Fóshuō Dàchéng shànjiàn biànhuà Wénshūshīlì wèn fǎ jīng 佛說大乘善見變化文殊師利問法經
Mahāyāna Sūtra of Mañjuśrī Asking About the Dharma in His Skillful-Vision Transformation translated by 天息災 Tiānxīzāi (Devaśāntika, 譯)
About the work
The Fóshuō Dàchéng shànjiàn biànhuà Wénshūshīlì wèn fǎ jīng (T472) is a one-fascicle late Mahāyāna sūtra translated by Tiānxīzāi 天息災 (天息災; later renamed Fǎxián 法賢; d. 1000 CE), the Northern Indian monk who came to Sòng China in 980 CE and headed the Sòng imperial translation institute (Yìjīngyuàn 譯經院). The Sanskrit reconstruction is Mañjuśrī-vikrīḍita-paripṛcchā — Mañjuśrī’s vikrīḍita (sportive transformation) variation of his typical interrogation pattern.
Prefaces
The text opens with rúshì wǒwén in the polished Sòng court translation idiom. The colophon attributes the translation to Tiānxīzāi during his Sòng imperial activity.
Abstract
This is one of about two dozen sūtras translated by Tiānxīzāi between 980 and 1000 CE under the Sòng imperial translation program initiated by Emperor Tàizōng (r. 976–997). After a four-century lull (the post-Tang collapse of imperial translation patronage), Sòng Tàizōng revived Buddhist translation by establishing the Yìjīngyuàn in 982 CE, recruiting Indian monks 天息災 Tiānxīzāi (who arrived 980 CE), 施護 Shīhù (Dānapāla), and 法天 Fǎtiān (Dharmadeva). Tiānxīzāi’s name was changed to 法賢 Fǎxián by imperial decree in 987 CE; texts before that date are catalogued under Tiānxīzāi, after under Fǎxián.
The sūtra is doctrinally a late-development of the Mañjuśrī interrogation genre, framing the bodhisattva’s questions through the vikrīḍita (sportive play) trope — Mañjuśrī appears in successive transformed bodies to interrogate the Buddha on doctrinal points. The translation is precise and stylistically polished, characteristic of the Sòng court translation institute output.
Translations and research
- Bowring, Richard. “Brief Note: Buddhist Translations in the Northern Sung.” Asia Major 5 (1992): 79–93.
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2003 — extensive coverage of the Sòng translation institute.
- Jan Yün-hua 冉雲華. “Buddhist Relations between India and Sung China.” History of Religions 6 (1966–1967): 24–42.