Bā shí guījǔ qiǎnshuō 八識規矩淺說
Easy Discussion of the Eight-Consciousnesses Verses by 行舟 (Xūzhōu Xíngzhōu, 說)
About the work
A single-fascicle early-Qīng introductory commentary on the Bā shí guījǔ sòng 八識規矩頌 by 行舟 Xūzhōu Xíngzhōu (the Xūzhōu chánshī 虗舟禪師 of the source colophon). Preserved in the Manji Xuzangjing 卍續藏 at X55n0896. The function-marker qiǎnshuō 淺說 (“easy discussion”) indicates a manual designed for elementary instruction.
Prefaces
The text opens with a substantial preface — Xūzhōu chánshī zhù bā shí guījǔ sòng xiǎo xù 虗舟禪師註八識規矩頌小序 (No. 896-A). The preface argues that xìng (nature) and xiàng (characteristics) are not finally separable: “xìng is internal, xiàng is external; but to speak of xiàng is not to speak of the externally-perceived object — rather it is the internal shí (consciousness); thus xiàng too is internal.” External objects, when not seized upon, can be relatively easily resolved into emptiness; but the internal consciousness’s “subtle minute flowings” (xìwēi liúzhù 細微流注), arising before knowing can catch them, remain even after deep practice, with the consequent recurring lament about “the difficulty of removing habit-energies (xíqì 習氣) and severing the life-root (mìnggēn 命根).” The preface is a defence of the necessity of xiàng (Yogācāra) study even for the meditator, against the common Chán dismissal of xiàng as scholastic distraction.
Abstract
The Qiǎnshuō is the standard early-Qīng pedagogical commentary on the guījǔ, written from a Chán-meditative perspective that nevertheless takes the Yogācāra analysis seriously. Together with KR6n0139 Bā shí guījǔ sòng zhù — a companion verse-by-verse annotation by the same author — it forms Xūzhōu Xíngzhōu’s pair on the guījǔ.
The dating window 1644–1700 brackets the early-Qīng productive period in which the work could have been composed; lifedates of Xíngzhōu are not securely attested.
Translations and research
- Shèng-yán 聖嚴, Míng-mò Fó-jiào yán-jiū 明末佛教研究, on the late-Míng / early-Qīng guī-jǔ commentary lineage.