Huáyán jīng wén yì jì (juàn liù) 華嚴經文義記〔卷六〕
Notes on the Wording and Meaning of the Huáyán Scripture, [Surviving] Fascicle Six by 靈裕 (Língyù, 集記)
About the work
This single fascicle of 靈裕 Língyù’s (518–605) commentary on the [[KR6e0001|60-fascicle Huáyán jīng]] is all that remains of what the Xù gāosēng zhuàn describes as a 100-fascicle commentary — once the longest pre-Tang Chinese Avataṃsaka commentary alongside that of 靈辨 Língbiàn. The fascicle 6 covers a portion of the early chapters of the Avataṃsaka; the heavily damaged state of the surviving fragment makes detailed analysis difficult.
Prefaces
No tiyao or preface in source.
Abstract
The original 100-fascicle work is conventionally datable to Língyù’s mature Suí period, c. 580 – 605 CE; the bracket adopted here reflects this window. The surviving fascicle 6 — together with [[KR6e0008|Huìguāng’s Yì jì]] (T2756) and [[KR6e0064|Língbiàn’s Lùn]] (X208) — is one of the principal documents of pre-Tang Chinese Avataṃsaka commentary. All three are preserved as fragmentary survivals from much larger lost works, and together provide the principal textual evidence for the Northern-Dynasties / Suí Avataṃsaka exegetical landscape that prepared the ground for the mature Tang Huáyán synthesis.
The work is preserved in the Manji Xù zàng jīng (X211) collection.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language translation located.
- Aoki Takashi 青木隆. “Northern Dynasties Huáyán Studies and the Dilun School,” in Imre Hamar (ed.), Reflecting Mirrors (2007).
- Itō Zuiei 伊藤瑞叡. Kegon kyōgaku no kenkyū (1988).
Other points of interest
- The almost complete loss of Língyù’s 100-fascicle commentary parallels the loss of Língbiàn’s similarly enormous Huáyán jīng lùn; together these two losses constitute the most consequential gaps in pre-Tang Chinese Avataṃsaka scholarship.