Shìjiā Rúlái chéngdào jì zhù 釋迦如來成道記註
Annotations to the Record of the Tathāgata Śākyamuni’s Attainment of the Way
annotated by 道誠 (Dàochéng, fl. early 11th c., 註)
About the work
A two-juan annotated commentary on 王勃’s short hagiography Shìjiā Rúlái chéngdào jì (KR6r0027), composed by the Sòng monk 道誠 (Dàochéng) and dated by his colophon to 1019 (Sòng Tiānxǐ 天禧 3). The catalog meta classifies this entry under the Táng dynasty by association with the parent text; the actual composition is Northern Sòng. 道誠 supplies, for each phrase of 王勃’s dense parallel-prose text, the underlying scriptural reference together with an explanatory paraphrase, thereby making the text accessible to readers without a thorough scriptural background.
Abstract
道誠 is best known for his other compilation, the Shìshì yàolǎn 釋氏要覽 (KR6m0029) of 1019 — a major Buddhist encyclopaedic handbook — and the present commentary belongs to the same year and to the same broader project of making Buddhist learning accessible to a wider readership. Each segment of 王勃’s prose is reproduced in the commentary, followed by 道誠’s annotations identifying the source sūtra (the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara, etc.) and clarifying the technical Buddhist allusions.
The 1019 dating is given in the colophon and is secure. The combination of 王勃’s elegant Táng piánwén with 道誠’s Sòng-period scriptural commentary made the Shìjiā Rúlái chéngdào jì one of the most readable handbooks on the Buddha’s life for Sòng-period educated readers, and the annotated edition was reprinted in the Jiāxīngzàng 嘉興藏 of the late Míng.
Translations and research
- Discussions of 道誠’s encyclopaedic project: see scholarship on his Shìshì yàolǎn (KR6m0029), which contextualises this commentary as part of the same project.
- No dedicated Western-language study located.
Links
- CBETA: X75n1509