection to its popularization, I have observed that it is also used in Tendai circles, fwiw. It's said that Hakuin added the characters 延命 to the title, so perhaps searching for 十句觀音經 among non-Zen sources might reveal something.

I'm not sure if Hakuin ever explicitly referred to the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra, but he does refer to the famous story in which Sun Ching-te is saved from execution by chanting the Ten Phrase Kannon Sutra 1000 times. In Hakuin's version (in a "Letter to a Donor", see below for reference) on the night before his scheduled execution Sun Ching-te began reciting the "Kannon Sutra" (probably Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra) but Kannon appeared to him and taught him the shorter "Ten Phrase" sutra with the instruction to complete 1,000 repetitions before dawn.

There are at least three different stories about three different individuals who were saved from execution by reciting either the "Ten Phrase" sutra or the "High King" sutra the night before they were to be executed. To my knowledge the only person in the English speaking world who has tried to sort this out is Chün-fang Yü in her book Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesvara. While she is unable to come to a definitive answer to the origins of the "Ten Phrase" sutra (and its relationship to the "High King" sutra), it is much more likely that someone could complete 1000 repetitions of the "Ten Phrase" sutra (with only 42 syllables), than the "High King" sutra (with almost 700 syllables) in the short amount of time that the prisoner has before he is to be executed. Brevity appears to be the defining virtue of the "sutra" in all versions of the story.

Thanks very much for the reference to that japanesewiki source! It's very helpful - but mostly in that it seems to verify that nobody really knows when or how the "Ten Phrase" sutra was introduced to Japan.

Hakuin's "Letter to a Donor" in which he relates the backstory of the "Ten Phrase" sutra is found in "Beating the Cloth Drum" (Norman Waddell) starting on page 129. https://terebess.hu/zen/Hakuin-Cloth-Drum.pdf

[Meido]

Thanks in return for mentioning Dr. Yu's book. She was a professor of mine years ago, but I've not kept up with her work. Now I'm eager to check out that text.

[curtstein]

Thanks in return for mentioning Dr. Yu's book. She was a professor of mine years ago, but I've not kept up with her work. Now I'm eager to check out that text.

Just for her coverage of this particular topic alone the book is indespensable. Here are two quotes:

The origin of this scripture lies with the story about a person being saved from imprisonment and impending execution by chanting this very sutra revealed by Kuan-yin. The miracle moved 'King Kao,' who pardoned the prisoner and spread the sutra. But who was this unfortunate prisoner and who was this King Kao? Buddhist chronicles and secular histories suggest three different candidates for the hero of the story: Wang Hsüan-mo (388–468), Lu Ching-yü (d. 542), and Sun Ching-te, who also lived in the sixth century. King Kao, on the other hand, could be no other than Kao Huan (496–547), the powerful prime minister of the Eastern Wei and the titular founder of the Northern Ch'i. [p. 111]

"[Wang] dreamt of a person telling him that if he recites the Kuan-yin Sutra a thousand times, he can escape from this disaster. Wang answered that he might lose his life at any moment, how could he find enough time to do that? The person then taught him to chant ten sentences which are: 'Kuan-shih-yin, Adoration of the Buddha, there is a cause linking me with the Buddha, there is a condition linking me with the Buddha, Buddha and Dharma are mutually linked; eternity, bliss, true-self, and purity; I call Kuan-shih-yin in the morning, I call Kuan-shih-yin in the evening, each call comes from the mind, Buddha-invocation is not separate from the mind.' When Wang woke up, he chanted it a thousand times. When he was about to be executed, General Shen Ch’ing-chih remonstrated with the throne and Wang was pardoned." [p. 114]

That second quote is her own translation from the "Extended Record of the T'ai-p'ing Era", originally published in 983 AD. Note that it provides the entire text of the "sutra" as it is still chanted today. Unfortunately, that source does not state what the title of sutra is!

She also cites the "Record of the Lineage of the Buddha and the Patriarchs" [佛祖統紀] compiled in 1269, which is the source referenced in the japanwiki article you pointed me to. That source explicitly states that the "High King Avalokitesvara Sutra" (高王觀世音經) originally had only ten phrases (十句). But that source fails to provide us with the text of the original! Fascinating and frustrating.