中論Treatise on the Middle

T1564 · 龍樹菩薩造 梵志青目釋 姚秦三藏鳩摩羅什譯
全帙 · 可讀
名相 · Glossary
卷首心要Essence

《中論》開卷不先建立一個世界觀，而先禮敬一位善說因緣、能滅戲論的佛：

「不生亦不滅，不常亦不斷，
不一亦不異，不來亦不出。」〔T30 0001b14–0001b15〕

八句看似都是否定，其實不是把世界抹掉。它們一次次問：你所說的生、滅、常、斷、一、異、來、出，若真有固定自性，究竟安在何處？

從因緣看，正因為有作用，所以無自性

青目說：「諸法自性不在眾緣中，但眾緣和合故得名字。」〔T30 0002b20–0002b22〕一法若要等眾緣才成，它的成立便不獨在自己手上。無自性不是沒有它，而是它不能離開條件、關係與假名，自成一個不變的東西。

所以《中論》不在因緣之外另找一個「空」。正因為萬法依緣而有，才沒有可獨立抓住的自體；正因為沒有定體，因緣的轉變、修行與離苦才不被封死。

所破的是定執，不是因果

論中反覆設問：果若在因中先有，何須再生？若先全無，因又憑什麼只生自己的果？作者、所作，燃與可燃，染與染者，若各自先成，兩者不必相待；若全然一體，彼此又不能成立。

這種追問不是一句「什麼都沒有」。〈觀四諦品〉反而明說，若不見空義，四諦、知苦、斷集、證滅、修道乃至三寶都不能成立。空讓因果免於僵死，也讓修行不落斷滅。

中道不是第三個落腳處

常與斷、同與異、有與無，總叫人選一邊。《中論》逐一檢查兩邊共同預設的那個定性，而不另造一個「中」給人抓住。中道不是折衷，不是藏在有無之間的第三物；它是因緣法離開定有與定無時的如實可見。

假名因此不是虛假話術。名稱可用，因果可說，苦可知，道可修；只是每一個名字都不再冒充一個自立不變的實體。

一句也不破

到〈觀十二因緣品〉，論依無明緣行乃至生緣老死，順逆說明流轉與還滅。這一品的題眼是「一句也不破」：不是摧毀佛說的十二支，而是讓每一支回到依緣、無自性的本位。若把破執誤作破法，便錯過全論最安靜也最用力之處。

讀《中論》，可以把每一品都當成一次鬆手：不是急著同意「空」，而是看清自己剛才把哪一個關係中的名字，握成了不依任何條件的東西。

The Treatise on the Middle does not begin by constructing a worldview. It begins by bowing to a Buddha who teaches causes and conditions well and brings conceptual proliferation to rest:

“Neither arising nor ceasing,
Neither permanent nor annihilated,
Neither identical nor different,
Neither coming nor going forth.”〔T30 0001b14–0001b15〕

These eight lines are all negations, but they do not erase the world. Each asks where the arising, ceasing, permanence, annihilation, identity, difference, coming, or going forth that we take to be fixed could actually stand on its own.

Because Things Function Through Conditions, They Lack Intrinsic Nature

Qingmu explains that the intrinsic nature of dharmas is not found among their many conditions; they receive names only through the coming together of conditions〔T30 0002b20–0002b22〕. If something must await conditions in order to appear, its establishment does not lie in its own hands alone. To lack intrinsic nature is not to be absent. It is to be unable to stand apart from conditions, relations, and provisional designation as an unchanging thing.

The treatise therefore does not seek an “emptiness” outside causes and conditions. Precisely because dharmas occur dependently, they have no independent body that can be seized. Precisely because they have no fixed body, change, practice, and release from suffering are not closed off.

What Is Refuted Is Fixed Grasping, Not Cause and Effect

The treatise repeatedly asks: if an effect already exists in its cause, why must it arise again? If it is wholly absent there, why should a cause produce its own effect rather than any other? If agent and action, fire and fuel, or defilement and the defiled are already established separately, they need not depend upon each other. If they are simply one, neither side can establish the other.

None of this means “nothing exists.” The chapter on the Four Truths says instead that without understanding emptiness, the truths, knowing suffering, abandoning its origin, realizing cessation, cultivating the path, and even the Three Jewels could not stand. Emptiness keeps cause and effect from becoming rigid; it also keeps practice from falling into annihilation.

The Middle Way Is Not a Third Place to Stand

Permanence or annihilation, identity or difference, existence or nonexistence—the mind is always invited to choose a side. The Treatise on the Middle examines the fixed nature presupposed by both sides. It does not manufacture a third thing called “the middle” for us to grasp. The Middle Way is neither compromise nor a substance hidden between being and nonbeing. It is dependent dharmas seen without either fixed existence or fixed nonexistence.

Provisional designation is therefore not deceptive speech. Names can be used, cause and effect can be taught, suffering can be known, and the path can be cultivated. A name simply ceases to pass itself off as an independent, unchanging entity.

Not Refuting a Single Thing

In the chapter on the twelve links, the treatise follows ignorance conditioning formations through birth conditioning aging-and-death, then traces cessation in reverse order. The chapter’s eye is “not refuting a single thing.” It does not demolish the Buddha’s twelve links; it returns each link to its dependent and intrinsically natureless place. To mistake the refutation of grasping for the destruction of dharmas is to miss the quietest and most forceful point of the whole work.

Read each chapter, then, as one act of releasing the hand: not hurrying to agree with “emptiness,” but seeing which name within a relation has just been clenched into something that needs no conditions at all.

緒論Introduction

一、所傳之書

本冊所讀《中論》是《大正新脩大藏經》第三十冊 T30n1564：龍樹菩薩造，梵志青目釋，姚秦三藏鳩摩羅什譯。全書四卷、二十七品，前有釋僧叡序，頁界為〔T30 0001a01–0039c01〕。

「中論」在此首先是這一部漢傳合層文本的書名。它包含龍樹頌，也包含青目逐段釋義以及羅什譯場所成的漢文形態；因此英題採 Treatise on the Middle，不以另一部現代通行書名無聲替換今本身分。

二、卷首序告訴我們什麼

僧叡序說，《中論》是龍樹所造，今所出者為賓伽羅、秦言青目之釋；又記青目釋中「乖闕煩重」處，羅什「皆裁而裨之」〔T30 0001a24–0001b01〕。這段序記使讀者一開始便知道：今本不是透明穿越數個語言與世代的單一聲音。

序又把四論並舉：「《百論》治外以閑邪，斯文袪內以流滯，《大智釋論》之淵博，《十二門觀》之精詣」〔T30 0001b01–0001b04〕。這是關中舊學自己留下的讀法；本冊據此互照三論，卻不把三部書壓成同一種論證。

三、二十七品的路線

第一品從八不、四門不生與四緣入手。其後各品檢查運動、感官、五陰、六種、染、三相、作者、先住者、燃與可燃、本際、苦、行、合、有無、縛解、業、法、時、因果、成壞、如來、顛倒、四諦、涅槃、十二因緣與邪見。

這不是二十七個互不相干的駁論。每一品都把一組看似能各自成立的關係項放回相待之中，再問它是否真有離緣自成的性。最後幾品把這種檢查帶回佛法核心：四諦、涅槃、緣起與見。

四、頌與釋怎麼讀

龍樹頌是論證骨架，青目長行往往保存問者、答者、譬喻、反難與語義轉折。只摘頌，容易看不見漢傳今本如何解開論證；只讀長行，又可能把青目的判釋倒署成龍樹原頌。

本冊原典層以版式區分頌與釋；白話、考據、義疏與心要則在必要處明標「龍樹頌」「青目釋」「問曰」「答曰」。吉藏《中觀論疏》的後出判釋另標為古德之鏡，不混入根本文句。

五、本冊的讀者路徑

每單元有一份共用漢文原典，以及中文、英文各四個讀者層：白話、考據、義疏、心要。原典守字，白話展句，考據舉證，義疏貫義，心要開門。讀者可從原典逐層深讀，也可由心要進入，再回原典核對。

完整單元矩陣見索引，名相固定譯法見詞彙對照，引據與古德鏡見書目。

I. The Received Work

This edition reads the Treatise on the Middle preserved as T30n1564 in volume thirty of the Taishō Canon: composed by the bodhisattva Nāgārjuna, commented upon by the brahmin Qingmu, and translated into Chinese by the Yao-Qin Tripiṭaka master Kumārajīva. Its four fascicles and twenty-seven chapters are preceded by Seng Rui’s preface and occupy T30 0001a01–0039c01.

Here, Treatise on the Middle first names this received, layered Chinese work. It includes Nāgārjuna’s verses, Qingmu’s passage-by-passage explanations, and the Chinese form produced in Kumārajīva’s translation community. The English title therefore does not silently replace this textual identity with the modern conventional name of a different textual object.

II. What the Preface Tells Us

Seng Rui says that Nāgārjuna composed the treatise and that the work now presented is the commentary of the brahmin Piṅgala, called Qingmu in Chinese. He further records that Kumārajīva trimmed and supplemented places in Qingmu’s commentary that were defective, missing, or repetitive〔T30 0001a24–0001b01〕. From the outset, the preface tells readers that this is not a single voice transparently carried across languages and generations.

The preface also places four works together: the Hundred Treatise treats outsiders and bars error; this text removes internal stagnation; the Great Treatise on Wisdom is profound and extensive; and the contemplation of the Twelve Gates is refined〔T30 0001b01–0001b04〕. This is an old Guanzhong account of how to read the works together. The present edition follows that invitation without flattening their different modes of argument.

III. The Road Through Twenty-Seven Chapters

The first chapter begins with the eight negations, the four alternatives of non-arising, and the four conditions. Later chapters examine motion, faculties, aggregates, elements, defilement, the three marks, action and agent, a prior abider, fire and fuel, a prior limit, suffering, conditioned formations, conjunction, existence and nonexistence, bondage and release, karma, dharma, time, cause and effect, formation and dissolution, the Tathāgata, inversion, the Four Truths, nirvāṇa, the twelve links, and wrong views.

These are not twenty-seven unrelated refutations. Each chapter returns apparently self-established terms to their dependence upon one another, then asks whether any can possess a nature formed apart from conditions. The closing chapters bring this inquiry directly into the heart of Buddhist teaching: the Four Truths, nirvāṇa, dependent origination, and views.

IV. How to Read Verse and Commentary

Nāgārjuna’s verses carry the argumentative skeleton. Qingmu’s prose often preserves the questioner, respondent, analogies, objections, and semantic turns. Reading verses alone can conceal how the received Chinese work opens its argument; reading prose without attribution can turn Qingmu’s explanations into words supposedly spoken in the root verses.

The Source Text distinguishes verse and prose typographically. The Vernacular, Apparatus, Exposition, and Heart-Essence identify Nāgārjuna’s verse, Qingmu’s explanation, question, and answer whenever the distinction matters. Jizang’s later Commentary on the Treatise on the Middle is marked as an ancient mirror, never merged with the root work.

V. Reading This Edition

Each unit has one shared Chinese Source Text and four reader layers in both Chinese and English: Vernacular, Apparatus, Exposition, and Heart-Essence. The Source Text preserves; the Vernacular opens the sentences; the Apparatus gives evidence; the Exposition connects the teaching; and the Heart-Essence opens a door. Readers may proceed from the source through each layer or begin with the Heart-Essence and return to verify every claim against the text.

The complete unit matrix appears in the Indices, governing English forms in the Glossary, and primary canonical and commentarial sources in the Bibliography.

讀法How to read

一、先選一條路，不必一次讀完

  • 八不與因緣：00 序 → 01 因緣 → 15 有無 → 24 四諦。
  • 關係如何成立：02 去來 → 08 作作者 → 10 燃可燃 → 14 合 → 20 因果。
  • 身心與迷執：03 六情 → 04 五陰 → 06 染染者 → 09 本住 → 23 顛倒。
  • 修行與解脫：12 苦 → 16 縛解 → 17 業 → 18 法 → 25 涅槃。
  • 全論收束：24 四諦 → 25 涅槃 → 26 十二因緣 → 27 邪見。

這些路徑不是新的科判，只是閱讀入口。全書本來次第仍依序與二十七品保存。

二、每品先辨聲音

遇到偈頌，先看它提出什麼關係或四句；進入長行，再辨問者立了什麼、青目如何回答。不要把外人的立場當成論主結論，也不要把青目的例證倒說成龍樹頌原有之字。

考據層會進一步標出異釋、吉藏判釋與其他經論互讀。凡屬古德之釋，都保留作者與藏經頁錨。

三、五層怎麼配合

  1. 心要：先抓本品最切身的一個問題。
  2. 原典：看實際頌、問答與頁錨，不以撮述代替原句。
  3. 白話：補足古文省略的主詞、條件與論證次序。
  4. 考據：查校勘、異釋、名相、科判、吉藏鏡與經論依據。
  5. 義疏：把本品放回全論與修行語境，再由明標的古德鏡收束。

若時間有限，可讀心要與原典；若遇到「空是否否定因果」一類疑問，應連同考據與義疏一起讀。

四、讀否定句的三個提醒

第一，先問否定的是什麼：是自性生、定實有、固定關係，還是世俗作用？第二，保留成對兩邊：不常也不斷，不一也不異，不只破一邊。第三，查看結論是否回到因緣與假名；若讀成一切皆無，通常已把「無自性」偷換成「不存在」。

〈觀四諦品〉是重要校準點。它直接說明，不通達空義才會壞四諦與三寶；因此全論任何一處都不宜讀成取消苦、集、滅、道。

五、與另外二論互讀

《十二門論》篇幅短，適合與《中論》第一、八、十、二十、二十六品對讀，看同一關係問題如何被組成十二扇門。《百論》以「外曰／內曰」當面往復，能讓讀者看見空義如何在具體論辯中工作。

互讀的目的不是把三論句句配對，而是保留三種文體：《中論》的頌釋相繫、《十二門論》的門門深入、《百論》的對辯破執。各自讀清，三論才真正互照。

I. Choose One Road; Do Not Try to Finish at Once

  • The eight negations and conditions: 00 Preface → 01 Conditions → 15 Existence and Nonexistence → 24 Four Truths.
  • How relations are established: 02 Going and Coming → 08 Action and Agent → 10 Fire and Fuel → 14 Conjunction → 20 Cause and Effect.
  • Body, mind, and grasping: 03 Six Faculties → 04 Five Aggregates → 06 Defilement and the Defiled → 09 Prior Abider → 23 Inversion.
  • Practice and release: 12 Suffering → 16 Bondage and Release → 17 Karma → 18 Dharma → 25 Nirvāṇa.
  • The closing movement: 24 Four Truths → 25 Nirvāṇa → 26 Twelve Links → 27 Wrong Views.

These roads are reading entrances, not a new structural division. The received order remains the preface followed by twenty-seven chapters.

II. Identify the Voice Before Following the Argument

When a verse appears, first ask what relation or set of alternatives it places under examination. In the prose, identify what the questioner proposes and how Qingmu’s answer proceeds. Do not take an opponent’s thesis as the treatise author’s conclusion, and do not place Qingmu’s examples into Nāgārjuna’s verse.

The Apparatus further identifies variant explanations, Jizang’s judgments, and intertexts. Every ancient explanation retains its author and canon locus.

III. Let the Five Layers Work Together

  1. Heart-Essence: enter through one immediate problem.
  2. Source Text: see the actual verse, exchange, and locus rather than relying on summary.
  3. Vernacular: recover subjects, conditions, and argumentative order compressed by classical prose.
  4. Apparatus: examine variants, terminology, outline, Jizang’s mirror, and canonical evidence.
  5. Exposition: return the chapter to the work as a whole and to practice, closing through a clearly attributed ancient mirror.

When time is short, read the Heart-Essence and Source Text. When a question such as “Does emptiness deny cause and effect?” arises, read the Apparatus and Exposition as well.

IV. Three Reminders for Reading Negation

First ask what is being negated: intrinsically arisen existence, fixed reality, a self-standing relation, or conventional function? Second preserve both poles: neither permanence nor annihilation, neither identity nor difference. Third see whether the argument returns to conditions and provisional designation. If the result becomes “nothing exists,” “without intrinsic nature” has probably been replaced by “nonexistent.”

The chapter on the Four Truths is an essential calibration point. It states that failing to understand emptiness—not emptiness itself—would destroy the truths and the Three Jewels. No chapter should therefore be read as cancelling suffering, its origin, cessation, or the path.

V. Reading Across the Other Two Treatises

The shorter Twelve Gate Treatise pairs naturally with chapters 01, 08, 10, 20, and 26, showing how related questions become twelve consecutive gates. The Hundred Treatise, built through direct exchanges between an outsider and an insider, shows how the same release from fixed nature works within concrete debate.

Cross-reading should preserve three literary forms rather than forcing sentence-by-sentence equivalence: verse joined to commentary in the Treatise on the Middle, successive gates in the Twelve Gate Treatise, and adversarial dialogue in the Hundred Treatise. Only when each is read clearly can the three truly illuminate one another.

凡例Conventions

一、底本與單元

  1. 本冊以 T30n1564《中論》為單一原典底本，頁界〔T30 0001a01–0039c01〕。
  2. 全書依卷首釋僧叡序與所傳二十七品，立二十八單元；單元起錨見索引。
  3. 原典層逐字守底本，不以異讀、異釋、吉藏疏或現代整理本無聲改正文。

二、龍樹頌與青目釋

  1. 原典所傳偈頌與長行依底本文體分層；龍樹為頌作者，青目為釋者。
  2. 問者所立、答者所破、青目說明與龍樹頌各守聲口。撮述不得把問方之說寫成論主定論。
  3. 僧叡序屬序者之聲；吉藏《中觀論疏》屬後出古德之鏡，皆不倒灌入龍樹或青目。

三、頁錨與引文

  1. 中文考據以 「……」 標逐字引文，緊接藏經號與頁欄行；省略處明標〔……〕。
  2. 白話、義疏、心要與卷首卷末的撮意語不冒充原文；若逐字引論，仍附頁錨。
  3. 英文考據保留漢文引句與頁錨，緊接 **tr.** 英譯；其他英語讀者層通篇使用英文。

四、五層職分

  1. 原典守字句、頌釋、夾註與頁錨。
  2. 白話逐段展開句意、問答、條件與否定，不以摘要代譯。
  3. 考據列校勘、異釋、吉藏專疏、名相、科判、譯史與經論互讀。
  4. 義疏貫通本品法義；末段古德判釋明標來源。
  5. 心要從一個可親近的問題入門，不複製義疏目次，也不新增證量承諾。

五、空、有與因果

  1. 「空」「無自性」不等於虛無或不存在；譯寫須保留依緣、假名與世俗作用。
  2. 有／無、常／斷、一／異等成對檢驗，不准只保留一邊的否定。
  3. 涉及罪福、業果、四諦、十二因緣與修道時，必須保留論中因果與修行次第，不以空義抹平。

六、異讀、異釋與古德鏡

  1. 大正原校異讀列於考據，正文仍守 T30n1564。
  2. T30n1566《般若燈論釋》、T30n1567《大乘中觀釋論》等同頌異釋只在有實際對應處並列，不互相校正。
  3. 吉藏 T42n1824 為主要逐文鏡。凡屬吉藏判釋，明標其名與頁錨，不冒充根本論文。

七、名相與英譯

  1. 英題用 Treatise on the Middle；青目用 Qingmu，不依現代重構另行梵語化。
  2. 自性以 intrinsic nature 為主，空以 emptiness / empty 為主，中道作 the Middle Way。
  3. 二十七品英題與核心名相依詞彙對照；同一術語若因句法改作動詞或形容詞，義界仍須一致。

八、引據、題署與授權

本冊判釋只引經典、古論與古德疏釋；近現代學者與現代梵文校本不作讀者面權威。中文卷首卷末以「釋慧鏡 · 指月 · 中論 · 件名 · 2026 夏」題署，英文依相應格式題署。

本冊譯注採 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0。藏經原文依其原有權利與使用規範；現代譯寫、編排與譯注不改變原典身分。

I. Source and Units

  1. The sole Source Text is T30n1564, Treatise on the Middle, T30 0001a01–0039c01.
  2. Seng Rui’s preface and the twenty-seven received chapters form twenty-eight reader units. Opening loci appear in the Indices.
  3. The Source Text preserves T30n1564. Variants, parallel explanations, Jizang’s commentary, and modern critical editions do not silently rewrite it.

II. Nāgārjuna’s Verse and Qingmu’s Commentary

  1. Verse and prose follow the literary forms received in the source. Nāgārjuna composes the verses; Qingmu is the commentator.
  2. The questioner’s thesis, respondent’s refutation, Qingmu’s explanation, and Nāgārjuna’s verse retain separate voices. An opponent’s position may not be summarized as the treatise author’s conclusion.
  3. Seng Rui speaks in the preface. Jizang’s Commentary on the Treatise on the Middle is a later ancient mirror. Neither voice is placed into Nāgārjuna’s or Qingmu’s mouth.

III. Loci and Quotations

  1. Chinese Apparatus quotations use 「……」 and immediately give canon number and page-column-line loci. Omissions are marked with 〔……〕.
  2. Paraphrase in the Vernacular, Exposition, Heart-Essence, and front matter does not pass as root-text quotation. Verbatim quotations retain loci.
  3. The English Apparatus preserves each full Chinese quotation and locus, followed in the same block by **tr.**. Other English reader layers use English throughout.

IV. Duties of the Five Layers

  1. Source Text preserves wording, verse and commentary, transmitted notes, and loci.
  2. Vernacular opens each passage, question, condition, and negation without substituting summary for translation.
  3. Apparatus presents textual variants, parallel explanations, Jizang’s commentary, terminology, outline, translation history, and canonical intertexts.
  4. Exposition connects the teaching of the chapter and clearly attributes its closing ancient mirror.
  5. Heart-Essence enters through one immediate question without copying the Exposition’s outline or promising attainments absent from the text.

V. Emptiness, Existence, and Cause and Effect

  1. “Empty” and “without intrinsic nature” never mean nothingness or simple nonexistence. Dependence, provisional designation, and conventional function remain visible.
  2. Paired inquiries—existence and nonexistence, permanence and annihilation, identity and difference—retain both sides.
  3. Passages on demerit and merit, karma, the Four Truths, the twelve links, and the path preserve causal and practical sequence; emptiness does not flatten them.

VI. Variants, Parallel Explanations, and the Ancient Mirror

  1. Variants in the Taishō notes are recorded in the Apparatus while the Source Text remains T30n1564.
  2. T30n1566, Prajñāpradīpa Commentary, and T30n1567, Mahāyāna Madhyamaka Commentary, are compared only where an actual parallel survives. One version does not correct another by default.
  3. Jizang’s T42n1824 is the principal passage-by-passage mirror. His judgments are attributed by name and locus and never presented as root-treatise wording.

VII. Terminology and English Titles

  1. The work is Treatise on the Middle. The commentator is Qingmu; no conjectural Sanskrit identity replaces the received name.
  2. 自性 is governed by intrinsic nature, 空 by emptiness / empty, and 中道 by the Middle Way.
  3. Chapter titles and central terminology follow the Glossary. Syntax may require a verb or adjective, but the governing semantic boundary remains.

VIII. Authorities, Signatures, and License

Reader-facing interpretation is grounded in scriptures, ancient treatises, and ancient masters. Modern scholars and modern Sanskrit editions do not serve as textual or doctrinal authorities here. Chinese front and back matter are signed 「釋慧鏡 · 指月 · 中論 · {item} · 2026 夏」, and English front and back matter follow the corresponding format.

The annotations and modern renderings are licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Canonical source text remains subject to its existing rights and conditions of use. Modern rendering, arrangement, and annotation do not alter the identity of the source text.

譯者Translator

一、造頌者：龍樹

今本品首署「龍樹菩薩造」。二十七品以頌提出論證骨架，從八不、四門與四緣，逐步檢驗去來、作者、因果、四諦、涅槃與邪見等關係。凡本冊稱「龍樹頌」，只指今本明確呈現為頌的根本文字，不把後釋回署給造頌者。

二、釋者：青目

品首續署「梵志青目釋」。僧叡序又說，今所出者為賓伽羅、秦言青目之所釋。青目長行保存造論因緣、問答、譬喻與逐頌解釋，是 T30n1564 不可拆去的一層。本冊以 Qingmu 為英語名形，不依後世推測另造身分。

三、漢譯者：鳩摩羅什與關中譯場

今本署「姚秦三藏鳩摩羅什譯」。僧叡序記青目之辭有乖闕煩重處，羅什「皆裁而裨之」〔T30 0001a24–0001b01〕，顯示傳譯中亦有整理與補足。本冊守今本漢文，不從想像逆造一部可與譯場工作完全分離的文字。

卷首序作者釋僧叡另有自己的見證聲口；吉藏《中觀論疏》則是後世逐文之鏡。兩者都在明標處歸還原作者。

四、本冊譯注：釋慧鏡

釋慧鏡，漢傳佛典譯注者，「指月」發起人。本冊由釋慧鏡統攝原典校讀、現代漢語譯寫、經論考據、義疏、心要與英文讀本，使每一品能回查 T30n1564 的原句與頁錨，同時保留龍樹、青目、僧叡、羅什譯場與吉藏各自的位置。

譯注不以現代語取代古文，也不以吉藏疏取代根本論。原典守字，白話達意，考據舉證，義疏開解，心要指路；五層各負一責，共同把讀者送回論文本身。

I. Verse Author: Nāgārjuna

The chapter headings attribute the work to the bodhisattva Nāgārjuna. Across twenty-seven chapters, the verses carry an argumentative skeleton from the eight negations, the four alternatives, and the four conditions through motion, agency, cause and effect, the Four Truths, nirvāṇa, and wrong views. “Nāgārjuna’s verse” in this edition refers only to verse presented as such in the received work; later explanation is not reassigned to him.

II. Commentator: Qingmu

The headings next state that the brahmin Qingmu comments upon the work. Seng Rui’s preface says that the commentary now transmitted was made by the brahmin Piṅgala, called Qingmu in Chinese. Qingmu’s prose preserves the circumstances of composition, questions and answers, analogies, and passage-by-passage explanation. It is an inseparable layer of T30n1564. The English form Qingmu preserves the received Chinese identity without imposing a conjectural reconstruction.

III. Chinese Translator: Kumārajīva and the Guanzhong Translation Community

The work is attributed to the Yao-Qin Tripiṭaka master Kumārajīva as translator. Seng Rui records that where Qingmu’s language was defective, incomplete, or repetitive, Kumārajīva trimmed and supplemented it〔T30 0001a24–0001b01〕. The present edition therefore preserves the received Chinese rather than imagining a textual body wholly separable from the translation community’s work.

Seng Rui, as preface author, retains his own witnessing voice. Jizang’s Commentary on the Treatise on the Middle is a later passage-by-passage mirror. Both are returned to their own authors wherever they appear.

IV. Translator and Annotator of the Present Edition: Shi Huijing

Shi Huijing is a translator and annotator of Chinese Buddhist texts and the founder of Zhiyue. In this edition he brings together Source-Text reading, modern Chinese rendering, canonical and commentarial research, Exposition, Heart-Essence, and the English reading edition. Every chapter can return to its wording and loci in T30n1564 while preserving the distinct positions of Nāgārjuna, Qingmu, Seng Rui, Kumārajīva’s translation community, and Jizang.

Translator · Shi Huijing — with AI-assisted rendering, translator-ruled

Modern language does not replace the classical text, and Jizang’s commentary does not replace the root treatise. The Source Text preserves; the Vernacular conveys; the Apparatus gives evidence; the Exposition opens the teaching; and the Heart-Essence points out a road. Each layer bears one responsibility, and all return the reader to the treatise itself.

書目Bibliography

本頁列全論主要底本、同頌異釋、吉藏逐文疏與系內互讀經論。各單元的具體引文、異讀與判釋，以該單元考據所列原句、作者、藏經號與頁欄行為準。

一、底本與卷首序

  • T30n1564《中論》：龍樹菩薩造、梵志青目釋、姚秦三藏鳩摩羅什譯。四卷二十七品，是本冊唯一原典底本。
  • T30n1564〈釋僧叡序〉：保存書名、造者、釋者、羅什裁補與四論並舉等傳譯見證，作本冊第 00 單元。

二、主要逐文疏

  • T42n1824《中觀論疏》：隋吉藏撰。逐品全覆《中論》，是本冊考據與義疏的主要古德鏡。
  • T45n1852《三論玄義》：隋吉藏撰。用於三論宗綱領、破邪顯正與二諦等系統互讀；不替代 T1824 逐文判釋。
  • T45n1853《大乘玄論》、T45n1854《二諦義》：吉藏所傳玄義與二諦材料，只在有直接關聯處掛接。

三、同頌異釋與古譯見證

  • T30n1566《般若燈論釋》：分別明造、波羅頗蜜多羅譯。與羅什本同頌異釋，在有實際對應處並列。
  • T30n1567《大乘中觀釋論》：安慧造，惟淨等、法護等譯署並見。今存九卷十三品，據實作部分傳本使用。
  • T30n1565《順中論義入大般若波羅蜜經初品法門》：龍勝造、無著釋、瞿曇般若流支譯。用於歸敬頌與般若讀法互照。

四、三論與龍樹系互讀

  • T30n1568《十二門論》：龍樹造、鳩摩羅什譯。十二門中多處與因緣、作者、燃可燃、因果及十二支同軸互讀。
  • T30n1569《百論》：提婆造、婆藪釋、鳩摩羅什譯。以外曰／內曰之對辯展示破執方法。
  • T25n1509《大智度論》：龍樹造、鳩摩羅什譯。般若、四緣、二諦與譬喻等重要互讀來源。
  • T32n1631《迴諍論》：龍樹造，毘目智仙、瞿曇流支譯。用於空、因緣、語言與反難的系內互照。
  • T08n0227《小品般若波羅蜜經》：鳩摩羅什譯。與本論所引般若及十二因緣語境校讀。

本冊只以經典、古論與古德疏釋作文字及判釋依據。不同譯本與釋本各守自己的作者、譯者、文句與頁錨；並列可以互照，不因義近而拼成同一原文。

This page lists the primary Source Text, parallel ancient explanations, Jizang’s passage-by-passage commentary, and principal intertexts. Specific quotations, variants, and judgments are governed by the wording, attribution, canon number, and loci given in each unit’s Apparatus.

I. Source Text and Preface

  • T30n1564, Treatise on the Middle: composed by Nāgārjuna, commented upon by Qingmu, and translated into Chinese by Kumārajīva. Its four fascicles and twenty-seven chapters are the sole Source Text of this edition.
  • Seng Rui’s preface in T30n1564: preserves testimony concerning the title, author, commentator, Kumārajīva’s editorial role, and the four works read together. It forms unit 00.

II. Principal Passage-by-Passage Commentary

  • T42n1824, Commentary on the Treatise on the Middle: composed by Jizang. It covers all twenty-seven chapters and serves as the principal ancient mirror in the Apparatus and Exposition.
  • T45n1852, Profound Meaning of the Three Treatises: composed by Jizang. Used for larger Three Treatise structures, the clarification of the true through refuting error, and the two truths; it does not replace the passage commentary.
  • T45n1853, Mahāyāna Profound Treatise, and T45n1854, Meaning of the Two Truths: Jizang’s broader materials are connected only where directly relevant.

III. Parallel Ancient Explanations and Translations

  • T30n1566, Prajñāpradīpa Commentary: composed by Bhāviveka and translated by Prabhākaramitra. Compared with Kumārajīva’s recension where an actual verse or argument corresponds.
  • T30n1567, Mahāyāna Madhyamaka Commentary: composed by Sthiramati, with attributions to Weijing and others and to Dharmarakṣa and others. The surviving nine fascicles cover thirteen chapters and are used as a partial witness.
  • T30n1565, Treatise According with the Middle That Enters the Dharma-Gate of the First Chapter of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra: Nāgārjuna’s verses with a commentary attributed to Asaṅga, translated by Gautama Prajñāruci. Used for the homage verses and their prajñā context.

IV. Intertexts Within the Three Treatises and Nāgārjuna Corpus

  • T30n1568, Twelve Gate Treatise: composed by Nāgārjuna and translated by Kumārajīva. Its gates parallel discussions of conditions, agency, fire and fuel, cause and effect, and the twelve links.
  • T30n1569, Hundred Treatise: composed by Deva, commented upon by Vasu, and translated by Kumārajīva. Its outsider/insider exchanges show the method of releasing fixed positions in direct debate.
  • T25n1509, Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom: attributed to Nāgārjuna and translated by Kumārajīva. A major source for prajñā, the four conditions, the two truths, and shared analogies.
  • T32n1631, Vigrahavyāvartanī: composed by Nāgārjuna and translated by Vimokṣaprajñārṣi and Gautama Prajñāruci. Used for interreading emptiness, conditions, language, and objections.
  • T08n0227, Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra: translated by Kumārajīva. Used when reading the treatise’s transmitted prajñā citations and the twelve-link context.

Reader-facing textual and interpretive authority is limited to scriptures, ancient treatises, and ancient masters. Each translation and commentary retains its own author, translator, wording, and loci. Parallel sources may illuminate one another; similarity does not make them one verbatim text.

索引Indices

本索引列卷首序與二十七品的底本起錨，以及原典、白話、考據、義疏、心要五層入口。起錨指單元在 T30n1564 中開始的位置；不以次單元起點反推前一單元終點。

一、二十八單元五層矩陣

#卷單元起錨五層
001釋僧叡序0001a05原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
011觀因緣品第一0001b10原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
021觀去來品第二0003c05原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
031觀六情品第三0005c15原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
041觀五陰品第四0006b18原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
051觀六種品第五0007b05原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
061觀染染者品第六0008a14原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
072觀三相品第七0009a06原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
082觀作作者品第八0012b05原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
092觀本住品第九0013b03原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
102觀燃可燃品第十0014b14原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
112觀本際品第十一0016a04原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
122觀苦品第十二0016b20原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
132觀行品第十三0017a25原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
142觀合品第十四0018c28原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
153觀有無品第十五0019c19原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
163觀縛解品第十六0020c05原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
173觀業品第十七0021b20原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
183觀法品第十八0023c15原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
193觀時品第十九0025c01原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
203觀因果品第二十0026b01原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
213觀成壞品第二十一0027c11原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
224觀如來品第二十二0029c06原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
234觀顛倒品第二十三0031a11原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
244觀四諦品第二十四0032b11原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
254觀涅槃品第二十五0034c13原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
264觀十二因緣品第二十六0036b17原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要
274觀邪見品第二十七0036c24原典 · 白話 · 考據 · 義疏 · 心要

二、四卷分布

卷單元讀路提示
一00–06序、八不與因緣，進入去來、身心構成與染著
二07–14生住滅、作與作者、先住者、燃可燃、本際、苦、行與合
三15–21有無、縛解、業、法、時、因果、成壞
四22–27如來、顛倒、四諦、涅槃、十二因緣與邪見

三、主題互讀

  • 因緣與無自性：01、20、24、26。
  • 能所關係：02、06、08、10、14。
  • 時間與變化：07、11、13、19、21。
  • 修道與解脫：12、16、17、18、23–27。

以上只作導航，不取代各品自身論證。

四、卷首卷末導航

This index gives the opening locus of Seng Rui’s preface and each of the twenty-seven chapters, together with links to the Source Text, Vernacular, Apparatus, Exposition, and Heart-Essence. An opening locus marks where a unit begins in T30n1564; it does not infer an ending from the next unit’s beginning.

I. Twenty-Eight-Unit Five-Layer Matrix

#Fasc.UnitOpensFive Layers
001Seng Rui’s Preface0001a05Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
011Examination of Conditions0001b10Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
021Examination of Going and Coming0003c05Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
031Examination of the Six Faculties0005c15Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
041Examination of the Five Aggregates0006b18Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
051Examination of the Six Elements0007b05Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
061Examination of Defilement and the Defiled0008a14Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
072Examination of the Three Marks0009a06Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
082Examination of Action and Agent0012b05Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
092Examination of a Prior Abider0013b03Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
102Examination of Fire and Fuel0014b14Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
112Examination of the Prior Limit0016a04Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
122Examination of Suffering0016b20Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
132Examination of Conditioned Formations0017a25Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
142Examination of Conjunction0018c28Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
153Examination of Existence and Nonexistence0019c19Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
163Examination of Bondage and Release0020c05Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
173Examination of Karma0021b20Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
183Examination of Dharma0023c15Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
193Examination of Time0025c01Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
203Examination of Cause and Effect0026b01Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
213Examination of Formation and Dissolution0027c11Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
224Examination of the Tathāgata0029c06Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
234Examination of Inversion0031a11Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
244Examination of the Four Truths0032b11Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
254Examination of Nirvāṇa0034c13Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
264Examination of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination0036b17Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence
274Examination of Wrong Views0036c24Source · Vernacular · Apparatus · Exposition · Heart-Essence

II. Distribution Across Four Fascicles

FascicleUnitsReading Movement
One00–06Preface, eight negations and conditions, then motion, bodily constituents, and defilement
Two07–14Three marks, action and agent, prior abider, fire and fuel, prior limit, suffering, formations, and conjunction
Three15–21Existence and nonexistence, bondage and release, karma, dharma, time, cause and effect, formation and dissolution
Four22–27Tathāgata, inversion, Four Truths, nirvāṇa, twelve links, and wrong views

III. Thematic Cross-Reading

  • Conditions and lack of intrinsic nature: 01, 20, 24, 26.
  • Relational pairs: 02, 06, 08, 10, 14.
  • Time and transformation: 07, 11, 13, 19, 21.
  • Path and release: 12, 16, 17, 18, 23–27.

These groupings are navigational only and do not replace the argument of each chapter.

IV. Front-Matter Navigation

題署Colophon

一、書名與底本

《中論》譯注，依《大正新脩大藏經》第三十冊 T30n1564。龍樹菩薩造，梵志青目釋，姚秦三藏鳩摩羅什譯；卷首釋僧叡序。全四卷，序一單元、正文二十七品。

二、本冊結構

二十八單元，各有共用漢文原典，以及中文、英文各四層：白話、考據、義疏、心要。中英兩種讀本都回到同一份 T30n1564 原典，不另造英文原典層。

三、古德之鏡

主要逐文鏡為吉藏《中觀論疏》T42n1824；同頌異釋與系內互讀另見各單元考據。古德判釋皆明標作者與頁錨，不代替龍樹頌或青目釋。

四、譯注與題署

釋慧鏡譯注，「指月」編。漢文底本校讀、現代漢語譯寫、考據、義疏、心要與英文讀本，均以可回查原典、分清聲口、保存否定與因果義界為原則。

初編於二〇二六年夏。

五、引用與授權

引用本冊，可作：

釋慧鏡，《中論》譯注（指月），〈觀因緣品第一〉，義疏。

引用本冊所錄原典，宜逕列原書藏經號與頁錨：

《中論》，T30n1564，0002b18–0002b19。

本冊譯注文字採 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0。藏經原文依其原有權利與使用規範。

釋慧鏡 · 指月 · 中論 · 題署 · 2026 夏

I. Work and Source

The annotated Treatise on the Middle follows T30n1564 in volume thirty of the Taishō Canon. It is attributed to the bodhisattva Nāgārjuna as author, the brahmin Qingmu as commentator, and the Yao-Qin Tripiṭaka master Kumārajīva as Chinese translator. Seng Rui’s preface precedes its four fascicles and twenty-seven chapters.

II. Architecture of the Edition

Twenty-eight units each present one shared Chinese Source Text and four reader layers in both Chinese and English: Vernacular, Apparatus, Exposition, and Heart-Essence. Both languages return to the same T30n1564 Source Text; no separate English source layer is created.

III. Ancient Mirror

The principal passage-by-passage mirror is Jizang’s T42n1824, Commentary on the Treatise on the Middle. Parallel ancient explanations and intertexts appear in individual Apparatus pages. Every ancient judgment retains its author and locus and does not replace Nāgārjuna’s verse or Qingmu’s commentary.

IV. Translation, Annotation, and Signature

Translated and annotated by Shi Huijing; edited for Zhiyue. Source reading, modern Chinese rendering, Apparatus, Exposition, Heart-Essence, and English reading edition are governed by return to the canonical text, separation of voices, and preservation of negation and causal boundaries.

Prepared in summer 2026.

V. Citation and License

A citation to this edition may take the form:

Shi Huijing, trans. and annot., Treatise on the Middle (Zhiyue), “Examination of Conditions,” Exposition.

For canonical wording quoted by the edition, cite the source directly:

Treatise on the Middle, T30n1564, 0002b18–0002b19.

The modern translations and annotations are licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Canonical source text remains subject to its existing rights and conditions of use.

Shi Huijing · 指月 · Treatise on the Middle · Colophon · Summer 2026

  1. 00釋僧叡序Seng Rui’s Preface〔T30 0001a06〕
  2. 01觀因緣品第一Examination of Conditions〔T30 0001b14〕
  3. 02觀去來品第二Examination of Going and Coming〔T30 0003c06〕
  4. 03觀六情品第三Examination of the Six Faculties〔T30 0005c16〕
  5. 04觀五陰品第四Examination of the Five Aggregates〔T30 0006b19〕
  6. 05觀六種品第五Examination of the Six Elements〔T30 0007b06〕
  7. 06觀染染者品第六Examination of Defilement and the Defiled〔T30 0008a15〕
  8. 07觀三相品第七Examination of the Three Marks〔T30 0009a07〕
  9. 08觀作作者品第八Examination of Action and Agent〔T30 0012b06〕
  10. 09觀本住品第九Examination of a Prior Abider〔T30 0013b04〕
  11. 10觀燃可燃品第十Examination of Fire and Fuel〔T30 0014b15〕
  12. 11觀本際品第十一Examination of the Prior Limit〔T30 0016a05〕
  13. 12觀苦品第十二Examination of Suffering〔T30 0016b21〕
  14. 13觀行品第十三Examination of Conditioned Formations〔T30 0017a26〕
  15. 14觀合品第十四Examination of Conjunction〔T30 0018c29〕
  16. 15觀有無品第十五Examination of Existence and Nonexistence〔T30 0019c20〕
  17. 16觀縛解品第十六Examination of Bondage and Release〔T30 0020c06〕
  18. 17觀業品第十七Examination of Karma〔T30 0021b21〕
  19. 18觀法品第十八Examination of Dharma〔T30 0023c16〕
  20. 19觀時品第十九Examination of Time〔T30 0025c02〕
  21. 20觀因果品第二十Examination of Cause and Effect〔T30 0026b02〕
  22. 21觀成壞品第二十一Examination of Formation and Dissolution〔T30 0027c12〕
  23. 22觀如來品第二十二Examination of the Tathāgata〔T30 0029c07〕
  24. 23觀顛倒品第二十三Examination of Inversion〔T30 0031a12〕
  25. 24觀四諦品第二十四Examination of the Four Truths〔T30 0032b12〕
  26. 25觀涅槃品第二十五Examination of Nirvāṇa〔T30 0034c14〕
  27. 26觀十二因緣品第二十六Examination of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination〔T30 0036b18〕
  28. 27觀邪見品第二十七Examination of Wrong Views〔T30 0036c25〕

Translator · 釋慧鏡 Shi Huijing — with AI-assisted consistency checking

License · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

指月 · pointing at the moon