Bā shí guījǔ lùnyì 八識規矩論義
Doctrinal Exposition of the Eight-Consciousnesses Verses by 性起 (Miàodé Xìngqǐ, 論釋), recorded by 善漳 et al. (等錄)
About the work
A single-fascicle early-Qīng commentary on the Bā shí guījǔ sòng 八識規矩頌 expounded orally by 性起 Miàodé Xìngqǐ and recorded by his disciples — chiefly 善漳 Shànzhāng — under his direction. Preserved in the Manji Xuzangjing 卍續藏 at X55n0898. The function-markers (lùnshì 論釋 for the master, děng lù 等錄 for the disciples) confirm that this is a yǔlù-style record of the master’s lectures, edited and circulated under his name.
Prefaces
The text opens with a substantial preface — Bā shí lùnyì xù 八識論義序 (No. 898-A) — that situates the guījǔ in the standard Tathāgatagarbha-Yogācāra synthesis. The preface argues: the principal teaching of the sage is the doctrine of substance and function (tǐyòng 體用), which divides into the two gates of xìng (nature) and xiàng (characteristics); these two gates correspond to the bùshēngmiè (unceasing) and shēngmiè (ceasing) aspects of zhēnrú (suchness); the xiāngzōng (Characteristic-school = Yogācāra) treats the xīnyìshí (mind, manas, consciousness) of the shēngmiè aspect, while the xìngzōng (Nature-school) treats the empty essence of the bùshēngmiè aspect; but “outside xìng there is no xiàng; outside xiàng there is no xìng — therefore in the gate of zhēnrú, the ceasing and the unceasing have in fact no different fǎtǐ (Dharma-essence).”
Abstract
The Lùnyì is one of the principal early-Qīng guījǔ commentaries from outside the Cí’ēn-philological mainstream — closer in spirit to Hānshān’s KR6n0135 Tōngshuō and Zhènghuì’s KR6n0133 Lüèshuō than to Pǔtài’s KR6n0131 Bǔzhù or Míngyù’s KR6n0132 Zhèngyì. The work is a witness to the continuing practice of yǔlù-style oral exposition of the basic Yogācāra didactic texts in early-Qīng Buddhist monastic education; it preserves Xìngqǐ’s distinctive Tathāgatagarbha-flavoured reading of the guījǔ.
The dating window 1644–1722 brackets the early-Qīng productive period of Xìngqǐ; lifedates are not securely attested for either Xìngqǐ or Shànzhāng.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.