Hand-drawn Buddha symbol and buddha chronicle wordmark
Based on the sutras, the Vinaya and later commentaries
About the Sources

Year 4 after the Awakening

The Buddha at 38

This year the Buddha is thirty-eight and, according to the later commentaries, still keeps the at . Neither the canonical texts nor the later commentaries explicitly place any teaching or conversion in this year. One rule whose year differs between sources is also placed here: the Buddha changes the conferring of so that it is done by the through a formal act of voting; it is provisionally placed in this year.

The Rains Retreat

According to the later commentaries, the fourth rains retreat is again kept in the Bamboo Grove at Rājagaha; the Song, Yuan and Ming editions of the Chinese Sengqieluocha suoji jing record Lingjiuding Hill (Vulture Peak outside Rājagaha), while the base text used by the Taishō canon (the modern standard edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon) records no place for this year.

Back to Beginning to Teach

Source text

日期怎麼讀

成道第幾年
從佛陀成道開始,每經過一次雨季安居算一年,每一年算到安居結束為止;所有年歲一律依二十九歲出家、三十五歲成道推算。
年份依據
區分經文自己明記、後世註解書記載、先後順序推定及年歲換算。
時間精確度
分別說明確定到日、月、年,或只能放入某幾年之間。
可信度
多派共傳、兩派記載、單派記載與後世補述,表達記載的共傳範圍;與時間及位置是否確定分開閱讀。