Dàpǐn jīng yìshū 大品經義疏
Doctrinal Commentary on the Great-Section Sūtra (Mahāprajñāpāramitā) by 吉藏 (Jízàng, 撰)
About the work
A nine-fascicle Suí-period line-by-line commentary by Jízàng 吉藏 on Kumārajīva’s [[KR6c0004|Móhē bōrě bōluómì jīng (T223)]]. The contents-list at the head of fascicle 1 shows the structure: fascicle 1 — Xuányì 玄意 (esoteric-meaning prologue); fascicle 2 — missing in the transmitted text (the head-note explicitly notes 「但欠此卷」 “only this fascicle is missing”); fascicles 3–9 — line-by-line commentary on the chapters of T223 (序品 / 奉鉢品 / etc.).
Prefaces
The fascicle 1 Xuányì serves as the prologue. The catalog header attributes the text to Jízàng of the Suí; the catalog’s dynasty-attribution “胡” is anomalous (the standard attribution is 隋) and likely reflects a transcription error.
Abstract
X451 is the principal Sānlùn line-by-line commentary on the Mahāprajñāpāramitā in Chinese, complementing the programmatic [[KR6c0007|Dàpǐn jīng yóuyì (T1696)]] which gives the doctrinal-philosophical core. Together with T1696, X451 constitutes Jízàng’s two-tier commentary on T223 — programmatic and detailed — and is foundational for Sānlùn / Chinese-Mādhyamika prajñā exegesis. The work is dateable to Jízàng’s documented active period (580–623). The transmitted text is partial: fascicle 2 is missing throughout the manuscript transmission.
Translations and research
- Robinson, Richard H. Early Mādhyamika in India and China. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967.
- Liú Guǐlóng 劉貴龍. “Jízàng’s Dàpǐn jīng yìshū yánjiū” 吉藏《大品經義疏》研究. Buddhist Studies (Chinese-language article).