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十支居士八城人經

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Text ID
KR6a0092
Date
148–170
Dynasty
後漢

Shízhī jūshì Bāchéngrén jīng 十支居士八城人經

Sūtra of the Householder Daśama of the Eight-Cities-Folk (the Aṭṭhakanāgara-sūtra; parallel to Madhyama-āgama sūtra 217, the Bāchéng jīng 八城經) by 安世高 (Ān Shìgāo, 譯)

About the work

The Shízhī jūshì Bāchéngrén jīng is a single-fascicle Eastern Hàn 後漢 translation of the Aṭṭhakanāgara-sūtra, the discourse in which the householder Daśama 十支 (= Dasama, “the tenth”; from Aṭṭhakanagara, “the city of the eights”) asks Ānanda for a single doctrine that, if practiced, will lead to liberation. The Pāli parallel is MN 52 Aṭṭhakanāgara-sutta (also AN 11.16); the Chinese parallel is T26[217].

The text opens at Pātaliputra (波羅梨弗都盧 Pāṭaliputra), in the Kukkuṭa monastery.

Prefaces

The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the canonical translator’s signature at the head: 「後漢安息國三藏安世高譯」.

Abstract

T92 was produced during Ān Shìgāo’s Luòyáng period (148–170 CE), recorded in the frontmatter. The Indic source is presumed lost. The translation 十支 (“ten-branches”) for Dasama is one of An Shigao’s characteristic interpretive choices.

Translations and research

  • Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi, tr. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995. — MN 52 with notes.
  • Anālayo, Bhikkhu. “Aṭṭhakanāgara-sutta and the Cultivation of Insight.” Journal of the Centre for Buddhist Studies, Sri Lanka 5 (2007): 11–26.

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