Huìguǒ héshàng xíngzhuàng 惠果和尚行狀
Conduct-Record of the Reverend Huìguǒ
anonymous, late Táng
About the work
A short anonymous xíngzhuàng of 惠果 (Huìguǒ, 746–805), preserved in the Manji Xuzangjing (X88 no. 1654), parallel to and partly overlapping with the more elaborate xíngzhuàng preserved in the Taishō (KR6r0047). The two records are independent compositions and supply complementary detail on Huìguǒ’s life and esoteric transmissions.
Abstract
The text is short — only a few thousand characters — and concentrates on Huìguǒ’s principal events: birth, training under 不空, imperial appointments, and death. It is presented in straightforward documentary style without significant hagiographical elaboration, suggesting an immediate-disciple-circle origin similar to that of KR6r0047. The composition window is bracketed by Huìguǒ’s death (805) and the late-Táng period when the text was clearly already in circulation; a date bracket of 805 to ca. 900 is the safe range, with most scholars favouring a date close to 805.
The text is one of two xíngzhuàng of Huìguǒ that survive in the East Asian canon. Together they constitute the principal Chinese documentary witness to the late-Táng Esoteric Buddhist establishment at Qīnglóngsì 青龍寺 and to the master from whom the Japanese pilgrim Kūkai received the full Shingon transmission in 805.
Translations and research
- Ryuichi Abe, The Weaving of Mantra (New York, 1999) — discusses both Chinese xíngzhuàng of Huìguǒ.
- Yoshito Hakeda, Kūkai: Major Works (New York, 1972).
- Charles D. Orzech (ed.), Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia (Leiden, 2011).
Links
- CBETA: X88n1654