Welcome to my site. Starting today, we are going to study Repentance Ritual of the Emperor of Liang – A complete translation of Repentance Dharma of Kindness & Compassion in the Bodhimanda, based on the translation by Buddhist Text Translation Society.

The Liang Dynasty of China (502-587) is not well known in the West. it was short-lived, during the chaotic period of small warring kingdoms that sprang up after the fall of the Han Dynasty. However, the Liang Dynasty is important in the history of Chinese Buddhism due to the patronage of Emperor Wu of Liang (464-549) and the mind-transmission of Patriarch Bodhidharma. Emperor Wu of Liang was an early imperial patron of Buddhism. He built temples and was magnanimous in his support of the monastic community.

According to legend, Emperor Wu’s wife, Queen Chi, died at the age of thirty after a life marked by jealousy, anger, and cruelty toward monastics. In her previous life, she had committed serious wrongdoings, and after death she was reborn as a giant snake suffering greatly — tormented by parasites under her scales and deprived of food and shelter.

One night, the snake appeared to the emperor, identifying itself as his former wife, and begged for help to escape her suffering . Initially frightened, Emperor Wu was moved by compassion and sought guidance from his respected Chan Master, Baozhi (also called Pao-chih or Zhi Gong). The master advised that the queen’s karma could only be cleansed through repentance and prostration to the Buddha.

Emperor Wu then commissioned the monks to compose a detailed repentance text based on Mahayana sutras, listing 1,275 Buddha names and compiling ten chapters of sutra. The emperor himself recited the repentance on behalf of his wife. After completing the ritual, a celestial maiden appeared — his former wife, now reborn as a heavenly being — to thank him .

This event demonstrated the power of sincere repentance in Buddhist practice, not only for the living but also for the deceased. The merit from such repentance is considered inconceivably great, and the service has since become one of the most popular and widespread repentance rituals in Chinese Buddhism, especially during the lunar 7th month .

In essence, the Emperor Liang Repentance Service came from a real-life Buddhist act of compassion and repentance, inspired by the emperor’s deep faith and the transformative power of the Dharma.