Dàshèng qǐxìn lùn biéjì 大乘起信論別記
Separate Notes on the Mahāyāna Awakening of Faith by 元曉 (Yuánxiǎo / Wǒnhyo, 撰)
About the work
A one-juǎn supplement to 元曉 Wǒnhyo’s main Qǐxìn lùn shū KR6o0101 (T44n1844), the Biéjì preserves additional glosses and amplifications on points either elided or briefly treated in the main commentary. The Taishō prints it together with the shū under the convention that the two form a single exegetical project — an organisation Wǒnhyo himself indicated when he opens the Biéjì with “two gates: first stating the great meaning of the treatise, second following the text and adjusting the messaging”.
Structural Division
CANWWW (T44N1845) lists no internal sub-divisions; the related-text pointer is to KR6o0078 (T32n1666), the parent Awakening of Faith.
Abstract
The colophon identifies the author as 海東沙門元曉 (Wǒnhyo of Hǎidōng), and the text is signed 大乘起信論別記(本) — “Mahāyāna Awakening of Faith, Separate Notes (root)“. The opening doctrinal mantra (“luminously empty, deep and still, dark within dark — emerging from beyond the surface of myriad images, still within still — yet remaining within the talk of the hundred schools”) is a slight rewording of the prologue to the KR6o0101 shū; the textual difference here is that “Buddha-dào” (佛道) replaces “Mahāyāna” (大乘) as the subject of the praise, and the closing exclamation reaches “we cannot say what it is and so must call it the dào” (強為道) rather than “we cannot say what it is, so we strongly name it the Mahāyāna” (強號之謂大乘).
This editorial doublet reflects the Biéjì’s method: rather than glossing the Qǐxìn lùn sequentially, it picks up isolated topical knots (the meaning of the four 念處 niànchù; the analysis of the seven sciences; the relation of xīnyuán 心源 to xīnshēngmiè 心生滅) and treats them more discursively than the running shū. Modern Korean Buddhist scholarship treats the two texts as inseparable: an early manuscript witness in the Hǎidōng tradition (preserved in Japanese transmission and reprinted in the 元祿 9 / 1696 edition) carries them as a single bound work. The composition date is bracketed by Wǒnhyo’s career, c. 650–686.
Translations and research
- Muller, A. Charles, ed. Wonhyo’s Philosophy of Mind. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2012. — Includes an English translation of selections from the Bié-jì.
- Park, Sung-bae. Buddhist Faith and Sudden Enlightenment. Albany: SUNY, 1983.
- Cho, Sungtaek. The Philosophy of the Mahāyāna Awakening of Faith. Seoul: Hangaek, 1994. (Korean.)
- Mochizuki Shinkō 望月信亨. Daijō kishin-ron no kenkyū 大乘起信論之研究. Tōkyō: Kanao Bun’endō, 1922.
Other points of interest
The shū / bié-jì pairing is one of Wǒnhyo’s standard compositional patterns — he produced similar pairs for several other major śāstras. The Taishō organisation, which prints the shū as T1844 and the bié-jì as T1845 in adjacent positions, follows the natural reading order indicated by Wǒnhyo’s own preface.
Links
- CBETA
- DILA Authority (Wǒnhyo): A001056
- Dazangthings date evidence (735): [ Choe 2017 ] Choe Yeonshik 최연식 . “Wonhyo ui ‘Daeseung gi sil lon byeolgi’ seongnip e daehan saeroun ihae” 원효의 『대승기신론별기』 성립에 대한 새로운 이해 . 佛敎學硏究 Bulgyohak yeongu 52 (2017): 85–110. https://dazangthings.nz/cbc/source/657/