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金剛經持驗記

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Text ID
KR6r0180
Date
1659–1680
Dynasty
清

Jīngāngjīng chíyàn jì 金剛經持驗記

Records of Verified [Miraculous] Responses to the Upholding of the Diamond Sūtra

compiled by 周克復 (Zhōu Kèfù / Tóngshàn dàorén 同善道人, fl. mid-17th c., 纂)

About the work

A 2-juan early-Qīng anthology of Diamond Sūtra miracle-tales, compiled by the Yíxīng lay-Buddhist scholar Zhōu Kèfù 周克復 (hào Tóngshàn dàorén 同善道人) of Jīngxī 荊溪 (Yíxīng, Jiāngsū), edited by his son Zhōu Shí 周石 and reviewed by Chén Jìshēng 陳濟生 Huángshì 皇士 of Wúmén 吳門. The full title used in the work itself is 《歷朝金剛持驗紀》 Lìcháo Jīngāng chíyàn jì (“Dynasty-by-Dynasty Records of Verified Diamond-Sūtra Upholding”), reflecting its chronologically-organised structure — beginning from the Northern Wèi and proceeding through the dynasties to the 昭代 昭代 (the present Qīng). The work is one of five chíyàn jì anthologies compiled by Zhōu Kèfù — together with the 《法華經持驗記》 KR6r0072, 《觀音經持驗記》 KR6r0073, 《華嚴經持驗記》 KR6r0089, and the 《淨土晨鐘》 Jìngtǔ chénzhōng — forming his comprehensive project of dynasty-by-dynasty miracle-anthologies for the principal late-imperial scripture-cult sūtras. Transmitted in the Xùzàngjīng as X1635.

Prefaces

The compiler’s preface (Jīn-gāng-jīng chí-yàn jì xù) opens with a doctrinal exposition of the Diamond Sūtra’s position within the Mahāprajñāpāramitā corpus, citing Zhōng-fēng Míng-běn’s 中峰明本 (1263–1323) Jīn-gāng lüè-yì 金剛略義 — the standard Yuán-period Diamond Sūtra commentary that frames the late-imperial reception. The preface argues for the Diamond Sūtra’s special position as a teaching that “takes the formless, the non-abiding, the non-acting as its principal — repeatedly turning back over itself, establishing and sweeping clean as it goes — at the extreme is talking emptiness, but in the end is not [merely] talking emptiness; what is called the Tathāgata’s true word, the un-deceiving word.” The preface then frames the work’s organising principle: the Diamond Sūtra is presented as the Buddha’s “unwearying-teaching book” (誨人不倦之書), and the present compilation is intended to support faith and practice by demonstrating the historical record of the sūtra’s efficacy.

The work’s editorial principles (fánlì) are stated by the editor (Zhōu Shí, the compiler’s son) at the close of the preface:

  • The principal text follows the Kumārajīva translation as the standard.
  • The 32-section division (sānshíèr fēn 三十二分) is followed for ease of recitation, although noted as a Sòng-period innovation by the 南唐保大五年壽春所刻 edition.
  • Tales are arranged by dynasty, beginning with the Northern Wèi (since the Diamond Sūtra miracle-tradition first becomes substantial under the Northern Wèi) and proceeding through to the present Qīng. Tang and Míng materials are well-attested; SòngYuán materials less so.
  • Tales are arranged within each dynasty by the protagonist’s social class: first lay men, then lay women, then monks and nuns.
  • Critical assessment of source-reliability is applied: tales of dubious provenance are excluded; each tale is footnoted to its source.

Abstract

The work catalogues approximately 150 miracle-tales dynasty-by-dynasty, drawing on:

  • The Tang Mèng Xiànzhōng tradition (via KR6r0174).
  • The Tang Duàn Chéngshì tradition (via KR6r0175).
  • The Sòng Tàipíng guǎngjì tradition (via KR6r0176).
  • The Míng Wáng Qǐlóng tradition (via KR6r0178).
  • Contemporary Qīng cases drawn from Zhōu Kèfù’s own informant network — including, notably, a Yíxīng Buddhist matron’s Diamond Sūtra recitation in Kāngxī 5 = 1666.

The work’s principal contribution beyond its predecessors is its systematic historical-philological apparatus: each tale is footnoted to its source, ambiguous cases are noted, and the editorial fánlì makes explicit the methodological standards. Zhōu Kèfù’s compilation is therefore not merely a devotional anthology but also a scholarly recension of the Diamond Sūtra miracle-tradition.

The dating bracket — 1659 to 1680 — is fixed by the dating of Zhōu Kèfù’s companion 《淨土晨鐘》 to Shùnzhì 16 = 1659 and the inclusion of Kāngxī-era cases (the Kāngxī 5 = 1666 reference cited above).

Translations and research

  • 鄭阿財, 《敦煌佛教靈驗記研究》(Táiběi: Xīn-wén-fēng, 2010) — uses Zhōu’s compilation extensively.
  • 廖肇亨, 〈周克復與清初居士佛教〉, Zhōng-yāng Yán-jiù-yuàn Wén-zhé suǒ tōng-xùn 17.4 (2007) — biographical-contextual study of Zhōu.
  • Cynthia Brokaw, The Ledgers of Merit and Demerit (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1991) — context.
  • No dedicated monographic study of the Jīn-gāng chí-yàn jì has been located.

Other points of interest

The opening section’s quotation from Zhōngfēng Míngběn establishes the doctrinal frame within which the late-imperial Buddhist tradition received the Diamond Sūtra — the Yuán-period Línjì master’s Lüèyì commentary became the standard hermeneutical guide for late-imperial Diamond Sūtra devotion, and Zhōu Kèfù’s quotation of him is therefore indicative of the late-imperial reception-frame.

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