Huáyán jīng míng fǎ pǐn nèi lì sān bǎo zhāng 華嚴經明法品內立三寶章
Treatise on the Establishment of the Three Treasures within the Míngfǎ Chapter of the Huáyán Scripture by 法藏 (Fǎzàng, 述)
About the work
This 2-fascicle treatise by 法藏 Fǎzàng is a focused study of the doctrine of the Three Treasures (三寶 — triratna: the Buddha, the Dharma, the Saṅgha) as it is set out in the Míngfǎ pǐn 明法品 (“Chapter on Clarifying the Dharma,” chapter 18 of the [[KR6e0001|60-fascicle Huáyán]] / chapter 18 of the [[KR6e0010|80-fascicle Huáyán]]). The chapter is one of the doctrinally densest of the Avataṃsaka and was the subject of intensive Tang Huáyán-school study.
Prefaces
No formal preface.
Abstract
The work is conventionally datable to 法藏 Fǎzàng’s mature period, c. 670 – 712 CE. The bracket adopted here reflects this window. The doctrinal substance treats the Three Treasures in their Avataṃsaka configuration — the Buddha as the cosmic Vairocana, the Dharma as the boundless dharma-realm, and the Saṅgha as the assembly of Samantabhadra-bodhisattvas — and explicates the relations among the three within the Avataṃsaka’s own doctrinal frame. The work’s zhāng / “treatise” format and 2-fascicle length make it one of the medium-scale studies in Fǎzàng’s corpus, intermediate between the brief synopsis-works ([[KR6e0085|Zhǐ guī]], [[KR6e0086|Cè lín]]) and the major commentaries ([[KR6e0008|Tànxuán jì]], [[KR6e0074|Wǔ jiào zhāng]]).
The Taishō text (T1874) is established on the standard apparatus.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language translation located.
- Hamar, Imre, ed. Reflecting Mirrors (2007).
- Sakamoto Yukio 坂本幸男. Kegon kyōgaku no kenkyū (1956).
Other points of interest
- The doctrine of the Three Treasures in Avataṃsaka configuration — Fǎzàng’s emphasis here — became important for Sòng-period Pure Land devotional practice, where the Three Treasures of the Avataṃsaka’s cosmology were interpreted as supporting the lay-devotional structure of the Pure Land.