DàTáng Zhēnyuán xù Kāiyuán shìjiào lù 大唐貞元續開元釋教錄
The Great Tang Zhēn-yuán Continuation of the Kāi-yuán Catalog of Buddhist Teaching by 圓照 (集)
About the work
A three-juan Tang-period continuation supplement to Zhì-shēng’s Kāi-yuán shì-jiào lù (KR6s0093), compiled by Yuán-zhào 圓照 (DILA A001417; zì not preserved; lifedates ca. 720s–800s) of Xī-míng-sì 西明寺 in Zhēn-yuán 貞元 era of Tang Dé-zōng 德宗 — specifically completed in Zhēn-yuán 10 = 794 CE. The work supplies bibliographic supplementation for translations and Buddhist canonical writings produced between Zhì-shēng’s 730 cutoff and Yuán-zhào’s 794 supplement, particularly the substantial output of the Esoteric translation-bureau under Bù-kōng 不空, Prajñā 般若, and successors. Preserved at T55 no. 2156. Companion to the much larger KR6s0097 Zhēn-yuán xīn-dìng shì-jiào mù-lù by the same author (which is essentially the comprehensive canonical-bibliographic restatement, where this 3-juan work is the focused continuation supplement).
Prefaces
The text opens with the byline:
Dà-Táng Zhēn-yuán xù Kāi-yuán shì-jiào lù, juan-shàng. Jiǎ-xū-suì Xī-míng-sì fān-jīng lín-tán shā-mén Yuán-zhào jí-shàng 大唐貞元續開元釋教錄卷上 甲戌歲西明寺翻經臨壇沙門圓照集上 (“Vol. 1: jiǎ-xū year [Zhēn-yuán 10 = 794], Yuán-zhào, śramaṇa of Xī-míng-sì translation-bureau, presiding-at-the-altar, gathered-and-presented”).
Then the body of the text begins with the Sìcháo yīngzhì 四朝應制 (“Four-Court Imperially-Commanded”) summary:
Sìcháo yīngzhì — what was translated by sutras-and-treatises, and the recitation-dharmas, and the cultivation-commentaries-records-stelae-tables-records-and-collections, etc. Total 343 juan. Plus the catalogue, 345 juan. Of which: 193 juan of sutras-and-treatises and recitation-dharmas. 64 juan of sutra-and-treatise commentary-meaning. 86 juan of the Zhēnyuán newly-collected past-and-present-edicts-and-stelae-tables-records (with catalogue, 89 juan).
[The text continues with detailed bibliographic registration of the 343-juan post-Kāi-yuán-lù translation output.]
Abstract
Authorship and date: composed by Yuánzhào 圓照 (DILA A001417; lifedates approximately 720s–800s) at Xīmíngsì in Chángān, in Zhēnyuán 10 = 794 CE. notBefore = 794, notAfter = 794. Catalog dynasty 唐.
Yuán-zhào was one of the principal late-Tang Buddhist scholars and bibliographers, and the leading post-Zhì-shēng canonical bibliographer — covering the substantial canonical-translation output of the late-8th century when the Esoteric translation-bureau under Bù-kōng 不空 (705–774) and his successor Prajñā 般若 (734–810?) added many new translations to the canonical corpus.
The 3-juan work is the focused continuation of the Kāiyuánlù — covering specifically the 343-juan post-Zhì-shēng translation output in summary and detailed-register form. It functions as a practical bibliographic update rather than as a comprehensive canonical-bibliographic restatement; the comprehensive restatement is the much larger 30-juan Zhēnyuán xīndìng shìjiào mùlù (KR6s0097) of the same author, completed in 800.
The work is significant for documenting the late-8th-century imperial Esoteric Buddhist establishment under Dézōng, including:
- Bùkōng’s translation output (post-755 Esoteric texts).
- Prajñā’s translation output (Mahāyāna texts including the Lǐ-qù bō-rě jīng 理趣般若經 and other late-Tang Mahāyāna).
- The institutional documentation of the imperial translation-bureau through the Zhēnyuán newly-collected past-and-present-edicts register.
Translations and research
See KR6s0093 for general references. Specific to Yuán-zhào and the Zhēn-yuán-lù tradition:
- Hé Méi 何梅, Lì-dài hàn-wén dà-zàng-jīng mù-lù xīn-kǎo (2014) — comprehensive treatment.
- Tāng Yòng-tóng 湯用彤, Suí Táng fó-jiào shǐ-gǎo.
- Antonello Palumbo and the modern Tang-canonical-bibliography scholarly tradition.
Other points of interest
Yuánzhào’s title líntán 臨壇 (“presiding at the altar”) indicates his role as ordination-platform-master at Xīmíngsì — one of the senior monastic-administrative positions of the late-Tang imperial monastic establishment. His combination of canonical-bibliographic scholarship with senior monastic-administrative responsibility makes him a representative figure of the late-Tang scholarly-administrative monk-bureaucrat type.
Links
- DILA authority: A001417 (圓照)
- CBETA: T55n2156
- Author: Yuánzhào 圓照 (Tang, ca. 720s–800s), Xīmíngsì líntán shāmén
- Predecessor: KR6s0093 Kāiyuán shìjiào lù of Zhìshēng (730)
- Companion comprehensive work: KR6s0097 Zhēnyuán xīndìng shìjiào mùlù (800, 30 juan)
- Documents principally: late-Tang Esoteric translation-bureau output under Bù-kōng 不空 and Prajñā 般若