Chu sanzang ji ji

The Chu sanzang jiji or Collected Records Concerning the Tripitaka (出三藏記集, T 2145) includes the earliest extant catalog of Chinese Buddhist texts. It was compiled by Sengyou of the Liang Dynasty and finished c. 515 CE.[1][2] In addition to the catalog, the Chu sanzang jiji also includes an introduction describing the translation process and its challenges, a collection of biographies of translators, and a set of prefaces to scriptures giving historical context. Sengyou's main source in the compilation of the catalog was a catalog compiled by Dao'an[3] (312–385), which is now lost.

The Chu sanzang jiji is included in Volume 55 of the Taishō Tripiṭaka in fifteen fascicles. An edition of the text by Jinren Su and Liani Xiao[4] corrects the punctuation errors in the Taishō Tripiṭaka.

Outline

The overall outline of the text is as listed below.

  • Introduction - fascicle 1
  • Catalog - fascicles 2–5
  • Prefaces - fascicles 6–12
  • Biographies - fascicles 13–15

The catalog is divided into the following categories:[5]

Outline of the Catalog
FascicleChineseEnglish
2新集撰出經律論New list of sutras, Vinaya, and treatises
2新集條解異出經New list of different translations of sutras
2新集表序四部律New list of tables, prefaces, and Four Part Vinaya
3新集安公古異經New compilation of Dao'an’s old list of sutras
3新集安公失譯經New compilation of Dao'an’s list of sutras with anonymous translators
3新集安公涼土異經New compilation of Dao'an’s list from Liangzhou of different translations of sutras
3新集安公關中異經New list of Dao'an’s list from Guanzhong of different translations of sutras
3新集律分為五部記New list of Five Part Vinaya records
3新集律分為十八部記New list of Vinaya records of the eighteen schools
3新集律來漢地四部記New list of records of the Four Part Vinaya which have circulated in China
4新集續撰失譯雜經New continued list of anonymously translated sutras
5新集抄經New list of condensed scriptures
5新集安公疑經New compilation of Dao'an’s list of doubtful scriptures
5新集疑經New list of doubtful scriptures
5新集安公注經及雜經志New compilation of Dao'an’s list of annotated scriptures and miscellaneous treatises
5小乘迷學竺法度造異儀記Heterodox Ritual Notes Created by Fervent Student of Hīnayāna Zhu Fadu
5長安叡法師喻疑Doubtful allegories from Venerable Rui of Chang’an

Influence

The Chu sanzang jiji has been a source of information on dates and translator attribution for later catalogs and East Asian Buddhist canons. Radich[6] states that Fei Changfang appears to used Chu sanzang jiji attribution data in his Records of the Three Treasuries Throughout Successive Dynasties (歷代三寳記; T2034) in addition his own questionable attributions. These attributions and dates have been used in the Taishō Tripiṭaka.

References

  1. ↑ Nattier, Jan (2008). A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations: Texts from the Eastern Han 東漢 and Three Kingdoms 三國 Periods. Tokyo: International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology, Soka University. p. 11.
  2. ↑ Deeg, Max (2008). "Creating religious terminology–A comparative approach to early Chinese Buddhist translations". Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. 31 (1–2): 83–118.
  3. ↑ Zürcher, Erik (2007). The Buddhist conquest of China: the spread and adaptation of Buddhism in early medieval China (3rd ed.). Leiden: Brill. p. 10.
  4. ↑ Sengyou; Su, Jinren; Xiao, Lianzi (1995). Chu san zang ji ji 出三藏記集. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.
  5. ↑ Storch, Tanya (2014). The History of Chinese Buddhist Bibliography: Censorship and Transformation of the Tripitaka. Amherst, New York: Cambria Press. pp. 72–73.
  6. ↑ Radich, Michael (2019). "Fei Changfang's Treatment of Sengyou's Anonymous Texts". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 139 (4): 819–842.