Jīngāng bānruò jīng shūlùn zuǎnyào kāndìngjì huìbiān 金剛般若經疏論纂要刊定記會編
Combined Edition of the Diamond Sūtra Commentary, Sub-Commentary, and Sub-Sub-Commentary by 宗密 Zōngmì (述疏), 子璿 Zǐxuán (錄記), 行策 Xíngcè (會編)
About the work
A ten-juan early-Qīng (Kāngxī 3 = 1664) huìbiān (combined-edition) recension by Zhùmèng Xíngcè 截流行策 (1628–1682) of the central Huáyán Vajracchedikā commentary apparatus: Guīfēng Zōngmì’s (780–841) Táng-period Jīngāng bānruò jīng shūlùn zuǎnyào (KR6c0041) + Chángshuǐ Zǐxuán’s (965–1038) Northern-Sòng Kāndìngjì. Distinct from the parallel Xùzàngjīng recension KR6c0079 (X25 no. 491) which incorporates a Míng-period kēhuì (outline-synthesis) by Dàbīn 大璸 — the present text, preserved in the Jiāxīng Canon (J31 no. B269), is Xíngcè’s own larger combined-edition without the Dàbīn layer, more coordinated for monastic-pedagogical use. The author’s preface is dated Kāngxī jiǎchén zhōngxià = mid-summer 1664 (康熙甲辰歲仲夏之吉), composed yú Wǔlín 於武林 (in Hángzhōu). Cf. KR6c0080 for the smaller Xíngcè condensation. notBefore = 824 (substrate Zōngmì commentary); notAfter = 1664 (Xíngcè’s combined edition). Catalog dynasty 唐.
Abstract
The text presents a strictly hierarchical kēwén outline at the head: zuǎnyào shūwén fēn (sān): chū biāo tímù (èr): chū jīng shū míngtí; èr zuòzhě jiāhào 纂要疏文分(三) / 初標題目(二) / 初經疏名題 / 二作者嘉號 — opening with the title-and-author module before proceeding to the sūtra-commentary body. Xíngcè’s editorial method is the huìbiān combined-edition: under each phrase of the 鳩摩羅什 Kumārajīva Vajracchedikā he supplies first Zōngmì’s zuǎnyào commentary, then Zǐxuán’s kāndìngjì sub-commentary, in clearly demarcated layers. The 10-juan length accommodates the substantial Sòng jì (sub-commentary) layer in full rather than excerpting it, distinguishing this recension from the more compressed KR6c0080. The work was preserved in the Jiāxīng Canon (J31 nB269), a textual-witness independent of the Xùzàngjīng tradition.
Translations and research
- For Zōngmì’s Vajracchedikā commentary in its Huáyán hermeneutic context see Peter N. Gregory, Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism (Princeton, 1991; rep. Hawaii, 2002).
- For Chángshuǐ Zǐxuán’s sub-commentary tradition see surveys of Sòng Buddhism, esp. on the Sìmíng / Chángshuǐ axis.
- For Xíngcè’s combined-edition project and his Pure-Land patriarchate see modern surveys of Qīng Pure-Land Buddhism.
Other points of interest
The Jiāxīng-canon preservation (J31 nB269) of Xíngcè’s full huìbiān, distinct from the Xùzàng multi-stratum KR6c0079 (which adds Dàbīn’s outline), gives modern scholars two independent textual witnesses of the same Zōngmì + Zǐxuán combination — a useful redundancy for textual criticism of the Huáyán Vajracchedikā commentary tradition.