Jīngāngjīng zàn jí 金剛經讚集
Collected Vajracchedikā Encomia (Recension I, Witness 1) anonymous Chinese composition; critical edition by 達照 (整理)
About the work
A Chinese-composed cycle of zàn 讚 (encomia) on the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, in 50 zàn of 5-character × 8 lines each (40 graphs per zàn). The first of eight Dūnhuáng-witnessed recensions edited by Dá-zhào 達照 (KR6v0093–KR6v0100) of an interrelated Jīngāng-jīng zàn / Jīngāng-zàn / Liáng-cháo Fù dàshì sòng Jīngāng-jīng tradition. The witnesses divide into three text-historical types: (1) early type — Jīngāng-jīng zàn proper, 50 verses of 5×8, witnessed by P.2039-verso, Russian Fú 弗 323, and P.2277, base for KR6v0093–KR6v0095; (2) middle type — fully integrated zàn-and-sūtra formats, more elaborated; (3) late type — Liáng-cháo Fù dàshì sòng Jīngāng-jīng form, with an apocryphal preface attributing the cycle to Fù dàshì 傅大士 (497–569) and adding Sui-Tang-period esoteric apparatus (Bā Jīngāng 八金剛, Sì púsà 四菩薩 invocations).
Abstract
KR6v0093 prints the early type from P.2039-verso (Bibliothèque nationale de France) — the cleanest “Type-I” witness, with head-cartouche Jīngāng-jīng zàn 金剛經讚 and tail-cartouche Jīngāng zàn 金剛讚. P.2039-verso bears the head-note “yī Wú-zhāo lùn kē-pàn qī-yì-jù zhě 依無著論科判七義句者” — declaring that the zàn-cycle follows the seven-fold doctrinal scheme (qī-yì-jù 七義句) of Asaṅga 無著’s Jīn-gāng bōrě lùn 金剛般若論 (T25n1510, Vajracchedikā-prajñāpāramitā-śāstra, in Suí-period Dharmagupta / Dámójíduō 達摩笈多’s translation). The zàn-cycle is therefore a verse-form digest of the Asaṅga-line doctrinal exegesis of the Vajracchedikā, paired with the standard Kumārajīva 鳩摩羅什 translation (T08n0235).
The composition window is bracketed by Suí Dámójíduō’s translation of Asaṅga’s Lùn (605) — the terminus a quo for the doctrinal apparatus — and the dated middle-period witnesses (mid-Táng), placing the Jīngāng-jīng zàn cycle’s composition in the early-to-mid Táng. The cycle’s later evolution into the Fù dàshì sòng form represents a popular pseudo-attribution to a pre-Suí miracle-working figure. The complete eight-recension transmission demonstrates Jīngāng-jīng zàn’s remarkable diffusion through Dūnhuáng popular Buddhism over several centuries.
Translations and research
- Dá-zhào 達照, Jīngāng-jīng zàn yán-jiū 金剛經讚研究 (Beijing: Zōngjiào wénhuà, 2002) — the standard monograph.
- Wāng Juān 汪娟, Dūnhuáng lǐ-chàn-wén yán-jiū 敦煌禮懺文研究 (Taipei: Fagu wenhua, 1998).
- Sharf, Robert, “Mindfulness and Mindlessness in Early Chan,” Philosophy East and West 64 (2014) — context for the Vajracchedikā-Chán nexus that zàn-cycles bridge.
- Hsiao Yi-chen 蕭怡真, “Dūnhuáng Fù dàshì sòng Jīngāng-jīng yán-jiū,” various articles.
Links
- CBETA
- T25n1510 (Asaṅga’s Vajracchedikā śāstra, Dharmagupta’s translation, the doctrinal source)
- T08n0235 (the Vajracchedikā in Kumārajīva’s translation)
- IDP record for P.2039-verso
- Cf. KR6v0094 through KR6v0100 (the other seven recensions)
- Cf. KR6v0071, KR6v0072 (the Jīngāng wǔlǐ tradition)
- Cf. KR6v0073 (the Liáo Jīngānglǐ)