Jīngāngbēi xiǎnxìng lù 金剛錍顯性錄
Manifesting-the-Nature Record of the Vajra-Lance by 智圓 (Zhìyuán / Gūshān Zhìyuán / Wúwài, 集)
About the work
A four-juan Northern-Sòng compiled commentary by Gūshān Zhìyuán 孤山智圓 (976–1022) on Zhànrán’s Jīngāngbēi (KR6d0175, T1932). The work is one of the principal Northern-Sòng shānwài commentaries on Zhànrán’s foundational doctrine of the buddha-nature of insentient beings, providing the shānwài tradition’s principal articulation of the doctrine. Body attribution: Gūshān shāmén shì Zhìyuán jí 孤山沙門釋 智圓 集.
Prefaces
The text in the X56n0935 recension carries the standard front matter; the body opens with an extended doctrinal-historical framing: “The Jīngāngbēi: by Jīngxī dàshī [Zhànrán] of the Round-Sudden teaching he composed this treatise. Manifesting the Buddha’s intent, deliberating on the Round-Doctrine. Fusing the myriad dharmas in one mind. Stilling differing arguments in a thousand ages. Furthermore opening later generations’ wisdom-eye. Using the vajra-lance to establish a name. Narrating prior generations’ provisional doubts; entrusting the wild-guest to raise the question. Its Way is greatly so; admirable words are bright-and-bright; making the buddha-nature radiantly visible — that which is concealed by foolish circumstances — this treatise [it is]. [I, Zhì-]Yuán have indulged in tasting and sinking-and-savouring it for [several] years; therefore [I have] gathered…”
Abstract
Zhìyuán’s Xiǎnxìng lù is the principal Northern-Sòng shānwài commentary on Zhànrán’s Jīngāngbēi, providing the shānwài tradition’s distinctive interpretation of the doctrine of the buddha-nature of insentient beings. Where the shānjiā tradition under Zhīlǐ defended Zhànrán’s strict reading of the doctrine, the shānwài tradition under Zhìyuán and Rényuè (仁岳) advocated a more spiritualised reading that aligned with the broader Mahāyāna Tathāgatagarbha tradition.
The composition is bracketed within Zhìyuán’s productive period c. 996–1022.
Translations and research
- Andō Toshio 安藤俊雄. Tendaigaku — kompon shisō to sono tenkai. Kyoto: Heirakuji Shoten, 1968.
- Getz, Daniel A. “T’ien-t’ai Pure Land Societies and the Creation of the Pure Land Patriarchate.” In Buddhism in the Sung, eds. Peter N. Gregory and Daniel A. Getz, 477–523. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1999.
- Brose, Benjamin. Patrons and Patriarchs: Regional Rulers and Chan Monks during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2015.