Chéng wéishí lùn zhǎngzhōng shūyào 成唯識論掌中樞要
Essential Pivot in the Palm: Compendium of the Demonstration of Consciousness-Only by 窺基 (Kuījī, 撰)
About the work
A two-fascicle topical compendium by 窺基 on the Chéng wéishí lùn (KR6n0016, T31n1585), distinct from the lemma-by-lemma KR6n0026 Chéng wéishí lùn shùjì and from the lost full-length shū 疏. The “zhǎng zhōng shū yào” 掌中樞要 (“pivotal essentials in the palm of the hand”) title indicates a portable doctrinal handbook: it presents the Cí’ēnzōng’s principal doctrinal positions (the eight consciousnesses, the three natures, the amala-vijñāna polemic, the bodhisattva-bhūmi system) in topical rather than textual order, designed for memorisation and oral exposition.
Structural Division
CANWWW (T43N1831) lists KR6n0016 Chéng wéishí lùn 成唯識論 (T31n1585) as the related text. The two juǎn are conventionally divided into upper and lower; internally they cover the six fundamental Yogācāra topics in encyclopedia form rather than tracking the master text.
Abstract
The zhǎngzhōng shūyào is the third of 窺基’s three principal commentaries on the Chéng wéishí lùn: alongside the lemma-by-lemma KR6n0026 shùjì and the lost full shū 疏 (mentioned in KR2m0019 Sòng gāosēng zhuàn T2061, j. 4), the shūyào serves as the introductory and topical-encyclopedic counterpart. Together with KR6n0030 Chéng wéishí lùn liǎoyì dēng (T1832) by Huìzhāo and KR6n0032 Chéng wéishí lùn yǎnmì (T1833) by Zhìzhōu, it constitutes the canonical Cí’ēn “three commentaries” (sān shū 三疏) of the early Tang.
The dating window adopted (659–682) covers Kuījī’s productive teaching period from the publication of the master text through to his death.
The work was a standard textbook for Hossō study in Heian Japan and is referenced in nearly every Japanese sub-commentary on the Chéng wéishí lùn. The companion text KR6n0035 Chéng wéishí lùn zhǎngzhōng shūyào jì (X49n0810) by Zhìzhōu is the principal sub-commentary.
Translations and research
- Sponberg, Alan. Meditation in Fa-hsiang Buddhism. PhD diss., Princeton, 1979.
- Yoshimura Makoto 吉村誠. Chūgoku Yuishiki shisōshi kenkyū. Tokyo: Daizō shuppan, 2013.
- Cook, Francis H. Three Texts on Consciousness Only. Berkeley: Numata Center, 1999. (Reference to T1831 throughout.)