Qǐxìn lùn zuǎnzhù 起信論纂註
Compiled Annotations on the Awakening of Faith by 真界 (Zhēnjiè / Huànjū, 纂註)
About the work
A two-juǎn late-Ming compilation-commentary on the Dàshèng qǐxìn lùn 大乘起信論 by 真界 (Zhēnjiè), the Línjì-affiliated Ming Buddhist exegete from Zuìlǐ 檇李 (Jiāxìng) and disciple of Yuètíng Míngdé 月亭明得. The colophon names: 馬鳴菩薩造，梁西印土真諦三藏譯，明檇李沙門真界纂註.
Structural Division
CANWWW does not register Xùzàngjīng entries; the parent text is KR6o0078 (T32n1666).
Abstract
Zhēnjiè’s commentary is in the zuǎnzhù 纂註 (“compiled annotation”) format characteristic of late-Ming Buddhist scholarship: rather than producing an original sequential exposition, the commentator gathers and arranges glosses from earlier authorities — principally 法藏 Yìjì KR6o0105 and 子璿 Bǐxuē jì KR6o0107 — and adds his own synthesizing notes. The opening section parses the title piece by piece in the manner of a vyākhyā (verbal explanation): “Dà 大 means the fǎ 法 [Dharma] which is mounted; chéng 乘 means the person who mounts. The fǎ possesses the one-mind and three greatnesses; the person extends from cause-person to effect-person.” The author then explains the title qǐxìn (起信, “raising faith”) through a paired analysis of the active and passive senses of qǐ and xìn.
The combination of detailed lexicographic exposition with citational compilation makes the work a useful late-Ming pedagogical tool for the Qǐxìn lùn. The composition window is bracketed by Zhēnjiè’s documented activity period in the late Wànlì 萬曆 era, c. 1580–1620.
Translations and research
- Yü, Chün-fang. The Renewal of Buddhism in China: Chu-hung and the Late Ming Synthesis. New York: Columbia UP, 1981. — Background on late-Ming Buddhist scholarship.
- Shèngyán 聖嚴. Míng-mò fó-jiào yán-jiū 明末佛教研究. Taibei: Dōngchū, 1987.
- No further substantial secondary literature located on this specific text.
Other points of interest
The text was carved by Zhēnjiè’s disciples from Zuìlǐ; circulation was through the Jiāxīng Canon network and the closely allied Wànxùzàngjīng tradition of Buddhist materials excluded from the imperial Taishō. Together with KR6o0115 Qǐxìn lùn jiéyào by 正遠, KR6o0116 Qǐxìn lùn xùshū by 通潤, KR6o0117 Qǐxìn lùn shūlüè by 德清, and KR6o0118 Qǐxìn lùn zhíjiě by 德清, it represents the late-Ming surge of Awakening of Faith exegesis associated with the Jiāxīng monastic network.
Links
- CBETA
- DILA Authority (Zhēnjiè): A000948