Shan-Chien-P’i-P’o-Sha: A Chinese Version by Saṅghabhadra of Samantapāsādikā, Commentary on Pali Vinaya

The book presents a detailed English translation of Shan-Chien-P’i-P’o-Sha, a Chinese rendering of the Samantapāsādikā, with sustained attention to its relationship with the Pāli Vinaya commentary. Its content begins with the semi-historical background of the Buddhist dispensation, including the councils, Aśoka’s missions, and Mahinda’s mission to Ceylon, before moving into the exposition of the Sutta-vibhaṅga and the rules governing monks and nuns. The central concern of the work is Vinaya discipline: the nature of monastic offences, the procedure for determining guilt, the role of confession, the qualifications of a Vinaya-master, the interpretation of the Pātimokkha rules, and the practical functioning of the Saṅgha as a disciplined religious community. The translation also includes material related to the Mahāvagga, Cullavagga, and Parivāra, thereby giving readers access to a broad range of commentarial explanations on ordination, communal acts, rains retreat, robes, medicine, disciplinary procedures, and dispute settlement. Because it compares the Chinese version with Pāli sources and gives detailed cross-references to major editions, the volume is especially significant for scholars of Vinaya, Buddhist philology, Chinese Buddhist translation, and the historical transmission of Theravāda legal and monastic traditions.