Qīyuán zhǐ tōng 漆園指通
Pointing to the Penetrating-Understanding of the Lacquer-Garden Master
A three-juan early-Qīng Chán-Buddhist commentary on the Zhuāngzǐ 莊子 by Liángtíng Jìngtǐng 俍亭淨挺 (1615–1684). The title Qīyuán 漆園 (“Lacquer Garden”) is the classical Chinese literary designation for Zhuāngzǐ himself (who held an official post in the Qīyuán of Méng 蒙 state in his youth). Prefaced by Yán Hàng 嚴沆 and Xǔ Chéngjiā 許承家 in summer of Kāngxī 10 (xīnhài 辛亥) = 1671.
About the work
A three-juan Chán-Buddhist commentary on a classical Daoist-philosophical text, J34 B296. Commentary on the Zhuāngzǐ 莊子, a core Daoist text outside the Buddhist canonical corpus; commentedTextid omitted.
The work parallels Ǒuyì Zhìxù’s Zhōu yì chán jiě 周易禪解 KR6q0184 (a Buddhist commentary on the Yì jīng) as a late-Míng / early-Qīng Chinese Buddhist-hermeneutic engagement with a non-Buddhist Chinese classic. Jìngtǐng’s commentary reads the Zhuāngzǐ through the lens of Chán Buddhism, showing how Zhuāngzǐ’s philosophy of zì rán 自然 (naturalness) and bù dé yǐ 不得巳 (unavoidable-acting) can be integrated with Buddhist non-attachment and emptiness-doctrine.
Jìngtǐng’s interpretive strategy — per Yán Hàng’s preface: “[Those who see Zhuāngzǐ] as Daoist call him Daoist, as Chánist call him Chánist.” Jìngtǐng’s position rejects exclusive sectarian readings in favour of a synthetic Buddhist-Daoist integration that preserves Zhuāngzǐ’s distinctive philosophical voice while illuminating its resonance with Chán doctrine.
Abstract
See 淨挺’s person note for biographical details. The Qīyuán zhǐ tōng is one of Jìngtǐng’s major integrative commentaries, positioning him as a Míng-loyalist-turned-Chán-master continuing the classical Chinese hermeneutic tradition of Buddhist engagement with native philosophical classics.
Preface-writers: Yán Hàng 嚴沆 (also preface-writer for KR6q0218); Xǔ Chéngjiā 許承家 of Hánzhōu 邗州 (Yángzhōu). Both close associates of Jìngtǐng in the early-Qīng Hángzhōu / Jiāngnán lay-Buddhist literary circle.
Dating: notBefore c. 1665 (start of Jìngtǐng’s sustained literary-publishing productivity); notAfter 1671 (the two preface-dates, Kāngxī xīnhài xià rì 康熙辛亥夏日 = summer of Kāngxī 10).
Translations and research
- Standard Buddhist-Daoist integrative studies within late-imperial Chinese intellectual history provide general context.
- Zürcher, Erik. 2007 [1959]. The Buddhist Conquest of China. Foundational work on Buddhist-Daoist-Confucian integration.
- No substantial Western-language monographic study located specifically on J34 B296.
Other points of interest
The Qīyuán zhǐ tōng is one of only a small number of substantial Chinese Buddhist commentaries on the Zhuāngzǐ. Earlier cases include partial Buddhist treatments in Sòng and Yuán literatus-monastic literature, but Jìngtǐng’s sustained three-juan commentary is among the most comprehensive pre-modern Buddhist-hermeneutic engagement with the Zhuāngzǐ preserved in the canonical corpus.
The work’s three-juan structure follows the Zhuāngzǐ’s own nèi piān (Inner Chapters) / wài piān (Outer Chapters) / zá piān (Miscellaneous Chapters) tripartite division, with Jìngtǐng’s commentary addressing each major chapter systematically.
The text exemplifies a distinctive early-Qīng Buddhist genre: Míng-loyalist Chán-hermeneutics of classical Chinese texts. Jìngtǐng’s identity as a former Míng civil-service aspirant who took Buddhist refuge after 1644 gave him the particular cultural-political background from which to attempt such classical-philosophical reinterpretation — reading Zhuāngzǐ’s political-philosophical quietism as an implicit model for his own Míng-loyalist yí mín lived-practice.
Links
- CBETA J34nB296
- Kanseki DB
- Parallel Buddhist-commentary on classical Chinese text: KR6q0184 Zhōu yì chán jiě by 智旭.
- Jìngtǐng’s broader corpus: KR6q0218 Xué fó kǎo xùn and subsequent entries.