Qǐxìn lùn shūjì huìyuè 起信論疏記會閱
Combined Reading of the Commentary and Records on the Awakening of Faith by 續法 (Xùfǎ / Bótíng, 會編)
About the work
A 10-juǎn late-Qing KāngxīYōngzhèng era integrated edition of the two principal Huáyán commentaries on the Awakening of Faith — 法藏’s Yìjì KR6o0105 and 子璿’s Bǐxuē jì KR6o0107 — interleaved into a single running reading-text under the title huìyuè 會閱 (“combined reading”). Compiled by the early-Qing Huáyán revivalist 續法 Xùfǎ (1641–1728), the principal lineage-restorer of Huáyán scholasticism in the Kāngxī era.
Structural Division
CANWWW does not register Xùzàngjīng entries; the parent text is KR6o0078 (T32n1666). The companion juànshǒu is KR6o0119 (X45n767).
Abstract
The opening preface — Qǐxìn lùn shūjì huìyuè xù — frames the rationale for the combined edition: “When the Tathāgata expounded the sūtras through declaring the nature, he illumined the One Mind by means of the myriad dharmas. The sūtras are wonderful indeed; the bodhisattvas, basing themselves on the sūtras, composed treatises that, starting from the One Mind, gave rise to the myriad dharmas. How profound the treatises are! Whoever wishes to verify the self-nature must do nothing better than thoroughly study the hundred [Mahāyāna] sūtras; whoever wishes to penetrate the meaning of the sūtras must do nothing better than uphold these five-section treatises.” The five-section format named (wǔfēn 五分) is the canonical sub-division of the Awakening of Faith by Xiánshǒu (Fǎzàng), which Xùfǎ takes as his template.
The body of the huìyuè is interleaved: each section of the Qǐxìn lùn is followed first by Fǎzàng’s Yìjì gloss, then by Zǐxuán’s Bǐxuē jì sub-commentary on that gloss, then by Xùfǎ’s editorial harmonization. This format — three layers of commentary built up over each line of text — became the most exhaustive reading aid of the Qǐxìn lùn tradition. The work continued in active use into the modern period as the standard Huáyán-school study text. Composition window: 1670–1728 (Xùfǎ’s mature career).
Translations and research
- Gregory, Peter N. Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1991. — Background on the Tang Huáyán tradition.
- Hamar, Imre, ed. Reflecting Mirrors: Perspectives on Huayan Buddhism. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2007. — Background on early-Qing Huáyán revival.
- Mochizuki Shinkō 望月信亨. Daijō kishin-ron no kenkyū 大乘起信論之研究. Tōkyō, 1922.
- No further substantial Western-language secondary literature located on this specific compilation.
Other points of interest
Xùfǎ’s huìyuè method — interleaving commentary and sub-commentary line-by-line with editorial harmonization — became one of the standard formats of Qing Buddhist scholasticism. His parallel productions in the Huáyán corpus (the Huáyán xuányì, etc.) employ the same format. The work served as the principal vehicle of Awakening of Faith study in the late-imperial Hángzhōu / Wúzhōng region, the heart of the Qing Buddhist scholarly revival.
Links
- CBETA
- DILA Authority (Xùfǎ): A001959