Dàshèng fǎyuàn yìlín zhāng 大乘法苑義林章
Compendium of Doctrinal-Forest Essays from the Mahāyāna Garden of Dharma by 窺基 (Cí’ēn Kuījī, 撰)
About the work
A 7-fascicle systematic doctrinal compendium by 窺基 Kuījī (632–682), the chief disciple of 玄奘 and the formal founder of the Cí’ēn 慈恩 / Fǎxiàng 法相 school. The single most important Cí’ēn-school doctrinal-essay collection of the Táng. Preserved in the Taishō at T45n1861. Companion volumes by Kuījī’s disciples: KR6n0125 Bǔquè 補闕 by 慧沼 (X55n0882) and KR6n0126 Juézé jì 決擇記 by 智周 (X55n0883).
Structural Division
CANWWW preserves the related-text relation T45N1861 ↔ T71N2317 / T71N2318 / T71N2320 / T71N2323 — sub-commentaries on individual fascicles in the Japanese Hossō tradition. The text is internally organised as a series of independent zhāng 章 (essays) under broad doctrinal headings; the opening Zǒng liàojiǎn zhāng 總料簡章 (General Synthesizing Essay) sets out the analytic frame for the whole work, distinguishing five mén 門 (gates) under which all Buddhist teachings can be analysed: (1) jiàoyì yǒu shū 教益有殊 (differences in the [efficacious] benefit of teachings), (2) shílì chābié 時利差別 (differences in temporal benefit), (3) quánzōng gèyì 詮宗各異 (differences in doctrinal-school explication), (4) tǐxìng bùtóng 體性不同 (differences in essential nature), (5) démíng xuángé 得名懸隔 (the chasm in named designations). Each subsequent zhāng unpacks one of these gates or addresses a specific doctrinal topic (the eight consciousnesses, the èrzhàng, the bodhisattva-stages, the bāshí guījǔ, etc.).
Prefaces
Authorship line: “Jī zhuàn 基撰” — by Kuījī. The text opens directly with the Zǒng liàojiǎn zhāng and proceeds essay-by-essay; there is no separate authorial preface.
Abstract
The Yìlín zhāng is the canonical Cí’ēn-school doctrinal compendium, designed to lay out the complete Yogācāra doctrinal system in the form of a series of definitional essays organised by topic rather than by sūtra. It is the immediate Chinese equivalent of an Indian abhidharma-kośa-style systematic treatise but addressed specifically to the Yogācāra-Cí’ēn synthesis as transmitted by 玄奘 from Nālandā. Topics covered include the eight consciousnesses, the three natures (sān xìng 三性), the èr kōng (twofold emptiness), the èr zhàng (twofold obscuration), the bodhisattva-stages, the path-doctrine, and a substantial number of more specialised technical topics (the bāshí guījǔ, the four-fold investigation of the cognitive object, etc.). It is the single most-cited Cí’ēn-school work after the Chéng wéishí lùn itself, and the principal source-of-record for the Cí’ēn-school’s settled positions on most doctrinal questions.
The dating window 660–682 brackets Kuījī’s productive Cí’ēnsì period from his establishment as senior translator-disciple of 玄奘 (post-660) through to his death in 682. Wilkinson, Chinese History, treats the Táng Yogācāra synthesis under §§ 33–34 of the Buddhist sections; the Yìlín zhāng is the principal Chinese-language reference for that synthesis. The work was extensively commented on in Sino-Japanese tradition: the most important sub-commentaries are KR6n0125 Bǔquè by 慧沼 (Kuījī’s disciple) and the parallel Japanese Hossō sub-commentaries (T71n2317 etc.) preserved in the Taishō.
Translations and research
- Stanley Weinstein, “The Concept of Ālayavijñāna in Pre-T’ang Chinese Buddhism.” Indogaku Bukkyōgaku kenkyū 8 (1959), 46–58 — establishes the doctrinal context for Kuījī’s synthesis.
- Alan Sponberg, The Vijñaptimātratā Buddhism of the Chinese Monk K’uei-Chi (632–682). PhD diss., University of British Columbia, 1979 — the principal Western monograph on Kuījī.
- John Makeham (ed.), Transforming Consciousness: Yogācāra Thought in Modern China. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014 — modern reception of the Yì-lín zhāng.
- Yoshimura Makoto 吉村誠, Chūgoku Yuishiki shisōshi kenkyū. Tokyo: Daizō shuppan, 2013.
- Funayama Tōru 船山徹 and others, ongoing critical-edition work on Cí’ēn-school texts.