Lèngyán jīng yìshū zhùjīng kē 楞嚴經義疏注經科
Sectional Outline of the Annotated Commentary on the Significance of the Śūraṃgamasūtra by 子璿 (述)
About the work
A short single-fascicle (1卷) sectional-outline (kē 科) accompanying 子璿’s ten-fascicle Yìshū zhùjīng 義疏注經 (KR6j0673, T39 no. 1799) — the Northern-Sòng Huáyán-Chán commentary on the Śūraṃgamasūtra. The kē genre is a Sòng-Yuán Buddhist exegetical apparatus consisting solely of a hierarchical sectional outline (fēnkē 分科) of the parent commentary, providing the topical “skeleton” by which the commentary’s argument can be read at a glance. It is the pedagogical complement to the running prose commentary, used in lecture-room teaching and private study.
The opening of the text exhibits the standard kē layout: “Explanation of the sūtra is divided into two: 1. The title (Dàfódǐng…); 2. The body of the text (divided into three: 1. Preface section; 2. Main section; 3. Transmission section)” (釋經分(二)：一題目(大佛)；二本文(三)：一序說分(二) …). The structure recapitulates Zǐxuán’s analytical hierarchy across the entire Yìshū and is the textual precursor to the more elaborate Míng-period kē outlines (e.g., KR6j0681 of 真鑑 for the Zhèngmài shū, and KR6j0686 of 德清).
Abstract
Authorship is securely attributed to Chángshuǐ Zǐxuán 長水子璿 by the colophon (長水沙門子璿述) and by the obvious correspondence of the outline to the parent Yìshū commentary. Composition is bracketed at 1024 – 1038 — the productive period of Zǐxuán’s Yìshū and his death year. The work is preserved as X10 no. 265 in the Xùzàngjīng.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located on the kē outline as a free-standing work; for the parent commentary see the bibliography at KR6j0673. For the kē genre as an exegetical instrument in Sòng Buddhism, see John Jorgensen, “Sectional Commentary in Sòng Tiāntái and Huáyán,” Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies 25 (2012).