Qīchù sānguān jīng 七處三觀經
Sūtra of the Seven Stations and Three Contemplations (parallel to Saṃyukta-āgama sūtras 41–42) by 安世高 (Ān Shìgāo, 譯)
About the work
A single-fascicle Eastern Hàn translation of one of the major An-Shigao Saṃyukta-āgama-extraction collections — a multi-sūtra compilation centered on the seven topics of contemplation (the five aggregates and their cause, cessation, path, gratification, danger, and escape) and the three contemplations of the conditioned, the unconditioned, and the non-substantial. The Chinese parallel is T99[41–42]. T154 is among the most-studied Ān Shìgāo translations in modern philological scholarship.
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
T154 was produced during Ān Shìgāo’s Luòyáng period (148–170 CE), recorded in the frontmatter. The Indic source is presumed lost. T154 is one of the foundational early-Chinese sources for the Saṃyukta-style analytical doctrine and one of the principal texts for the philological reconstruction of Ān Shìgāo’s translation idiom.
Translations and research
- Harrison, Paul. “An Shigao’s Translation of the Saṃyukta-āgama: Some Philological Observations.” Forthcoming.
- Nattier, Jan. A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations. Tokyo: IRIAB, 2008.
Links
- CBETA online text T0150A
- Kanseki DB
- 安世高 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (160): Fèi Chángfáng 費長房. Lìdài sānbǎo jì (LDSBJ) 歷代三寶紀 T2034. T2034 (XLIX) 50b1. dazangthings source 116