Dàshèng qǐxìn lùn shūlüè 大乘起信論疏略
Abridged Commentary on the Mahāyāna Awakening of Faith by 法藏 (Fǎzàng, 造疏) and 德清 (Hānshān Déqīng, 纂略)
About the work
A two-juǎn late-Ming abridgement of 法藏 Fǎzàng’s Yìjì KR6o0105, compiled by 德清 Hānshān Déqīng 憨山德清 (1546–1623), one of the WǎnMíng sì dàshī (the Four Great Masters of late-Ming Buddhism). The colophon names: 西京太原寺沙門法藏造疏 / 明南嶽沙門德清纂略 (“Fǎzàng of the Tàiyuánsì of the Western Capital composed the shū; the Míng monk Déqīng of Mount Nányuè abridged it”).
Structural Division
CANWWW does not register Xùzàngjīng entries; the parent text is KR6o0078 (T32n1666).
Abstract
The Wàn-xù-zàng-jīng prints the text with a 寬文 bǐng-wǔ (Kanbun 6 / 1666) Japanese editor’s preface by 覃思 (Tán-sī) of the Bān-ruò-shān Kōng-dì-shì 般若山空諦室, which narrates the recovery of the shū-lüè and its republication in Japan. The preface explains the rationale for the abridgement: “Among the transmitted commentaries on the Awakening of Faith, none has greater philological care than Xián-shǒu’s shū, none greater breadth than Cháng-shuǐ’s jì — and these two have stood for nearly a thousand years without rival. But the text of the Qǐ-xìn lùn is profound; even great teachers have found it difficult; the running notes of the jì are oceanic, and students gaze at them as at an unfathomable ocean, despairing of comprehension. Recently, the Míng [master] Hān-shān dà-shī gathered the essential points from the two houses [Fǎzàng and Zǐ-xuán], cross-checked them against the [Śikṣānanda] later translation, brought out hidden senses, and now and again added a single cooling phrase to wake the reader up — making students soak themselves in the text and turn it over and over. This was Master Hān-shān’s cultivated effort indeed.”
The body of the shūlüè is built directly on Fǎzàng’s Yìjì KR6o0105 but condenses Fǎzàng’s prolix exposition where possible and inserts Déqīng’s own clarifications at points of obscurity. Composition window: Déqīng’s mature commentarial period, broadly 1590–1623.
Translations and research
- Hsu, Sung-peng. A Buddhist Leader in Ming China: The Life and Thought of Han-shan Te-ch’ing. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1979. — Standard English study of Déqīng.
- Yü, Chün-fang. The Renewal of Buddhism in China. New York: Columbia UP, 1981.
- Shèngyán 聖嚴. Míng-mò fó-jiào yán-jiū 明末佛教研究. Taibei: Dōngchū, 1987.
Other points of interest
The shūlüè and the KR6o0118 Qǐxìn lùn zhíjiě are the two principal Déqīng works on the Qǐxìn lùn; the former is an editorial abridgement of 法藏, the latter Déqīng’s own original direct exposition. The zhíjiě preface explicitly cross-references the shūlüè: “I once worked from the original shū, slightly cutting its prolixity, and titled the result shūlüè; this has been carved at Shuāngjìng [Mount Jìngshān] and is widely respected”.
Links
- CBETA
- DILA Authority (Fǎzàng): A001435