Later Han · Source text translated by 安世高
369 · about 1 min
The Sutra on the Difficulty of Repaying Parental Kindness, Spoken by the Buddha Translated during the Later Han Dynasty by the eminent translator An Shigao, this is one of the important early scriptures in Chinese Buddhism. An Shigao, as the first systematic translator of Buddhist texts in Chinese history, had a profound influence on the spread of Buddhism in China through his translations. This sutra expounds on the hardships and profound kindness of parents in raising their children, emphasizes filial piety as the foundation of practice, and teaches devotees to repay parental kindness through the Dharma. Through a dialogue between the Buddha and his disciples, the scripture reveals the intrinsic connection between honoring parents and Buddhist cultivation, embodying the integration of Buddhist ethics with the traditional Chinese virtue of filial piety. This sutra holds a special position in Chinese Buddhism. It is both a classical expression of the Buddhist view on filial piety and provides important intellectual resources for the process of Buddhism's adaptation to Chinese culture. To this day, it is still regarded as one of the core texts for promoting the Buddhist teaching of filial piety.
Human translations available