Shàngshēng jīng huì gǔ tōng jīn xīn chāo 上生經會古通今新抄
New Digest of the Ascent Sūtra, Harmonizing Old and New by 詮明 Quánmíng (撰)
About the work
The Shàngshēng jīng huì gǔ tōng jīn xīn chāo is a two-fascicle commentary digest (xīn chāo 新抄, “new digest”) on the Guān Mílè shàngshēng jīng (KR6i0031, T452) by the Liáo monk 詮明, preserved in the Sòngzàng yízhēn 宋藏遺珍 — a modern collection of texts transmitted from Sòng and pre-Sòng Chinese Buddhism and preserved in Japanese temple libraries (originally lost in China). The title huì gǔ tōng jīn 會古通今 (“harmonizing old and new”) indicates a synthesis commentary that reconciles earlier exegeses. The source text has incomplete fascicles (only files _002 and _004 survive, indicating lost fascicles 1 and 3), suggesting transmission damage.
Prefaces
The surviving fascicle 2 begins mid-argument, citing the Lotus Sūtra and its commentary, indicating that the commentary draws on a range of canonical sources. The original preface (in fascicle 1, now lost) presumably explained the compilation method.
Abstract
詮明 (fl. Liáo dynasty, active c. 982–1031 CE) was a Liáo-dynasty monk based at Mǐnzhōng-sì 憫忠寺 (modern Fǎyuán-sì 法源寺, Beijing), identified by DILA authority A001493. The Sòngzàng yízhēn catalog header attributes the work to “唐 詮明” (Táng [dynasty], Quánmíng), but this is erroneous: the DILA authority entry confirms he was a Liáo monk honored with the title Wú’ài Dàshī 無礙大師 (“Unobstructed Master”) by Emperor Shèngzōng 聖宗 (r. 982–1031). His commentary synthesizes earlier exegetical literature (including 吉藏 Jízàng’s KR6i0037, 窺基 Kuījī’s KR6i0038, and other pre-Táng/early Táng treatments) and produces a “new” (xīn 新) reconciliatory digest. The DILA entry records that the original work was four fascicles; only fascicles 2 and 4 survive in the Sòngzàng yízhēn (corresponding to source files _002 and _004). He was a prolific Liáo Yogācāra specialist who compiled the Xù Kāiyuán shìjiào lù 續開元釋教錄 and wrote commentaries on the Lotus and Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi. He vowed to be reborn in Tuṣita heaven and had a vision of Maitreya before his death.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.