Fóshuō Yuèguāng tóngzǐ jīng 佛說月光童子經
Sūtra of the Boy Moon-Light translated by 竺法護 (Zhú Fǎhù / Dharmarakṣa, 譯)
About the work
The Fóshuō Yuèguāng tóngzǐ jīng (T534) is a one-fascicle Mahāyāna sūtra by Dharmarakṣa 竺法護 (竺法護). The protagonist Yuèguāng tóngzǐ 月光童子 (“Boy Moon-Light”; Sanskrit Candraprabha-kumāra) is a precocious bodhisattva-figure who receives the Buddha’s prophecy of buddhahood. The text is parallel to KR6i0165 Fóshuō Shēnrì jīng (T535).
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula.
Abstract
The Candraprabha-kumāra narrative is foundational for Chinese conceptions of precocious child-bodhisattvas. The text predicts that Candraprabha will be reborn as the king of Zhīnà 支那 (China) — a passage that became extraordinarily important in medieval Chinese Buddhism as canonical evidence for China’s special place in the Buddhist cosmology. Translation dated to Dharmarakṣa’s productive period (266–308 CE).
Translations and research
- Boucher, Daniel. Bodhisattvas of the Forest. Honolulu, 2008.
- Forte, Antonino. Political Propaganda and Ideology in China at the End of the Seventh Century. Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale, 1976 — uses Candraprabha narrative.
Other points of interest
The Yuèguāng tóngzǐ passage about Candraprabha being reborn as the future king of China became a pivotal text in Sui-Tang political-religious propaganda. It was cited by Wǔ Zétiān’s monastic apologists in support of her imperial legitimacy.
Links
- CBETA T14n0534
- Kanseki DB
- 竺法護 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (300, 440) — Hayashiya Tomojirō 林屋友次郎, Iyaku kyōrui no kenkyū‚ 異譯經類の研究, Tokyo: Tōyō bunko, 1945. 410-435.