Kim Young_Ho - Tao-Shengs Commentary on the Lotus Sutra

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5-1-1985

Tao-Sheng's Commentary on theSaddharmapundarīka-Sūtra: A Study and

Translation Young-Ho Kim

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Recommended CitationKim, Young-Ho, "Tao-Sheng's Commentary on the Saddharmapundarīka-Sūtra: A Study and Translation" (1985). Open Access

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TAO-SHENG'S COMMENTARY

ON THE

S A D D H A R M A P U ~ Q A R I K A - S U T R A : A STUDY AND TRANSLATION•

YOUNG-HO KIM, 'M.A.

A Thes i s

Submitted to the F acu lty o f'G r ad ua te S tu d ie s

in Pa r t i a l Ful f i lment of the Requirements

fo r the Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

McMaster Universi ty

© M ~ y , 1985



or

TAo-SHENG'S COMMENTARY ON THE

S A D D H A R M A P ~ A R j K A - S i j T R A : A STUDY AND TRANSLATION



DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (1985)(Rel igious Studies)

J

McMASTER UNIVERSITY

Hamil ton, Ontar io

•

TITLE: Tao-sheng ' s Commentary on the Saddharmapundarlka- s u t r a : A Study and Trans la t ion

AUTHOR: Young-ho K i ~ , M.A. (Pennsylvania)

SUPERVISOR: . Professor Yun-hua Jan

NUMBER OF PAGES: x i i , 592

I

i i



ABSTRACT

This d i s se r t a t i on - provides a c,omprehensive s tudy and

comple t e t r a n s l a t i on o f Tao-sheng ' s Commentary on th e

'"' T - d 'addha rmapu l ) "anka - su t r a (CSPS). T'his ocument occup l e s an

im p or ta nt p la c e in C hin ese B ud dh is t literature. Its

s i g n i f i c a n c e in th e s t udy of Chine se Buddh i sm can be

de sc r i bed in two ways . Fi r s t l y , th e CSPS was th e f i r s t

commenta ry eve r wri t t en on th e Lotus S i i t ~ , I'l"hi ch was to

become a s c r i p t u r e of f undamen t a l impor t ance on th e Far

Eas t e r n Buddh i s t s c ene , e sp e c i a l l y fo r ~ h l a t e r 'Ch inese

'. Buddhis t schoo ls . F urtherm ore , it was the f i r s t commentary

on any Buddh i s t s c r i p t u r e t h a t was wr i t t e n in Chine?e and

s t r u c t u r ed in fu l l y deve loped commenta r i a l form. The CSPS

se t a pa t t e rn in many ways fo r l a t e r Buddhists to fo llow 1n

terms of both s t ruc tu re and ideology.

Secondly , th e CSPS i s a r i ch sou rce of Tao-sheng ' s '

s em ina l i d e a s . Tao-sheng (ca . 363-434) has been r ega rded ,

both in h is t ime and sub sequen t l y , as a unique17 c r e a t i v e

and prophe t i c th i nker. The CSPS, the only wri t i ng of Tao-

sheng p rese rved i n c omp l e t e fo rm, i s e s s en t i a l to any s t udy

o f T ao -s he ng 's own o r ig ina l thought . Most of h is theses and

-, .

a r g umen t s , which were c o n t r o v e r s i a l in h i s day , w ere

i i i

•



".

o r i g i n a l l y propounded in h is o th e r wri t i ngs , bu t th e

commentary may p rov ide a t l e a s t th e gene ra l s t r u c t u r e of

Tao-sheng ' s thought .•

The t h e s i s i s composed of two main "Study"

(Pa r t I - IV) and "T rans l a t i on" (Pa r t V).

po"rti ons:\

Pa r t I s e t s ou t and

clarifies th e prob l ems i nvo lved in th e s tudy of Tao- sheng ,

th e a ims and method of th e p r e s en t s tudy . Pa r t I I as the

i n tr o du c to ry s te p to th e main t a s k in vo lv in g th e CSPS

ex t en s i v e l y e xamin es T ao -sh en g as a whole as r e f l e c t e d in

o t h e r sou rc e s , in te rm s of h is background , h i s t o r i c a l and

b i og r aph i c a l , h is works , h is doc t r i n e s , and h is i n f l u e n c e .

P a r t I I I i s devoted to a critical examina t i on of the CSPS

p rope r . Here I unde r t ak e an i n - d e p t h ana l y s i s in s ev e r a l

d i f f e r e n t ways in r e s p e c t wi th both form. arid c on t e n t , or

la .nguage· and ideology;.

The ana ly s i s focuses on how Tao-sheng

r ende r s , s u c c e s s f u l l y or-- o t h e rw i s e , th e a nc i e n t Ind ian

system of re l ig ious thought in to the cu r ren t Chinese language, .

which was a l r e a d y l a d en w ith i n d i g e n ou s ph i l o s o p h i c a l

c onno t a t i ons. Here I a l so t r a c e and r e c o n s t r u c t Tao-sheng ' s

I

~ h o u g h t i ncorpora ted in the commentary in accordance with h is

d i sti n e t t h emes . . P a r t IV. r e v i ew s th e f i ridi ngs and

s i gn i f i cance of the s tudy cOl1ducted.· In b r i e f , the - thes i s i s

the f i r s t f u l l - s ca l e s tudy of T ~ o - s h e n g and the commentary.

F i n p l l y , a c omp l e t e translation o f th e t e x t i s

pre""sented · a long wi th de t a i led anno t a t i ons i nc lud i ng th e

iv



".

c l a s s i c a l sou rces o f Chinese ph i l o s oph i c a l t e rms used an

numerous corrup t ions of the t ex t . In l i gh t of the s ign i f i canc

of T a o ~ s h e n g and th e CSPS, - the t r a n s l a t i o n answe r s th e nee

fo r a comple te t r ans l a t ion of the t e x t in to a modern languag

and wi l l serve as a b a s i s f ~ r fu r the r s tudy.

/

v



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my gra t i t ude to a number of people

fo r making th e comple t i on"o f th e t h e s i s poss ib ' l e . The work

r f ipresents a product developed in seve ra l s tages . Throughout

the process of evo lu t ion my superv isory commit tee , chai red by

Prof. YGn-hua Jan, exer ted a vas t , c o n s ~ r u c t i v e in f luence ,on

the s t ruc tu re and conten t of the t he s i s . I was persuaded to

p repa re a t r a n s l a t i o n . To t h i s I have added a compr .ehensive

s t udy o f T ao -sheng and th e t e x t . P ro f . J a n , whose

scho l a r sh ip encompasses th e ' fulL- spec trum of th e Chinese

•t r a d i t i o n , has been an i n v a l u ab l e sou rce o f i n sp i r a t i on and

knowledge . He awakened me to th e hidden mecinings of many. ..Ch inese words and expres \ ions . Without him, many passages of

the t e x t would have remained undecLphered and un in t e l l i g ib l e .

Prof . Koichi Shinohara exerc i sed h is c r i t i c a l mind espec ia l ly

in he lp ing me improve on th e r h e t o r i c and s t r u c t u r e o f the

wr i t i ng ; he i d e n t i f i e d many i n con s i s t e n c i e s

p .o f . Graeme MacQueen was he l p f u l t h roughou t ,

i\the d r a f t .

p a r t i c u l a r l y

s ~ t t . i n g th e pa t t e r n s fo r d i f f i c u l t t e c h i n i c a l exp re s s ion s .

He i s a s cho l a r 'wi th soc i a l conce rn fo r a wor ld s t and ing i n

need ~ ' I p e ~ c e l l . and "nonv io ience ' l .

vi

These va l u e s have



i n s p i r ed me in my s t udy . He was , as it were , my ka l y ana -

mi t ra . Prof . Paul Younger was kindly involved in the process

from t ime to t ime . Spec i a l thanks a re due to Pro f . Leon

Hurvi tz a t th e Uni ve r s i ty o f Bri ti sh Columbi a , who pu t

himse l f a t my d i sposa l fo r one whole summer ' in Vancouver in

reading toge ther ' many d i f f i c u l t passages of the t ex t . I a lso

benef i ted from th e cour ses of Pro f. John G. Arapura and Prof .

R. M. Smith (Unive rs i ty o f T oro nto ). For a l l t h ~ s , however ,( .

I remai n s o l e l y r e spons i b le fo r any e r r o r s or sho r t comi ngs

t h a t may be founq in ~ work. I a ~ l s o g r a t e f u l to John

Ostrander , a fel low s tuden t in the depar tment , and John King

(B. Russel Arch iv e) . f or t h e i r many usefu l sugges t ions on the

expres . s ions and ph raseo logy of my wri t i ng. I want to

r e g i s t e r my a p p r e c i a t i o n fo r Mr. ~ J .. Che rn , who a re

prac t i s i ng Buddhi s t s , fo r th e i r a s s i s tan ce in prepa·ri ng the

f i n a l copies of the t h e s i s .

I am deep ly t h ank fb l to McMaster Uni ve r s i ty ( f i r s t

i n t r o d u c e d to me b my f r i ' end , Dr. Kang-nam Oh o f t h e

Univers i ty of Regine) , which. generous ly provided scho la r sh ip s

and a s s i s t a n t s h i p s fo r many ye a r s . I have a l s o been

for tunate · , · to have many ind iv idual benefac to rs i nc lud ing Mr.

C. Do, Pro f . T. Choi (McMaster) ' , Mr. K. Uhm, and Mr. C.

Park ... . . . .

am e spe c l a l l y b l e s s ed wl th th e help o f f e r ed to me by

Dr. Sang-sh in Lee (now a t Oxford). He has . remained fo r me a

s t aunch mora l s up p or te r, m a t er ia l a s s i s t e r , and s p i r i t u a l

v i i





TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

AIMS AND METHOD

iii

vi

1

16

20

·20

36

36

38 ,

38

40J

.4'3. 45"--

46

47

48

53

60

,61

74

84

Sudden Enl igh tenmentI

The B u d d h a - n a ~ u r e and R ~ 1 a t e dIdeas '

Misce l l an Ju s

. a . Early Years in Chien-k ' ang

under Chu . F a ~ t ' a ib . The F i r s t Sojourn a t Lu-shan

with Hui-yiianc . Study with KumarajIva in

Ch' ang,..'and . Return'" to' L u-sn an J

e . The Second Sojourn a t

Chien-k ' ang

f . The Third Sojourn a t Lu-shanand Death .

g. Evalua t ion of Tao-sheng 's . Li fe

2.

3.

1.

Tao- sheng ' s Doct r ines

2. Tao-sheng ' s Life

1 . ~ i o g r a p h i c a l Sources

D.

C. Tao-shQng's Works

A. Tao-sheng ' s Pre -h i s t o ry : th e

Sta t e o f B uddhis t Stud ies rn -China

NOTES TO PART I

B. Tao-sheng ' s Biography

•

PART I I :

.,

. PART I :

. ,.

.

i "



a .

b .

c .d .

The Good Deed En t a i l s No

Ret r ibu t ionThere i s No Pure Land in

[ the Realm ofl th e BuddhaThe Dharmakaya ' i s "FormlessOn the,Two Truths .

85

89

94

1'31

E. Tao-sheng ' s In f luence and th e

Impact of h is Doct r ines 106

1 . The Doct r i ne of SuddenEnli ghtenment 107a . The Contemporary and

Fol lowing Per iod I'-', 107b . T a o -s h en g 's D o ct ri ne and

the Ch'an School 111c . Tao-sheng ' s Doct r i I'te.·-and

"- th e Hua-yen ' Schoo l 121

, '.'2. The Doct r ine o f Buddha-nature 125.

3. Tao-sheng and Other Seboo,ls 129

a . . Tao-sheng .and ~ h T' i e t l - t ' a i

School ' - . . /.. ·1"29

b . Tao-sheng and · the San- lun

School 133 .

. "

NOTES TO PART I I 137

PART. I I I : A CRITICAL STUDY OF TAO-SHENG'S

COMMENTARY ;ON THE S A D D H A R M A P U ~ J ; l A R I K A , _ ~ . , _ .. 156" .1

A. Tao-sheng and th e Saddh-armapunQarI-ka . '" ""1'56. - - ~•

•......" \

B •."

1. S t ru c t u r e

a . Genera lb . Prefa 'ce

c . In t e rp re t a t on

1 - 27

, ',

of Chapte r s

163

163

163164

165

2. Sty le and Exege t i ca l Methoda . S ty le .

•. Exege t i ca l Method

167167169

3. Vocabulary : The Language of

t h e T e x ~ with Spec ia l Reference to

Neo-Taoism , 171



a . In t roduct ion ..

b. Analys i s of the Concepts(1 ) Li(2) Fen

(3) The Role of Language(4) The "Sage" and Related

Terms

(5) The Emot ional Fac tor

(6) Lei

(7) One Ult imate

(8) Middle Way (Chung-tao)(9 ) Tao

c . Concluding Remarks

C. Centra tJ , Ideas

1. Main Themes

2. An_ Overview of the In t e rna l

Stuc ture of the cdmmentary v ia

the Term Li

a . I n t roduc t i on

b. Syn t ac t i c a l and Contex tua l

posi t ion

c . P red ic a te s , Prope r t i e s , and

Epis temic Impl ica t ions

d . Li Viewed in Connect ion withOther- 'Concepts

e . Li and the Process ofEnl i ghtenmen t

L , C o n c l uding - Remarks

o. Traces o f T ao -s he ng 's Doct r ines

1 . Sudden Enl igh tenment

2. Buddha-nature

3. Miscel laneous

171

1741741813

183

• 188

2137

212

214

218

222

224

228

228

235

235

237

239

242-

-256'264-

268

269

274

275

E.Select Chapters fo r a C o m p r e h e n ~ i Y eTex tua l Analys i s 283

1 . Chapter 3

2. C h ~ p t e r 15

3. Chap ter 24

Summary and Conclus ion

... · · a ~

'284

3131

3138

311



BIBLIOGRAPHY

ABBREVIATIONS

PART IV :

PART V:

NOTES TO PART I I I

CONCLUSION

NOTES TO PART IV

TRANSLATION

PrefaceRoll t h F i r s t ( C h a p t ~ . 1 - 4)Rol l , the Second (Chapts. 5 '- 27)

NOTES TO TRANSLATION

- ,

317

339

346

348

348-

352

453

535

513 0

581



PART I

. ,

AIMS AND METHOD

k :-* A- ' , 'Hi s t o r y r e co rd s Chu Tao- sheng .i.2- '± (c . 360-434")

a s a Buddh i s t t h i n k e r e xc e l l e n c e on th e Chin ese s ce ne .

Recogn'i zed as a semi nal scho la r wi th propl)et i c acumen, Tao-

sheng is known e s p e c i a l l y fo r h is o r i g i n a l , c r e a t i v e mind,

revea led in a number of d o c t r i n e ~ l which a t th e t ime seemed

unor thodox and r evo lu t iona ry . Unfor tuna te ly , a l l expos i t o ry

wei t i ngs r e l a t i n g t h o s e doc t e i nes a re l o s t ; we have , t h e r e -

fo re , only an i n d i r e c t way o f knowing the exac t subs tance and

bacKground of Tao-sheng 's arguments , l e t a lone r econs t ruc t ing

h is en t i r e system of though t.

Under such c i r cums tance- s , it is n ec ess ary f or us to,

make th e mos t o f wha t is now left and to t r y to s e e th e whole

t h rough th e f r agmen t s . The s t a p l e o f . th e ma t e r i a l is Tao-

sheng ' s commentary on, ~

th e SaddharmapUl;lQan ka-Sut ra or Lotus

S c d p t u r e . Hence th e sUb j e c t of th e p r e s en t t h e s i s . Thi s

commeMtary i in fa c t Tao-sheng ' s only ex t an t work prese rved

in ' f u l l ; And it is o f s ub s t a n t i a l s i z e , s u f f i c i e n t fo r

" .drawi 'ng ou t some th ing t a ng i b l e wi t h o u t l o s ing s i g h t o f th e

, co 'ntexL

, ,

F u r t h ~ ~ m o r e , th e work ~ a composed toward the end

.....o f 'Tao-sheng"s ' I i fe (L"n 432) ; a:nd s t ands a s a p,r,oduct of hi s

,ma t u r e sch 'oLar sh ip" p resumab ly i n so rpo r a t i ng th e doc t r i nes

pronounced e a r l i e r th roughout hi s I i f e .'l ' "



2.....

Any data based on f ragmentary s ta tements gleaned from

second-hand sources , or even the d i r ec t informat ion from the

c ommenta rie s th em s elv es o bta in ed w ith ou t consu l t i ng the

con t ex t s , may' be i n comp le t e and open to a r b i t r a r y under

s t and ing and app r op r i a t i o n . 2 This can be -a l l th e more t r u e

when the s t a t emen t s a re co l l ec t ed and grouped in accordance

,

with c e r t a i n methods o f c l a s s i f i c a t i o n and t r a n s l a t e d in to

ano the r l anguage . Id .e al ly , th e o r i g i na l may be be s t served

when it i s rendered i n to a modern l anguage , with th e l e a s t

in te rven t ion and mediat ion of the t r an s l a to r ' s philosophy or

be l i e f s . In th e ca se o f T a o- sh en g 's wr i t i n g s , th e t r a n s l a -

t ion of the i so l a t ed s ta tem ents in to English , as wet l as the

way the mate r i a l ' i s lumped toge ther by, fo r example, Wal ter

Lieben tha l - -desp i t e the l a t t e r ' s g rea t se rv i ce of opening our,

eyes to Tao-sheng - - fa i l s to give : full_ j u s t i c e to Tao-sheng's

mind , po s s i b l y on account : q,f L i eb en t h a l ' s m i s ~ u i " ( ] e dp r e ~ u p p o s i t i o n s . 3 'A t r an s l a to r can eas i ly f a l l vic t im ' to the

mis take of reading h is own i deas and knowledge. in to the t ex t

ins tead of l e ~ t i n g the t ex t speak ~ o i t s e l f .

T h aim s 0 f t h e p re s e·n t s tu d y a re two : (1 ) to

prepare ,a l i t e r a l l y f a i t h fu l , undis to r ted t ra I )s la t10n of the

c o m m e ~ t a r y in i t s en t i r e ty , jn order to p r o ~ i d e , hopefu l ly , a

bas i s ' and yantage po in t for fu r the r, .

o f Tao-sheng; and (2) to a t t emp t to

s tudy and unders tanding

i l l u m i n ~ - S h e n g I Ssystem of r e l i g ious knowledge by examining the commentary in



























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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Kim Young_Ho - Tao-Shengs Commentary on the Lotus Sutra