Huáyán yī chéng jiào yì fēn qí zhāng yì yuàn shū 華嚴一乘教義分齊章義苑疏
The Yìyuàn Commentary on the Treatise on the Doctrinal Categories of the One-Vehicle Teaching of the Huáyán [Sūtra] by 道亭 (Dàotíng, 述)
About the work
The Yì yuàn shū in 10 fascicles is the major Northern-Sòng commentary on 法藏 Fǎzàng’s [[KR6e0074|Wǔ jiào zhāng 五教章]] (T1866). Composed by 道亭 Dàotíng (active late 11th c.) of the Zháxī Pǔjìngsì 霅溪普靜寺 in Wúxīng 吳興 / Húzhōu 湖州, the work is the earliest extant systematic commentary on Fǎzàng’s foundational doxographical treatise.
Prefaces
The work is preceded by a Huáyán yī chéng fēn qí zhāng yì yuàn shū xù 華嚴一乘分齊章義苑疏敘 (“Preface to the Yìyuàn Commentary”), composed by Cháosàn láng 朝散郎, Shàngshū zhǔkè yuánwài láng 尚書主客員外郎, Qīngchē 輕車 (Court-rank holder, an unidentified Sòng official). The work has a hòu xù 後序 (postface) by 楊傑 Yáng Jié dated Yuányòu 元祐 5 (1090).
Abstract
The work is conventionally datable to the period 1080 – 1090 CE, the bracket up to the dated postface. The bracket adopted here reflects this window. The Yì yuàn shū is the foundational document of the Sòng commentary tradition on the Wǔ jiào zhāng; it inaugurated a tradition of Huáyán-school commentarial scholarship that would continue through 師會 Shīhuì’s [[KR6e0076|Fén xīn 焚薪]] (X996), [[KR6e0078|Fù gǔ jì 復古記]] (X998), and 希迪 Xīdí’s [[KR6e0079|Jí chéng jì 集成記]] (X999) and [[KR6e0080|Píng fù gǔ jì 評復古記]] (X1000) — the most extensive Sòng commentary tradition on a single Huáyán-school text.
The work is preserved in the Manji Xù zàng jīng 續藏經 (X995) collection.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language translation located.
- Yoshizu Yoshihide 吉津宜英. Kegon zen no shisōshi-teki kenkyū (1985) — analyses the Sòng Wǔ jiào zhāng commentary tradition.
- Hamar, Imre, ed. Reflecting Mirrors (2007).
Other points of interest
- Dàotíng’s commentary inaugurated the Sòng-period flourishing of Huáyán-school commentary on the Wǔ jiào zhāng; the subsequent commentaries (Shīhuì, Shànxī, Xīdí) all engage critically with his readings.