Móhē bōrě chāo jīng 摩訶般若鈔經

Mahāprajñāpāramitā-Excerpt (Aṣṭasāhasrikā Partial Translation) by 曇摩蜱 (Dharmapriya, 譯) and 竺佛念 (Zhú Fóniàn, 譯)

About the work

A five-fascicle Former-Qín partial translation of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, jointly produced by Dharmapriya 曇摩蜱 and Zhú Fóniàn 竺佛念 at Cháng’ān under 道安 Dàoān’s direction. The title indicates the partial / chāo (鈔 “excerpted”) status. Signature: 「秦天竺沙門曇摩蜱共竺佛念譯」. The Taishō head-note records the alternative title 「亦名長安品」 (“also named the Cháng’ān-section [text]”).

Prefaces

No preface or postface in the source file; only the canonical translator-signature.

Abstract

T226 is dated by the Chū sānzàng jì jí to rénwǔ 壬午 = 382 CE — the same year as 道安 Dàoān’s other major Yèsì translation projects (T1505). The translation is a chāo (excerpt) of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā, possibly because the underlying Indic manuscript was incomplete. T226 is one of the four pre-Tang Chinese Aṣṭasāhasrikā translations and a key test-case for Dàoān-circle translation idiom.

Translations and research

  • See bibliography under T224.