Citation: Lee, Changzhong (Shin). 2023. The Making of a Masterpiece: An Examination of Zimen Jingxun’s Authorship. Religions 14: 1201. htps://doi.org/10.3390/ rel14091201 Academic Editor: Albert Welter Received: 9 August 2023 Revised: 8 September 2023 Accepted: 18 September 2023 Published: 20 September 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Atribution (CC BY) license (htps:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). religions Article The Making of a Masterpiece: An Examination of Zimen Jingxun’s Authorship Changzhong (Shin) Lee Department of East Asian Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721‑0105, USA; shinlee@arizona.edu Abstract: The Chinese Buddhist anthology Zimen jingxun (Admonitions to the Black‑robed Monastics 緇門警訓), a compilation believed to have originated during the Song dynasty, constitutes a Chinese Buddhist anthology containing teachings from Buddhist masters and ethical principles intended for observance by monastics. This anthology has garnered scholarly atention due to the noteworthy na‑ ture of some of its components. However, there exists a dearth of comprehensive scholarly analyses in the English language, and the precise compilers of this anthology remain shrouded in ambiguity. Nevertheless, the Zimen jingxun has exerted a profound infuence on the training of monastics in China, Japan, and Korea, and has emerged as a particularly infuential work on Buddhist monas‑ tic education in the Korean context. Therefore, this paper functions as an initial efort to address this scholarly gap. Utilizing the methodologies of comparative philology and historical philology, this study undertakes an analysis and comparison of the original Zimen jingxun and its foundational counterpart, the Zilin baoxun, in addition to their subsequent amended and modifed versions. The primary aim of this research is to deduce its compilers and the timeframe of its compilation by ex‑ amining the existing content, prefaces, citations, and any discrepancies discernible in each rendition. Furthermore, it seeks to evaluate the importance and role of each version within the broader context of the Buddhist canon. Keywords: Zimen jingxun; Zilin baoxun; admonitions; monastic education; Chinese Buddhism; Three Teachings 1. Introduction Zimen jingxun (Admonitions to the Black‑robed Monastics 緇門警訓) is a Chinese Bud‑ dhist anthology consisting of 196 sections of instructions, warnings, admonitions, and aphorisms atributed to Buddhist sages, predominantly hailing from the Song dynasty’s cadre of Buddhist masters. The topics broached within this compendium span a spectrum ranging from the admonitions of Master Guishan 溈山 (771–853) to the imperial edict is‑ sued by the Liang emperor concerning the veneration of the Buddha. Housed within the 48th volume of the Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經, this text has permeated and in‑ formed the training regimen of monastics across the cultural and geographical expanses of China, Japan, and Korea. It has, in fact, evolved into a cornerstone of pedagogical em‑ phasis within Korean Buddhist seminaries. 1 Hence, this paper is titled “The Making of a Masterpiece”, to imply that this anthology plays a pivotal role in educating Buddhist “masters” and merits recognition as a “masterpiece” within the Buddhist canon. Believed to have originated during the Song dynasty, the Zimen jingxun showcases seminal compositions from renowned Buddhist masters, including “Zuochan yi (Chan Etiquete 坐禪儀)” by Changlu Zongze 長宗賾 (?–1106) and “Dahui Chanshi li Guanyin wen (Chan Master Dahui’s Ceremony to Guanyin 大慧禪師禮觀音文)” by Dahui Zonggao 大慧宗杲 (1089–1163). Despite its antiquity, the Zimen jingxun remains extant and relevant in contempo‑ rary Buddhist praxis, particularly amongst the monastic community. For instance, the Fo Guang 佛光 Organization produced a curated edition of the Zimen jingxun, presenting Religions 2023, 14, 1201. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091201 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions