Fó wèi Yōutián wáng shuō wángfǎ zhènglùn jīng 佛為優填王說王法政論經
Sūtra of the Buddha’s Teaching to King Udayana on Royal Dharma and Political Theory translated by 不空 (Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
The Fó wèi Yōutián wáng shuō wángfǎ zhènglùn jīng (T524) is a one-fascicle Tang esoteric translation by Amoghavajra 不空 (不空). The protagonist Yōutián wáng 優填王 is Udayana, king of Kauśāmbī, traditionally credited with commissioning the first sandalwood image of the Buddha. The text is a Buddhist political-theory treatise — a genre roughly equivalent to rājadharma literature in the Indic tradition.
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula. The colophon attributes translation to Amoghavajra.
Abstract
This is the most substantial Tang Buddhist text on political theory in the Chinese canon. Translated by Amoghavajra under imperial Tang patronage, it argues for an integrated Buddhist-Confucian political ideology in which the king’s authority is grounded in dharma (right teaching) and his rule is to be guided by Buddhist ethical principles. The text was influential in Tang and Sòng court Buddhism and was often paired with the Rénwáng hùguó bōrě jīng 仁王護國般若經 (KR6c0203, Sūtra of the Benevolent Kings) for state-protection rituals. Translation falls within Amoghavajra’s productive period (746–774 CE).
Translations and research
- Orzech, Charles D. Politics and Transcendent Wisdom: The Scripture for Humane Kings. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998.
- Goble, Geoffrey C. Chinese Esoteric Buddhism. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019.
Links
- CBETA T14n0524
- Kanseki DB
- 不空 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (750) — T = CBETA [Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association]. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932. CBReader v 5.0, 2014.