Fóshuō chūfēn shuō jīng 佛說初分說經
Sūtra Spoken on the First Division translated by 施護 Shīhù / Dānapāla (譯)
About the work
The Fóshuō chūfēn shuō jīng (T498) is a two-fascicle sūtra translated by the Sòng Indian monk 施護 Shīhù (Dānapāla; d. 1017 CE). The title’s chūfēn 初分 refers to the “first division” — possibly Sanskrit prathamabhāga — of a larger Indic compilation.
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula. The colophon attributes the translation to Shīhù of the Sòng.
Abstract
Shīhù was one of the three principal Indian monks at the Sòng Yìjīng yuàn (with 天息災 Tiānxīzāi/法賢 Fǎxián and 法天 Fǎtiān/Dharmadeva), arriving in Cháng’ān in 980 CE. He was prolific and produced about 110 translations. This text concerns the early sections of an Indic compilation on the Buddha’s life and teaching career; the precise Vorlage is not fully identified. Translation is dated to Shīhù’s productive period (989–1017 CE).
Translations and research
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. Honolulu, 2003.