月喻菩提之行
The changing moon offers a way to explore Buddhist accounts of cultivation and perception. This study animates a textual image of practice.
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点选一宿，在那里驻足。1× 约 112 秒一程 · 叙事循环，非实测天象
星群形状：Stellarium 中国星官连线 × Hipparcos 坐标；各宿分别缩放，整体位置为叙事排布。
「月隨時，則有晦明遲速之異；人歷劫，則有巧拙進怠之殊。」
「月隨時，則有晦明遲速之異；人歷劫，則有巧拙進怠之殊。」覺苑《大日經義釋演密鈔》卷五
X23, no. 439, p. 575b4–5
辽 · 觉苑《大日经义释演密钞》卷五 · X23, 575b4–6
「以行者定心之月，或時增明、或時微昧。」
「以行者定心之月，或時增明、或時微昧。」《大毘盧遮那成佛經疏》卷四
T39, no. 1796, p. 618b25–26
「宿直者，是行人瑜伽之月所涉緣境。」
「宿直者，是行人瑜伽之月所涉緣境。」《大毘盧遮那成佛經疏》卷四
T39, no. 1796, p. 618c6–7
原文、星群资料与艺术处理
先有原文，再有这段行旅
这里的月亮，来自《大毘盧遮那成佛經疏》卷四对择时与修行的解释，署“沙门一行阿阇梨记”。它是经疏中的譬喻；本作标题“月喻菩提之行”直接取自该段原文。以下引文按 CBETA 电子本核对，保留繁体，省略处以“……”标出。
「月喻修習瑜伽行。以行者定心之月，或時增明、或時微昧，或發行太速、或發行太遲……」《大日经疏》卷四 · T39, no. 1796, p. 618b24–27
CBETA 原文
月亮的明暗与迟速，用来比拟行者修习与机悟的变化。
「宿直者，是行人瑜伽之月所涉緣境，於一切緣境中皆見心性……如月行經二十七宿……」同卷 · T39, no. 1796, p. 618c6–10
星宿在此被释为修行之月所经历的境缘。原文写的是二十七宿。
「月喻菩提之行，白月十五日眾行皆圓滿，喻成菩提；黑月十五日眾行皆盡，喻般涅槃；中間與時昇降，喻方便力。」同卷 · T39, no. 1796, p. 618c19–22
渐盈、圆满、渐亏，成为可见的修行时间。这里的“黑月”之尽也不等于修行失败。
「復次如是執曜，即是漫荼羅中一種善知識門。」同卷 · T39, no. 1796, p. 618b9–10
这句话的直接对象是执曜。将每一宿想象为迎接月亮的善知识，是联读这些段落之后的艺术处理；不是逐字经文，也不表示二十八宿与善财的参访一一对应。
辽代注释里的时间
同卷另以善财为例解释亲近善知识（X23, p. 579b6–15）。这些文字也可以与善财行旅放在一起思考；本作呈现这一阅读联想，不将月喻限定于某一建筑或地点，也不声称原文把月亮直接称作善财。
画面如何从文字生长：月面的亮暗连续改变，呼应“增明”“微昧”；星宿在月旁渐次亮起，呼应“所涉缘境”；柔和的光晕表现相逢。月面特写版由镜头随月移动；地平线版固定星群，让月亮从左向右前行。光晕与迎接动作均属艺术演绎。
每一宿，都有自己的星群
本作采用 Stellarium 中国星官体系的连线资料，以对应的 Hipparcos 星表坐标构成各宿图形，共涉及160个不同的星表条目。每个星群以自身中心作投影，北在上、东在左，并分别缩放到便于观看的大小；下方的大图展示当前星宿。
图中呈现的是与各宿同名的星官形状，并非该宿的全部天区。Stellarium 所选图式含部分附星，不等于某一时代统一的古星图版本；各宿的整体排布、间距和相对大小经过示意化处理。手机地平线版可横向滑动天空，播放时会在月亮接近画面边缘时继续向前展卷。
连线资料贡献者包括 Karrie Berglund、Sun Shuwei 及 Stellarium 团队，源资料标注为 CC BY-SA；本项目衍生的星群连线数据沿用该许可标识。坐标来源：ESA《The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues》（1997），CDS VizieR 的 I/239/hip_main，星表历元 J1991.25；未应用自行、特定观测日期的岁差或地平旋转。
地平线画面将一个月的行旅展开为同一幅景观；这不表示二十八宿在某一夜同时可见，也不表示月亮会在一夜经历完整盈亏。深蓝色背景为示意，并非历史地点复原。
二十八宿，与两个不同的“月”
应本作品的构想，长卷采用中国传统二十八宿顺序：角、亢、氐、房、心、尾、箕；斗、牛、女、虚、危、室、壁；奎、娄、胃、昴、毕、觜、参；井、鬼、柳、星、张、翼、轸。这与上述经疏的二十七宿体系有别，不能把原文中的“七”直接改成“八”。
月亮相对恒星绕行一周的恒星月约 27.3 日，从一次新月到下一次新月的朔望月约 29.5 日。本作把一次盈亏与一遍二十八宿合写为 112 秒的叙事循环：每宿等距、等时，并任意选定角宿为新月起点；实际星宿跨度与停留时间不等，特定月相也不会总对应同一宿。
月相亮面根据球面与太阳方向的几何关系连续计算，采用北半球常见的右盈左亏朝向；月光是反射的阳光。各宿在长卷中的位置、光晕、暗面亮度和镜头运动为观看效果而简化，不重建真实星图、天文坐标、特定日期或地点的天象，也未计算天平动与地平朝向。
- Stellarium 中国星官连线资料；ESA Hipparcos 星表 · CDS。
- 一行记《大毘盧遮那成佛經疏》卷四，大正藏第39册，第1796号。对校：CBETA 官方 XML。
- 觉苑《大日經義釋演密鈔》卷五，卍新续藏第23册，第439号。对校：CBETA 官方 XML。
- 日本国立天文台 · 二十八宿：宿名顺序及二十七宿说明。
- NASA · Moon Phases；NASA · 月球的恒星周期与朔望周期。
- 月面纹理：NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio · CGI Moon Kit，2019 color map；Ernie Wright，LRO / LROC / LOLA。贴图已嵌入网页供离线观看。
A moon shaped by practice
This visualization takes its title from the Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra, fascicle 4, recorded by Yixing. The passage interprets ritual timing through the practitioner’s cultivation. The moon becomes a model of changing practice, encountered conditions and skillful means. It is not confined here to any one monument or place. English translations on this page were prepared for this visualization from the Chinese text checked against CBETA. Each quotation is followed by its Chinese original and source citation; ellipses mark omissions.
“The moon signifies the cultivation of yoga. The moon of the practitioner’s concentrated mind at times grows brighter, at times grows dim; its movement may be too swift or too slow…”
「月喻修習瑜伽行。以行者定心之月，或時增明、或時微昧，或發行太速、或發行太遲……」《大毘盧遮那成佛經疏》卷四
T39, no. 1796, p. 618b24–26
T39, no. 1796, p. 618b24–26 · Chinese source in CBETA
Brightness and speed become images of variation in practice and awakening.
“The presiding lunar mansions are the conditions encountered by the moon of the practitioner’s yoga. In all such conditions, one sees the nature of mind… As the moon passes through the twenty-seven mansions…”
「宿直者，是行人瑜伽之月所涉緣境，於一切緣境中皆見心性……如月行經二十七宿……」《大毘盧遮那成佛經疏》卷四
T39, no. 1796, p. 618c6–9
The source explicitly says twenty-seven, not twenty-eight. The mansions represent encountered conditions.
“The moon signifies the practice of awakening. On the fifteenth day of the bright fortnight, all practices are fulfilled, signifying awakening; on the fifteenth day of the dark fortnight, all practices come to an end, signifying parinirvāṇa. Its rising and falling with time in between signify the power of skillful means.”
「月喻菩提之行，白月十五日眾行皆圓滿，喻成菩提；黑月十五日眾行皆盡，喻般涅槃；中間與時昇降，喻方便力。」《大毘盧遮那成佛經疏》卷四
T39, no. 1796, p. 618c19–22
Waxing, fullness and waning make the time of practice visible. The end of the dark fortnight does not simply mean failure.
“These astral powers are one kind of gateway of spiritual friendship within the maṇḍala.”
「如是執曜，即是漫荼羅中一種善知識門。」《大毘盧遮那成佛經疏》卷四
T39, no. 1796, p. 618b9–10
The direct subject here is zhíyào, the astral powers. Imagining each mansion as a spiritual friend welcoming the moon is an artistic reading of adjacent passages. The text does not literally equate each of the twenty-eight mansions with a teacher on Sudhana’s journey.
The time of a changing body
“As the moon follows time, it differs in darkness, brightness, slowness and speed; as people pass through aeons, they differ in skill, effort and delay.”
「月隨時，則有晦明遲速之異；人歷劫，則有巧拙進怠之殊。」覺苑《大日經義釋演密鈔》卷五
X23, no. 439, p. 575b4–5
X23, no. 439, p. 575b4–5 · Chinese source in CBETA
Elsewhere in this fascicle, Jueyuan discusses approaching spiritual friends through the example of Sudhana (X23, p. 579b6–15). Reading these passages together invites a comparison between a lunar journey and a pilgrim’s changing capacities. That comparison is an interpretation, not a claim that the sources call the moon “Sudhana.”
From text to moving image: continuous changes in the lunar face evoke growing brighter and dimmer; successive encounters with distinct asterisms evoke the conditions traversed. The close-up follows the moon. The horizon version holds the star figures still while the moon travels across them. Welcoming glows and the choreographed encounters are artistic devices.
Each mansion has a star figure
The figures use the Stellarium Chinese sky culture line definitions and the corresponding Hipparcos catalogue positions. The connected figures shown here contain 160 distinct catalogue entries in total. Each asterism is projected around its own center, north up and east left, then individually scaled. The larger diagram displays the currently encountered figure.
These are the named asterisms associated with the mansions, not the entire celestial areas of the mansions. Stellarium’s chosen figures sometimes include associated stars and do not reproduce one uniform ancient edition. Their spacing along the path, relative sizes and overall arrangement are schematic. This is not a reconstruction of the sky at a historical date.
Line figures adapted from Stellarium’s Chinese sky culture, contributed by Karrie Berglund and Sun Shuwei, with later work by the Stellarium team. The source identifies its text and lines as CC BY-SA; the derived line-figure data in this project is provided under the same license designation. Positions: ESA, The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues (1997), table I/239/hip_main, via CDS VizieR, catalogue epoch J1991.25. Proper motion, precession to a viewing date and local sky orientation are not applied.
Twenty-eight mansions, two different months
The animation uses the traditional order: Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, Ji; Dou, Niu, Nü, Xu, Wei, Shi, Bi; Kui, Lou, Wei, Mao, Bi, Zi, Shen; Jing, Gui, Liu, Xing, Zhang, Yi, Zhen. This follows the requested twenty-eight-mansion sequence; it does not replace “twenty-seven” in the commentary.
A sidereal month is about 27.3 days: one circuit relative to the stars. A synodic month is about 29.5 days: one new moon to the next. This work deliberately combines one phase cycle and one journey through the twenty-eight mansions into a 112-second narrative loop. The mansions receive equal time and spacing, and a new moon is arbitrarily aligned with Jiao. In reality, mansion widths and transit times differ, and a lunar phase does not always occur in the same mansion.
The illuminated lunar face is continuously calculated from a sphere and a changing solar direction, with right-side waxing and left-side waning. Moonlight is reflected sunlight. The dark side, glow and apparent size are adjusted for visibility. The horizon scene compresses a month’s journey into one view; it does not claim that all twenty-eight mansions are simultaneously visible or that a single night contains a full phase cycle. No libration, accurate local horizon, historical weather or date-specific ephemeris is calculated.
- Commentary on the Mahāvairocana Sūtra, fasc. 4, T39, no. 1796; checked against CBETA’s XML edition.
- Jueyuan’s Expanded Esoteric Commentary, fasc. 5, X23, no. 439; checked against CBETA’s XML edition.
- Stellarium Chinese sky culture, line figures and attribution; ESA Hipparcos catalogue via CDS, star positions.
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan: the twenty-eight mansions, order and the twenty-seven-mansion distinction.
- NASA: Moon Phases; NASA: sidereal and synodic periods.
- Lunar texture: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio, CGI Moon Kit, 2019 color map; Ernie Wright, LRO / LROC / LOLA. The deep-blue background is schematic; it does not depict a verified historical site.