A Study of the Gratitude to Four Groups of People in Chinese Buddhism

Abstract

Paying gratitude or debts to four groups of people is a very important teaching and practice in Chinese Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism influenced East Asian Buddhism. It is formulated by the Chinese Buddhists through assimilation of Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist teaching and Chinese thought. Hence it is not found in Theravāda Buddhism and Tantric Buddhism. This teaching is mainly from the Zhengfa nianchu jing 《正法念處經》 ((Saddharma)smṛtyupasthānasūtra) translated by Gautama Prajñāruci in 539 and the Dasheng bensheng xindiguan jing 《大乘本生心地觀經》(Mahāyāna Mūlajāta Hṛdayabhūmi Dhyāna Sūtra) and Zhufo Jingjian Shezhengshi Jing 《諸佛境界攝真實經》 both translated into Chinese by Prajñā in 810. However, the gratitude to four groups of people from the Dasheng bensheng xindiguan jing: parents, sentient beings, rulers, and the Three Treasures, became accepted by all Chinese Buddhists as an important teaching. It is significant to notice that gratitude to kings is amongst the four groups. This is because the political and cultural situation in China is different from that of India. The king or emperor is the supreme head and all people under heaven are his subjects. Thus paying gratitude to the king or emperor eased the conflict between Buddhist Sangha and the king.