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十二門論

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Text ID
KR6m0008
Date
408–409
Dynasty
姚秦

Shí’èrmén lùn 十二門論

Treatise of the Twelve Gates (Dvādaśamukhaśāstra) by 龍樹菩薩 (Lóngshù púsà / Nāgārjuna, 造) and 鳩摩羅什 (Jiūmóluóshí / Kumārajīva, 譯)

About the work

A short Mādhyamaka treatise in twelve “gates” (門, mukha) attributed to 龍樹菩薩 Nāgārjuna and translated by 鳩摩羅什 Kumārajīva at Cháng’ān c. 408–409 CE under the patronage of 姚興 Yáo Xìng of the Hòu-Qín. T1568 is the third of the canonical “Three Treatises” (三論) — together with the Zhōng lùn 中論 (KR6m0001 T1564) and the Bǎi lùn 百論 (KR6m0012 T1569) — that became the textual foundation of the Sānlùn 三論 school of Chinese Buddhism. The text is structured as twelve doctrinal “gates” each of which leads to the realisation of emptiness, organised as a sustained refutation of substantial views: Examination of (1) conditions, (2) effect-with-cause and effect-without-cause, (3) conditions, (4) marks, (5) marked and unmarked, (6) identity and difference, (7) being, (8) non-being, (9) cause, (10) effect, (11) creator, and (12) the three times.

Structural Division

CANWWW gives the twelve mén of T1568 as an internal table of contents:

  1. Guān yīnyuán mén 觀因緣門 — Examination of conditions
  2. Guān yǒuguǒ wúguǒ mén 觀有果無果門 — Examination of effect-having and effect-not-having (causes)
  3. Guān yuán mén 觀緣門 — Examination of conditions
  4. Guān xiàng mén 觀相門 — Examination of marks
  5. Guān yǒuxiàng wúxiàng mén 觀有相無相門 — Examination of marked and unmarked
  6. Guān yī yì mén 觀一異門 — Examination of identity and difference
  7. Guān yǒu wú mén 觀有無門 — Examination of being and non-being
  8. Guān xìng mén 觀性門 — Examination of intrinsic nature
  9. Guān yīn guǒ mén 觀因果門 — Examination of cause and effect
  10. Guān zuòzhě mén 觀作者門 — Examination of the agent
  11. Guān sānshí mén 觀三時門 — Examination of the three times
  12. Guān shēng mén 觀生門 — Examination of arising

(The CANWWW listing of twelve mén uses the chapter-headings as preserved in T1568; the precise numbering of items 5–8 varies slightly among manuscripts.) Related texts per CANWWW: KR6m0001 Zhōng lùn 中論, KR6m0009 Shí’èrmén lùn shū 十二門論疏, KR6m0010 Shí’èrmén lùn zōngzhì yìjì 十二門論宗致義記.

Abstract

T1568 is preserved in Chinese only; no Sanskrit or Tibetan witness survives. The Indic title is conventionally reconstructed as Dvādaśamukhaśāstra (“Twelve-Gate Treatise”) on the basis of the Chinese title; some scholars (Kajiyama, Saigusa) have argued that the work is a Sino-Indic compilation produced in Kumārajīva’s translation circle from genuine Nāgārjuna materials, partially because no independent Indic citation of the work as a separate Nāgārjuna treatise has been securely located. Other scholars (Robinson, Saito, Lindtner) defend the work as a genuine Nāgārjuna treatise of the same character as the Yuktiṣaṣṭikā, Śūnyatāsaptati, and Vigrahavyāvartanī. The status of the work is therefore essentially that of an Indic-character Mādhyamaka prakaraṇa whose Sanskrit Vorlage (if any) is now unrecoverable.

The text is structured around the doctrine that all dharmas are empty because they arise dependently. Each of the twelve gates argues from a different angle: gate 1 establishes that conditions cannot themselves be substantially produced; gate 2 refutes both the satkārya- and the asatkārya-doctrines (effect pre-existing in the cause vs. effect newly arising); gate 11 deploys the famous three-times argument familiar from Zhōng lùn chapter 19. The whole is markedly more succinct and pedagogically organised than the Zhōng lùn and was historically used in Chinese Sānlùn studies as the introductory Mādhyamaka treatise.

T1568 entered Chinese exegetical practice rapidly: 僧叡 Sēngruì wrote a (now lost) preface; 吉藏 Jízàng wrote the Shí’èrmén lùn shū 十二門論疏 (T1825, KR6m0009), and 法藏 Fǎzàng produced Shí’èrmén lùn zōngzhì yìjì 十二門論宗致義記 (T1826, KR6m0010) — both extant.

Translations and research

  • Cheng, Hsueh-li, trans. Nāgārjuna’s Twelve Gate Treatise. Studies of Classical India 5. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1982. (Standard English translation of T1568 with extensive philosophical commentary.)
  • Saigusa Mitsuyoshi 三枝充悳. Jūnimon ron yakuchū 十二門論訳註. Tōkyō: Daisanbunmeisha, 1980.
  • Lindtner, Christian. “Dvādaśadvāra-śāstra: A Study.” Acta Orientalia (Copenhagen) 43 (1982): 87–145. (Critical text-historical study; argues for genuine Nāgārjuna authorship.)
  • Robinson, Richard H. Early Mādhyamika in India and China. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967. (Foundational English study of T1568 in its Sān-lùn context.)
  • Hsueh-li Cheng. “The Roots of Zen Buddhism.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 8 (1981): 451–478. (Treats the Twelve Gates among the Sān-lùn antecedents of Chan.)

Other points of interest

T1568 was the principal Mādhyamaka introductory text used in Chinese monastic curricula throughout the Suí-Táng period; Jízàng’s commentary KR6m0009 establishes the text as the curricular complement to the Zhōng lùn — students were expected to read the Twelve Gates first and only afterwards engage with the larger Zhōng lùn chapter-by-chapter. The work’s brevity (1 juǎn, twelve sections) and tight doctrinal architecture made it a favourite of the early Chinese Sānlùn lineage and through them of Chan and early Tiāntái.

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