Huáyán jīng lún guàn 華嚴經綸貫
Through-Threading of the Huáyán Scripture by 復菴 (Fùān, 述)
About the work
The Huáyán jīng lún guàn in 1 fascicle is 復菴 Fùān’s compact synopsis of the Avataṃsaka in the lún guàn 綸貫 (“through-thread”) genre — a Sòng-period Buddhist literary form that aims to “thread through” (guàn 貫) a major sūtra by tracing the doctrinal-narrative thread (lún 綸) that connects its component parts. The genre originated in the Tang (宗密 Zōngmì’s now-lost Huáyán lún guàn mentioned in the preface to T1738) and was systematised in the Sòng.
Prefaces
No formal preface.
Abstract
The work is conventionally datable to 復菴 Fùān’s mature period, c. 1080 – 1130 CE. The bracket adopted here reflects this window. As the preface to Chéngguān’s Qī chù jiǔ huì sòng shì zhāng (T1738) indicates, Fùān’s Lún guàn was widely regarded as Chán-leaning (“for Chán practitioners”) and “sharp and direct” but less suitable for systematic doctrinal study. The work circulated in late-Sòng Chán-Huáyán synthesist circles, complementing the more scholastic commentarial tradition (Chéngguān-Zōngmì, Jìngyuán) with a Chán-flavoured contemplative reading.
The work is preserved in the Manji Xù zàng jīng (X220) collection.
Translations and research
Reminder: AI generated list - beware of hallucinations. Corrections and additions welcome
- No substantial Western-language translation located.
- Hamar, Imre, ed. Reflecting Mirrors (2007).
Other points of interest
- The lún guàn genre — the through-threading synopsis — is one of the distinctive Sòng-period Buddhist literary forms; alongside kē outlines and huì běn combined editions, it constituted the apparatus by which Sòng readers navigated the great Tang Buddhist commentarial heritage.