Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada)
E946621
The Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada) was a pivotal Theravada Buddhist assembly, traditionally held in Sri Lanka in the 1st century BCE, where the Pali Canon was first written down to preserve the teachings.
All labels observed (4)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Fourth Buddhist Council | 1 |
| Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada) canonical | 1 |
| Pali Canon was fully written down at this council | 1 |
| Theravada Buddhist councils | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T11672470 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada) Context triple: [Indian Buddhism, hasCouncil, Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada)]
-
A.
Third Buddhist Council
The Third Buddhist Council was a pivotal gathering of monks in ancient India, traditionally held under Emperor Ashoka, to purify the sangha of doctrinal disputes and heresies and to systematize Buddhist teachings.
-
B.
Fourth Buddhist Council (Kanishka)
The Fourth Buddhist Council (Kanishka) was a major Buddhist assembly convened under the Kushan emperor Kanishka I, traditionally associated with the codification and spread of Mahayana Buddhist doctrine in Central and South Asia.
-
C.
Second Buddhist Council
The Second Buddhist Council was an early gathering of monks, traditionally dated about a century after the Buddha’s death, convened to settle disputes over monastic discipline and preserve doctrinal purity within the Buddhist community.
-
D.
Fifth Buddhist Council in Mandalay
The Fifth Buddhist Council in Mandalay was a major 19th-century Theravāda Buddhist assembly in Burma that convened monks and scholars to recite, verify, and inscribe the Pāli Canon on marble slabs under royal patronage.
-
E.
First Buddhist Council
The First Buddhist Council was an early gathering of the Buddha’s disciples, traditionally held shortly after his death to recite and preserve his teachings and monastic rules.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada) Target entity description: The Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada) was a pivotal Theravada Buddhist assembly, traditionally held in Sri Lanka in the 1st century BCE, where the Pali Canon was first written down to preserve the teachings.
-
A.
Third Buddhist Council
The Third Buddhist Council was a pivotal gathering of monks in ancient India, traditionally held under Emperor Ashoka, to purify the sangha of doctrinal disputes and heresies and to systematize Buddhist teachings.
-
B.
Fourth Buddhist Council (Kanishka)
The Fourth Buddhist Council (Kanishka) was a major Buddhist assembly convened under the Kushan emperor Kanishka I, traditionally associated with the codification and spread of Mahayana Buddhist doctrine in Central and South Asia.
-
C.
Second Buddhist Council
The Second Buddhist Council was an early gathering of monks, traditionally dated about a century after the Buddha’s death, convened to settle disputes over monastic discipline and preserve doctrinal purity within the Buddhist community.
-
D.
Fifth Buddhist Council in Mandalay
The Fifth Buddhist Council in Mandalay was a major 19th-century Theravāda Buddhist assembly in Burma that convened monks and scholars to recite, verify, and inscribe the Pāli Canon on marble slabs under royal patronage.
-
E.
First Buddhist Council
The First Buddhist Council was an early gathering of the Buddha’s disciples, traditionally held shortly after his death to recite and preserve his teachings and monastic rules.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (43)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Buddhist council
ⓘ
religious assembly ⓘ |
| approximateDate | c. 29–17 BCE ⓘ |
| associatedMonastery |
Aluvihara Rock Temple
ⓘ
linked to:
Aluvihare Rock Temple
|
| associatedWith |
Anuradhapura period
ⓘ
linked to:
Anuradhapura Kingdom
history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka ⓘ |
| canonicalStatus | recognized in Theravada tradition ⓘ |
| category |
Buddhism in Sri Lanka
ⓘ
Events in 1st-century BCE Buddhism ⓘ Theravada Buddhist councils ⓘ
linked to:
Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada)
|
| country | Sri Lanka ⓘ |
| distinguishedFrom |
Fourth Buddhist Council (Sarvastivada)
ⓘ
linked to:
Fourth Buddhist Council (Kanishka)
|
| doctrinalSchool | Theravada ⓘ |
| focus | preservation rather than doctrinal debate ⓘ |
| heldDuringReignOf |
King Vattagamani Abhaya
ⓘ
linked to:
Moggallana I of Anuradhapura
|
| impact |
foundation for later Theravada transmission to Southeast Asia
ⓘ
stabilization of Theravada canon in Sri Lanka ⓘ |
| language | Pali ⓘ |
| leadingElder |
Mahinda Thera (traditionally associated background)
ⓘ
Rakkhita Thera (in some traditions) ⓘ
linked to:
Mahākāśyapa Thera
|
| location | Anuradhapura Kingdom ⓘ |
| mainMonasticCommunity | Mahavihara monks ⓘ |
| material | ola leaves ⓘ |
| medium | palm-leaf manuscripts ⓘ |
| method | recitation and compilation by learned monks ⓘ |
| organizedBy |
King Vattagamani Abhaya
ⓘ
linked to:
King Dutthagamani
|
| precededBy | Third Buddhist Council ⓘ |
| preservedText |
Abhidhamma Pitaka
ⓘ
Sutta Pitaka ⓘ Tipitaka ⓘ
linked to:
Tripitaka
Vinaya Pitaka ⓘ |
| purpose |
to commit the Pali Canon to writing
ⓘ
to preserve the Buddha’s teachings ⓘ |
| reason |
decline in oral memorization due to famine and unrest
ⓘ
fear that the oral tradition might be lost ⓘ |
| region | Matale District ⓘ |
| religiousSignificance | major milestone in safeguarding the Buddha’s teachings ⓘ |
| religiousTradition |
Theravada Buddhism
ⓘ
linked to:
Theravada
|
| result |
first written redaction of the Pali Canon
ⓘ
standardization of Theravada textual tradition ⓘ |
| script | Sinhala script ⓘ |
| timePeriod | 1st century BCE ⓘ |
| traditionHolds |
Pali Canon was fully written down at this council
ⓘ
linked to:
Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada)
|
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada) Description of subject: The Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada) was a pivotal Theravada Buddhist assembly, traditionally held in Sri Lanka in the 1st century BCE, where the Pali Canon was first written down to preserve the teachings.
Referenced by (4)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada)
Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada)
→
traditionHolds
→
Pali Canon was fully written down at this council
ⓘ
linked to: Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada)
linked to: Fourth Buddhist Council (Theravada)