Dàshèng bǎoyuè tóngzǐ wèn fǎ jīng 大乘寶月童子問法經
Mahāyāna Sūtra of the Boy Precious Moon Asking about the Dharma by 施護 Shīhù (Dānapāla, 譯)
About the work
The Dàshèng bǎoyuè tóngzǐ wèn fǎ jīng is a single-fascicle Mahāyāna sūtra in which a youth (童子) named Precious Moon (寶月 Candraprabha or similar) poses questions to the Buddha about the path to liberation and the qualities of the Mahāyāna. The translator colophon reads: 西天譯經三藏朝散大夫試鴻臚少卿傳法大師臣施護奉詔譯 (“Translated by the Tripiṭaka master Dānapāla, Transmitter of the Dharma, Grand Master with Silver Seal, Acting Grand Master of the Court of State Ceremonial, by imperial command”). This elaborate honorific title is characteristic of the Northern Sòng translation bureau’s official translators, and 施護 is one of its most prolific contributors.
Prefaces
No separate preface survives in the received text. The body opens: 如是我聞…
Abstract
施護 (Dānapāla; fl. ca. 980–1017 CE) was an Indian monk from northwestern India who arrived at the Northern Sòng capital Biànjīng 汴京 (Kāifēng) in 980 CE together with 天息災 Tiānxīzāi (Dharmabhūti) and worked at the imperially established Translation Academy (譯經院) under the patronage of 宋太宗 Sòng Tàizōng and 宋真宗 Sòng Zhēnzōng. He translated over a hundred texts from Sanskrit into Chinese, specializing in shorter Mahāyāna sūtras, Tantric ritual manuals, and dhāraṇī texts. The Dàshèng bǎoyuè tóngzǐ wèn fǎ jīng is one of numerous short sūtras from his translation activity (ca. 980–1017 CE) featuring the “boy asking about the Dharma” (tóngzǐ wèn fǎ) narrative frame, a standard Mahāyāna dialogical format. Its Indic original has not been identified in surviving Sanskrit manuscripts.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.