Shì mó hē yǎn lùn jì 釋摩訶衍論記
Notes on the Shi Moheyan Lun by 聖法 (Shèngfǎ, 鈔)
About the work
A one-juǎn prose-and-verse compendium of notes on the [[KR6o0084|Shì Móhēyǎn lùn 釋摩訶衍論]] by the Tang monk 聖法 (Shèngfǎ), of otherwise unknown dates. The work is preserved only in the Manji-zokuzōkyō 卍續藏經 (X45). The colophon “沙門聖法鈔” identifies the author by shamen and the verb 鈔 (“to copy / abstract / take notes”), suggesting the work is partly compilation, partly original commentary on the parent treatise.
Structural Division
CANWWW does not record an internal sub-division.
Abstract
The Manji-zokuzōkyō text opens “釋摩訶衍論記一卷 / 沙門聖法鈔” and proceeds with a phrase-by-phrase commentary, beginning with a long mythological excursus on the meaning of “moon-mirror, sun-pearl” (月鏡日珠) — the opening figure of the [[KR6o0084|Shì Móhē-yǎn lùn]] preface — narrating the legend of the Kāśyapa-period bodhisattvas reborn as Aśvaghoṣa and Nāgārjuna. This kind of detailed mythological reading is characteristic of late Tang and Five-Dynasties Esoteric exegesis. The author Shèng-fǎ is otherwise unattested in standard biographical sources; internal evidence (vocabulary, theological assumptions) suggests a Chinese hand of the late Tang or Five Dynasties period (c. 700–900). The work survived only through Japanese manuscript transmission preserved in the Manji-zokuzōkyō.
Translations and research
- Plassen, Jörg. Recent works on the Shì Móhē-yǎn lùn commentarial tradition.
- Bukkyō Daijiten 仏教大辞典 s.v. Shaku Maka-en-ron ki. — Standard reference summary.
Other points of interest
The text is one of the small group of seven Chinese / Liao commentaries on the Shì Móhēyǎn lùn preserved in the canon (KR6o0085–0090); it is the shortest and is essentially a personal note-and-extract compilation rather than a structured sub-commentary.