Text: T0127; 佛說四人出現世間經; Mizuno's "alternate *Ekottarikāgama"

Summary

Identifier T0127 [T]
Title 佛說四人出現世間經 [T]
Date [None]
Unspecified Anonymous (China), 失譯, 闕譯, 未詳撰者, 未詳作者, 不載譯人 [Sakaino 1935]
Translator 譯 Guṇabhadra 求那跋陀羅 [T]

There may be translations for this text listed in the Bibliography of Translations from the Chinese Buddhist Canon into Western Languages. If translations are listed, this link will take you directly to them. However, if no translations are listed, the link will lead only to the head of the page.

There are resources for the study of this text in the SAT Daizōkyō Text Dabatase (Saṃgaṇikīkṛtaṃ Taiśotripiṭakaṃ).

Assertions

Preferred? Source Pertains to Argument Details

No

[T]  T = CBETA [Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association]. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932. CBReader v 5.0, 2014.

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Mizuno 1989]  Mizuno Kōgen 水野弘元. "Kan'yaku Chū agon kyō to Zōichi agon kyō 漢訳『中阿含経』と『増一阿含経』." Bukkyō kenkyū 仏教研究 18 (1989): 1-42[L]. Chinese translation: "Hanyi Zhong ahan jing yu Zengyi ahan jing 漢譯《中阿含經》與《増一阿含經》," in Shuiye Hongyuan [=Mizuno Kōgen ], Fojiao wenxian yanjiu: Shuiye Hongyuan zhuzuo xuanji (1) 佛教文獻研究‧水 野 弘 元 著 作 選 集( 一), translated by Xu Yangzhu 許洋主, 509-579. Taipei: Fagu wenhua, 2003. — passim

Mizuno studies external evidence suggesting that both EĀ and MĀ were translated twice each, once by “Dharmanandi” [= Zhu Fonian --- SC] and once by Saṅghadeva, and attempts to identify vestiges of the lost second translation of each text in the transmitted canon. This entry covers Mizuno's arguments for the (largely) lost EĀ (arguments for the lost MĀ are treated in a separate entry).

Records attesting to a possible second EĀ translation (hereafter "EĀ-alt") are quite messy. In CSZJJ and Fajing’s ZJML, only “Dharmanandi’s” [Zhu Fonian's] version is attested. LDSBJ is the first extant record we have that mentions the second translation by Saṅghadeva. In the next two catalogues, DTNDL and DYKYM, both versions are recorded, while in KYL, Zhisheng identified the version he had access to as Saṅghadeva’s. Thereafter, the Korean edition inherits the attribution of T125 to Saṅghadeva, while the SYM editions attribute it to “Dharmanandi” [Zhu Fonian]. However, the two lines of transmission in fact preserve the same text.

Mizuno asserts that the extant T26 and T125 should both be considered as Saṅghadeva’s second translations. This judgement is based upon the contrast with another set of sūtras. Mizuno surveys the single sūtras in the MĀ section and EĀ section of the Taishō (T27-98 for MĀ and T126-151 for EĀ), and proposes that the following texts all share a uniform style that he regards as characteristic of "Dharmanandi" [Zhu Fonian]:

EĀ-alt: T29, T39, T89, T106, T119, T122, T123, T127, T131, T133, T134, T136, T138, T139, T140, T149, T215, T216, T508, T684.

(Mizuno also regards the following texts as comprising "MĀ-alt", and evincing the same style: T47, T49, T50, T51, T53, T55, T56, T58, T60, T64, T65, T66, T70, T73, T75, T77, T79, T82, T83, T90, T91, T92, T93, T94.)

Mizuno bases his judgment of style largely on opening and ending formulas. [However, his own quotations sometimes bear discrepancies with all editions recorded in CBETA --- SC.]

Among the 20 EĀ-alt sūtras, 19 are recorded as anonymous in Sengyou’s own „Shiyi zajing lu” 失譯雜經錄in CSZJJ, while 1 was recorded in Dao’an’s “Angong guyijing lu” 安公古異經錄. Mizuno rejects all of the current ascriptions in the Taishō for these works as false information inherited from LDSBJ.

Next, Mizuno also examines the excerpts in the Jinglü yixiang 經律異相 T2121 that are attributed to MĀ and EĀ by Baochang. Mizuno lists 15 from EĀ. However, only one of them has correspondence in the extant canon, specifically T119, which is one of the EĀ-alt sūtras Mizuno ascribes to “Dharmanandi” [Zhu Fonian]. In Mizuno’s opinion, Baochang was quite faithful in his practice of quotation (based on comparison of his SĀ excerpts with T99); therefore, Mizuno argues that the rest of the EĀ entries in T2121 must also represent the now lost first EĀ translation by “Dharmanandi” [Zhu Fonian].

[A big pitfall in Mizuno’s method is that he mis-ascribes T125 to Saṅghadeva. Thus, his observation that the EĀ-alt and MĀ-alt sūtras share one uniform style warrants further investigation, and it is questionable how it fits back into the larger picture --- MR, SC.]

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[CSZJJ]  Sengyou 僧祐. Chu sanzang ji ji (CSZJJ) 出三藏記集 T2145. — T2145 (LV) 30a24

In Sengyou's Chu sanzang ji ji, T127 is regarded as an anonymous translation, that is to say, it is listed in the "Newly Compiled Continuation of the Assorted List of Anonymous Translations" 新集續撰失譯雜經錄 (juan 4), and is further identified as an excerpt 抄 from an Āgama:

四人出現世間經一卷(抄阿含).

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Fajing 594]  Fajing 法經. Zhongjing mulu 眾經目錄 T2146. — T2146 (LV) 133c3

Treated by Fajing as a byproduct/offshoot text 別生 from the *Ekottarikāgama, with no ascription.

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Fei 597]  Fei Changfang 費長房. Lidai sanbao ji (LDSBJ) 歷代三寶紀 T2034. — T2034 (XLIX) 91c7

The ascription of T127 to Guṇabhadra found in the present canon (the Taishō) probably dates back to LDSBJ, which cites no particular source.

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Sakaino 1935]  Sakaino Kōyō 境野黄洋. Shina Bukkyō seishi 支那佛教精史. Tokyo: Sakaino Kōyō Hakushi Ikō Kankōkai, 1935. — 633-638

Sakaino argues that dozens of new ascriptions to Guṇabhadra 求那跋陀羅 added in LDSBJ are incorrect. He shows that the ascriptions for these extant texts are part of a broader pattern whereby Fei Changfang, in LDSBJ, takes titles in groups from lists of anonymous scriptures in Sengyou's CSZJJ, and assigns an entire group holus-bolus to a single or several translators. This procedure leads to a sudden ballooning of a given translator's corpus (if not its creation ex nihilo), and other absurd consequences, like the appearance that a certain translator specialised in texts on a particular topic (because Sengyou grouped titles in his lists by topic). Guṇabhadra is one of the purported "translators" to whom Fei applies this procedure. This entry lists extant texts ascribed to Guṇabhadra to which Sakaino's criticism here applies.

According to Sakaino, Fei lists 78 titles as Guṇabhadra’s work (including the 13 already ascribed to Guṇabhadra in CSZJJ). Among them, as many as 48 titles were actually taken from Sengyou’s “newly compiled catalogue of anonymous scriptures” 新集失譯錄. (Sakaino claims that 13 titles ascribed to Guṇabhadra in CSZJJ are the only reliable record of Guṇabhadra’s work.)

To illustrate the problem, Sakaino lists the groups of titles from Sengyou’s “newly compiled catalogue of anonymous scriptures” that were newly ascribed to Guṇabhadra by Fei without any solid grounds (635-637).

- 10 titles taken from the ones related to the disciples of the Buddha (佛往慰迦葉病經 1 juan, 摩訶迦葉度貧母經 1 juan, and others);
- 18 titles taken from the end of the section of scriptures featuring a person 一人事跡 and the beginning of the succeeding section of ones using metaphors 譬喩經 (殺龍濟一國人經 1 juan, 鸚鵡經 1 juan, and others);
- 6 titles taken from a section of Mahāyāna scriptures (無崖際持法門經 1 juan, 阿難陀目佉尼呵離陀經 1 juan, and others);
- 12 titles (13 titles in LDSBJ since Fei counts the 十二頭陀經 twice as the 十二頭陀經 and the 十三頭陀經) in the section of scriptures with a number used in the title (三小劫經 1 juan, 三因縁經 1 juan, and others); and
- The 禪要呵欲經 1 juan in chan-related titles (the 菩薩呵欲經 in LDSBJ) (Sakaino also points out that the 淨度三昧經 was listed in the same catalogue as well.)

Thus, Sakaino demonstrates that Fei took titles from the certain groups in Sengyou’s “newly compiled catalogue of anonymous scriptures” and allocated them to Guṇabhadra (Sakaino implies clearly that the ascriptions of them to Guṇabhadra are baseless).

Entry author: Atsushi Iseki

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No

[Radich 2019]  Radich, Michael. “Fei Changfang’s Treatment of Sengyou’s Anonymous Texts.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 139.4 (2019): 819-841.

According to the abstract, Radich argues:

"Fei Changfang/Zhangfang’s 費長房 Lidai sanbao ji 歷代三寶紀 T2034 (completed in 598) is a source of numerous problematic ascriptions and dates for texts in the received Chinese Buddhist canon. This paper presents new evidence of troubling patterns in the assignment of new ascriptions in Lidai sanbao ji, and aims thereby to shed new light on Fei’s working method. I show that Lidai sanbao ji consistently gives new attributions to the same translators for whole groups of texts clustering closely together in a long list of texts treated as anonymous in the earlier Chu sanzang ji ji 出三藏記集 T2145 of Sengyou 僧祐 (completed ca. 515). It is impossible that Sengyou grouped these texts together on the basis of attribution, since he did not know them. The most economical explanation for the assignment of each individual group to the same translator in Lidai sanbao ji, therefore, is that someone added the same attributions in batches to restricted chunks of Sengyou’s list. This and other evidence shows that Lidai sanbao ji is even more unreliable than previously thought, and urges even greater critical awareness in the use of received ascriptions for many of our texts."

Radich argues that the patterns of unreliable information he has here uncovered cast doubt upon the ascriptions of all the texts affected. Extant texts affected are the following (from Radich's Appendix 1; listed in order of Taishō numbering; listing gives title, Taishō number, Taishō ascription, and locus in LDSBJ):

七佛父母姓字經 T4, Anon., former Wei 前魏, 60b19.
尸迦羅越六方禮經 T16, An Shigao 安世高, 52a15.
善生子經 T17, Zhi Fadu 支法度, 68a17-18.
開解梵志阿颰經 T20, Zhi Qian 支謙, 57c22.
寂志果經 T22, Tanwulan 曇無蘭, 69c5.
頂生王故事經 T39, Faju 法炬, 67a19.
鐵城泥犁經 T42, Tanwulan, 70a14.
閻羅王五天使者經 T43, Huijian 慧簡, 93b10.
離睡經 T47, Dharmarakṣa 竺法護, 64b21.
求欲經 T49, Faju, 67a2.
受歲經 T50, Dharmarakṣa, 64a23.
苦陰經 T53, Anon., E. Han 東漢, 55a25.
苦陰因事經 T55, Faju, 67c18.
樂想經 T56, Dharmarakṣa, 64b25.
阿耨風經 T58, Tanwulan, 69c9.
瞿曇彌記果經 T60, Huijian, 93b19.
瞻婆比丘經 T64, Faju, 67b16.
伏婬經 T65, Faju, 66c26.
魔嬈亂經 T66, Anon., E. Han, 55a2.
弊魔試目連經/魔嬈亂經 T67, Zhi Qian, 58b23.
數經 T70, Faju, 66c20.
尊上經 T77, Dharmarakṣa, 64b25.
鸚鵡經 T79, Guṇabhadra 求那跋陀羅, 91c13.
意經 T82, Dharmarakṣa, 64a21.
應法經 T83, Dharmarakṣa, 64a22.
泥犁經 T86, Tanwulan, 70a15.
八關齋經 T89, Juqu Jingsheng 沮渠京聲, 92c23.
鞞摩肅經 T90, Guṇabhadra, 91c13.
婆羅門子命終愛念不離經 T91, An Shigao, 51b19.
十支居士八城人經 T92, An Shigao, 50c19.
相應相可經 T111, Faju, 67c15.
難提釋經 T113, Faju, 67c3.
波斯匿王太后崩塵土坌身經 T122, Faju, 67b2.
放牛經 = T123, Kumārajīva 鳩摩羅什, 78c5.
四人出現世間經 T127, Guṇabhadra, 91c7.
婆羅門避死經 T131, An Shigao, 51b24.
頻毘[v.l. 婆 SY]娑羅王詣佛供養經 T133, Faju, 67a26.
長者子六過出家經 T134, Huijian, 93b23.
四未曾有法經 T136, Dharmarakṣa, 64b3.
四泥犁經 T139, Tanwulan, 70a8.
阿那邠邸化七子經 T140, An Shigao, 50c18.
佛母般泥洹經 T145, Huijian, 93b22.
阿難同學經 T149, An Shigao, 52a12.
阿含正行經 T151, An Shigao, 52a24.
大方便佛報恩經 T156, Anon., E. Han, 54b18.
大意經 T177, Guṇabhadra, 91c18.
前世三轉經 T178, Faju, 67c16.
異出菩薩本起經 T188, Nie Daozhen 聶道真, 66a20.
十二遊經 T195, *Kālodaka 迦留陀伽, 70b27-c2.
興起行經 T197, Kang Mengxiang 康孟詳, 54b2.
雜譬喻經 T205, Anon., E. Han, 54b25.
猘狗經 T214, Zhi Qian, 58c7.
群牛譬經 T215, Faju, 67a6.
大魚事經 T216, Tanwulan, 69c5.
仁王般若波羅蜜經 T245, Kumārajīva, 78a23-24.
法華三昧經 T269, Zhiyan 智嚴, 112c27.
諸菩薩求佛本業經 T282, Nie Daozhen, 65c19.
無垢施菩薩應辯會 T310(33), Nie Daozhen, 66a2.
菩薩修行經 T330, Bo Fazu 白法祖, 66b4.
優填王經 T332, Faju, 67b3.
大乘方等要慧經 T348, An Shigao, 52b17.
寶積三昧文殊師利菩薩問法身經 T356, An Shigao, 52b10-11.
出阿彌陀佛偈 T373, Anon., E. Han, 55b24-25.
般泥洹後灌臘經 T391, Dharmarakṣa, 64a24.
迦葉赴佛般涅槃經 T393, Tanwulan, 70a19.
八吉祥神呪經 T427, Zhi Qian, 58b8.
八陽神呪經 T428, Dharmarakṣa, 64b4.
文殊師利般涅槃經 T463, Nie Daozhen, 65c7.
三曼陀跋陀羅菩薩經 T483, Nie Daozhen, 66a1.
六菩薩亦當誦持經 T491, Anon., E. Han, 54c19.
阿難問事佛吉凶經 T492, An Shigao, 51c22.
摩訶迦葉度貧母經 T497, Guṇabhadra, 91c26.
羅云忍辱經 T500, Faju, 66c22.
沙曷比丘功德經 T501, Faju, 67c13.
佛為年少比丘說正事經 T502, Faju, 67b24.
比丘避女惡名欲自殺經 T503, Faju, 67c10.
犍陀國王經 T506, An Shigao, 52b5.
阿闍世王問五逆經 T508, Faju, 67a24.
阿闍世王授決經 T509, Faju, 67a2.
採花違王上佛授決號妙花經 T510, Tanwulan, 69c12.
長者子懊惱三處經 T525, An Shigao, 50c13.
越難經 T537, Nie Chengyuan 聶承遠, 65b21.
樹提伽經 T540a/b, Guṇabhadra, 91c17.
摩鄧女經 T551, An Shigao, 52a6.
內身觀章句經 T610, Anon., E. Han, 55b4.
法觀經 T611, Dharmarakṣa, 64a21.
身觀經 T612, Dharmarakṣa, 64a20.
佛印三昧經 T621, An Shigao, 52b15.
自誓三昧經 T622, An Shigao, 51b5.
父母恩難報經 T684, An Shigao, 51a13.
盂蘭盆經 T685, Dharmarakṣa, 64a27.
未曾有經 T688, Anon., E. Han, 55a28.
作佛形像經 T692, Anon., E. Han, 54c2.
摩訶剎頭經 T696, Shengjian 聖堅, 83c9.
罪業應報教化地獄經 T724, An Shigao, 51c18.
分別善惡所起經 T729, An Shigao, 51a23.
處處經 T730, An Shigao, 51b9.
十八泥犁經 T731, An Shigao, 51c16.
罵意經 T732, An Shigao, 51b8.
堅意經 T733, An Shigao, 52a2.
鬼問目連經 T734, An Shigao, 51c15.
分別經 T738, Dharmarakṣa, 64a28.
慢法經 T739, Faju, 66c20.
忠心經 T743, Tanwulan, 70a6.
罪福報應經 T747b, Guṇabhadra, 91c5.
十二品生死經 T753, Guṇabhadra, 91c4.
四輩經 T769, Dharmarakṣa, 64a24.
四品學法經 T771, Guṇabhadra, 91c8.
賢者五福德經 T777, Bo Fazu, 66b14.
十二頭陀經 T783, Guṇabhadra, 91b25.
出家緣經 T791, An Shigao, 51a8.
貧窮老公經 T797a/b, Huijian, 93b14.
弟子死復生經 T826, Juqu Jingsheng, 93a3.
懈怠耕者經 T827, Huijian, 93b12.
阿難陀目佉尼呵離陀經 T1013, Guṇabhadra, 92a8.
呪齒經 T1327, Tanwulan, 70b11.
華積陀羅尼神呪經 T1356, Zhi Qian, 58b7.
玄師颰陀所說神呪經 T1378b, Tanwulan, 70b9.
檀特羅麻油述經 T1391, Tanwulan, 70b3-70b4.
摩尼羅亶經 T1393, Tanwulan, 70a24, 70b1.
犯戒罪報輕重經 T1467, An Shigao, 51b1.
大比丘三千威儀 T1470, An Shigao, 50a23-24.
沙彌尼戒經 T1474, Anon., E. Han, 54c27.
戒消災經 T1477, Zhi Qian, 58a11.
菩薩受齋經 T1502, Nie Daozhen, 65c18.
分別功德論 T1507, Anon., E. Han, 54b19.
阿毘曇甘露味論 T1553, Anon., Cao Wei 曹魏, 60b18.
請賓頭盧法 T1689, Huijian, 93b17.
迦葉結經 T2027, An Shigao, 52b16.

This CBC@ entry is associated with all of affected extant texts.

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Unebe 1970]  Unebe Toshihide 畝部俊英. "Jiku Butsunen no kenkyū: Kan'yaku Zōichi agon kyō no yakushutsu wo megutte 竺仏念の研究 漢訳『増壱阿含経』の訳出をめぐって." Nagoya daigaku bungaku bu kenkyū ronshū 名古屋大学文学部研究論集 51 (1970): 3-38. — 28

The main aim of Unebe's study is to address the translatorship of the extant Ekottarikāgama T125. Unebe bases his argument on a combination of rigorous scrutiny of external evidence, and the analysis of one restricted set of stylistic markers (internal evidence), viz., terms for the members of the eightfold path of the noble ones. Unebe discovers that translators down to the time of Zhu Fonian and Kumārajīva generally translated saṃyak-, as it enters into these terms (in saṃyagdr̥ṣṭi, saṃyaksaṃkalpa, etc.) as zheng 正. Zhu Fonian, however, renders the same element as deng 等: e.g. 等見、等治、等語、等業/等行、等命、等方便、等念、等定/等三昧 (with some interesting variation in both order and two individual terms, 等行 vs. 等業 and 等定 vs. 等三昧; 11).

Unebe also discovers that four texts from Mizuno's "alternate MĀ", and two from his "alternate EĀ" feature (some of) the same terms with deng- that are typical of Zhu Fonian: respectively, T66, T70, T75, and T83 (MĀ); and T127 and T140 (EĀ). This implies that these texts, too, were originally translated by a team that included Zhu Fonian.

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Mizuno 1989]  Mizuno Kōgen 水野弘元. "Kan'yaku Chū agon kyō to Zōichi agon kyō 漢訳『中阿含経』と『増一阿含経』." Bukkyō kenkyū 仏教研究 18 (1989): 1-42[L]. Chinese translation: "Hanyi Zhong ahan jing yu Zengyi ahan jing 漢譯《中阿含經》與《増一阿含經》," in Shuiye Hongyuan [=Mizuno Kōgen ], Fojiao wenxian yanjiu: Shuiye Hongyuan zhuzuo xuanji (1) 佛教文獻研究‧水 野 弘 元 著 作 選 集( 一), translated by Xu Yangzhu 許洋主, 509-579. Taipei: Fagu wenhua, 2003.

Mizuno studies external evidence suggesting that EĀ ws translated twice (see separate CBC@ entry), and proposes that vestiges of the lost, second translation (which he ascribes to *Dharmanandin/Zhu Fonian) survive as a group of individual sūtras in the Taishō: T29, T39, T89, T106, T119, T122, T123, T127, T131, T133, T134, T136, T138, T139, T140, T149, T215, T216, T508, T684. This entry lists those texts as a group.

Entry author: Michael Radich

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  • Title: Mizuno's "alternate *Ekottarikāgama"