Chísòng Jīngāng jīng língyàn gōngdé jì 持誦金剛經靈驗功德記
Record of the Numinous Responses and Merits of Reciting the Diamond Sūtra [anonymous]
About the work
An anonymous one-juan miracle-tale collection recovered from the Dūnhuáng cache and preserved as T85 no. 2743. Not a Vajracchedikā commentary in the doctrinal sense, but a devotional miracle-tale anthology (língyàn gōngdé jì 靈驗功德記 = “record of numinous responses and merits”) — the Tang-period form of the broader Vajracchedikā miracle literature that flourished from the early Táng through the WǎnMíng (cf. KR6c0072 Wáng Qǐlóng’s later HuángMíng Jīngāng xīnyì lù). notBefore / notAfter = 600–900. Catalog dynasty 唐.
Abstract
The opening tale concerns the Liáng-period Zhāotísì sēng Yǎnshī 招提寺僧琰師 (“the monk Yǎn of Zhāotísì in Liáng times”), then a shāmí (novice). A physiognomist (xiàngshī 相師) had told Yǎn: shīzǐ suī dà cōngmíng zhìhuì wúnuó xiàngwáng duǎnmìng rúhé 師子雖大聰明智慧無那相王短命如何 (“Master, though young, is intelligent and wise — but how can it be that the xiàngwáng [= the physiognomic indicator on his crown] shows a short life?”). Yǎn went to a senior monk to ask what merit-practice would extend his lifespan; the elder replied that the Buddha’s holy word is to receive-and-uphold the dharma — i.e., the Vajracchedikā recitation is the merit-practice that extends life. Subsequent tales extend the pattern: each story narrates a layperson or monastic afflicted by misfortune, suffering, or short-life prognosis, who finds salvation through dedicated Vajracchedikā recitation. The anthology functions as a popular-devotional witness to the Vajracchedikā’s high-Táng / late-Táng cult-status as a ritually-efficacious text.
Translations and research
- For the Vajracchedikā miracle-tale tradition see modern Chinese-language and Japanese surveys; the genre is comparable to the Lotus Sūtra miracle-tale tradition treated in Stephen F. Teiser’s and Daniel Stevenson’s writings.
- For Dūnhuáng manuscript context see KR6c0107 references.
Other points of interest
The work, although classified within the Vajracchedikā commentary section of the catalog, is not a commentary but a devotional miracle-record. Its inclusion in this catalog division reflects a broad understanding of “Vajracchedikā literature” to include both doctrinal exposition and ritual-devotional literature surrounding the sūtra.
Links
- CBETA online
- Author: anonymous
- Genre: miracle-tale anthology (língyàn jì) — not a doctrinal commentary
- Later genre kin: KR6c0072 HuángMíng Jīngāng xīnyì lù (Wáng Qǐlóng, late Míng / early Qīng)
- Reference text: KR6c0023
- Kanseki DB