Chapter 4 · The East Asian Reception — Two Tang Commentaries and the Single-Practice Samādhi Entering Chan

Part One · Sources and Formation

What happens after a sūtra has been translated? How do later generations read it—and does reading itself have a history?

It does, and that history deserves a chapter of its own. Here we follow three lines in the East Asian reception of prajñā: how two great Tang Yogācāra masters commented on the Heart Sūtra, how one of the early patriarchs of Chan established his practice upon the Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā, and how Tiantai incorporated the single-practice samādhi into calming and contemplation. The character of this chapter should be stated at the outset: it is a chapter of historical evidence. It records 『how they read』 and does not rule on 『whether they ought to have read in that way』. This book as a whole speaks through Prajñā's own vocabulary. Yogācāra readings appear here only as evidence in a history of reception, recorded without adjudication.

1 · Ci'en and Ximing Read the Heart Sūtra

After Xuanzang translated the Heart Sūtra, two great masters among his disciples each wrote an exposition. Kuiji of Ci'en composed the Profound Praise of the Prajñāpāramitā Heart Sūtra, and Woncheuk of Ximing composed the Praise of the Buddha's Teaching of the Prajñāpāramitā Heart Sūtra. Their readings form coherent systems of their own. Explaining the title, Woncheuk says, 「The Indic sound is prajñā; here it is translated as wisdom」〔T1711 0543c23·待譯〕 and further explains, 「Wisdom reaches the other shore … through causal wisdom, one severs the obstructions and reaches the city of nirvāṇa」〔T1711 0543c24·待譯〕. Kuiji records that this sūtra extracts the essential pivot from the Great Prajñā and circulates separately: 「The Great Sūtra adapts to capacities and is extensive in both meaning and text … this sūtra was separately extracted」〔T1710 0524a27·待譯〕.

When they reach 「clearly seeing that the five aggregates are all empty」, the distinctive methods of their schools come into view. Woncheuk classifies the sentence as the function of contemplative cognition:

「『Clearly seeing that the five aggregates are all empty』 distinguishes the function of cognition. Its function is twofold: first, benefiting oneself; second, benefiting others. This passage clarifies that contemplating emptiness is itself self-benefit.」 〔圓測《心經贊》·T1711 0544a06·待譯〕

Kuiji, by contrast, takes this sentence as the pivot through which the whole sūtra reveals the emptiness contemplated and reads 「emptiness」 through his own doctrinal system:

「The word 『emptiness』 here is precisely the three non-natures … declaring all dharmas empty is the Buddha's hidden intent.」 〔窺基《幽贊》·T1710 0535b19–b20·b26–27 節引拼接·待譯〕

「The three non-natures」 and 「the Buddha's hidden intent」—these are the marks of Kuiji reading prajñā through Yogācāra's method. Here we need see only one thing: the same scriptural sentence grows into different readings within different traditions of learning, and both commentators are serious and systematic. This is the true character of reception history: the life of scripture continues in the earnest reading of generation after generation.

2 · Daoxin Relies on the Sūtra — the Single-Practice Samādhi Enters Chan

The second line enters the Chan tradition. Jingjue's Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Laṅkā records Daoxin, the Fourth Patriarch of Chan, stating the scriptural basis of his Dharma-gate:

「In teaching this Dharma of mine, one must rely on the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra: the mind of all buddhas is foremost. One also relies on the Mañjuśrī Teaching of Prajñā Sūtra: the single-practice samādhi.」 〔《楞伽師資記》道信章·T85n2837 1286c22–23·待譯〕

He expressly names two sūtras on which the practice relies; one is the single-practice samādhi of the Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā. Immediately afterward, the Record cites its defining sentence word for word—「The dharma-realm has a single mark; bind the attention to the dharma-realm. This is called the single-practice samādhi」—identical to the sūtra. The practice of the East Mountain Dharma-gate is thus welded to this Prajñā text. The joint is plainly visible in the documents: through it, Prajñā contemplation enters the bloodstream of Chan.

3 · Tiantai's Constant Sitting

The third line lies in Tiantai. Zhiyi's Great Calming and Contemplation establishes four kinds of samādhi. The first, the constant-sitting samādhi, begins by declaring its source:

「First, as for constant sitting: it comes from the two Prajñā texts, the Mañjuśrī Teaching and the Mañjuśrī Questions, and is named the single-practice samādhi. I will now first explain the method and next explain the encouragement to cultivate.」 〔《摩訶止觀》·T46 0011a28–0011b01·待譯〕

「It comes from the two Prajñā texts, the Mañjuśrī Teaching and the Mañjuśrī Questions」—Tiantai itself understands its constant-sitting practice as originating in Prajñā. (Which sūtra is precisely meant by 「Mañjuśrī Questions」 has long been disputed; here we record Zhiyi's wording without making an identification ruling.) Together with the Sixth Patriarch's later reinterpretation in the Platform Sūtra—「Good friends! The single-practice samādhi is constantly practicing the one straightforward mind in every place, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down」〔T48 0352c25·待譯〕—the four words “single-practice samādhi” passed through Prajñā, Chan, and Tiantai.

4 · The Network of Reception at a Glance

Draw the lens back. Taking the short Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā as the center, no fewer than eighteen works cite it: the Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Laṅkā and the Platform Sūtra in Chan; the Great Calming and Contemplation in Tiantai; commentaries on the Awakening of Faith from Haedong and the Huayan tradition by Wonhyo, Huiyuan, and Fazang; and the catalogues and monastic biographies of successive ages. Reception is not a single line but a network. Once translated, a sūtra is opened anew in the hands of every age and every school.

Ways of reading have histories; the body of scripture is ever new. Having seen how prajñā was read, we should return to what the sūtras themselves mean. What do emptiness and non-attainment actually say?—that is the road of Part Two.

Author · Shi Huijing CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · 二〇二六 · 夏