Wēnshì jīng shū 溫室經疏
Commentary on the Wēnshì Sūtra commentary by 慧淨 (Huìjìng, 撰)
About the work
T2780 in one fascicle is the early-Tang commentary on Wēnshì jīng 溫室經 (T701) by 慧淨 (b. 578, fl. 605–650), recovered from the Dunhuang manuscript-cache and incorporated into the Taishō in vol. 85 (the gǔyì 古逸 miscellanea volume). 慧淨 is the same author as Yúlánpén jīng zànshù (T2781), and both works share the same Dunhuang-recovered character.
Abstract
The commentary opens with a Tang-period xù 序 (preface): “夫溫室經者，斯乃積淨業之善基，蕩塵累之津澤” (“As for the Wēnshì jīng, it is the good foundation for accumulating the deeds of purity, and the ferry-route for washing away the burdens of dust [i.e. defilement]”). The image cluster — jiējīng 階橙 (“stairway”) to heaven, zhōuháng 舟航 (“boat”) to cross the sea of suffering, nángkuò 囊括 (“net”) containing cause and effect, bāojǔ 包舉 (“embracing”) merit and wisdom — establishes the elaborate parallel-prose register of the commentary. The yīniàn jìngxìn 一念淨信 (“a single thought of pure faith”) theme drawn from the parent sūtra is developed in close relation to the bodhisattva-stages framework: a single act of pure giving (the bath-house benefaction) takes the practitioner directly to the shídì 十地 (ten stages) of the bodhisattva path.
The commentary then proceeds through the parent sūtra section by section. Composition window: 慧淨’s active scholarly period at the early-Tang capital, 627 (Zhēnguān 1) – 650; no internal date is preserved. Together with Yìjì 義記 (T1793) by Jìngyǐngsì 慧遠, this constitutes one of two major medieval Chinese commentaries on the Wēnshì jīng.
Parent sūtra: KR6i0391 (T701). Companion commentary: KR6i0392 (T1793).
Translations and research
Reminder: AI generated list - beware of hallucinations. Corrections and additions welcome
- Salguero, C. Pierce. Translating Buddhist Medicine in Medieval China. Philadelphia, 2014.
- Mochizuki Shinkō 望月信亨. Bukkyō kyōten seiritsu shi-ron. Kyoto, 1946 (on Tang scriptural exegesis).
No standalone English translation located.