Dàshèng qǐxìn lùn yìjì biéjì 大乘起信論義記別記
Separate Notes to the Record of the Meaning of the Mahāyāna Awakening of Faith by 法藏 (Fǎzàng / Xiánshǒu, 撰)
About the work
A one-juǎn supplement to 法藏’s main Yìjì KR6o0105 (T44n1846), preserving topical glosses on points the Yìjì either treated cursorily or did not engage. The colophon names the author as 崇福寺沙門法藏撰 (“the monk Fǎzàng of the Chóngfúsì”), placing the text at the Chóngfúsì 崇福寺 in Cháng’ān, another imperially-supported monastery where Fǎzàng resided in his mature years.
Structural Division
CANWWW (T44N1847) lists no internal sub-divisions; the related-text pointers are to the parent text KR6o0078 (T32n1666) and to the main Yìjì KR6o0105 (T44n1846).
Abstract
The text opens with a list of topics it intends to gloss — “the meaning of the title; the jìng-yì of the verses; the meaning of the Buddha-treasure; the meaning of the Dharma-treasure; the meaning of yòng-dà wéi shàn 用大唯善; the meaning of jué-bù-jué 覺不覺; the meaning of suí-rǎn èr-xiàng 隨染二相; the meaning of běn-jué 本覺 in its běn-yǒu and xiū-shēng aspects; the seven sub-divisions in shēng-miè yīn-yuán 生滅因緣; …” — and proceeds through them as a topical commentary. Several of these are points where Fǎzàng’s Yì-jì needed amplification: in particular the běn-jué 本覺 / shǐ-jué 始覺 distinction (between the “original” and “initial” awakening) and the doctrine of Tathāgatagarbha as both the ground of saṃsāra and the locus of nirvāṇa, which became central topics of medieval and modern Buddhist debate.
Like the main Yìjì, the composition window is bracketed by Fǎzàng’s career, c. 670–712. The Taishō establishes the text from the 高麗 base collated against 甲 (the Kōyasan / Daigo manuscript witness).
Translations and research
- Vorenkamp, Dirck. An English Translation of Fa-tsang’s Commentary on the Awakening of Faith. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 2004. — Treats the Yì-jì primarily; the Bié-jì enters as supporting evidence.
- Mochizuki Shinkō 望月信亨. Daijō kishin-ron no kenkyū 大乘起信論之研究. Tōkyō, 1922.
- Ishii Kōsei 石井公成. Kegon shisō no kenkyū 華嚴思想の研究. Tōkyō: Shunjūsha, 1996.
Other points of interest
Fǎzàng’s pairing of a main jì (記) with a biéjì (別記) follows the same pattern as Wǒnhyo’s shū / biéjì on the same parent text (KR6o0101 / KR6o0104); both are devices for separating sequential exposition from topical excurses. 子璿 Zǐxuán’s later Bǐxuē jì KR6o0107 (T44n1848) cross-references both Fǎzàng works heavily.
Links
- CBETA
- DILA Authority (Fǎzàng): A001435