Guǎng hóngmíng jí 廣弘明集
The Expanded Hóng-míng Anthology
compiled by 道宣 (Dàoxuān, 596–667, 撰)
About the work
A 30-juan early-Tang Buddhist apologetic anthology — the continuation and expansion of KR6r0137 Hóngmíng jí (Sēngyòu, ca. 502–518). Compiled by the great Nánshānlǜ patriarch 道宣 Dàoxuān 道宣 (596–667) at the Xīmíngsì 西明寺 in Cháng’ān. The text identifies its date and place: “唐麟德元年西明寺沙門釋道宣撰” — i.e., Líndé 麟德 1 = 664 at the Xīmíngsì. Transmitted in Taishō 52 as T2103. Like its predecessor, it is also preserved in the Sìkùquánshū 四庫全書 (WYG) — one of the very few Buddhist-canonical works admitted into the imperial collection.
Prefaces
Dàoxuān’s preface explains the project: “Since the great Buddhist transformation flowed eastward, faith has been opened and the Way taught — for ages with mixed results: confused [people] in three ways and dimmed [in their] wisdom by four illuminations. Therefore the parties of foolish and shallow have lightly raised heretical winds, and the company of the pure and right have at times encountered sycophantic argument. So that since the teaching moved into Zhèndàn [China] more than 600 years, the malicious have thrice raised destructive [persecutions], and the disasters have not turned a heel …” — i.e., the compilation is set against the background of the three great Chinese persecutions of Buddhism: those of Northern Wèi Tàiwǔdì 太武 in 446, of Northern Zhōu Wǔdì 武 in 574–578, and (anticipated) of Tang Wǔzōng in 845 (which Dàoxuān did not live to see).
Abstract
The 30-juan anthology is structured in 10 sections, treating successively:
- Guīzhèng 歸正篇 (juan 1–4) — Buddhist apologetic treatises explaining and defending the doctrine, including the principal Six-Dynasties materials not gathered in the Hóngmíng jí.
- Biànhuò 辯惑篇 (juan 5–14) — anti-Daoist polemic, including extensive treatment of the huàhú jīng 化胡經 controversy and the Suí-Tang Buddhist-Daoist debates.
- Fódé 佛德篇 (juan 15–17) — Buddhist devotional and dedicatory writings, including imperial inscriptions and praise-texts.
- Fǎyì 法義篇 (juan 18–22) — exegetical and doctrinal treatises.
- Sēngxíng 僧行篇 (juan 23) — monastic discipline materials.
- Cíjì 慈濟篇 (juan 24–25) — Buddhist charitable and ritual materials.
- Jiègōng 戒功篇 (juan 26) — vinaya materials.
- Qǐfú 啟福篇 (juan 27–28) — Buddhist devotional petitions.
- Yōuzhèng 悔罪篇 (juan 29–30) — Buddhist confession-and-repentance materials.
The work substantially enlarges the Hóngmíng jí: where Sēngyòu had collected 56 treatises in 14 juan, Dàoxuān has gathered ~300 documents in 30 juan, including major Tang-period apologetic-ritual materials by figures including KR6r0142-KR6r0143 Fǎlín 法琳 (572–640), Dàoxuān himself, and others. The work is the principal documentary corpus of pre-845 Tang Buddhist apologetic literature.
Translations and research
- Tang Yongtong 湯用彤, 《漢魏兩晉南北朝佛教史》, Suí-Táng Fó-jiào shǐ gǎo 隋唐佛教史稿 — the classic Chinese-language treatment of early-medieval Chinese Buddhism, anchored substantially on the Guǎng hóng-míng jí.
- Erik Zürcher, The Buddhist Conquest of China; Stanley Weinstein, Buddhism under the T’ang — both rely heavily on the Guǎng hóng-míng jí.
- Charles D. Orzech, “Esoteric Buddhism and the Foundation of Empire” (chapters of Politics and Transcendent Wisdom, 1998).
- 大藏會, 《大藏會閱(三)》 — the standard Japanese bibliographic notice.
- Modern Chinese critical edition by 劉林魁, 《廣弘明集研究》 — Lánzhōu, 2010s.
Other points of interest
The work was a primary source for both the Tang court’s policy formulation on Buddhism and for the subsequent Sòng-period Buddhist self-historiography. Its preservation of the full textual record of the Tang Buddhist-Daoist court debates (notably the Tàizōng Daoist patronage of 624 and the Wǔ Zétiān religious-policy materials) makes it the principal documentary source for early-Tang Buddhist-state relations.
Links
- CBETA: T52n2103