Jīngāng jīng fǎyǎn xuánpàn shūchāo 金剛經法眼懸判疏鈔
The Diamond Sūtra: Dharma-Eye Hierarchical-Outline Commentary and Sub-commentary by 性起 Xìngqǐ (述)
About the work
An eight-juan mid- to late-Qīng (Qiánlóng / Jiāqìng-era) major Vajracchedikā commentary by Xìngqǐ (= Yuánfēng lǎorén 元峯老人, original dharma-name Miàodé 妙德; d. 1798-03-01), Línjì-Yángqí Chán abbot of the imperially-built Xītiānsì 勅建西天寺 in Wǔlín 武林 (Hángzhōu). The title-formula fǎyǎn xuánpàn shūchāo — “Dharma-Eye Hierarchical-Outline Commentary and Sub-commentary” — names a four-fold apparatus: fǎyǎn 法眼 (the awakened doctrinal eye), xuánpàn 懸判 (the suspended structural outline overarching the whole sūtra), shū 疏 (commentary), chāo 鈔 (sub-commentary). The work pairs with KR6c0088 (Fǎyǎn zhùshū, two juan, presumably a condensation), and the eight-juan length is exceptional in this section of the catalog — comparable in scale to the multi-stratum KR6c0079. notBefore set conservatively to 1760 (Xìngqǐ’s mature commentary period); notAfter = 1798 (death). Preserved as X25 no. 499. Catalog dynasty 清.
Abstract
The opening attribution-line — Chìjiàn Xītiānsì Wǔlín hòuxué shāmén Xìngqǐ shù 勅建西天寺武林後學沙門性起述 (“Imperially-Built Xītiān Temple, junior monk of Wǔlín, Xìngqǐ, expounds”) — situates the work in the official Beijing-area Línjì establishment under Qiánlóng patronage. The hierarchical-outline opening unfolds: jiāng shì cǐ jīng pànyì fēn sān: chū tōngxù dàyì, wén bā: chū tōngxù dàyì, fēn liù: chū biāotí 將釋此經判義分三：初通序大意，文八：初通敘大意，分六：初標題 (“To explain this sūtra, the structural division is in three: first, the overall preface to the main meaning, in eight sections: the first overall preface to the main meaning, in six sub-sections: the first sub-section, the title”). This hierarchical (xuánpàn 懸判) structure proceeds to multiple levels of nesting before reaching the verse-by-verse sūtra text. The integrated shū + chāo layered apparatus is characteristic of the strictly-scholastic Qīng monastic tradition.
Translations and research
No substantial dedicated secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
The Xītiānsì (one of the three principal Beijing-imperial Buddhist establishments) gave Xìngqǐ access to imperial-canonical resources rare for Qīng provincial commentators. The eight-juan scale of the work, combined with the rigorous nested xuánpàn outline format, signals this as a late-eighteenth-century Vajracchedikā commentary intended for monastic-training rather than lay-devotional use.