Zhēnzàng jīng yàojué 真藏經要訣
Epitome of the “True Reservoir Scripture”
six-folio Táng Daoist summary of [[KR5a0004|DZ 4 Wúshàng nèibì zhēnzàng jīng]] 無上內祕真藏經, preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng 正統道藏 (DZ 0097 / CT 97 = TC 96), 洞真部 本文類
About the work
A six-folio epitome-summary (yàojué 要訣) of [[KR5a0004|DZ 4 Wúshàng nèibì zhēnzàng jīng]], the foundational early-Táng Daoist scripture on the zhēnzàng 真藏 (“true reservoir”) doctrine. Apart from two brief original passages, the text is entirely composed of citations from the parent scripture. The first of the two added passages treats the importance of keeping the commandments (3a–3.7); the second passage explicitly criticises as useless certain Buddhist ascetic practices, notably giving oneself to a tiger (Mahāyāna tyāga-gift practice) and self-immolation by fire (4b.1–8) — a polemical passage that reflects the mature Táng Daoist-Buddhist doctrinal competition.
Prefaces
No prefaces in the source.
Abstract
John Lagerwey, in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004) 1:559 (§2.B.7.a.3), dates the epitome to the Táng. The frontmatter brackets composition notBefore 618 / notAfter 907, with dynasty 唐. No author is attributed.
Translations and research
No translation. Standard scholarly entry: John Lagerwey, “Zhenzang jing yaojue,” in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 1 §2.B.7.a.3, 559.
Other points of interest
The epitome’s two added-content passages — on commandment-keeping and on the critique of specific Buddhist ascetic practices — are substantively more interesting than the parent-text citations, as they supply a rare Daoist direct polemic against the tyāga Mahāyāna gift-of-body practice and against self-immolation. This polemic contrasts sharply with the syncretic Buddhist-Daoist integration characteristic of DZ 4 itself.
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5a0097
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 1 §2.B.7.a.3, 559 — DZ 97 (Kanripo) / DZ 96 (TC) entry (John Lagerwey).