Zá pìyù jīng 雜譬喻經 (T204)
Sūtra of Miscellaneous Parables by 支婁迦讖 (Lokakṣema, 譯)
About the work
A short single-fascicle pìyù (譬喻 = avadāna / dṛṣṭānta, “parable”) anthology of some 11 short narratives, attributed in the Chinese canon to 支婁迦讖 Lokakṣema. Signature: 「後漢月支沙門支婁迦讖譯」.
Prefaces
No preface or postface; only the canonical translator-signature.
Abstract
T204 is one of three closely-related Zá pìyù jīng anthologies in the Taishō (T204, T205, T207), all titled identically but distinguished by attribution: T204 to Lokakṣema (Hàn), T205 anonymous Hàn-register, T207 compiled by 道略 Dàoluè (Latter-Qín). Modern scholarship (Mizuno; Nattier) is sceptical of the attribution of T204 to Lokakṣema: the linguistic register and content are inconsistent with Lokakṣema’s better-attested Mahāyāna translations and the work is more likely a slightly later compilation that was retrospectively attached to his name in catalog tradition. The bracket 178–200 reflects Lokakṣema’s documented active period at Luòyáng if the attribution is accepted.
The Zá pìyù jīng anthologies as a group are foundational sources for the East-Asian Buddhist pìyù genre — short exempla narratives used for popular preaching — and influenced the development of Chinese Buddhist popular literature.
Translations and research
- Mizuno Kōgen 水野弘元. “Zōhi-yu kyō ni tsuite” 雑譬喩經について. Bukkyō kenkyū (article series on the Zá pìyù jīng texts).
- Nattier, Jan. A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations. Tokyo: IRIAB, 2008. (Discusses the attribution problems of the Zá pìyù jīng anthologies.)
Links
- CBETA online text
- Lokakṣema (支婁迦讖) DILA
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (186, 420): [ T ] Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932 — dazangthings.nz