Qǐxìn lùn yìshū 起信論義疏
Commentary on the Meaning of the Awakening of Faith by 曇延 (Tányán, 撰)
About the work
A short Sui-period commentary on the Awakening of Faith, in 1 juǎn (preserved with a 上 / 下 division), attributed to 曇延 (Tányán, 516–588), the guótǒng (State-Patriarch) of the early Suí Buddhist establishment and one of the most authoritative scholar-monks of the late sixth century. If genuine, this is among the very earliest extant commentaries on the Qǐxìn lùn.
Structural Division
CANWWW does not register Xùzàngjīng entries; the related text is the parent KR6o0078 (T32n1666).
Abstract
The text is signed 曇延法師撰 (“composed by the Dharma-master Tányán”). It opens with a flowing prose-prologue in the same elegant style as the contemporary 元曉 shū and 法藏 Yìjì: “Probing the perfect motion which has no boundary, thought and reflection cannot mark its origin; the dark thread, vast and empty, sight and hearing do not know its limit. And yet that which makes this connection possible — is it not the True Thusness of the Mind? If there is a substance through which the dark connection passes, the light of wisdom pervades the entire dharma-realm…” The author proceeds to expound the zhēnrú 真如 (Tathatā) under three aspects of “greatness” (大): tǐdà 體大 (greatness of substance), xiàngdà 相大 (greatness of characteristic), yòngdà 用大 (greatness of function) — the canonical sāndà of the Awakening of Faith.
The attribution to Tányán is plausible on biographical grounds: he was active before Wǒnhyo and Fǎzàng, was a senior teacher under Suí Wéndì, and was a known student-line teacher of 智愷’s circle, putting him close to the manuscript transmission of the Qǐxìn lùn. The composition window 560–588 covers his Cháng’ān period through to his death. However, the text is not registered in the Tang bibliographic catalogs and survives only in Japanese manuscript transmission through the Wànxùzàngjīng; some modern scholars treat the attribution as less than certain, while not directly challenging it.
The Xùzàngjīng base is collated by the Taishō editors against 大正藏 (the parent Awakening of Faith).
Translations and research
- Mochizuki Shinkō 望月信亨. Daijō kishin-ron no kenkyū 大乘起信論之研究. Tōkyō, 1922. — Discusses the early Sui-period commentaries.
- Tang Yongtong 湯用彤. Hàn Wèi liǎng Jìn Nán-Běi-cháo fó-jiào shǐ 漢魏兩晉南北朝佛教史. Beijing, 1955. — Background on Tán-yán’s role.
- No further substantial secondary literature located on this specific text.
Other points of interest
The Wànxùzàngjīng prints this work immediately after KR6o0110 (the Zhìkǎi attribution), establishing the early-medieval bracket of Qǐxìn lùn commentaries before the Tang Huáyán synthesis took over the field.
Links
- CBETA
- DILA Authority (Tányán): A001779