Wǔdēng huìyuán xùlüè 五燈會元續略
Continued Epitome of the Compendium of the Five Lamps
compiled by 淨柱 (Jìngzhù), late Míng
About the work
A four-juan late-Míng supplement to the Wǔdēng huìyuán 五燈會元 (KR6q0012), continuing the Chán lineage record from the Southern Sòng into the Yuán and Míng. Compiled by 淨柱 Jìngzhù, a Cáodòng-line monk, and completed in the closing years of the Chóngzhēn reign (the standard dating is 1640 – early 1640s, ambiguous in the sources).
Abstract
One of several seventeenth-century lamp-record continuations addressing the perceived need to update 普濟 Pǔjì’s 1252 synthesis for the Yuán-Míng generations. Jìngzhù’s compilation is more compressed than the parallel efforts by 文琇 Wénxiù (KR6q0017) and 通容 Tōngróng (KR6q0019), drawing primarily on Míng monastic biographical literature. The Cáodòng-line perspective gives the work a modest corrective emphasis against the Línjì-dominant Wǔdēng yántǒng 五燈嚴統 (KR6q0019) compiled around the same time.
Translations and research
No English translation. No dedicated monograph.
Other points of interest
The work circulated in the Jiāxīng 嘉興 canon and thereby entered the Xuzangjing; its brevity relative to parallel Míng continuations helped it serve as a convenient reference but limited its long-term scholarly authority.