懺法緣起 - Liturgical Frontispieces: Stories of Repentance and Redemption
我昔所造諸惡業，皆由無始貪嗔癡；從身語意之所生，一切我今皆懺悔。
（出於《普賢行願品・卷第四十》）
All the evil deeds I have done in the past, each arising from beginningless greed, anger, and delusion; those which are born from my body, speech, and intention—I now repent for them all.
(from Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra Vol. 40)
These frontispieces precede liturgies written for rituals of repentance. Each depicts a fantastical story that explains why the liturgy was compiled and teaches a lesson about the redemptive power of repentance.
Repentance (懺 chàn; क्षमा kṣamā) was and is an important part of Chinese Buddhism. Buddhism envisions a world in which past deeds (業 yè; कर्म karma) condition present existence. It is considered imperative to repent for one’s misdeeds, so as to prevent their karmic seeds from bearing fruit. The above gāthā (偈), or scriptural verse, from a partial Tang-dynasty translation of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra shows this concern for proper repentance.
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