Jīngāng bōrě jīng zànshù 金剛般若經贊述
Encomiastic Commentary on the Diamond Sūtra by 窺基 (Kuījī, 撰)
About the work
A two-juan Fǎxiàng (Yogācāra)-tradition commentary on the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra, by Kuījī 窺基 (632–682), the principal disciple of 玄奘 Xuánzàng (596–664) and the founding systematizer of the Chinese Fǎxiàng 法相 (Yogācāra-Vijñaptimātra) school. The work applies Xuánzàng-school Yogācāra doctrinal categories — particularly the eight consciousnesses (bāshí 八識), the three natures (sānxìng 三性), and the two-truth Yogācāra reframing — to the Vajracchedikā. Preserved at T33 no. 1700.
Abstract
Authorship: composed by Kuījī 窺基 (lay surname Yùchí 尉遲 — alternate persona-name Yùchí Jī 尉遲基; 632–682), nephew of the Tang general Yùchí Jìngdé 尉遲敬德 and the principal Chinese disciple of Xuánzàng. Kuījī was based at Dàcí’ēnsì 大慈恩寺 in Cháng’ān (Xuánzàng’s translation-bureau monastery) — hence his alternate sobriquet Cí’ēn dàshī 慈恩大師, by which the Fǎxiàng school is also called the Cí’ēnzōng 慈恩宗.
notBefore = 660 (Kuījī’s mature scholarly period, post Xuánzàng’s principal translations); notAfter = 682 (Kuījī’s death).
The commentary applies the distinctive Yogācāra-school analytic framework to the Vajracchedikā — treating the sūtra’s prajñā doctrine through the lens of vijñaptimātra (“consciousness-only”) philosophy, the three natures classification, and the eight consciousnesses analysis. The work is one of the principal Chinese-Yogācāra commentaries on the Vajracchedikā and a primary witness to the Tang Yogācāra-tradition appropriation of prajñāpāramitā literature.
Translations and research
- Lusthaus, Dan. Buddhist Phenomenology. Routledge, 2002.
- Keenan, John P. The Meaning of Christ. Orbis, 1989, and successor works on Chinese Yogācāra.