Huáyánjīng zhuànjì 華嚴經傳記
Records [pertaining] to the Avataṃsaka Sūtra
compiled by 法藏 (Fǎzàng / Xiánshǒu, 643–712, 集)
About the work
A 5-juan compendium of materials pertaining to the 《華嚴經》 Huá-yán jīng / Avataṃsaka-sūtra — its recensions, its translation history, its exposition, its devotional cult, and its iconography — composed by Fǎ-zàng 法藏 / Xián-shǒu 賢首 (643–712), the third and de facto founding-systematiser of the Chinese Huá-yán 華嚴 school, while resident at Chóng-fú-sì 崇福寺 in Cháng’ān (the Jīng-zhào 京兆 imperial capital). The work is the foundational textual document of the Huá-yán school’s self-presentation. Composition is dated to Fǎ-zàng’s mature period, c. 690–712.
Abstract
The 5 juan are organised into ten thematic sections (科, kē): (1) Bù-lèi 部類 (Recensional varieties — i.e. the various Sanskrit and Khotanese recensions of the Avataṃsaka and their Chinese translations); (2) Yǐn-xiǎn 隱顯 (Concealment and Manifestation — the doctrinal-soteriological framework within which the Avataṃsaka manifests as the Buddha’s bodhi-tree ornament); (3) Chuán-yì 傳譯 (Translation — biographies of the Avataṃsaka translators, principally Buddhabhadra 佛馱跋陀羅, Śikṣānanda 實叉難陀, and the Tang re-translation team); (4) Zhī-liú 支流 (Branch-Streams — partial translations and excerpt-circulations); (5) Lùn-shì 論釋 (Treatises and Commentaries — the Indian and Chinese exegetical literature on the Avataṃsaka, including Vasubandhu’s Daśabhūmika-bhāṣya and the Chinese commentaries of Tiāntāi and Huá-yán); (6) Jiǎng-jiě 講解 (Exposition — biographies of Huá-yán expositor-monks); (7) Sòng-chí 諷誦 (Recitation); (8) Zhuǎn-dú 轉讀 (Liturgical Reading); (9) Shū-xiě 書寫 (Copying); (10) Záyù 雜述 (Miscellaneous Discussions).
The work integrates biographical hagiography (sections 3, 6, 7) with bibliographic-documentary scholarship (sections 1, 2, 4, 5) in a way unusual for the canonical-Buddhist tradition: where most prior Buddhist biographical compendia separate hagiography from bibliography, Fǎ-zàng combines them in service of a unified defence of the Avataṃsaka tradition. Each section opens with a doctrinal preamble articulating the place of the Avataṃsaka in the Buddhist canon as understood by the Huá-yán school. The Chuán-yì section is the principal source for the biographies of the Avataṃsaka translators; the Lùn-shì section is one of the principal early-medieval bibliographic surveys of the doctrinal Avataṃsaka literature.
The work was incorporated into the printed canon through the standard Sòng-Yuán-Míng-Korean recensions and into the Taishō (T2073). The transmission is uniform; minor variants are confined to nomenclature.
Translations and research
- Robert M. Gimello, “Chih-yen and the Foundations of Hua-yen Buddhism” (Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1976) — extensive treatment of Fǎ-zàng’s historiographical works.
- Chen Jinhua 陳金華, Philosopher, Practitioner, Politician: The Many Lives of Fazang (643–712) (Leiden: Brill, 2007) — the most comprehensive Western-language monograph on Fǎ-zàng; treats the Huá-yán-jīng zhuàn-jì as one of his principal works.
- 鎌田茂雄 (Kamata Shigeo), Chūgoku Kegon shisōshi no kenkyū 《中國華嚴思想史の研究》 (Tokyo: Tōkyō Daigaku shuppankai, 1965) — the foundational Japanese-language monograph on Chinese Huá-yán; treats the zhuàn-jì in the context of Fǎ-zàng’s historiographical project.
- Imre Hamar (ed.), Reflecting Mirrors: Perspectives on Huayan Buddhism (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2007).
Other points of interest
The work is the canonical historiographical companion to Fǎ-zàng’s doctrinal-systematic works on the Avataṃsaka: the Huá-yán jīng tàn-xuán jì 華嚴經探玄記 (T1733) commentary, the Huá-yán wǔ-jiào zhāng 華嚴五教章 (T1866) classificatory work, and the Huá-yán jīng zhǐ-guī 華嚴經旨歸 (T1871) doctrinal abstract. Where the doctrinal works lay out the Avataṃsaka’s teaching, the Huá-yán-jīng zhuàn-jì lays out the Avataṃsaka’s transmission-history and devotional cult — i.e., it gives the textual-historical foundation of the doctrinal claim. The work is therefore an integral component of the early-Huá-yán school’s articulation as a self-conscious doctrinal tradition.
Links
- CBETA: T51n2073