An Early Chinese Commentary on the Ekottarika-agama

　　This study reassesses an old problem in the history of Chinese Buddhism, the origins and nature of the Zengyi ahan jing 增一阿含經 (Taishō 125). It does so by a close investigation of the Chinese translation of the Ekottarika-āgama at the end of the fourth century and of its most important witness, the Fenbie gongde lun 分別功德論 (Taishō 1507). It is argued that the latter document, whose original title was Zengyi ahan jing shu 增一阿含經疏, should be seen as an unfinished commentary to the newly translated collection, produced within the original translation team (including Dao’an 道安, Zhu Fonian 竺佛念 and the Indo-Bactrian master Dharmananda) during the tumultuous end of the Qin秦 empire of Fu Jian苻堅in A.D. 385.

　　This reconstruction yields further insights into the cultural origins of the Chinese Ekottarika-āgama, and its broader significance for the history of Buddhism.

作者簡介

　　Antonello Palumbo is Lecturer in Chinese Religions at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Series preface    ix
Foreword    xi
Acknowledgments    xiii
    
Introduction    1

PART I.    The Zengyi ahan jing 增一阿含經 (T.125)

CHAPTER ONE  The translation of the Ekottarika-āgama    9
I. The initial redactions of the Zengyi ahan jing增一阿含經 (T.125), A.D. 384–385    9
I.1 The context: Dao’an 道安 and the translation group at Chang’an, A.D. 382–385    9
I.2 The translation of the Ekottarika-āgama and the different redactions of the Zengyi ahan jing 增一阿含經 (T.125), A.D. 384–385    36
II. The aftermath of the translation    49
II.1 The death of Dao’an 道安 and the dispersal of the Chang’an group    49
II.2 Saṃghadeva’s revision    65
II.3 Zhu Fonian 竺佛念    82
III. Four redactions, how many translations?    94

CHAPTER TWO  Witnesses to the context and early re¬cep¬¬tion of the Zengyi ahan jing 增一阿含經 (T.125)    97
I. Before the translation    97
I.1 The narrative on the origin of the āgamas in the Parinirvāṇa sūtra (T.6)    99
I.2 Kumārajīva and the Ekottarika-āgama    105
II. Around the translation    108
II.1 The Zhuanji sanzang ji zazang zhuan 撰集三藏及雜藏傳 (T.2026)    108
II.2 The Fenbie gongde lun 分別功德論 (T.1507)    124
II.3 The manuscript S.797 (A.D. 406)    124
II.4 The miniature stūpas of Turfan and Liangzhou 涼州 (A.D. 426–435)    128
III. Early witnesses to the Zengyi ahan jing 增一阿含經    129
III.1 The Shijia pu 釋迦譜 (ca. A.D. 479–502)    129
III.2 The Fan fanyu 翻梵語 (ca. A.D. 502–512)    130
III.3 The Zengyi ahan jing 增一阿含經 parallels in the Taishō canon and the excerpts in the Jinglü yi¬xiang 經律異相 (ca. A.D. 517)    131
IV. The catalogues    145
V. Preliminary conclusions    154

PART II.    The Fenbie gongde lun 分別功德論 (T.1507)

CHAPTER THREE  The book in the catalogues    163
I. The Chu sanzang ji ji 出三藏記集 (ca. A.D. 515)    164
II. The Lidai sanbao ji 歷代三寶紀 (A.D. 598)    168
III. The Kaiyuan Shijiao lu 開元釋教錄 (A.D. 730)    169

CHAPTER FOUR  Modern scholars    171
I. Jean Przyluski    171
II. Mochizuki Shinkō 望月信亨    172
III. Mori Sodō 森祖道    174
IV. Mizuno Kōgen 水野弘元    177
V. Other scholars    176

CHAPTER FIVE  Internal evidence on the date and au¬thor¬-ship of the Fenbie gongde lun 分別功德論 (T.1507)    179
I. General features and contents of the commentary    180
II. The ‘foreign master/s’ (waiguo shi 外國師) and ‘that man’ (qi ren 其人)    185
III. The description of the Tripiṭaka and the hierarchy of the four āgamas    190
IV. The view of the vinaya    195
V. The authors’ notion of the origin of the Abhi¬dhar¬ma and the identification of Kātyāyanīputra with Mahā--Kātyāyana    205
VI. The relationship with the Zhuanji sanzang ji za¬zang zhuan 撰集三藏及雜藏傳 and the Mahāyānist layer    214
VII. The “small” ‘Greater Version’ (Dapin 大品) of the Prajñāpāramitā    230
VIII. Scriptural quotations    232
VIII.1 Da ai jing 大哀經 (Tathāgatamahākaruṇānirdeśa)    232
VIII.2 Weimojie jing 維摩詰經 (Vimalakīrtinirdeśa)    233
VIII.3 Zhude futian jing 諸德福田經    234
IX. The Aśokan narratives    235
X. A pericope rhyming in Chinese    248
XI. Distinctive terms and expressions in the Fenbie gongde lun 分別功德論 (T.1507)    250
XI.1 Da fa 大法 (Great Law) = Abhidharma    250
XI.2 Shenzi 身子 = Śāriputra    251
XI.3 “… has not yet fallen to the ground” (wei zhui yu di 未墜於地)    251
XI.4 Shishi 石室 = Takṣaśilā    252
XI.5 Zhenjing 真淨 = Śuddhodana    253
XI.6 Huoman tongzi 火鬘童子 = *Jyotipāla (< Jyoti-māla) māṇava    254

CHAPTER SIX  The authorship, date and nature of the document    257

CHAPTER SEVEN  The Chinese translation of the Ekotta-rika-āgama reconsidered    269
    
EPILOGUE   The cultural origins of the Chinese Ekotta-rika-āgama and the rise of Greater Serindia in the his¬tory of Buddhism    285
    
APPENDIX   A synopsis of T.1507 and the correspond¬ing passages in T.125    327
    
Abbreviations and references    365

General index    391