Text: T0535; 佛說申日經; Shenyue jing 申曰經

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• T0535; 佛說申日經; Shenyue jing 申曰經

Entry author: Michael Radich

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• Title: 佛說申日經
• People: Dharmarakṣa 竺法護, 曇摩羅察 (translator 譯)
• Identifier: T0535

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• T0535; 佛說申日經; Shenyue jing 申曰經

In this paper, Ven. Zhanghui argues against an assertion made by Hayashiya Tomojirō in Iyaku kyōrui no kenkyū 異譯經類の研究 (1945). Hayashiya claims that the titles of the Shenri jing 申日經 T535 and the Shenri'er ben jing 申日兒本經 T536 have been swapped. Zhanghui argues that Hayashiya misunderstands the records in KYL, leading him to argue incorrectly (see also separate entry on T536). Additionally, Zhanghui points out that the two titles should be corrected respectively to Shenyue jing 申曰經 and Shenyuedou benjing 申曰兜本經. [But see below for a qualm about this argument in application to T535. --- MR] Zhanghui claims that 申曰/申曰兜 are transcriptions of the proper name Śrīgup/Śrīgupta or Sirigut/Sirigutta in Indic languages, and that the substitutions of 日 and 兒 for 曰 and 兜 are likely later errors (63, 74-75).

Zhanghui bases her analysis on evidence from multiple Buddhist catalogues, Āgama texts and prefaces, quotations from Jing lü yi xiang 經律異相 T2121, and various editions of KYSJL found in different versions of the canon.

Zhanghui's arguments about the titles aim to refute the old arguments by Hayashiya that the titles of T535 and T536 had been switched. On the assumption that the title including er 兒 "son" was correct, Hayashiya's idea was that idea that a text bearing that title should revolve around the son as the central character, and the content of T535 precisely accords with that title, focusing on the son. On the basis of her argument that the name transcribed in the title should in fact be Shenyuedou 申曰兜, Zhanghui holds that there are no longer grounds to reverse the titles of T535 and T536.

Zhanghui further claims that our present T535 is most likely not the text witnessed under the title Shenri jing/Shenyue jing in the catalogues, as most catalogues state that the Shenri jing and the Yueguang tongzi jing 月光童子經 (the same title as T534) are alternate titles for the same text. Since that text is already accounted for in the present canon by T534, there should exist no separate text under the alternate title, namely Shenri jing (as the present T535). Hence, the present T535 was probably a later addition to the canon.

However, KYSJL, in the edition in T, presents contradictory records about these titles in Chapter 19 Ruzang lu 入藏錄, and Chapter 20 Ruzang lu 入藏錄. Further contradictions exist between KYSJL and the reports of other Buddhist catalogues. KYSJL Chapter 19 records both a five-folio Shenri jing and a nine-folio Yueguang tongzi jing/Shenri jing, thus recognizing two different texts. By contrast, Chapter 20 suggests that the title Shenri jing 申日經 should be deleted, since they are merely the same text, but with two alternate titles (p.64-65). To address this contradiction, Zhanghui consults other editions of KYSJL in the Korean Canon 高麗藏 and the Qisha Canon 磧砂藏, the Yongle Northern Canon 永樂北藏, and the Qianlong Canon 龍藏. Zhanghui finds that a Shenri jing was listed in addition to other scriptures in all these versions of the canon, but the total number of relevant texts changes accordingly in the Korean Canon only. This evidence, Zhanghui argues, indicates that deliberate revisions were made to KYSJL (p.66-68).

Additionally, subsequent Buddhist catalogues that inherit information from KYSJL, such as Yuanzhao's 圓照 Zhenyuan xinding Shijiao jiao lu 貞元新定釋腳錄 and Xuanyi's 玄逸 Da Tang Kaiyuan Shijiao guangpin lizhang 大唐開元釋教廣品歷章 do not include the Shenri jing 申日經. Neither do Huilin's 慧琳 Yiqiejing yin yi 一切經音義 and Kehong's 可洪 Xinji zangjing yinyi suihan lu新集藏經音義隨函錄, which are both based on Zhisheng's Ruzang lu 入藏錄. Therefore, it is most likely that there was originally no separate text entitled Shenri jing, and the extant T535 is a text that Zhisheng 智昇 did not intend to include in the canon.

[Note: If T535 is indeed so late, it is difficult to see how Zhanghui's argument about the transcribed name in the title of T536 would also imply that the title of T535 needs to be "corrected" --- it appears from Zhanghui's own arguments that by the time she thinks T535 would have entered circulation, the form Shenri was also well established. --- MR]

Entry author: Chengpeng Li

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• Title: Shenyue jing 申曰經
• Date: after Zhisheng?

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• T0534; 佛說月光童子經
• T0535; 佛說申日經; Shenyue jing 申曰經

Buswell notes in passing that the Yueguang tongzi jing (Candraprabhākumāra; in two versions, both ascribed to Dharmarakṣa, viz. 月光童子經 T534, 申日經 T535) is an apocryphon. He adds that the series of texts on Prince Moonlight “seems to have been modelled on Confucian prognostication texts (tuchen)”.

Entry author: Sophie Florence

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No

• T0535; 佛說申日經; Shenyue jing 申曰經

Zürcher suggests that the Shenri jing 申日經 T535 was translated by Zhi Qian, rather than Dharmarakṣa. He notes that the Shenri jing is a condensed and developed version of the Yueguang tongzhi jing 月光童子經 T534, which is “unanimously ascribed to Dharmarakṣa.” Zürcher notes that the early catalogues (CSZJJ II 6.3.26; T2146 ch. I p. 115.3.22 etc.) discuss a text titled Yueming tongzi jing, said to be translated by Zhi Qian; Zürcher sees Yueming tongzi jing as "clearly a variant title" of the Shenri jing. Furthermore, he says, it is unlikely that Dharmarakṣa translated the same text twice. The Shenri jing contains a translator’s “or editor’s” note which reads: “in the language of Han this means yueguang tongzhi, ‘the boy (named) Moon-light.’” Zürcher adds that the tradition in Buddhist texts to refer to the Chinese language as “the language of (the reigning dynasty) X”, which would suggest that the text was translated under the Han, whereas Dharmarakṣa’s translating period fell roughly under the western Jin. However, Zürcher later retracted his argument in: Zürcher, Erik. “Prince Moonlight: Messianism and Eschatology in Early Medieval Chinese Buddhism.” T'oung-pao 68 (1982): 1–59.

Entry author: Sophie Florence

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• People: Zhi Qian 支謙 (translator 譯)

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• T0535; 佛說申日經; Shenyue jing 申曰經

According to Hayashiya, there exist only three alternate translations of the Shenri jing 申日經:

Yueguang tongzi jing/Yueming tongzi jing 月光童子經/月明童子經 ascribed to Dharmarakṣa;
Shenri jing 申日經, an anonymous scripture of the W. Jin period or earlier; and
Shenri er benjing 申日兒本經, an anonymous scripture of the W. Jin period or earlier.

The first two of these are listed by Dao’an, and the third first appears in the recompilation of the catalogue of assorted anonymous scriptures 失譯雜經錄of CSZJJ (with a mistaken title Shenri dou benjing 申日兜本經 given by Sengyou). Although there is one more text in the group, Shiliyue jing 失利越經, an anonymous scripture of the W. Jin period or earlier, Hayashiya points out that this text was already lost at the time of Sengyou and has not been found since. Hayashiya maintains that any other ascriptions or texts appear in the catalogues are incorrect or redundant and should be excised (for example, LDSBJ ascribes the Shenri jing to Zhi Qian, and a Shendou ben jing 申兜本經 = Shenri er bing jing 申日兒本經 to Guṇabhadra 求那跋陀羅, but Hayashiya rejects both of these ascriptions as groundless.)

In the Taishō, there exist the following three texts:

Yueguang tongzi jing 月光童子經 T534 ascribed to Dharmarakṣa
Shenri jing 申日經 T535 ascribed to Dharmarakṣa
Shenri er ben jing 申日兒本經 T536 ascribed to Guṇabhadra

Hayashiya compares the style and vocabulary of these texts with the Sheng jing 生經 T154, a text that he regards as an established Dharmarakṣa translation, in order to see which one of the three is really Dharmarakṣa’s work. Based on this comparison, Hayashiya asserts that T534 is indeed the work of Dharmarakṣa, because T534 and T154 share quite a few words and phrases. The phraseology Hayashiya adduces is as follows:聞如是, 一時佛遊(在), 王舍城, 羅閱(大)城, 靈鷲山, 與大比丘衆, 應真/羅漢, 世尊, 不蘭迦葉, 申日, 長者, 梵志, 如來, 月光, 慈悲喜護, 三達六通, 三十三天, 忉利天, 地獄, 緣覺, 菩薩, (vs. 開士 in T535), 梵釋天王 (sic, does not actually appear in the text), 閱叉, 金翅, 厭鬼魅鬼,　無常、苦、空、非身, 唯然, 阿僧祇劫, 莫不歡喜, 稽首作禮而去, 無上正真之獨明, 大千剎 (430-432).

Hayashiya admits that there is a problem in identifying Dharmarakṣa’s work, which is that his vocabulary can vary according to the year of production and amanuenses, and that T534, as well as T535 and T536, contain a number of words and phrases that never appear in any other Mahāyāna texts ascribed to Dharmarakṣa. Nonetheless, Hayashiya argues that T534 is Dharmarakṣa’s work, because the positive match of the vocabulary is good enough, and the text has been consistently ascribed to Dharmarakṣa since Jingtai (422-423). According to Hayashiya, it is also slightly odd that the name Yueming 月明 does not appear inT534, since the original title of the text was Yueming tongzi jing 月明童子經, as listed in Dao’an’s catalogue. However, it does not affect the ascription of the text because there is no other candidate for the Yueguang tongzi jing/Yueming tongzi jing.

Hayashiya asserts that T535 and T536 are also translations of the W. Jin period or earlier, based on the textual comparison. Further, he claims that T535 is most likely to have originally been entitled Shenri er ben jing, while T536 should have been called Shenri jing 申日經, since the former focuses on Shenri’s 申日 son 兒, and the latter on Shenri himself. Hayashiya thinks that the ascriptions that the Taishō gives to T535 and T536 are incorrect. The ascription of T535 to Dharmarakṣa is to be rejected since there is only one work of Dharmarakṣa in the group recorded in the foregoing catalogues, namely T534. The ascription of T536 to Guṇabhadra comes from LDSBJ, as mentioned above, and is groundless. Thus, according to Hayashiya, the correct titles and ascriptions of T534, T535, and T536 are as follows:

T534: Dharmarakṣa;
T535: anonymous scripture of the W. Jin period or earlier; and
T536: anonymous scripture of the W. Jin period or earlier.

Entry author: Atsushi Iseki

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• People: Anonymous (China), 失譯, 闕譯, 未詳撰者, 未詳作者, 不載譯人 (unspecified)
• Date: W. Jin 西晋

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• T0534; 佛說月光童子經
• T0535; 佛說申日經; Shenyue jing 申曰經
• T0536; Shenri'er jing 申日兒經; Shenridou ben jing 申日兜本經; Shenridou jing 申日兜經; 申日兒本經; Shenyuedou ben jing 申曰兜本經

Satō Ryōchi 佐藤良智 points out that the Shenri'er ben jing 申日兒本經 T536 ascribed to Guṇabhadra 求那跋陀羅, the Yueguang tongzi jing 月光童子經 T534 ascribed to Dharmarakṣa and the Shenri jing 申日經 T535 ascribed to Dharmarakṣa share the same contents [all are regarded loosely as alternate versions of the Candraprabhakumāra-sūtra], and that T536 should be the oldest of the three since it has the simplest story and wording. Satō also claims that some parts of T535 suggest that the text is apocryphal, created by re-writing 改作 T536.

Entry author: Atsushi Iseki

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No

• T0535; 佛說申日經; Shenyue jing 申曰經

Ryōchi Satō 佐藤良智 points out that the Shenri'er ben jing 申日兒本經 T536 ascribed to Guṇabhadra 求那跋陀羅, the Yueguang tongzi jing 月光童子經 T534 ascribed to Dharmarakṣa and the Shenri jing 申日經 T535 ascribed to Dharmarakṣa share the same contents [all are regarded loosely as alternate versions of the Candraprabhakumāra-sūtra], and that T536 should be the oldest of the three since it has the simplest story and wording. Satō also claims that some parts of T535 suggest that the text is apocryphal, created by re-writing 改作 T536.

Entry author: Atsushi Iseki

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• People: Anonymous (China), 失譯, 闕譯, 未詳撰者, 未詳作者, 不載譯人 (author)

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• T0535; 佛說申日經; Shenyue jing 申曰經

Hayashiya examines Dao’an’s list of anonymous scriptures, as “recompiled” by Sengyou under the title 新集安公失譯經錄 at CSZJJ T2145 (LV) 16c7-18c2. The Shenri jing 申日經 is included in the section of the Dao'an/CSZJJ list for texts listed as extant 有; Sengyou adds an interlinear note: 安公云出中阿含; 16c23. Hayashiya gives, in tabulated form, information about the treatment of the same texts in Fajing T2146, LDSBJ T2034, the KYL T2154, and his own opinion about whether or not the text is extant in T, and if so, where (by vol. and page no.). The above text is identified by Hayashiya with the Shenri jing 申日經 T535, attributed in the present canon (T) to Dharmarakṣa 竺法護.

Entry author: Merijn ter Haar

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• People: Anonymous (China), 失譯, 闕譯, 未詳撰者, 未詳作者, 不載譯人 (translator 譯)