Běnyuàn Yàoshī jīng gǔjī 本願藥師經古迹
Vestiges of the Original-Vow Medicine Master Sūtra by 太賢 Tàixián (Taehyŏn, 撰)
About the work
The Běnyuàn Yàoshī jīng gǔjī (T1770) is a two-fascicle commentary on the Bhaiṣajyaguru-sūtra by the Silla Yogācāra master Tàixián 太賢 (太賢; fl. mid-8th century), self-designated Qīngqiū shāmén 青丘沙門 (“monk of the Blue Hills,” i.e., Korea). It is the principal Korean commentary on the Yakuṣī cycle and was widely transmitted in East Asia. Gǔjī 古迹 (“ancient vestiges/traces”) was a stock title element in Tàixián’s exegetical œuvre, indicating a commentary that draws together ancient interpretations and authorities.
Tàixián’s commentary takes Xuánzàng’s translation (KR6i0048 = T450) as its base text but discusses all three Chinese translations side by side, including the Sòng-period Bá chú guòzuì shēngsǐ dé dù jīng (T1331/12, the Huìjiǎn recension), Dharmagupta’s Běnyuàn jīng (KR6i0047 = T449), and Xuánzàng’s Běnyuàn gōngdé jīng. The text is the locus classicus for the Korean Yogācāra reception of the Yakuṣī tradition.
Prefaces
The text opens directly with Tàixián’s analytical framework: “此經略以三門分別。一者題名。二者教攝。三者本文” (“This sūtra is briefly distinguished according to three gates: first the title; second the doctrinal classification; third the main text”). Under the first gate, Tàixián observes that the sūtra is known by three names — (1) Yàoshī liúlíguāng rúlái běnyuàn gōngdé jīng 藥師琉璃光如來本願功德經 (Xuánzàng’s title), (2) Shíèr shénjiāng ráoyì yǒuqíng jiéyuàn shénzhòu 十二神將饒益有情結願神呪 (Dharmagupta’s title), and (3) Bá chú yīqiè yèzhàng 拔除一切業障 (Huìjiǎn’s title in T1331/12). He records that the third (T1331/12) was translated in the first year of the Dàmíng 大明 reign (= 457 CE) under Sòng Xiàowǔ 孝武, that Dharmagupta’s was translated in the eleventh year of Dàyè 大業 (= 615 CE) at Shànglín Yuán Fānjīngguǎn 上林園翻經館 in Luòyáng south of the Luò River, and that Xuánzàng’s was translated during the Zhēnguān 貞觀 era of the Táng. This is one of the most precise pre-modern surveys of the Yakuṣī translation history.
Under the second gate (教攝, doctrinal classification), Tàixián rejects the southern Sānjiào 三教 hierarchy of Sui-Tang Tiantai for assigning the sūtra to the third (偏方不定) category, arguing on Yogācāra grounds for a more nuanced placement.
Abstract
Tàixián’s Yàoshī jīng gǔjī is the most comprehensive pre-modern commentary on the Bhaiṣajyaguru-sūtra and the only fully transmitted Korean commentary in the Yakuṣī tradition. It is structured around the standard three-gate analytical framework that Tàixián uses across his commentarial corpus. The work is particularly valuable for: (i) preserving the precise translation history of the three Chinese versions; (ii) integrating the Bá chú guòzuì shēngsǐ dé dù jīng into the Yakuṣī commentarial tradition (often dropped from later commentary because of its apocryphal status); (iii) providing a Yogācāra hermeneutic frame for Yakuṣī worship that links the cult to vijñaptimātratā doctrine and the Cí’ēn 慈恩 school.
The commentary was authoritative in Heian Japan and is cited extensively by Tendai and Shingon commentators on the Yakuṣī sūtras. The Mizang 妙藏 manuscripts at Nanatsudera 七寺 and Kōyasan preserve early witnesses. Tàixián’s other major surviving works include the Chéngyùshí lùn xuéjì (X0818, on Vasubandhu’s Triṃśikā), the Dàchéng qǐxìn lùn nèiyì lüètànjì (T1849), the Fànwǎng jīng gǔjī jì (T1815), and the Púsà jiè běn zōngyào (T1906). Tàixián’s catalog meta dates (“fl. mid-8th c.”) align with the historical record (he was at the Silla royal court in 753 CE), placing this commentary in the second half of the eighth century.
Translations and research
- Lee, Sumi. Reading Yogācāra: A Korean Buddhist Master’s Compendium of Mind. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2018 — discusses Tàixián’s hermeneutic.
- Cho, Eun-su, ed. Korean Buddhist Nuns and Laywomen: Hidden Histories, Enduring Vitality. SUNY Press, 2011.
- Birnbaum, Raoul. The Healing Buddha. Shambhala, 1979 — uses T1770 for textual history.
- Vermeersch, Sem. The Power of the Buddhas. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2008 — Korean Buddhist context.