肇論Zhaolun — Treatises of Sengzhao
肇論——就在萬物正在變動之處，看見空
風能摧山，江河奔流，日月行天——世界明明在動，僧肇為何說『物不遷』？萬物明明在眼前，為何又說『不真空』？般若既稱無知，何以反能無所不知？涅槃若是無名，我們又為何還要說它？〔T45n1858 0151a08–0154c23、0157a12–0161b28〕
《肇論》是什門嫡傳僧肇以漢語親造的般若論典，不是譯典，也沒有梵本可供還原。卷端題署「後秦長安 釋僧肇 作」，本編因而稱它為漢語般若第一造論〔T45n1858 0150c11–0150c14；T50n2059 0365a19–0365a26〕。
全卷有一篇慧達序，冠以〈宗本義〉，再展開〈物不遷〉、〈不真空〉、〈般若無知〉、〈涅槃無名〉四論；第三論後，又收入劉遺民書問與僧肇答書，天然成為八段脊〔T45n1858 0150a22–0161b28〕。
物不遷——不是否認前後變異，而是否認有一個固定之物，從昔時搬到今時；靜不在動外，元康直說：「即求靜於動法之中。即動而為靜耳。」〔T45n1859 0167a22〕
不真空——空不是萬物毀壞後留下的虛無；萬物待緣而現，所以不是斷無，也不是真實自有。道不在事外，元康說：「觸事皆是道。更無別道耳。」〔T45n1859 0174b20〕
般若無知——無知不是木石般昏昧，而是不取相的照見；所以論中說：「聖心無知，故無所不知。不知之知，乃曰一切知。」〔T45n1858 0153a27–0153a28〕到篇末，更以「用即寂、寂即用」收回體用不二〔T45n1858 0154c16–0154c17〕。
涅槃無名——無名不是沒有涅槃，而是名稱不能封定正體。論以九折十演往返發明：不離有無另求，也不在有無中執取；能行而不居所行，能得而無所得〔T45n1858 0157b11–0157b12、0158c21–0159a04、0161b14–0161b28〕。
這便是《肇論》的即體即用之空觀：不離動求靜，不離事求真，不離照說寂，不離有無顯無名〔T45n1859 0167a22、0174b20–0174b21；T45n1858 0154c16–0154c17、0159a01–0159a04〕。
羅什讀〈波若無知論〉，親可僧肇：「吾解不謝子。辭當相挹。」〔T50n2059 0365a25–0365a26〕慧達序又傳羅什之歎：「解空第一，肇公其人。」〔T45n1858 0150c05；X54n0869 0139c24–0140a01〕
且從眼前這一物、這一念、這一動，走進僧肇的空。
The Zhaolun — seeing emptiness precisely where the myriad things are in motion
The wind can topple mountains, rivers rush onward, and the sun and moon cross the heavens—the world is plainly in motion. Why, then, does Sengzhao speak of the immutability of things? The myriad things plainly appear before us. Why speak of the emptiness of the unreal? If prajñā is said to be without knowing, how can there be nothing it does not know? If nirvāṇa is nameless, why do we still speak of it? 〔T45n1858 0151a08–0154c23、0157a12–0161b28〕
The Zhaolun is a prajñā treatise composed directly in Chinese by Sengzhao, an heir of Kumārajīva's community. It is not a translated scripture, and there is no Sanskrit original to reconstruct. The title statement reads 「後秦長安 釋僧肇 作」 ["Written by Śramaṇa Sengzhao of Chang'an under the Later Qin"]. This edition therefore calls it the first Chinese-authored treatise on prajñā 〔T45n1858 0150c11–0150c14；T50n2059 0365a19–0365a26〕.
The volume contains Huida's preface, followed by The Fundamental Thesis, then the four treatises On the Immutability of Things, On the Emptiness of the Unreal, On Prajñā Without Knowing, and On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless. After the third treatise come Liu Yimin's letter of inquiry and Sengzhao's reply. Together they form a natural spine of eight segments 〔T45n1858 0150a22–0161b28〕.
The immutability of things—this does not deny change between one moment and the next. It denies that there is a fixed thing carried from a former time into the present. Stillness is not found outside motion. Yuankang says directly: 「即求靜於動法之中。即動而為靜耳。」〔T45n1859 0167a22〕 ["Seek the still within moving dharmas themselves; the very moving is the still."]
The emptiness of the unreal—emptiness is not the nothingness left after the myriad things have been destroyed. Things appear in dependence upon conditions; therefore they are neither sheer non-being nor truly self-existent. The Way is not outside the affairs before us. Yuankang says: 「觸事皆是道。更無別道耳。」〔T45n1859 0174b20〕 ["In encountering any affair, all is the Way; there is no separate Way."]
Prajñā without knowing—without knowing does not mean the dullness of wood or stone. It is an illumination that grasps no mark. Thus the treatise says: 「聖心無知，故無所不知。不知之知，乃曰一切知。」〔T45n1858 0153a27–0153a28〕 ["The sage's mind is without knowing, therefore there is nothing it does not know; a knowing that is not knowing—this is called all-knowing."] At the close of the treatise, 「用即寂、寂即用」 ["Functioning itself is stillness, and stillness itself is functioning"] gathers substance and function back into non-duality 〔T45n1858 0154c16–0154c17〕.
Nirvāṇa being nameless—namelessness does not mean that there is no nirvāṇa. It means that names cannot enclose its true substance. Through nine rebuttals and ten expositions, the treatise unfolds this point in exchange after exchange: do not seek nirvāṇa apart from existence and non-being, yet do not grasp it within them; act without dwelling in what is done, attain without anything attained 〔T45n1858 0157b11–0157b12、0158c21–0159a04、0161b14–0161b28〕.
This is The Zhaolun's vision of emptiness in which substance and function are inseparable: do not leave motion to seek stillness, do not leave affairs to seek truth, do not leave illumination to speak of stillness, and do not leave existence and non-being to reveal the nameless 〔T45n1859 0167a22、0174b20–0174b21；T45n1858 0154c16–0154c17、0159a01–0159a04〕.
After reading On Prajñā Without Knowing, Kumārajīva personally affirmed Sengzhao: 「吾解不謝子。辭當相挹。」〔T50n2059 0365a25–0365a26〕 ["My understanding does not fall short of yours; in phrasing, we should draw upon one another."] Huida's preface further transmits Kumārajīva's praise: 「解空第一，肇公其人。」〔T45n1858 0150c05；X54n0869 0139c24–0140a01〕 ["Foremost in understanding emptiness—the one is Master Zhao."]
Begin with this thing before you, this thought, this movement, and enter Sengzhao's emptiness.
一、解題
《肇論》底本為 T45n1858，一卷。卷端題署逐字作「後秦長安 釋僧肇 作」；卷首〈肇論序〉則題「小招提寺沙門 慧達 作」〔T45n1858 0150a24〕。這是一部漢人以漢語親造的原典，不是譯典，故無原典譯者、無異譯，也沒有梵本或藏譯對勘之軸〔本編《肇論考據檔》§1、§5〕。
全卷無品。其天然八段脊為：慧達〈肇論序〉、〈宗本義〉、〈物不遷論〉、〈不真空論〉、〈般若無知論〉、〈劉遺民書問〉、〈答劉遺民書〉、〈涅槃無名論〉〔T45n1858 0150a22–0161b28〕。末論先以表上秦主姚興，下分開宗、覈體、位體等十九子目〔T45n1858 0157a12–0161b28〕。
〈宗本義〉不是四論之一，而是四論之前的綱領。元康判它先標四宗，後四論分別明教：「宗本一義。是謂標宗。不遷已下四論。是謂明教也。」〔T45n1859 0165a11–0165a19〕故本編以一序、宗本、四論與書問二篇為全卷骨架，不把任何一段稱作『品』。
二、僧肇其人
慧皎《高僧傳》記僧肇為京兆人，「家貧以傭書為業」；因繕寫而遍讀經史，後見舊《維摩經》，歡喜受持，自言「始知所歸矣」，因此出家〔T50n2059 0365a09–0365a14〕。羅什至姑臧，僧肇遠從；羅什入長安，僧肇隨返。姚興命僧肇與僧叡等入逍遙園，「助詳定經論」，僧肇由此在什門譯場參與經論的詳定〔T50n2059 0365a19–0365a23〕。
《大品》譯出後，僧肇作〈波若無知論〉二千餘言呈羅什；僧傳在此逐字作「波若」，本編引傳時不改作『般若』。羅什讀後稱：「吾解不謝子。辭當相挹。」劉遺民讀論又歎：「不意方袍，復有平叔。」並呈慧遠，遂有披尋、翫味與書問往復〔T50n2059 0365a23–0365a29〕。
羅什去世後，僧肇著〈涅槃無名論〉，上表姚興；姚興答旨殷勤，命人繕寫，分給諸子姪〔T50n2059 0365b29–0366a28〕。僧傳末記：「晉義熙十年卒於長安，春秋三十有一矣。」〔T50n2059 0366a29〕本編只守傳文紀年，不另以記憶換算公元生卒年。
三、宗本與四論之義
- 宗本義——由緣會推回性空、法性、實相與本無，以非有非無、漚和般若、泥洹盡諦分立四論之宗骨；元康判其為四論的宗本〔T45n1858 0150c15–0151a07；T45n1859 0165a13–0165a19〕。
- 物不遷——不否定念念變異，而說沒有一個固定之物從此時遷到彼時；故昔自在昔、今自在今，前因不來今而功業不失〔T45n1858 0151a08–0152a01；T45n1859 0168b11–0168b12、0170b18–0170b19〕。
- 不真空——萬物因緣所成，非真實自有，故空；又隨緣顯現，故非斷無。空不靠毀壞事物而成，終歸「觸事而真」〔T45n1858 0153a05；T45n1859 0172c09–0172c10、0174b20〕。
- 般若無知——無知是無取相之知，不是昏昧；聖智照萬物而不以一相自限，故知即無知、用即寂〔T45n1858 0153a27–0154c17；T45n1859 0174c22–0174c25〕。
- 涅槃無名——有餘、無餘等名是應物外稱，不能封定涅槃正體；論以九折十演、十九子目往返遮有遮無，末歸無得之得〔T45n1858 0157b11–0161b28；T45n1859 0191a25–0192a04、0200a06–0200a07〕。
劉遺民書問與僧肇答書，把〈般若無知論〉的寂照、境智、有相無相、無是無當推成三問三答；元康將論、問、答合判為三章〔T45n1859 0181c14–0181c16、0183b15–0183b17、0186b09–0189a18〕。僧傳現存只節錄書問與答書前段，不是兩篇全文的另一完整本〔T50n2059 0365a29–0365b27〕。
四、般若宗系中的漢響
本編般若讀路依次為：心經之門、金剛之功夫、文殊般若之觀、小品之經體、維摩之不二證、肇論之漢響、智度論之寶庫；《肇論》在其中承擔『漢響』一位〔本編《般若宗系案卷》§1、§3b〕。它不是另一部漢譯般若經，而是什門學人僧肇在漢語中親造的論說；本編故以漢語般若第一造論定位之〔T45n1858 0150c11–0150c14；T50n2059 0365a19–0365a26〕。
其空觀不離眼前事用：〈物不遷〉「即動而為靜」，〈不真空〉「觸事皆是道」，〈般若無知〉「用即寂、寂即用」，〈涅槃無名〉則不出有無而不在有無〔T45n1859 0167a22、0174b20；T45n1858 0154c16–0154c17、0158c21–0159a04〕。本編所謂『即體即用』，即由這四處既有論疏語脈提挈，不另立一套新義。
五、疏網與成書史誌
本編以唐元康《肇論疏》T45n1859 三卷為鏡疏。它逐文覆蓋〈宗本義〉、四論與書問二篇，卻沒有慧達序疏；故序單元另以宋曉月《夾科肇論序注》X54n0869 為骨幹，並取晉惠達《肇論疏》X54n0866 有實涉處作旁證〔T45n1859 0165a07–0200c26；X54n0869 0136a03–0140a11；X54n0866 0052c18–0052c20〕。
疏網另有元文才《肇論新疏》T45n1860，以及 X54n0868、0869、0870、0872、0873 等科疏、序注與略註；連同 X54n0866，共成 X 藏六種見證池。就本編般若諸部的古疏盤面而言，《肇論》疏網最厚；此語只指現存材料盤面，不表示每一處都要湊足諸家〔本編《肇論考據檔》§2–3〕。
僧祐《出三藏記集》所收陸澄《法論目錄》，分別著錄〈不真空論〉、〈涅槃無名論〉、〈物不遷論〉於不同帙〔T55n2145 0083a08、0083a21、0085a08〕，是南朝三論單篇別行的目錄見證。T2145、T2154 未核得以《肇論》為合集名之文；現存藏內合集的早期見證，因而先落在慧達自稱通序〈宗本〉與四論的卷首序〔T45n1858 0150a24–0150a26；本編《肇論考據檔》§4〕。合集究竟成於何世，本編誌錄不判。
近世對〈宗本義〉與〈涅槃無名論〉另有撰者真偽問題；本計畫只按慧達序、元康疏與僧傳在藏內一體受持的盤面建讀本，不引近人、不入論辯〔本編《肇論存疑錄》#5；T45n1858 0150a24–0150a26；T50n2059 0365b27–0366a28〕。
I. Title and Identity
The base text of The Zhaolun is T45n1858, in one fascicle. Its title statement reads verbatim 「後秦長安 釋僧肇 作」 ["Written by Śramaṇa Sengzhao of Chang'an under the Later Qin"], while the opening Preface to the Zhaolun is headed 「小招提寺沙門 慧達 作」〔T45n1858 0150a24〕 ["Written by Śramaṇa Huida of the Xiaozhaoti Monastery"]. This is an original text composed in Chinese by a Chinese author, not a translation. It therefore has no translator of an earlier-language original, no alternate translations, and no Sanskrit or Tibetan collation axis 〔本編《肇論考據檔》§1、§5〕.
The complete work has no chapters. Its natural spine consists of eight segments: Preface to the Zhaolun, The Fundamental Thesis, On the Immutability of Things, On the Emptiness of the Unreal, On Prajñā Without Knowing, Liu Yimin's Letter of Inquiry, Reply to Liu Yimin's Letter, and On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless 〔T45n1858 0150a22–0161b28〕. The final treatise begins with a memorial presented to the Qin ruler Yao Xing, then unfolds through nineteen subheadings from Opening the Thesis to Mysterious Attainment 〔T45n1858 0157a12–0161b28〕.
The Fundamental Thesis is not one of the four treatises, but their governing statement. Yuankang judges that it first states the four theses, after which the four treatises separately elucidate the teaching: 「宗本一義。是謂標宗。不遷已下四論。是謂明教也。」〔T45n1859 0165a11–0165a19〕 ["The one Fundamental Thesis is what is called stating the thesis. The four treatises from Immutability onward are what is called elucidating the teaching."]. This edition therefore takes one preface, the Fundamental Thesis, the four treatises, and the two letters as the structure of the volume. It does not call any segment a chapter.
II. Sengzhao
Huijiao's Biographies of Eminent Monks records that Sengzhao was from the capital region and that 「家貧以傭書為業」 ["his family was poor, and he made his living as a hired copyist"]. Through copying he read widely in the scriptures and histories. Later he encountered an older translation of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, joyfully received and upheld it, and said, 「始知所歸矣」 ["Only then did I know where to take refuge"]. He thereupon left the household life 〔T50n2059 0365a09–0365a14〕. When Kumārajīva reached Guzang, Sengzhao went from afar to follow him; when Kumārajīva entered Chang'an, Sengzhao returned with him. Yao Xing ordered Sengzhao, Sengrui, and the others to enter Xiaoyao Garden and 「助詳定經論」 ["assist in the careful settling of sūtras and treatises"]. Sengzhao thus took part in the careful revision of sūtras and treatises within Kumārajīva's translation community 〔T50n2059 0365a19–0365a23〕.
After the translation of the Great Prajñā scripture, Sengzhao composed On Prajñā Without Knowing, more than two thousand words long, and presented it to Kumārajīva. At this point the biography writes 「波若」 ["prajñā"] verbatim, and this edition does not silently alter the graph when quoting it. After reading the treatise, Kumārajīva said: 「吾解不謝子。辭當相挹。」 ["My understanding does not fall short of yours; in phrasing, we should draw upon one another."]. Liu Yimin likewise exclaimed: 「不意方袍，復有平叔。」 ["I did not expect that among those in square robes there would again be a Pingshu."]. He presented the treatise to Huiyuan, leading to their reading, savoring, and exchange of letters 〔T50n2059 0365a23–0365a29〕.
After Kumārajīva's death, Sengzhao composed On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless and presented it in a memorial to Yao Xing. Yao Xing replied with earnest approval, ordered the work copied, and distributed it among his sons and nephews 〔T50n2059 0365b29–0366a28〕. The biography closes with: 「晉義熙十年卒於長安，春秋三十有一矣。」〔T50n2059 0366a29〕 ["In the tenth year of Yixi under the Jin, he died at Chang'an, at the age of thirty-one."]. This edition preserves the transmitted dating and does not independently convert it into Common Era birth and death years.
III. The Fundamental Thesis and the Four Treatises
- The Fundamental Thesis—from the coming-together of conditions it returns to emptiness of intrinsic nature, dharma-nature, true reality, and fundamental non-being. It sets out four governing theses: fundamental non-being and true reality; neither being nor non-being; skillful means and prajñā; and the truth of the exhaustion that is nirvāṇa. Yuankang judges it the fundamental thesis of the four treatises 〔T45n1858 0150c15–0151a07；T45n1859 0165a13–0165a19〕.
- On the Immutability of Things—it does not deny change from moment to moment. It says that there is no fixed thing that shifts from one time to another; therefore the past abides in the past and the present in the present, while causal efficacy is not lost even though the former cause does not come into the present 〔T45n1858 0151a08–0152a01；T45n1859 0168b11–0168b12、0170b18–0170b19〕.
- On the Emptiness of the Unreal—the myriad things are formed through conditions and are therefore empty of true self-existence; yet they appear in dependence upon conditions and are therefore not sheer non-being. Emptiness does not arise by destroying things, and the argument returns at last to 「觸事而真」〔T45n1858 0153a05；T45n1859 0172c09–0172c10、0174b20〕 ["encountering the true in the very affairs before us"].
- On Prajñā Without Knowing—without knowing is a knowing that grasps no mark, not dullness. Sage wisdom illumines the myriad things without limiting itself to any one mark; therefore knowing itself is without knowing, and functioning itself is stillness 〔T45n1858 0153a27–0154c17；T45n1859 0174c22–0174c25〕.
- On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless—names such as nirvāṇa with remainder and without remainder are outward designations used in responding to things; they cannot enclose nirvāṇa's true substance. Through nine rebuttals and ten expositions under nineteen subheadings, the treatise repeatedly blocks attachment to both existence and non-being, returning at the end to attainment as non-attainment 〔T45n1858 0157b11–0161b28；T45n1859 0191a25–0192a04、0200a06–0200a07〕.
Liu Yimin's inquiry and Sengzhao's reply develop the still illumination, object and knowing, sign and signlessness of On Prajñā Without Knowing into three questions and three answers. Yuankang judges the treatise, inquiry, and reply together as three parts 〔T45n1859 0181c14–0181c16、0183b15–0183b17、0186b09–0189a18〕. The extant Biographies of Eminent Monks preserves only excerpts from the letter of inquiry and the opening of the reply; it is not another complete witness of the two letters 〔T50n2059 0365a29–0365b27〕.
IV. The Han Resonance in the Prajñā Lineage
The prajñā reading path of this edition proceeds through the Heart Sūtra as gate, the Diamond Sūtra as discipline, Mañjuśrī Prajñā as contemplation, the Smaller Prajñāpāramitā as scriptural body, Vimalakīrti as the realization of non-duality, The Zhaolun as the Han resonance, and the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śāstra as treasury. Within this path, The Zhaolun occupies the place of the Han resonance 〔本編《般若宗系案卷》§1、§3b〕. It is not another Chinese translation of a prajñā sūtra, but a treatise composed directly in Chinese by Sengzhao, a student in Kumārajīva's community. This edition therefore identifies it as the first Chinese-authored treatise on prajñā 〔T45n1858 0150c11–0150c14；T50n2059 0365a19–0365a26〕.
Its vision of emptiness never leaves the affairs and functioning before us: On the Immutability of Things says 「即動而為靜」 ["the very moving is the still"]; On the Emptiness of the Unreal says 「觸事皆是道」 ["in encountering any affair, all is the Way"]; On Prajñā Without Knowing says 「用即寂、寂即用」 ["functioning itself is stillness, and stillness itself is functioning"]; and On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless neither departs from existence and non-being nor abides within them 〔T45n1859 0167a22、0174b20；T45n1858 0154c16–0154c17、0158c21–0159a04〕. What this edition calls the inseparability of substance and function is drawn from these already transmitted currents of treatise and commentary; it does not establish a new doctrine of its own.
V. The Commentarial Web and the History of the Collection
This edition takes Yuankang's three-fascicle Commentary on the Zhaolun (T45n1859) as its mirror-commentary. It covers The Fundamental Thesis, the four treatises, and the two letters line by line, but contains no commentary on Huida's preface. The preface segment therefore takes Xiaoyue's Song-dynasty Interlinear Outline and Annotated Preface to the Zhaolun (X54n0869) as its principal framework, with the Jin Huida's (惠達) Commentary on the Zhaolun (X54n0866) used as a supporting witness only where it directly bears on the text 〔T45n1859 0165a07–0200c26；X54n0869 0136a03–0140a11；X54n0866 0052c18–0052c20〕.
The commentarial web further includes Wencai's New Commentary on the Zhaolun (T45n1860), together with the outlines, preface annotations, and abbreviated commentaries preserved as X54n0868, 0869, 0870, 0872, and 0873. Together with X54n0866, these form a pool of six witnesses in the X canon. Among the surviving ancient commentaries available for the prajñā works in this edition, The Zhaolun has the densest commentarial web. This describes only the extant documentary field; it does not require every passage to be supplied with a fixed number of commentators 〔本編《肇論考據檔》§2–3〕.
Lu Cheng's Catalogue of Treatises, preserved in Sengyou's Collection of Records Concerning the Tripiṭaka, separately lists On the Emptiness of the Unreal, On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless, and On the Immutability of Things in different cases 〔T55n2145 0083a08、0083a21、0085a08〕. This is catalogue evidence that the three treatises circulated separately in the Southern Dynasties. Neither T2145 nor T2154 has yielded a verified occurrence of The Zhaolun as the title of a collected work. The earliest witness within the extant canon to the collection as a whole is therefore provisionally Huida's opening statement that his preface introduces the Fundamental Thesis and the four treatises 〔T45n1858 0150a24–0150a26；本編《肇論考據檔》§4〕. This edition records without adjudicating the question of when the collection itself was formed.
Modern discussion has raised separate questions about the authorship of The Fundamental Thesis and On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless. This project builds its reading text on their integrated reception within Huida's preface, Yuankang's commentary, and Sengzhao's canonical biography. It cites no modern scholar and enters no debate 〔本編《肇論存疑錄》#5；T45n1858 0150a24–0150a26；T50n2059 0365b27–0366a28〕.
讀法How to read
本編不是單一文本，而是一組分層的讀本。同一部《肇論》——後秦長安釋僧肇以漢語親造的一卷論典——依讀者所需的深度，以五種方式呈現；源文保留古漢語，其餘四層各具漢、英兩種讀本〔T45n1858 0150c11–0161b28；本編《肇論建置工作流》G1⑤〕。本導引先說明五層分工，再列八段脊與十九子目，次列考據層八目，最後給出進入路徑與般若宗系定位。
一、五層讀本
源文——僧肇《肇論》T45n1858 逐段逐字本；卷首慧達序亦依底本收入。此層保留純古漢語，供能讀古文者通讀全卷；漢造論沒有梵文源層，也不另作原典英譯〔T45n1858 0150a22–0161b28；本編《肇論考據檔》§1、§5〕。
白話——原典逐字之上，作忠實的現代白話改寫；順其文而不刪論證，不以提要取代全篇。漢、英兩種讀本各自成立。
義疏——義理的開講。依考據層已立的論句、經證與古德疏釋，用一般讀者可順讀的今語重述，不出新義理；備漢、英兩種讀本。
考據——逐段依論體八目編成（見下第三節）。底本、鏡疏、經論宗依、古德異釋、術語、譬喻、史傳與校本定位各守證據層級；逐字引文附出處，取意與存疑如實標明。此層備漢、英兩種讀本。
心要——登陸的短文，以一個活問題帶讀者走近每段的中心關節，為初接觸《肇論》者設緩坡；備漢、英兩種讀本。
白話與義疏，二讀者、二事，永不合併：白話順原典而全譯，義疏依考據而開講。源文只存古漢原典；白話、義疏、考據、心要四層各有漢、英本。
二、八段脊與十九子目
全論無品。本編依 T1858 的題頭與目錄，採天然八段脊：肇論序、宗本義、物不遷論、不真空論、般若無知論、劉遺民書問、答劉遺民書、涅槃無名論〔T45n1858 0150a22–0161b28〕。
其中〈肇論序〉為慧達所作，〈宗本義〉為四論綱領；〈物不遷〉、〈不真空〉、〈般若無知〉、〈涅槃無名〉為四論，劉遺民書問與僧肇答書承第三論展開〔T45n1858 0150a24–0150a26；T45n1859 0165a11–0165a19、0181c14–0181c16〕。
〈涅槃無名論〉冠表上秦主姚興，下有十九子目：開宗、覈體、位體、徵出、超境、搜玄、妙存、難差、辯差、責異、會異、詰漸、明漸、譏動、動寂、窮源、通古、考得、玄得〔T45n1858 0157a12–0161b28〕。論本自稱「九折十演」，僧傳作「十演九折」，引用各守其文〔T45n1858 0157b11、0157b27；T50n2059 0366a06、0366a23〕。
十九子題逐項的折／演對應，依元康疏逐章科判定之。元康已明說折為難、演為答，九難九答加開宗為十九章〔T45n1859 0191a25–0192a04〕。
三、考據層之八目
每段考據依同一八目編成，第二目隨序、論、書信的文體分稱『本序釋要』或『本論釋要』：
一、科判定位——定此段在 T1858 八段脊與元康疏科判中的位置；序因元康無疏，改依曉月《夾科肇論序注》〔X54n0869 0136a03–0140a11〕。
二、本序／本論釋要——只就該段已成的白話、義疏與考據提煉論路，不另造新說。
三、經論宗依——逐條核本論明引、古疏歸屬與現存經論實文；逐字、取意、近句、存疑分層標示，不以相似義理硬繫。
四、古德疏釋——以元康 T1859 為主骨，序取曉月 X54n0869，餘疏有實涉方錄；古德異釋中性誌錄，不請譯者裁古德論諍。
五、術語——依本論與古疏界定每段關鍵名相；漢造論無梵本，古德未傳音寫者不另立梵文。
六、譬喻——辨明本論或古疏所用譬喻，以及譬喻在該段所顯的論證作用。
七、史傳——以慧皎《高僧傳》與僧祐《出三藏記集》等藏內記錄安置人物、著論與單篇流傳；缺載如實記，不由缺載推造結論。
八、校本定位——交代 T1858 底本、T1859 鏡疏、序注、異文與存疑所在；漢造論的對讀軸是古疏，不是異譯或梵本。
四、讀法之路徑
一、通讀源文。 能讀古漢語者，可從慧達序一路讀到〈涅槃無名論〉，先與僧肇的文字相見，再參其餘各層。
二、由心要入門。 初接觸《肇論》者，可先讀卷首心要，再依次讀四論各段心要，取得全卷問題意識。
三、以宗本義為地圖。 〈宗本義〉先標本無實相、非有非無、漚和般若、泥洹盡諦四宗，正可作四論的短圖〔T45n1859 0165a13–0165a19〕。
四、通讀白話或義疏。 欲緊跟原典論證者讀白話；欲由活問題進入、又不先負擔所有藏經定位者讀義疏。
五、就考據與詞彙查檢。 欲核某句的底本、古疏、經論歸屬、異文或存疑者，就該段八目按圖索驥。
五、漢響之位
本編般若讀路將《肇論》置於『漢響』：心經為門、金剛為功夫、文殊般若為觀、小品為經體、維摩為不二之證，至僧肇則是般若在漢語中親造論說的回響，其後再入《大智度論》寶庫〔本編《般若宗系案卷》§1、§3b〕。因此，讀《肇論》既要守它所依的般若經論，也要讓它以漢造論自己的八段、文體與疏網發聲。
This edition is not a single text but a set of layered readings. One and the same Zhaolun—a one-fascicle treatise composed directly in Chinese by Sengzhao of Chang'an under the Later Qin—is presented in five ways according to the depth a reader needs. The source preserves the Classical Chinese; each of the other four layers has independent Chinese and English readings 〔T45n1858 0150c11–0161b28；本編《肇論建置工作流》G1⑤〕. This guide first explains the division of labor among the five layers, then sets out the eight-segment spine and the nineteen subheadings, then the eight headings of the apparatus, and finally the paths of entry and the work's place in the prajñā lineage.
I. The Five Layers
Source text—the text of Sengzhao's Zhaolun (T45n1858), segment by segment and word for word; Huida's opening preface is included from the same base witness. This layer preserves the Classical Chinese for those who can read the full work in its original language. Because this is a Chinese-authored treatise, it has no Sanskrit source layer, and the source text is not separately rendered into English 〔T45n1858 0150a22–0161b28；本編《肇論考據檔》§1、§5〕.
Vernacular—a faithful modern restatement built upon every word of the original: it follows the argument without omission and never substitutes a summary for the full passage. The Chinese and English readings each stand on their own.
Exposition—the doctrinal opening-out. Drawing on the treatise sentences, scriptural foundations, and ancient commentaries already established in the apparatus, it restates the meaning in language a general reader can follow and advances no new doctrine. It is offered in Chinese and English.
Apparatus—the documentary layer, built segment by segment under eight headings appropriate to a treatise (see section III below). The base text, mirror-commentary, scriptural and treatise foundations, differing ancient readings, terms, similes, historical records, and editorial placing each retain their proper evidentiary level. Verbatim quotations carry their sources; paraphrase and uncertainty are marked honestly. It is offered in Chinese and English.
Heart-essence—a short landing text that begins from a living question and brings the reader close to the central joint of each segment. It offers a gentle slope for readers meeting The Zhaolun for the first time, in Chinese and English.
Vernacular and exposition are two readings for two readers and are never merged: the vernacular follows and fully renders the original; the exposition opens the meaning from the apparatus. The source preserves only the Classical Chinese; vernacular, exposition, apparatus, and heart-essence each have Chinese and English readings.
II. The Spine of Eight Segments and the Nineteen Subheadings
The complete treatise has no chapters. Following the headings and contents of T1858, this edition adopts its natural spine of eight segments: Preface to the Zhaolun, The Fundamental Thesis, On the Immutability of Things, On the Emptiness of the Unreal, On Prajñā Without Knowing, Liu Yimin's Letter of Inquiry, Reply to Liu Yimin's Letter, and On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless 〔T45n1858 0150a22–0161b28〕.
The Preface to the Zhaolun is by Huida, and The Fundamental Thesis is the governing statement of the four treatises. On the Immutability of Things, On the Emptiness of the Unreal, On Prajñā Without Knowing, and On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless are the four treatises; Liu Yimin's inquiry and Sengzhao's reply develop the third treatise 〔T45n1858 0150a24–0150a26；T45n1859 0165a11–0165a19、0181c14–0181c16〕.
On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless begins with a memorial presented to Yao Xing, ruler of Qin, and is followed by nineteen subheadings: Opening the Thesis, Examining the Substance, Placing the Substance, Pressing the Claim of Transcendence, Beyond the Realm, Seeking the Mystery, Subtle Presence, Challenging Difference, Distinguishing Difference, Pressing Otherness, Reconciling Otherness, Pressing Graduality, Clarifying Graduality, Deriding Motion, Motion and Stillness, Exhausting the Source, Comprehending Antiquity, Examining Attainment, and Mysterious Attainment 〔T45n1858 0157a12–0161b28〕. The treatise itself calls its form 「九折十演」 ["nine rebuttals and ten expositions"], while the biography reads 「十演九折」 ["ten expositions and nine rebuttals"]; each citation preserves its own wording 〔T45n1858 0157b11、0157b27；T50n2059 0366a06、0366a23〕.
The item-by-item alignment of the nineteen subheadings with rebuttal and exposition follows Yuankang's chapter-by-chapter outline. Yuankang explicitly states that a rebuttal is a challenge and an exposition an answer, with nine challenges, nine answers, and Opening the Thesis making nineteen parts 〔T45n1859 0191a25–0192a04〕.
III. The Eight Headings of the Apparatus
Each segment's apparatus follows the same eight headings. The second is named “Summary of the Preface” or “Summary of the Treatise” according to whether the segment is a preface, treatise, or letter.
1. Structural placing—locating the segment within the eight-segment spine of T1858 and within Yuankang's outline. Because Yuankang has no commentary on the preface, that segment instead follows Xiaoyue's Interlinear Outline and Annotated Preface to the Zhaolun 〔X54n0869 0136a03–0140a11〕.
2. Summary of the preface or treatise—distilling only the line of argument already established by the segment's vernacular, exposition, and apparatus, without creating a new teaching.
3. Scriptural and treatise foundations—checking, item by item, the treatise's explicit quotations, the attributions made by the ancient commentaries, and the wording actually transmitted in surviving scriptures and treatises. Verbatim, paraphrase, close wording, and uncertainty remain distinct; doctrinal similarity is never promoted into textual identity.
4. Explanations by the ancient commentators—using Yuankang's T1859 as the principal framework, Xiaoyue's X54n0869 for the preface, and other commentaries only where they directly bear on the passage. Differing ancient readings are recorded neutrally, without asking the translator to adjudicate disputes among the masters.
5. Terms—defining each segment's key terms from the treatise and its ancient commentaries. Because this is a Chinese-authored treatise without a Sanskrit original, no Sanskrit is supplied where the ancient masters transmitted no phonetic witness.
6. Simile and figure—identifying the similes used by the treatise or its commentaries and the role each one plays in the segment's argument.
7. Historical transmission—placing people, composition, and the circulation of individual treatises through canonical records such as Huijiao's Biographies of Eminent Monks and Sengyou's Collection of Records Concerning the Tripiṭaka. Absence of a record is stated honestly and is never used to manufacture a conclusion.
8. Witness and editorial placing—recording the T1858 base text, the T1859 mirror-commentary, the preface annotation, textual variants, and remaining questions. For a Chinese-authored treatise, the axis of comparison is the ancient commentarial tradition, not alternate translations or a Sanskrit original.
IV. Paths of Reading
1. Read the source whole. A reader of Classical Chinese may begin with Huida's preface and continue through On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless, first meeting Sengzhao's own language before consulting the other layers.
2. Begin from the heart-essence. A reader new to The Zhaolun may first read the opening heart-essence, then the heart-essence of each of the four treatises in order, gaining the questions that animate the whole work.
3. Use The Fundamental Thesis as a map. The Fundamental Thesis first sets out fundamental non-being and true reality, neither being nor non-being, skillful means and prajñā, and the truth of the exhaustion that is nirvāṇa. These four theses form a compact map of the four treatises 〔T45n1859 0165a13–0165a19〕.
4. Read the vernacular or exposition whole. Read the vernacular to follow the original argument closely. Read the exposition to enter through living questions without first carrying the full burden of canonical documentation.
5. Consult the apparatus and glossary. To verify a sentence's base text, ancient commentary, scriptural or treatise attribution, variant, or recorded uncertainty, follow the eight headings of that segment and consult the glossary as needed.
V. The Place of the Han Resonance
The prajñā reading path of this edition places The Zhaolun at the Han resonance: the Heart Sūtra is the gate, the Diamond Sūtra the discipline, Mañjuśrī Prajñā the contemplation, the Smaller Prajñāpāramitā the scriptural body, Vimalakīrti the realization of non-duality, and Sengzhao the resonance of prajñā composed directly in Chinese, after which the path enters the treasury of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śāstra 〔本編《般若宗系案卷》§1、§3b〕. To read The Zhaolun is therefore both to remain faithful to the prajñā scriptures and treatises upon which it draws and to let this Chinese-authored treatise speak through its own eight segments, literary forms, and commentarial web.
凡例Conventions
本譯注以 T45n1858《肇論》為唯一漢造原典，依八段脊建五層讀本；下列凡例，乃本書全卷所循之體例。
一、底本與鏡疏
- 底本：T45n1858《肇論》，一卷，卷端題署「後秦長安 釋僧肇 作」；卷首序另題「小招提寺沙門 慧達 作」〔T45n1858 0150a24〕。本書源文依此逐段逐字錄出。
- 鏡疏：唐元康《肇論疏》T45n1859，三卷，逐文覆蓋〈宗本義〉、四論與書問二篇〔T45n1859 0165a07–0200c26〕。元康疏沒有慧達序疏，序單元以宋曉月《夾科肇論序注》X54n0869 為骨幹〔X54n0869 0136a03–0140a11〕，晉惠達《肇論疏》X54n0866 只在確有涉處旁證。
- 古疏見證池：元文才《肇論新疏》T45n1860，以及 X54n0866、0868、0869、0870、0872、0873 六種科疏、序注與略註〔本編《肇論考據檔》§2〕。有實涉方引，不為湊足疏網而強配。
漢造論沒有同論異譯；本編的對讀軸由 T1858 論本與古疏承擔，不把疏改稱異譯，也不據疏倒改封存底本。
二、梵文體例
- 《肇論》是漢人親造論典，不是梵本漢譯，故無梵文源層、無梵本校勘議題；唯經與古德、唯古德所傳的第九／九甲規則，在此天然滿足〔T45n1858 0150c11–0150c14；本編《肇論考據檔》§5〕。
- 凡見梵文羅馬字（IAST），唯為名相發音輔助；古德有音寫或勘梵明據方繫，無則從闕。
- IAST 是讀音標記，不是《肇論》的梵文原文，也不得據以重構論句或判異文。
三、考據層體例
- 考據層固定八目：科判定位、本序／本論釋要、經論宗依、古德疏釋、術語、譬喻、史傳、校本定位。
- 權威引文只取經、論本與古德；逐字引文附藏經號與實際頁行。古疏所稱經名若與現存經本不合，分列兩讀、誌錄不判；近義不升格同文，未核定者直標存疑。
- 不立無來源的『譯者按』；編輯性說明與逐字典據分開，不以現代學者取代經與古德。
- 〈宗本義〉與〈涅槃無名論〉的近世撰者問題，本編按慧達序、元康疏、僧傳的藏內一體受持材料建讀本，只以誠實層一句誌之，不引近人、不入論辯〔本編《肇論存疑錄》#5〕。
四、引號與語言純度
- 「」只用於可逐字回查的論、經、疏、傳原文；『』用於譯注者今語提挈。不得把義理摘要放進「」冒充古文逐字。
- 漢文讀本正文純用漢語。非漢字只在四類識別標記中保留：有古德依據的 IAST 發音輔助、藏經號及頁行（T／X）、紀年、結構導航碼（如段2、十九章⑥）。
- 考據英文鏡層所引漢文原典保持原貌，另附英譯；英文不取代漢文校勘。
五、稱謂
佛陀、如來等，一律以『祂』稱之；僧肇、慧達、元康等古德，依通常人物代詞書寫。
六、異文與出處
- 〈物不遷論〉旋嵐四句起於〔T45n1858 0151b07〕，其中底本字串作「兢注」，實落〔T45n1858 0151b08〕。現存 T1858 電子藏本該處沒有異文校記錨，故源文從底本「兢」；元康疏作「競注」〔T45n1859 0168c02–0168c03〕，只作疏本文字並錄，不倒改論本。
- 引文出處標實際所在頁行；跨行標範圍。所繫經名、逐字所在、取意近句與存疑不得混成同一層。
- 〈涅槃無名論〉T1858 作「九折十演」〔T45n1858 0157b11、0157b27〕，T2059 僧傳作「十演九折」〔T50n2059 0366a06、0366a23〕；各守原字，誌錄不判。十九子題的逐項折／演表，依元康疏逐章科判定之〔T45n1859 0191a25–0192a04〕。
七、題跋
漢文各層末綴中文題跋，用西曆年份加季節及中文段名；英文讀本用相應英文題跋。式如：
釋慧鏡 · 指月 · 肇論 · 〔段名〕 · 〔層：白話／義疏／考據／心要〕 · 2026 夏
This translation and annotation takes T45n1858, The Zhaolun, as its sole Chinese-authored root text and builds its five-layer reading edition upon the spine of eight segments. The conventions below govern the complete volume.
1. Base Text and Mirror-Commentary
- Base text: T45n1858, The Zhaolun, in one fascicle. Its title statement reads 「後秦長安 釋僧肇 作」 ["Written by Śramaṇa Sengzhao of Chang'an under the Later Qin"], while the opening preface is separately headed 「小招提寺沙門 慧達 作」〔T45n1858 0150a24〕 ["Written by Śramaṇa Huida of the Xiaozhaoti Monastery"]. The source layer of this edition is transcribed from it segment by segment and word for word.
- Mirror-commentary: Yuankang's three-fascicle Commentary on the Zhaolun (T45n1859), which covers The Fundamental Thesis, the four treatises, and the two letters line by line 〔T45n1859 0165a07–0200c26〕. Yuankang's work contains no commentary on Huida's preface, so the preface segment takes Xiaoyue's Song-dynasty Interlinear Outline and Annotated Preface to the Zhaolun (X54n0869) as its principal framework 〔X54n0869 0136a03–0140a11〕. The Jin Huida's (惠達) Commentary on the Zhaolun (X54n0866) is used as a supporting witness only where it directly bears on the text.
- Pool of ancient commentarial witnesses: Wencai's New Commentary on the Zhaolun (T45n1860), together with the six X-canon outlines, preface annotations, and abbreviated commentaries X54n0866, 0868, 0869, 0870, 0872, and 0873 〔本編《肇論考據檔》§2〕. A work is cited only where it directly bears on the passage; the edition never forces a commentary into place merely to fill out the web.
As a Chinese-authored treatise, The Zhaolun has no alternate translation of the same work. Its comparative axis is formed by T1858 and the ancient commentaries. A commentary is never relabeled an alternate translation, nor is the sealed base text retrospectively altered to agree with a commentary.
2. Sanskrit Policy
- The Zhaolun is a treatise composed directly in Chinese, not a Chinese translation from a Sanskrit original. It therefore has no Sanskrit source layer and no question of Sanskrit textual collation. The restriction of authority to scripture, the treatise, and the ancient masters—and of Sanskrit wording to what the ancient masters transmitted—is naturally satisfied here 〔T45n1858 0150c11–0150c14；本編《肇論考據檔》§5〕.
- Where Romanized Sanskrit (IAST) appears, it serves only as a pronunciation aid for a term. It is supplied only where an ancient master transmitted a transliteration or an explicit Sanskrit collation note; otherwise it is left blank.
- IAST is a marker of sound, not the Sanskrit original of The Zhaolun. It may not be used to reconstruct a sentence of the treatise or decide a textual variant.
3. Apparatus
- The apparatus follows eight fixed headings: Structural Placing; Summary of the Preface or Treatise; Scriptural and Treatise Foundations; Explanations by the Ancient Commentators; Terms; Simile and Figure; Historical Transmission; and Witness and Editorial Placing.
- Authoritative quotations come only from scripture, the root treatise, and the ancient masters. Every verbatim quotation carries its canon identifier and actual page-and-line locus. If a scripture named by an ancient commentary does not agree with the surviving canonical wording, the two readings are recorded separately without adjudication; similar meaning is not promoted into identical wording, and unresolved attributions are marked as uncertain.
- No unsourced “translator's note” rubric is created. Editorial explanation remains separate from verbatim source evidence, and no modern scholar replaces scripture or an ancient master as authority.
- On modern questions about the authorship of The Fundamental Thesis and On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless, this edition builds its reading text from their integrated reception in Huida's preface, Yuankang's commentary, and the canonical biography. It records the issue in a single statement of documentary honesty, cites no modern scholar, and enters no debate 〔本編《肇論存疑錄》#5〕.
4. Quotation Marks and Language Purity
- 「」 are reserved for words that can be checked verbatim in a treatise, scripture, commentary, or biography; 『』 mark a present-day editorial formulation. A doctrinal summary must never be placed in 「」 and presented as though it were an ancient verbatim quotation.
- The body of the Chinese reading is entirely Chinese. Non-Han characters remain only in four kinds of identifier: IAST pronunciation aids grounded in the ancient masters, canon identifiers and page-and-line loci (T/X), calendar years, and structural navigation codes such as Segment 2 or Part ⑥ of the nineteen.
- The English mirror of the apparatus is bilingual: the cited Han original remains unchanged and an English rendering is added. English never replaces the Han text being collated.
5. Pronouns
In the English reading, the Buddha and the Tathāgata take the lowercase pronoun he. Generic sages take ordinary human pronouns, as do Sengzhao, Huida, Yuankang, and the other ancient masters.
6. Variants and Sources
- The four-line whirlwind passage in On the Immutability of Things begins at 〔T45n1858 0151b07〕. Within it, the base-text string reads 「兢注」 ["races in torrents"], and the string itself begins at 〔T45n1858 0151b08〕. The extant electronic witness of T1858 has no variant-note anchor at that point, so the source layer retains the base graph 「兢」 ["the graph jīng"]. Yuankang's commentary reads 「競注」〔T45n1859 0168c02–0168c03〕 ["races in torrents"]; this is recorded as the wording of the commentary and is not used to alter the treatise retrospectively.
- Citation loci give the actual page and line on which the quotation stands; a range is supplied where it crosses lines. The scripture named by a source, the location of its verbatim wording, a close paraphrase, and an unresolved attribution must never be collapsed into one evidentiary level.
- In On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless, T1858 reads 「九折十演」〔T45n1858 0157b11、0157b27〕 ["nine rebuttals and ten expositions"], while Sengzhao's biography in T2059 reads 「十演九折」〔T50n2059 0366a06、0366a23〕 ["ten expositions and nine rebuttals"]. Each witness retains its own wording, and the difference is recorded without adjudication. The item-by-item rebuttal/exposition table for the nineteen subheadings follows Yuankang's chapter-by-chapter outline 〔T45n1859 0191a25–0192a04〕.
7. Colophon
Each Chinese reading layer closes with a Chinese colophon using a calendar year and season and the Chinese segment name. The English reading uses the corresponding English colophon. In the form:
Shi Huijing · 指月 · The Zhaolun · [Section] · [Vernacular / Exposition / Apparatus / Heart-Essence] · Summer 2026
譯者Translator
撰者 僧肇
《肇論》卷端題署「後秦長安 釋僧肇 作」〔T45n1858 0150c13〕。僧肇在本書中的身分是漢文原典撰者，不是把另一語言原典譯成漢文的譯者；故本編不設『原典譯者』一目。
慧皎《高僧傳》記僧肇家貧傭書，因繕寫遍讀經史；後見舊《維摩經》，自言「始知所歸矣」，因此出家〔T50n2059 0365a09–0365a14〕。他遠從羅什於姑臧，隨返長安，入逍遙園助詳定經論〔T50n2059 0365a19–0365a23〕，是本編所稱的什門嫡傳。
〈波若無知論〉呈羅什後，什公稱：「吾解不謝子。辭當相挹。」〔T50n2059 0365a25–0365a26〕此處僧傳作「波若」，本編引傳守其原字。僧傳末只記「晉義熙十年卒於長安，春秋三十有一矣」〔T50n2059 0366a29〕，不另換算公元生卒年。
卷首序作者 慧達
〈肇論序〉卷首題署「小招提寺沙門 慧達 作」〔T45n1858 0150a24〕。慧達自明所序為長安僧肇所作〈宗本〉與〈物不遷〉等四論〔T45n1858 0150a24–0150a26〕；故序作者與論典撰者分列，不把慧達改作僧肇別名。
慧達序保存羅什評僧肇之語：「解空第一，肇公其人。」〔T45n1858 0150c05〕宋曉月《夾科肇論序注》亦保存此句〔X54n0869 0139c24–0140a01〕；現存僧肇本傳未核得同一連文，故只依序與序注誌錄，不強繫更早出處。
鏡疏 唐 元康
本編鏡疏為唐元康《肇論疏》T45n1859 三卷。它逐文覆蓋〈宗本義〉、四論與書問二篇〔T45n1859 0165a07–0200c26〕，是本編義疏與考據的古德骨幹。
元康疏沒有慧達序疏；序單元另以宋曉月《夾科肇論序注》X54n0869 為骨幹，並取晉惠達 X54n0866 有實涉處旁證。慧達、惠達字形不同，同人與否只誌錄，不作裁決〔X54n0866；X54n0869；本編《肇論存疑錄》#6〕。
本譯注者 釋慧鏡
本英譯與義疏、考據，釋慧鏡譯注。
本書承僧肇漢文原典為據，將這部漢語般若造論再譯為英文，並依論本、經與古德疏記，逐段建立白話、義疏、考據與心要。凡義理詞之取定、段落詮釋之抉擇、異本之取捨，皆出譯注者一人之裁。
此一譯業，是把漢語般若第一造論帶入英語世界；不是為僧肇補造一部不存在的梵文原典，而是讓漢造論以自身的文字、論路與疏網進入另一語言。
Author — Sengzhao
The title statement of The Zhaolun reads 「後秦長安 釋僧肇 作」〔T45n1858 0150c13〕 ["Written by Śramaṇa Sengzhao of Chang'an under the Later Qin"]. Sengzhao's role in this book is the author of the Chinese original, not a translator who rendered an original from another language into Chinese. This edition therefore has no section for an “original-text translator.”
Huijiao's Biographies of Eminent Monks records that Sengzhao's family was poor and that he worked as a hired copyist, through which he read widely in the scriptures and histories. Later he encountered an older translation of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra and said 「始知所歸矣」 ["Only then did I know where to take refuge"], whereupon he left the household life 〔T50n2059 0365a09–0365a14〕. He went from afar to follow Kumārajīva at Guzang, returned with him to Chang'an, and entered Xiaoyao Garden to assist in the careful settling of sūtras and treatises 〔T50n2059 0365a19–0365a23〕. It is in this sense that the present edition calls him an heir of Kumārajīva's community.
After Sengzhao presented On Prajñā Without Knowing to Kumārajīva, the master said: 「吾解不謝子。辭當相挹。」〔T50n2059 0365a25–0365a26〕 ["My understanding does not fall short of yours; in phrasing, we should draw upon one another."]. At this point the biography writes 「波若」 ["prajñā"], and this edition preserves the graph when quoting the biography. The biography records only that 「晉義熙十年卒於長安，春秋三十有一矣」〔T50n2059 0366a29〕 ["in the tenth year of Yixi under the Jin, he died at Chang'an, at the age of thirty-one"]. No Common Era birth or death year is independently calculated.
Preface Author — Huida
The opening Preface to the Zhaolun is headed 「小招提寺沙門 慧達 作」〔T45n1858 0150a24〕 ["Written by Śramaṇa Huida of the Xiaozhaoti Monastery"]. Huida himself states that he is prefacing Sengzhao of Chang'an's Fundamental Thesis and the four treatises beginning with On the Immutability of Things 〔T45n1858 0150a24–0150a26〕. The author of the preface and the author of the treatises are therefore listed separately; Huida is not treated as another name for Sengzhao.
Huida's preface preserves Kumārajīva's praise of Sengzhao: 「解空第一，肇公其人。」〔T45n1858 0150c05〕 ["Foremost in understanding emptiness—the one is Master Zhao."]. Xiaoyue's Interlinear Outline and Annotated Preface to the Zhaolun also preserves this sentence 〔X54n0869 0139c24–0140a01〕. The same continuous wording has not been verified in Sengzhao's extant canonical biography, so it is recorded on the authority of the preface and its annotation and is not forcibly attached to an earlier source.
Mirror-Commentator — Yuankang of the Tang
The mirror-commentary of this edition is Yuankang's three-fascicle Commentary on the Zhaolun (T45n1859). It covers The Fundamental Thesis, the four treatises, and the two letters line by line 〔T45n1859 0165a07–0200c26〕 and provides the ancient framework for this edition's exposition and apparatus.
Yuankang's commentary contains no commentary on Huida's preface. The preface segment therefore takes Xiaoyue's Song-dynasty Interlinear Outline and Annotated Preface to the Zhaolun (X54n0869) as its principal framework, with the Jin Huida's (惠達) X54n0866 used only where it directly bears on the text. The names of the preface author Huida (慧達) and the Jin commentator Huida (惠達) are written with different graphs; whether they refer to the same person is recorded without adjudication 〔X54n0866；X54n0869；本編《肇論存疑錄》#6〕.
Translator and Annotator of This Edition — Shi Huijing
This English translation, together with its exposition and apparatus, is the work of Shi Huijing.
The edition takes Sengzhao's Chinese original as its base, carries this Chinese-authored prajñā treatise into English, and builds its vernacular, exposition, apparatus, and heart-essence segment by segment from the treatise itself, scripture, and the records of the ancient masters. All doctrinal term selection, passage-level interpretive choices, and decisions among textual variants are the translator-annotator's alone.
This undertaking brings the first Chinese-authored treatise on prajñā into the English-speaking world. It does not invent for Sengzhao a Sanskrit original that never existed; it allows a Chinese-authored treatise to enter another language through its own wording, line of argument, and commentarial web.
書目Bibliography
本書目唯列本譯注實際依憑之典據——漢造論底本、古德疏網、史傳、經錄及八單元考據中實際核取之經論。本論非譯典，無異譯、無梵本；羅馬字只作古德音寫名相的發音輔助，不作校勘權威。
一、底本（漢人親造原典）
| 題名 | 撰者·朝代 | 藏經號 | 卷·型制 | 角色 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 肇論 | 後秦長安 釋僧肇 作 | T45n1858 | 一卷·天然八段脊 | 底本；漢人親造原典，非譯典，無異譯、無梵本。卷端慧達序題署「小招提寺沙門 慧達 作」。 |
八段脊：序 · 宗本義 · 物不遷論 · 不真空論 · 般若無知論 · 劉遺民書問 · 答劉遺民書 · 涅槃無名論。
〈涅槃無名論〉冠表上秦主姚興，下分開宗至玄得十九子目；九折十演的逐章折演對應依元康疏科判定之，全表見卷首索引。
二、疏網（古德註疏）
| 撰者·朝代 | 著作 | 藏經號 | 卷·覆蓋 | 本版角色 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 唐 · 元康 | 肇論疏 | T45n1859 | 三卷；現存逐文疏自〈宗本義〉0165a07 起，至疏末 0200c26，覆蓋宗本義、四論與書問；無慧達序疏 | 鏡疏；段二至段八科判、逐文釋義與十九子目之主錨。 |
| 元 · 文才 | 肇論新疏 | T45n1860 | 三卷；全論疏釋 | 後出全疏見證；與元康疏並讀時只按實文取證。 |
| 晉 · 惠達 | 肇論疏 | X54n0866 | 二卷；現存覆蓋不全，未見〈宗本義〉題名 | 早期旁證；序單元只取其四論配屬之實文，不冒充慧達序逐句注。 |
| 宋 · 遵式 | 肇論疏科 | X54n0868 | 一卷·科文 | 全論科判旁證。 |
| 宋 · 曉月 | 夾科肇論序注 | X54n0869 | 一卷；逐文覆蓋慧達序 | 序之主注；補元康疏無序疏之缺。 |
| 宋 · 遵式 | 注肇論疏 | X54n0870 | 六卷 | 全論逐文疏釋見證。 |
| 元 · 文才 | 肇論新疏游刃 | X54n0872 | 三卷 | 文才 T1860 之自輔旁證。 |
| 明 · 德清 | 肇論略註 | X54n0873 | 六卷 | 明代略註見證；只在有明確實文時取。 |
本版以元康 T1859 為段二至段八對讀骨幹，以曉月 X54n0869 為段一序注骨幹。其餘七部疏科、疏注與旁證合為見證池，不以年代後出取代底本。
三、史傳
| 撰者·朝代 | 題名 | 藏經號 | 實取範圍 | 本版所據 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 梁 · 慧皎 | 高僧傳 · 僧肇本傳 | T50n2059 | 0365a09–0366a29 | 家貧傭書、讀舊《維摩》出家、隨羅什入長安、逍遙園詳定經論、作〈波若無知論〉呈什、劉遺民歎賞、書問往復、涅槃無名表上姚興及卒年。僧傳字形「波若」依傳本保留；卒年只錄「晉義熙十年卒」與「春秋三十有一」〔0366a29〕，不換算公元生卒年。 |
四、經錄
| 撰者·朝代 | 題名 | 藏經號 | 實取位置 | 本版所據 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 梁 · 僧祐錄；宋明帝敕陸澄撰目 | 出三藏記集 · 法論目錄 | T55n2145 | 不真空論 0083a08；涅槃無名論 0083a21；物不遷論 0085a08 | 三論分帙散錄，證南朝已有單篇別行見證；未以目錄排列替三家判勝負。 |
| 唐 · 智昇 | 開元釋教錄 | T55n2154 | 全檔題名檢索 | 與 T2145 同作誠實層：兩錄均未檢得「肇論」合集名；合集名的藏內早期見證只據卷端慧達序，不據零命中補造年代。 |
陸澄目錄未檢得〈般若無知論〉的「般若無知／波若無知／無知論」題名；此一零命中只作現存檢索事實，不推成作品當時不存在。
五、經證所引（八單元考據實取）
下表只列各考據層已開卷核取者；「逐字」「取意」「歸屬存疑」各守其證據強度，不因義近改稱同文。
| 題名 | 藏經號 | 實引單元 | 本版所取 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 放光般若經 | T08n0221 | 物不遷、不真空、般若無知、劉遺民書問、答劉遺民書、涅槃無名 | 般若、二諦、等覺立法等語脈；能逐字者逐字列，字面不合者只列取意或存疑。 |
| 道行般若經 | T08n0224 | 物不遷、不真空、般若無知 | 無來無去、心不有不無及般若無所知見之語脈；篇首兩句的完整同文仍存疑。 |
| 摩訶般若鈔經 | T08n0226 | 涅槃無名 | 〈道行品〉「心亦不有亦不無」之實際逐字所在〔0508c18〕；不把 T226 改題為 T224。 |
| 摩訶般若波羅蜜經 | T08n0223 | 般若無知、答劉遺民書 | 不緣色生識、無異與非一非異、色空相即等現存經文座標；與論文異字處分列。 |
| 金剛般若波羅蜜經 | T08n0235 | 宗本義 | 三乘同觀一理而所成有別的經證〔0749b17–18〕。 |
| 正法華經 | T09n0263 | 涅槃無名 | 一乘與方便分三之義段；本論整句未在現本逐字核得。 |
| 大般涅槃經 | T12n0374 | 宗本義、涅槃無名 | 涅槃無住處、結盡及涅槃語脈；未核得同文者守存疑。 |
| 佛說維摩詰經 | T14n0474 | 不真空、般若無知、答劉遺民書 | 色性空、寶積偈與「不面在昔」〔0525c03〕等古譯逐字或異序見證。 |
| 維摩詰所說經 | T14n0475 | 宗本義、不真空、涅槃無名 | 本無、實相、緣會、漚和般若、不斷煩惱而入涅槃及不盡有為不住無為等經證。 |
| 思益梵天所問經 | T15n0586 | 般若無知、答劉遺民書、涅槃無名 | 無所得而得、無所知故知之逐字經證；與論文只同義者不混作同文。 |
| 佛說成具光明定意經 | T15n0630 | 物不遷、不真空、涅槃無名 | 強名之文與不為之為之語脈；本論短句未核得完整同文者只按明題誌錄。 |
| 佛說超日明三昧經 | T15n0638 | 不真空 | 即虛之稱所對應義段〔0532b27–28〕，不稱逐字引句。 |
| 菩薩瓔珞經 | T16n0656 | 不真空 | 轉法輪亦非有轉亦非無轉之現存經證〔0109a01–03〕。 |
| 大智度論 | T25n1509 | 物不遷、不真空、涅槃無名 | 成具之相、鏡像中道、空行不取證等論證；只按考據實核段取。 |
| 中論 | T30n1564 | 宗本義、物不遷、不真空、般若無知、涅槃無名 | 有無雙遣、去來、因緣、實相、性空及生死涅槃語脈；僧肇取意處不冒稱逐字。 |
| 中本起經 | T04n0196 | 物不遷 | 元康所繫「正言似反」之經名〔T45n1859 0170a10〕；現本未核得該句，故歸屬存疑。 |
| 普曜經 | T03n0186 | 物不遷 | 現存逐字近句「正言似反誰肯信」所在〔0527c22〕；與元康所繫《中本起經》並列，不代為裁決。 |
| 老子 | 不適用 | 涅槃無名 | 上姚興表、會異、明漸依次取第三十九、第二十三、第四十八章語脈；是論文明引的子書材料，不強配大藏經號。 |
慧達序所列《中論》《百論》《十二門論》，只保存序文列名的書目事實；其中未被序逐字徵引者，不另充作該序引文。序中所駁世諺涉及《成實論》《十地經論》與《莊》《老》，亦只誌錄其受駁語境，不列為本版宗依。
〈涅槃無名論〉另明題《賢劫經》與禪典，並有若干只稱「經云」的句子；現階段未核定可穩繫的藏經號或完整同文，故留在存疑索引，不以相似義理補題。
六、梵藏材料
| 項 | 現況 |
|---|---|
| 梵文底本 | 不適用。《肇論》是漢人親造原典，非由梵本翻譯。 |
| 漢譯異本 | 不適用。本版無異譯對校層。 |
| 藏譯 | 不適用。不設藏譯對校或傳承座標。 |
| 羅馬字 | 只在般若、漚和、泥洹、涅槃等古德音寫已有根據時作發音輔助；無古德音寫者從闕。 |
漢造論使梵文校勘規則在本書天然滿足：不以現代梵本、回譯或臆構名相作權威，也不虛設梵藏傳承。
This bibliography lists only the sources actually relied upon by this translation and annotation: the Chinese-authored base text, the ancient commentarial web, biography, catalogues, and the scriptures and treatises actually checked in the apparatus for the eight segments. The Zhaolun is not a translated canonical work; it has no alternate translation and no Sanskrit source text. Romanization serves only as a pronunciation aid for terms transmitted through ancient transliteration and carries no authority for textual collation.
1 · Base Text (Chinese-authored original)
| Title | Author · Dynasty | Taishō no. | Fascicle · Form | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 肇論 The Zhaolun | 後秦長安 釋僧肇 作 · Written by Śramaṇa Sengzhao of Chang'an under the Later Qin | T45n1858 | 1 fascicle · natural spine of 8 segments | Base text; an original work composed in Chinese, not a translation, with no alternate translation and no Sanskrit source text. The preface at the head of the fascicle is separately headed 「小招提寺沙門 慧達 作」 [“Written by Śramaṇa Huida of the Xiaozhaoti Monastery”]. |
The eight-segment spine: 序 Preface to the Zhaolun · 宗本義 The Fundamental Thesis · 物不遷論 On the Immutability of Things · 不真空論 On the Emptiness of the Unreal · 般若無知論 On Prajñā Without Knowing · 劉遺民書問 Liu Yimin's Letter of Inquiry · 答劉遺民書 Reply to Liu Yimin's Letter · 涅槃無名論 On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless.
On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless opens with a memorial presented to Yao Xing, ruler of Qin, and then divides into nineteen subheadings from Opening the Thesis through Mysterious Attainment. The item-by-item alignment of the nine rebuttals and ten expositions follows Yuankang's outline; the full table appears in the front-matter indices.
2 · Commentarial Web (ancient commentaries)
| Author · Dynasty | Work | Taishō / Xuzangjing no. | Fascicles · Coverage | Role in this edition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 唐 · 元康 · Yuankang (Tang) | 肇論疏 Commentary on the Zhaolun | T45n1859 | 3 fascicles; the extant line-by-line commentary runs from The Fundamental Thesis at 0165a07 through 0200c26, covering the Fundamental Thesis, four treatises, and two letters; no commentary on Huida's preface | Mirror-commentary; principal anchor for structural divisions, line-by-line explanation, and the nineteen subheadings in Segments 2–8. |
| 元 · 文才 · Wencai (Yuan) | 肇論新疏 New Commentary on the Zhaolun | T45n1860 | 3 fascicles; commentary on the complete work | Later full-commentary witness; used only where its actual wording bears on the passage. |
| 晉 · 惠達 · Huida (Jin) | 肇論疏 Commentary on the Zhaolun | X54n0866 | 2 fascicles; incomplete extant coverage; no heading The Fundamental Thesis is found | Early supporting witness; the preface segment draws only upon its actual statements assigning the four treatises and does not misrepresent it as a line-by-line commentary on Huida's preface. |
| 宋 · 遵式 · Zunshi (Song) | 肇論疏科 Outline of the Commentary on the Zhaolun | X54n0868 | 1 fascicle · structural outline | Supporting witness to the outline of the complete work. |
| 宋 · 曉月 · Xiaoyue (Song) | 夾科肇論序注 Interlinear Outline and Annotated Preface to the Zhaolun | X54n0869 | 1 fascicle; line-by-line coverage of Huida's preface | Principal commentary on the preface; supplies the commentary absent from Yuankang. |
| 宋 · 遵式 · Zunshi (Song) | 注肇論疏 Annotated Commentary on the Zhaolun | X54n0870 | 6 fascicles | Line-by-line commentarial witness for the complete work. |
| 元 · 文才 · Wencai (Yuan) | 肇論新疏游刃 Youren Supplement to the New Commentary on the Zhaolun | X54n0872 | 3 fascicles | Supporting witness authored to accompany Wencai's T1860. |
| 明 · 德清 · Deqing (Ming) | 肇論略註 Abbreviated Notes on the Zhaolun | X54n0873 | 6 fascicles | Ming abbreviated-commentary witness; used only where explicit wording is available. |
This edition takes Yuankang T1859 as the commentarial spine for Segments 2–8 and Xiaoyue X54n0869 as the commentarial spine for Segment 1, the preface. The other seven outlines, commentaries, and supporting works form a witness pool. A later date never displaces the base text.
3 · Biography
| Author · Dynasty | Title | Taishō no. | Range used | Evidence used by this edition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 梁 · 慧皎 · Huijiao (Liang) | 高僧傳 · 僧肇本傳 Biographies of Eminent Monks: Biography of Sengzhao | T50n2059 | 0365a09–0366a29 | Sengzhao's poor family and work as a hired copyist; his reading of the older Vimalakīrti and departure from household life; his following Kumārajīva to Chang'an; work in Xiaoyao Garden carefully settling sūtras and treatises; composition of 〈波若無知論〉 On Prajñā Without Knowing and presentation to Kumārajīva; Liu Yimin's praise and the exchange of letters; presentation of On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless to Yao Xing; and the transmitted death notice. The biography's graph 「波若」 [“prajñā”] is preserved when quoted. The death record is limited to 「晉義熙十年卒」 [“died in the tenth year of Yixi under the Jin”] and 「春秋三十有一」〔0366a29〕 [“aged thirty-one”]; no Common Era birth or death year is calculated. |
4 · Catalogues
| Compiler · Dynasty | Title | Taishō no. | Locations used | Evidence used by this edition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 梁 · 僧祐錄；宋明帝敕陸澄撰目 · recorded by Sengyou (Liang); catalogue compiled by Lu Cheng under imperial order of Emperor Ming of Liu-Song | 出三藏記集 · 法論目錄 Collection of Records Concerning the Tripiṭaka: Catalogue of Treatises | T55n2145 | 不真空論 0083a08；涅槃無名論 0083a21；物不遷論 0085a08 | The three treatises are separately catalogued in different cases, witnessing their separate circulation by the Southern Dynasties. The catalogue order is not used to rank the three schools. |
| 唐 · 智昇 · Zhisheng (Tang) | 開元釋教錄 Kaiyuan Catalogue of Buddhist Teachings | T55n2154 | title search across the complete record | Together with T2145, this is part of the edition's documentary-honesty layer: neither catalogue yielded the collection title 「肇論」 [“The Zhaolun”]. The earliest witness within the extant canon to the collected title is taken only from Huida's preface at the head of the fascicle; no date is manufactured from a zero result. |
Lu Cheng's catalogue yielded no title match for 〈般若無知論〉 under 「般若無知／波若無知／無知論」 [“Prajñā Without Knowing / Bore Without Knowing / Without Knowing Treatise”]. This is recorded only as the result of a search in the extant catalogue and is not used to infer that the work did not then exist.
5 · Scriptures and Treatises Cited (actually checked in the eight apparatuses)
The table lists only sources opened and checked in the apparatus. 「逐字」 [“verbatim”], 「取意」 [“rendering of the sense”], and 「歸屬存疑」 [“uncertain attribution”] retain their respective evidentiary strength; doctrinal similarity is never relabeled as identical wording.
| Title | Taishō no. | Segments citing it | Use in this edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 放光般若經 Fangguang Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra | T08n0221 | 物不遷、不真空、般若無知、劉遺民書問、答劉遺民書、涅槃無名 | Contexts of prajñā, the two truths, and equal awakening; wording verified verbatim is quoted verbatim, while wording that does not agree is marked as a rendering of the sense or uncertain. |
| 道行般若經 Daoxing Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra | T08n0224 | 物不遷、不真空、般若無知 | Contexts of no coming and no going, mind as neither being nor non-being, and prajñā knowing and seeing nothing; the complete wording of the two opening quotations remains uncertain. |
| 摩訶般若鈔經 Extracted Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra | T08n0226 | 涅槃無名 | The actual verbatim locus in the 〈道行品〉 for 「心亦不有亦不無」〔0508c18〕 [“mind also neither exists nor does not exist”]; T226 is not retitled as T224. |
| 摩訶般若波羅蜜經 Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra | T08n0223 | 般若無知、答劉遺民書 | Extant scriptural loci for consciousness not arising in dependence upon form, non-difference and neither-one-nor-different, and the mutual implication of form and emptiness; wording differing from the treatise is listed separately. |
| 金剛般若波羅蜜經 Diamond Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra | T08n0235 | 宗本義 | Scriptural evidence that the three vehicles contemplate one principle while their attainments differ 〔0749b17–18〕. |
| 正法華經 Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra | T09n0263 | 涅槃無名 | The passage on the one vehicle and its provisional division into three; the treatise's complete sentence has not been verified verbatim in the extant text. |
| 大般涅槃經 Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra | T12n0374 | 宗本義、涅槃無名 | Contexts of nirvāṇa as having no abiding place, the exhaustion of bonds, and nirvāṇa; passages without verified identical wording remain uncertain. |
| 佛說維摩詰經 Vimalakīrti Sūtra (old translation) | T14n0474 | 不真空、般若無知、答劉遺民書 | Ancient translated witnesses for the emptiness of form-nature, Ratnākara's verse, and 「不面在昔」〔0525c03〕 [“we did not meet in former times”], whether verbatim or in a differing sequence. |
| 維摩詰所說經 Vimalakīrti Sūtra | T14n0475 | 宗本義、不真空、涅槃無名 | Scriptural evidence for fundamental non-being, true reality, the coming-together of conditions, skillful means and prajñā, entering nirvāṇa without ending afflictions, and neither exhausting the conditioned nor abiding in the unconditioned. |
| 思益梵天所問經 Questions of Brahmā Viśeṣacintin Sūtra | T15n0586 | 般若無知、答劉遺民書、涅槃無名 | Verbatim scriptural evidence for attaining without anything attained and knowing because there is nothing known; passages only equivalent in sense are not conflated with the treatise's wording. |
| 佛說成具光明定意經 Sūtra of the Samādhi of Fully Accomplished Radiance | T15n0630 | 物不遷、不真空、涅槃無名 | Contexts of names being imposed and acting without acting; short sentences of the treatise not verified in complete identical wording are recorded only under their explicit attribution. |
| 佛說超日明三昧經 Sūtra of the Samādhi of Radiance Surpassing the Sun | T15n0638 | 不真空 | The passage corresponding in meaning to the designation “the very false” 〔0532b27–28〕; it is not called a verbatim quotation. |
| 菩薩瓔珞經 Bodhisattva Garland Sūtra | T16n0656 | 不真空 | Extant scriptural evidence that turning the Dharma wheel is neither a turning that exists nor a turning that does not exist 〔0109a01–03〕. |
| 大智度論 Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom | T25n1509 | 物不遷、不真空、涅槃無名 | Arguments concerning the mark of accomplishment, the mirror-image middle way, and practicing emptiness without grasping realization; only passages actually checked in the apparatus are used. |
| 中論 Madhyamaka Treatise | T30n1564 | 宗本義、物不遷、不真空、般若無知、涅槃無名 | Contexts of relinquishing being and non-being, going and coming, conditions, true reality, intrinsic-nature-emptiness, and saṃsāra and nirvāṇa; places where Sengzhao conveys the sense are not called verbatim. |
| 中本起經 Zhong benqi jing | T04n0196 | 物不遷 | Yuankang identifies this as the scripture associated with 「正言似反」 [“correct words seem contrary”] 〔T45n1859 0170a10〕. The sentence has not been found in the extant text, so the attribution remains uncertain. |
| 普曜經 Lalitavistara Sūtra | T03n0186 | 物不遷 | The extant close wording 「正言似反誰肯信」〔0527c22〕 [“correct words seem contrary—who would believe them?”]. It is listed alongside Yuankang's attribution to the Zhong benqi jing without adjudication. |
| 老子 Laozi | Not applicable | 涅槃無名 | The memorial to Yao Xing, Reconciling Otherness, and Clarifying Graduality draw respectively upon the currents of Chapters 39, 23, and 48. These are non-Buddhist materials explicitly cited by the treatise and are not assigned a fabricated canon number. |
The Madhyamaka Treatise, Śataśāstra, and Twelve Gate Treatise named in Huida's preface are retained as bibliography facts stated by the preface. Works not quoted there verbatim are not promoted into quotations of the preface. The sayings rejected in the preface that involve the Satyasiddhi-śāstra, Daśabhūmika-vibhāṣā, the Zhuangzi, and the Laozi are likewise recorded only in their rejected context, not listed as the authority base of this edition.
On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless also explicitly names the Bhadrakalpika Sūtra and a meditation text and contains several statements introduced only by 「經云」 [“a scripture says”]. Because no unique canon number or complete identical wording has yet been securely determined, these remain in the index of open questions and are not supplied with a title by doctrinal similarity.
6 · Sanskrit and Tibetan Materials
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Sanskrit base text | Not applicable. The Zhaolun is an original work composed in Chinese, not a translation from Sanskrit. |
| Chinese alternate translation | Not applicable. This edition has no alternate-translation collation layer. |
| Tibetan translation | Not applicable. No Tibetan collation or transmission coordinate is established. |
| Romanization | Used only as a pronunciation aid where ancient transliteration grounds terms such as 般若 prajñā, 漚和 upāya, 泥洹 nirvāṇa, and 涅槃 nirvāṇa; otherwise the form is marked not attested. |
Because this is a Chinese-authored treatise, the restriction governing Sanskrit collation is naturally satisfied: no modern Sanskrit text, back-translation, or conjectural term is treated as authority, and no Sanskrit or Tibetan transmission is invented.
索引Indices
本索引依 T45n1858 八段切分、元康 T45n1859 科判、八單元考據與存疑簿編成，彙列單元、十九子目、引文經論、疏網及誠實層位置。唯作檢索之用，不立新義。
一、八單元索引
《肇論》無品；本版依原卷天然結構切成八單元。起點與範圍均據 T45n1858 卷端及連續切分。
| 段 | 單元 | 性質 | 起始頁行 | 底本範圍 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 序 | 慧達卷首序 | 0150a22 | 〔T45n1858 0150a22–0150c08〕 |
| 二 | 宗本義 | 全論綱領 | 0150c11 卷端題；0150c14 篇題 | 〔T45n1858 0150c11–0151a07〕 |
| 三 | 物不遷論 | 四論第一 | 0151a08 | 〔T45n1858 0151a08–0152a01〕 |
| 四 | 不真空論 | 四論第二 | 0152a01 | 〔T45n1858 0152a01–0153a06〕 |
| 五 | 般若無知論 | 四論第三 | 0153a07 | 〔T45n1858 0153a07–0154c23〕 |
| 六 | 劉遺民書問 | 書問上篇 | 0154c24 | 〔T45n1858 0154c24–0155b21〕 |
| 七 | 答劉遺民書 | 書問下篇 | 0155b22 | 〔T45n1858 0155b22–0157a11〕 |
| 八 | 涅槃無名論 | 四論第四；冠表上秦主姚興 | 0157a12 | 〔T45n1858 0157a12–0161b28〕 |
卷端題「肇論」與撰者題署「後秦長安 釋僧肇 作」在慧達序之後、〈宗本義〉篇題之前〔T45n1858 0150c11–14〕，故本版收入段二之首。段名是結構導航，不改底本篇題。
二、涅槃無名論十九子目索引
元康釋「九折十演」為九難、九答，加開宗一義屬答家之本，合成十九章〔T45n1859 0191a25–0192a04〕。下表之折／演對應，即依元康逐章科判定之。
| 次第 | 子目 | 折／演 | 元康所判 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 開宗 | 演 | 開涅槃之宗；答家根本。 |
| 二 | 覈體 | 折 | 以有餘、無餘名責無名。 |
| 三 | 位體 | 演 | 有無為應物外稱，正體無名。 |
| 四 | 徵出 | 折 | 責涅槃何以出有無。 |
| 五 | 超境 | 演 | 超越有無境界，非另立一有。 |
| 六 | 搜玄 | 折 | 追問不出不在之玄旨。 |
| 七 | 妙存 | 演 | 即有無而不住有無。 |
| 八 | 難差 | 折 | 難三乘、三位兩種差別。 |
| 九 | 辯差 | 演 | 人有三，無為無三。 |
| 十 | 責異 | 折 | 以我與無為之一異作責。 |
| 十一 | 會異 | 演 | 會三乘之異而無為不異。 |
| 十二 | 詰漸 | 折 | 詰三乘何以不能頓盡。 |
| 十三 | 明漸 | 演 | 以智力深淺明漸悟。 |
| 十四 | 譏動 | 折 | 譏菩薩寂滅而仍進修。 |
| 十五 | 動寂 | 演 | 動即寂、寂即動。 |
| 十六 | 窮源 | 折 | 問後得涅槃是否有始終。 |
| 十七 | 通古 | 演 | 古今始終冥一。 |
| 十八 | 考得 | 折 | 考五陰盡後誰為得者。 |
| 十九 | 玄得 | 演 | 無得之得，結顯無名。 |
底本 T1858 兩見「九折十演」〔0157b11、0157b27〕；慧皎《高僧傳》T2059 兩見「十演九折」〔0366a06、0366a23〕。兩種語序各依原文誌錄，不倒改任何一方。元康又記泥曰、泥洹、涅槃一段在諸本中位次不一〔T45n1859 0191c05–08〕，本版不據此改動底本。
三、引文經論索引
| 藏經號 | 題名 | 引於單元 | 考據定位 |
|---|---|---|---|
| T08n0221 | 放光般若經 | 物不遷、不真空、般若無知、劉遺民書問、答劉遺民書、涅槃無名 | 般若、二諦、等覺立法及涅槃諸引；同文未核得者只列取意或存疑。 |
| T08n0224 | 道行般若經 | 物不遷、不真空、般若無知 | 無來無去、心不有不無及般若無所知見；篇首兩句仍存疑。 |
| T08n0226 | 摩訶般若鈔經 | 涅槃無名 | 〈道行品〉「心亦不有亦不無」實際逐字所在〔0508c18〕。 |
| T08n0223 | 摩訶般若波羅蜜經 | 般若無知、答劉遺民書 | 不緣色生識、無異與非一非異、色空相即等現存座標。 |
| T08n0235 | 金剛般若波羅蜜經 | 宗本義 | 三乘同觀一理而所成有別〔0749b17–18〕。 |
| T09n0263 | 正法華經 | 涅槃無名 | 一乘與方便分三之義段；本論整句未核得。 |
| T12n0374 | 大般涅槃經 | 宗本義、涅槃無名 | 涅槃無住處、結盡及涅槃語脈。 |
| T14n0474 | 佛說維摩詰經 | 不真空、般若無知、答劉遺民書 | 色性空、寶積偈與「不面在昔」〔0525c03〕等古譯見證。 |
| T14n0475 | 維摩詰所說經 | 宗本義、不真空、涅槃無名 | 本無、實相、緣會、方便般若及不盡有為不住無為等經證。 |
| T15n0586 | 思益梵天所問經 | 般若無知、答劉遺民書、涅槃無名 | 無所得而得、無所知故知之經證。 |
| T15n0630 | 佛說成具光明定意經 | 物不遷、不真空、涅槃無名 | 強名之文及不為之為語脈；未核得同文者守存疑。 |
| T15n0638 | 佛說超日明三昧經 | 不真空 | 即虛之稱所對應義段〔0532b27–28〕。 |
| T16n0656 | 菩薩瓔珞經 | 不真空 | 轉法輪亦非有轉亦非無轉〔0109a01–03〕。 |
| T25n1509 | 大智度論 | 物不遷、不真空、涅槃無名 | 成具之相、鏡像中道與空行不取證等論證。 |
| T30n1564 | 中論 | 宗本義、物不遷、不真空、般若無知、涅槃無名 | 有無雙遣、去來、因緣、實相、性空及生死涅槃語脈。 |
| T04n0196 | 中本起經 | 物不遷 | 元康所繫「正言似反」之經名〔T45n1859 0170a10〕；現本未核得該句。 |
| T03n0186 | 普曜經 | 物不遷 | 「正言似反誰肯信」逐字近句所在〔0527c22〕；與元康歸屬並錄。 |
〈涅槃無名論〉所用《老子》第三十九、二十三、四十八章，依本論明引的子書章次誌錄；因非佛典，不強配大藏經號。該論另明題《賢劫經》與禪典，並有若干只稱「經云」之句，均因尚未唯一核定而收入存疑索引。
四、疏網索引
| 藏經號 | 古德·著作 | 卷 | 覆蓋與本版角色 |
|---|---|---|---|
| T45n1859 | 唐元康《肇論疏》 | 三卷 | 鏡疏；自〈宗本義〉起，覆蓋宗本義、四論與書問；無慧達序疏。 |
| T45n1860 | 元文才《肇論新疏》 | 三卷 | 後出全論疏釋見證。 |
| X54n0866 | 晉惠達《肇論疏》 | 二卷 | 現存覆蓋不全；未見〈宗本義〉題名，序單元只取四論配屬旁證。 |
| X54n0868 | 宋遵式《肇論疏科》 | 一卷 | 全論科文見證。 |
| X54n0869 | 宋曉月《夾科肇論序注》 | 一卷 | 慧達序逐文主注。 |
| X54n0870 | 宋遵式《注肇論疏》 | 六卷 | 全論逐文疏釋見證。 |
| X54n0872 | 元文才《肇論新疏游刃》 | 三卷 | T1860 自輔旁證。 |
| X54n0873 | 明德清《肇論略註》 | 六卷 | 明代略註見證。 |
五、存疑索引
下表把誠實層按問題類別彙總；「誌錄不判」是本版處置，不是邀請以相似材料補空。
| 類別 | 涵蓋單元 | 存疑內容 | 本版處置 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 撰者議題 | 宗本義、涅槃無名 | 近世真偽論與藏內一體受持之差 | 依慧達序、元康疏、僧傳與經錄的藏內材料一體誌錄；公開面不引不辯。 |
| 題署字異 | 序、疏網 | T1858 序撰者「慧達」〔0150a22〕與 X54n0866 撰者「惠達」字異 | 兩字各守藏本；同人與否不裁。 |
| 折演語序 | 涅槃無名 | T1858「九折十演」與 T2059「十演九折」 | 各依原文；十九子目折演對應依元康疏科判定之。 |
| 合集成書 | 全卷 | T2145、T2154 未檢得「肇論」合集名；三論分帙散錄 | 最早藏內合集見證只據慧達序；成書年代不補造。 |
| 目錄缺載 | 般若無知 | 陸澄目錄未檢得般若無知、波若無知、無知論題名 | 只誌零命中，不推成作品當時不存在。 |
| 引句原典 | 物不遷 | 《放光》首引、白首梵志、三災句未核得原始同文或經名 | 保存本論與元康所記；原經所在存疑。 |
| 經名歸屬 | 物不遷 | 元康繫《中本起經》的「正言似反」，近句實見《普曜經》 | 兩讀並錄，不判傳本成因。 |
| 般若引句 | 般若無知 | 篇首《放光》《道行》、兩條無題般若句及末段《成具》《寶積》未核得完整同文 | 論文、疏家歸屬與現存近句分列；近義不升格同文。 |
| 藏經歸屬 | 般若無知 | 「不緣色生識」論疏繫《放光》〔T45n1858 0154a08–09〕，逐字句實見 T08n0223〔0326b09–10〕 | 兩讀並錄，誌錄不判。 |
| 取意與同文 | 不真空 | 《摩訶衍論》《中論》《放光》多處為義脈、合說或濃縮 | 逐字、取意與存疑分層，不把相近文縫成一引。 |
| 色空異文 | 答劉遺民書 | T1858「色不異空」〔0156c05–06〕與 T08n0223「非色異空」〔0223a13–14〕的字面張力 | 原典層不動；論、疏、經三處並錄不裁。 |
| 傳本節錄 | 劉遺民書問、答劉遺民書 | T2059 只節錄書問往復，未全錄三問與三答 | 僧傳只稱節錄見證，不據傳本補改 T1858。 |
| 引句原典 | 涅槃無名 | 《放光》四組、《正法華》《涅槃經》諸句及多條未題經句未核得完整同文 | 明題者按論疏誌錄；只稱經云者不強繫經名。 |
| 評語出處 | 序 | 「解空第一，肇公其人」見慧達序〔T45n1858 0150c05〕與曉月注〔X54n0869 0139c24–0140a01〕，現存僧傳未見同一連文 | 只據現有兩處誌錄；更早所在存疑。 |
This index follows the eight-segment division of T45n1858, Yuankang's structural outline in T45n1859, the apparatus for the eight segments, and the register of open questions. It gathers the segments, nineteen subheadings, scriptural and treatise citations, commentarial web, and locations of the documentary-honesty layer. It serves reference only and establishes no new interpretation.
I. Index of the Eight Segments
The Zhaolun has no chapters. This edition divides it into eight segments according to the natural structure of the original fascicle. Every starting point and range follows the fascicle heading and continuous division of T45n1858.
| Segment | Unit | Character | Starting page-line | Base-text range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 序 Preface to the Zhaolun | Huida's preface at the head of the fascicle | 0150a22 | 〔T45n1858 0150a22–0150c08〕 |
| 2 | 宗本義 The Fundamental Thesis | Governing statement of the whole work | 0150c11 fascicle heading; 0150c14 unit heading | 〔T45n1858 0150c11–0151a07〕 |
| 3 | 物不遷論 On the Immutability of Things | First of the four treatises | 0151a08 | 〔T45n1858 0151a08–0152a01〕 |
| 4 | 不真空論 On the Emptiness of the Unreal | Second of the four treatises | 0152a01 | 〔T45n1858 0152a01–0153a06〕 |
| 5 | 般若無知論 On Prajñā Without Knowing | Third of the four treatises | 0153a07 | 〔T45n1858 0153a07–0154c23〕 |
| 6 | 劉遺民書問 Liu Yimin's Letter of Inquiry | First part of the correspondence | 0154c24 | 〔T45n1858 0154c24–0155b21〕 |
| 7 | 答劉遺民書 Reply to Liu Yimin's Letter | Second part of the correspondence | 0155b22 | 〔T45n1858 0155b22–0157a11〕 |
| 8 | 涅槃無名論 On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless | Fourth of the four treatises; preceded by a memorial to Yao Xing, ruler of Qin | 0157a12 | 〔T45n1858 0157a12–0161b28〕 |
The fascicle title 「肇論」 [“The Zhaolun”] and author statement 「後秦長安 釋僧肇 作」 [“Written by Śramaṇa Sengzhao of Chang'an under the Later Qin”] stand after Huida's preface and before the heading The Fundamental Thesis 〔T45n1858 0150c11–14〕. This edition therefore includes them at the beginning of Segment 2. Segment names provide structural navigation and do not alter the headings of the base text.
II. Index of the Nineteen Subheadings in On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless
Yuankang explains 「九折十演」 [“nine rebuttals and ten expositions”] as nine challenges and nine answers, with Opening the Thesis belonging to the answering side as its foundation, making nineteen parts in all 〔T45n1859 0191a25–0192a04〕. The rebuttal/exposition alignment in the table below follows Yuankang's item-by-item structural divisions.
| Sequence | Subheading | Rebuttal / Exposition | Yuankang's judgment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 開宗 Opening the Thesis | Exposition | Opens the thesis of nirvāṇa; foundation of the answering side. |
| 2 | 覈體 Examining the Substance | Rebuttal | Uses the names with-remainder and without-remainder to challenge namelessness. |
| 3 | 位體 Placing the Substance | Exposition | Existence and non-being are outward names used in responding to things; the true substance is nameless. |
| 4 | 徵出 Pressing the Claim of Transcendence | Rebuttal | Challenges how nirvāṇa can transcend existence and non-being. |
| 5 | 超境 Beyond the Realm | Exposition | Transcends the realm of existence and non-being without establishing another existent. |
| 6 | 搜玄 Seeking the Mystery | Rebuttal | Presses the mysterious purport of neither transcending nor abiding within. |
| 7 | 妙存 Subtle Presence | Exposition | Is immediately existence and non-being without abiding in either. |
| 8 | 難差 Challenging Difference | Rebuttal | Challenges the two kinds of difference involving the three vehicles and three stages. |
| 9 | 辯差 Distinguishing Difference | Exposition | There are three kinds of person; the unconditioned is not three. |
| 10 | 責異 Pressing Otherness | Rebuttal | Presses the question of sameness or otherness between the self and the unconditioned. |
| 11 | 會異 Reconciling Otherness | Exposition | Reconciles the difference among the three vehicles without making the unconditioned different. |
| 12 | 詰漸 Pressing Graduality | Rebuttal | Challenges why the three vehicles cannot exhaust everything at once. |
| 13 | 明漸 Clarifying Graduality | Exposition | Uses the depth of wisdom's power to explain gradual realization. |
| 14 | 譏動 Deriding Motion | Rebuttal | Derides the claim that bodhisattvas remain in still cessation yet continue to cultivate. |
| 15 | 動寂 Motion and Stillness | Exposition | The very moving is still, and the very still is moving. |
| 16 | 窮源 Exhausting the Source | Rebuttal | Asks whether nirvāṇa attained afterward has a beginning and an end. |
| 17 | 通古 Comprehending Antiquity | Exposition | Antiquity and the present, beginning and end, darkly coincide as one. |
| 18 | 考得 Examining Attainment | Rebuttal | Examines who attains after the five aggregates are exhausted. |
| 19 | 玄得 Mysterious Attainment | Exposition | Attainment as non-attainment, concluding by disclosing namelessness. |
The T1858 base text twice reads 「九折十演」〔0157b11、0157b27〕 [“nine rebuttals and ten expositions”], while Huijiao's Biographies of Eminent Monks T2059 twice reads 「十演九折」〔0366a06、0366a23〕 [“ten expositions and nine rebuttals”]. Each order is recorded according to its own witness, and neither is reversed to agree with the other. Yuankang also notes that the paragraph on 泥曰, 泥洹, and 涅槃 occupies different positions in different witnesses 〔T45n1859 0191c05–08〕; this edition does not alter the base text on that account.
III. Index of Scriptures and Treatises Cited
| Canon no. | Title | Segments citing it | Apparatus location |
|---|---|---|---|
| T08n0221 | 放光般若經 Fangguang Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra | 物不遷、不真空、般若無知、劉遺民書問、答劉遺民書、涅槃無名 | Citations concerning prajñā, the two truths, equal awakening, and nirvāṇa; wording not verified identically is listed only as a rendering of the sense or as uncertain. |
| T08n0224 | 道行般若經 Daoxing Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra | 物不遷、不真空、般若無知 | No coming and no going, mind as neither being nor non-being, and prajñā knowing and seeing nothing; the two opening quotations remain uncertain. |
| T08n0226 | 摩訶般若鈔經 Extracted Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra | 涅槃無名 | The actual verbatim locus in 〈道行品〉 for 「心亦不有亦不無」〔0508c18〕 [“mind also neither exists nor does not exist”]. |
| T08n0223 | 摩訶般若波羅蜜經 Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra | 般若無知、答劉遺民書 | Extant coordinates for consciousness not arising in dependence upon form, non-difference and neither-one-nor-different, and the mutual implication of form and emptiness. |
| T08n0235 | 金剛般若波羅蜜經 Diamond Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra | 宗本義 | The three vehicles contemplate one principle while their attainments differ 〔0749b17–18〕. |
| T09n0263 | 正法華經 Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra | 涅槃無名 | The passage on the one vehicle and its provisional division into three; the complete sentence of the treatise has not been verified identically. |
| T12n0374 | 大般涅槃經 Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra | 宗本義、涅槃無名 | Contexts of nirvāṇa as having no abiding place, the exhaustion of bonds, and nirvāṇa. |
| T14n0474 | 佛說維摩詰經 Vimalakīrti Sūtra (old translation) | 不真空、般若無知、答劉遺民書 | Ancient translated witnesses for the emptiness of form-nature, Ratnākara's verse, and 「不面在昔」〔0525c03〕 [“we did not meet in former times”]. |
| T14n0475 | 維摩詰所說經 Vimalakīrti Sūtra | 宗本義、不真空、涅槃無名 | Fundamental non-being, true reality, the coming-together of conditions, skillful means and prajñā, and neither exhausting the conditioned nor abiding in the unconditioned. |
| T15n0586 | 思益梵天所問經 Questions of Brahmā Viśeṣacintin Sūtra | 般若無知、答劉遺民書、涅槃無名 | Scriptural evidence for attaining without anything attained and knowing because there is nothing known. |
| T15n0630 | 佛說成具光明定意經 Sūtra of the Samādhi of Fully Accomplished Radiance | 物不遷、不真空、涅槃無名 | Contexts of names being imposed and acting without acting; wording not verified identically remains uncertain. |
| T15n0638 | 佛說超日明三昧經 Sūtra of the Samādhi of Radiance Surpassing the Sun | 不真空 | The passage corresponding in meaning to the designation “the very false” 〔0532b27–28〕. |
| T16n0656 | 菩薩瓔珞經 Bodhisattva Garland Sūtra | 不真空 | Turning the Dharma wheel is neither a turning that exists nor a turning that does not exist 〔0109a01–03〕. |
| T25n1509 | 大智度論 Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom | 物不遷、不真空、涅槃無名 | Arguments concerning the mark of accomplishment, the mirror-image middle way, and practicing emptiness without grasping realization. |
| T30n1564 | 中論 Madhyamaka Treatise | 宗本義、物不遷、不真空、般若無知、涅槃無名 | Contexts of relinquishing being and non-being, going and coming, conditions, true reality, intrinsic-nature-emptiness, and saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. |
| T04n0196 | 中本起經 Zhong benqi jing | 物不遷 | Yuankang's attributed scripture for 「正言似反」〔T45n1859 0170a10〕 [“correct words seem contrary”]; the sentence has not been found in the extant text. |
| T03n0186 | 普曜經 Lalitavistara Sūtra | 物不遷 | The extant close wording 「正言似反誰肯信」〔0527c22〕 [“correct words seem contrary—who would believe them?”], listed alongside Yuankang's attribution without adjudication. |
The Laozi passages used in On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless are recorded by the chapter numbers explicitly cited in the treatise—39, 23, and 48. Because it is not a Buddhist canonical text, no Taishō number is forced upon it. The treatise also explicitly names the Bhadrakalpika Sūtra and a meditation text and contains several statements introduced only by 「經云」 [“a scripture says”]. Because they have not yet been uniquely identified, they remain in the index of open questions.
IV. Index of the Commentarial Web
| Canon no. | Ancient master · Work | Fascicles | Coverage and role in this edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| T45n1859 | 唐元康《肇論疏》 · Yuankang (Tang), Commentary on the Zhaolun | 3 | Mirror-commentary; from The Fundamental Thesis onward, covering the Fundamental Thesis, four treatises, and two letters; no commentary on Huida's preface. |
| T45n1860 | 元文才《肇論新疏》 · Wencai (Yuan), New Commentary on the Zhaolun | 3 | Later full-commentary witness. |
| X54n0866 | 晉惠達《肇論疏》 · Huida (Jin), Commentary on the Zhaolun | 2 | Incomplete extant coverage; no heading The Fundamental Thesis is found. The preface segment uses it only as a supporting witness to the assignment of the four treatises. |
| X54n0868 | 宋遵式《肇論疏科》 · Zunshi (Song), Outline of the Commentary on the Zhaolun | 1 | Structural-outline witness for the complete work. |
| X54n0869 | 宋曉月《夾科肇論序注》 · Xiaoyue (Song), Interlinear Outline and Annotated Preface to the Zhaolun | 1 | Principal line-by-line commentary on Huida's preface. |
| X54n0870 | 宋遵式《注肇論疏》 · Zunshi (Song), Annotated Commentary on the Zhaolun | 6 | Line-by-line commentarial witness for the complete work. |
| X54n0872 | 元文才《肇論新疏游刃》 · Wencai (Yuan), Youren Supplement to the New Commentary on the Zhaolun | 3 | Supporting witness authored to accompany T1860. |
| X54n0873 | 明德清《肇論略註》 · Deqing (Ming), Abbreviated Notes on the Zhaolun | 6 | Ming abbreviated-commentary witness. |
V. Index of Open Questions
The table gathers the documentary-honesty layer by type of question. 「誌錄不判」 [“recorded without adjudication”] is the disposition of this edition, not an invitation to fill gaps with similar material.
| Category | Segments covered | Open question | Disposition in this edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authorship question | 宗本義、涅槃無名 | The difference between recent authorship questions and the integrated reception of these works in the canon | The materials of Huida's preface, Yuankang's commentary, the monastic biography, and the catalogues are recorded together; the public edition cites no modern scholar and enters no debate. |
| Variant graph in author statement | 序、疏網 | T1858 writes the preface author as 「慧達」〔0150a22〕 [“Huida”], while X54n0866 writes its author as 「惠達」 [“Huida”] | Each witness retains its own graph; whether they designate the same person is not adjudicated. |
| Order of rebuttals and expositions | 涅槃無名 | T1858 reads 「九折十演」 [“nine rebuttals and ten expositions”], while T2059 reads 「十演九折」 [“ten expositions and nine rebuttals”] | Each follows its source; the item-by-item alignment of the nineteen subheadings follows Yuankang's outline. |
| Formation of the collection | 全卷 | T2145 and T2154 yielded no collected title 「肇論」 [“The Zhaolun”]; three treatises are separately catalogued | The earliest witness within the extant canon to the collected work is taken only from Huida's preface; no date of formation is invented. |
| Omission from catalogue | 般若無知 | Lu Cheng's catalogue yielded no title match for 般若無知, 波若無知, or 無知論 | The zero result is recorded without inferring that the work did not then exist. |
| Original source of quotations | 物不遷 | The opening Fangguang quotation, the white-haired brahmin, and the sentence on the three calamities have not been traced to an original identical wording or scripture title | The treatise and Yuankang's record are preserved; the original scriptural source remains uncertain. |
| Attribution of scripture title | 物不遷 | Yuankang attaches 「正言似反」 [“correct words seem contrary”] to the Zhong benqi jing, while close wording is actually found in the Lalitavistara Sūtra | Both readings are recorded without adjudicating the history of transmission. |
| Prajñā quotations | 般若無知 | The opening quotations attributed to the Fangguang and Daoxing, two untitled prajñā statements, and the closing Chengju and Ratnākara statements have not been verified in complete identical wording | Treatise wording, commentarial attribution, and extant close wording are listed separately; similar meaning is not promoted into identical wording. |
| Canonical attribution | 般若無知 | The treatise and commentary attach 「不緣色生識」〔T45n1858 0154a08–09〕 [“consciousness does not arise in dependence upon form”] to the Fangguang, while the verbatim sentence is found in T08n0223 〔0326b09–10〕 | Both readings are recorded without adjudication. |
| Rendering of the sense and identical wording | 不真空 | Many citations of the Mahāyāna Treatise, Madhyamaka Treatise, and Fangguang combine, condense, or carry a current of meaning rather than reproduce identical wording | Verbatim, rendering of the sense, and uncertainty remain distinct; related passages are never stitched into a single quotation. |
| Form-and-emptiness variant | 答劉遺民書 | T1858 reads 「色不異空」〔0156c05–06〕 [“form does not differ from emptiness”], while T08n0223 reads 「非色異空」〔0223a13–14〕 [“it is not that form differs from emptiness”] | The source layer is not altered; treatise, commentary, and scripture are recorded side by side without adjudication. |
| Excerpted transmission | 劉遺民書問、答劉遺民書 | T2059 excerpts only the correspondence and does not preserve the three questions and three answers in full | The biography is identified only as an excerpted witness and is not used to supplement or alter T1858. |
| Original source of quotations | 涅槃無名 | Four groups attributed to the Fangguang, statements associated with the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka and Mahāparinirvāṇa, and many untitled scriptural statements have not been verified in complete identical wording | Explicit attributions follow the treatise and commentary; statements introduced only as scripture are not forced onto a named text. |
| Source of an appraisal | 序 | 「解空第一，肇公其人」〔T45n1858 0150c05〕 [“Foremost in understanding emptiness—the one is Master Zhao”] appears in Huida's preface and Xiaoyue's annotation 〔X54n0869 0139c24–0140a01〕, but the same continuous wording is absent from the extant canonical biography | It is recorded only from the two extant locations; any earlier source remains uncertain. |
題署Colophon
一 · 題署
《肇論》譯注
- 底本 僧肇《肇論》（後秦長安 釋僧肇 作·一卷）·T45n1858〔0150c11–0161b28〕。
- 卷首序 小招提寺沙門 慧達 作〔T45n1858 0150a22–0150c08〕。
- 譯注 釋慧鏡。
- 叢書 指月 漢傳經論譯注。
- 成書 二〇二六年夏。
- 型制 漢語般若第一造論；天然八段脊、逐段五層分立讀本（源文·白話·義疏·考據·心要）；源文保留古漢語，其餘四層各具漢、英讀本。
- 流通 依 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 授權流通（見下·授權）。
八段脊為序、宗本義、物不遷論、不真空論、般若無知論、劉遺民書問、答劉遺民書、涅槃無名論〔T45n1858 0150a22–0161b28〕。此為一卷原典之結構導航，不稱品。
二 · 引用格式
引本書者，請具足單元名、層名與底本出處，俾讀者按圖而稽：
釋慧鏡《肇論譯注》〈物不遷論〉· 義疏 · 指月 · 二〇二六夏 〔T45n1858 0151a08–0152a01〕。
略式（單層稱引）：
釋慧鏡《肇論譯注》〈〔單元名〕〉·〔層〕· 指月 · 二〇二六夏 〔T45 PPPP〕。
- 單元 序／宗本義／物不遷論／不真空論／般若無知論／劉遺民書問／答劉遺民書／涅槃無名論，擇所引者書之。
- 層 白話／義疏／考據／心要，擇所引之層書之；徵引原典則標源文。
- 底本出處 〔T45n1858〕為僧肇《肇論》一卷藏經號；徵引某單元某段，以頁欄行定位作〔T45 PPPP〕。
- 單元名、層名與底本出處構成本版的穩定引用定位。
〈涅槃無名論〉十九子目可在單元名後加章名：
釋慧鏡《肇論譯注》〈涅槃無名論〉· 十九章⑥〈搜玄〉· 考據 · 指月 · 二〇二六夏 〔T45 PPPP〕。
十九子目之名依 T1858 原文；折／演逐章對應依元康疏科判定之〔T45n1859 0191a25–0192a04〕。
三 · 識語
本書唯依僧肇《肇論》T45n1858 為底本；唐元康《肇論疏》T45n1859 為段二至段八之鏡疏，其現存逐文疏自〈宗本義〉〔0165a07〕起，故不虛設慧達序疏。序的古德骨幹取宋曉月《夾科肇論序注》X54n0869〔0136a03–0140a11〕，並在實涉四論配屬處參晉惠達《肇論疏》X54n0866〔0052c18–20〕。慧皎《高僧傳》T50n2059 僧肇本傳〔0365a09–0366a29〕作史傳見證；僧祐《出三藏記集》T55n2145 陸澄《法論目錄》所錄三論〔0083a08、0083a21、0085a08〕作南朝單篇別行見證。
考據以經與古德之典據原文為範圍，逐字、取意與存疑分層標示。〈宗本義〉與〈涅槃無名論〉的近世撰者議題，藏內慧達序、元康疏、僧傳與經錄一體受持；本版依藏內材料誌錄，公開面不引不辯。
《肇論》是漢人親造原典，非譯典，無異譯、無梵本，故不設梵文寫本、藏譯或異譯對校層。IAST 只為古德音寫已有根據之名相提供發音輔助；無古德音寫者從闕，不作回譯與梵文校勘權威。
授權 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0（姓名標示·非商業性·相同方式分享）。
非重譯、非補造梵本；所立者，漢語般若第一造論之八段譯注而已。
釋慧鏡 · 指月 · 肇論 · 卷首 題署 · 2026 夏
I · Colophon
The Zhaolun: A Translation with Annotation (《肇論》譯注)
- Base text — Sengzhao's 僧肇 Zhaolun 肇論 (「後秦長安 釋僧肇 作」 [“Written by Śramaṇa Sengzhao of Chang'an under the Later Qin”]; one fascicle), T45n1858 〔0150c11–0161b28〕.
- Preface at the head of the fascicle — 「小招提寺沙門 慧達 作」 [“Written by Śramaṇa Huida of the Xiaozhaoti Monastery”] 〔T45n1858 0150a22–0150c08〕.
- Translation and annotation — Shi Huijing 釋慧鏡.
- Series — Zhiyue 指月, Han-canon Sūtra and Treatise Translations with Annotation.
- Compiled — Summer 2026.
- Form — The first Chinese-authored treatise on prajñā, presented along its natural eight-segment spine in five separately readable layers (source · vernacular · exposition · apparatus · heart-essence). The source preserves the Classical Chinese; each of the other four layers is offered in Chinese and English.
- Distribution — Available under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (see the license note below).
The eight-segment spine is 序 Preface to the Zhaolun, 宗本義 The Fundamental Thesis, 物不遷論 On the Immutability of Things, 不真空論 On the Emptiness of the Unreal, 般若無知論 On Prajñā Without Knowing, 劉遺民書問 Liu Yimin's Letter of Inquiry, 答劉遺民書 Reply to Liu Yimin's Letter, and 涅槃無名論 On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless 〔T45n1858 0150a22–0161b28〕. This is structural navigation through a one-fascicle original; the segments are not called chapters.
II · Citation Format
When citing this edition, give the segment title, layer, and base-text locus so that readers can trace the passage:
Shi Huijing, Zhaolun yizhu (The Zhaolun, A Translation with Annotation), “On the Immutability of Things” · Exposition · Zhiyue · Summer 2026 〔T45n1858 0151a08–0152a01〕.
Short form (single layer):
Shi Huijing, Zhaolun yizhu, “[segment title]” · [layer] · Zhiyue · Summer 2026 〔T45 PPPP〕.
- Segment — choose the cited segment from Preface to the Zhaolun / The Fundamental Thesis / On the Immutability of Things / On the Emptiness of the Unreal / On Prajñā Without Knowing / Liu Yimin's Letter of Inquiry / Reply to Liu Yimin's Letter / On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless.
- Layer — choose vernacular / exposition / apparatus / heart-essence; a citation of the original marks the source layer.
- Base-text locus — 〔T45n1858〕 is the Taishō number of Sengzhao's one-fascicle Zhaolun; to cite a passage within a segment, add its page-column-line location as 〔T45 PPPP〕.
- Segment title, layer, and base-text locus provide this edition's stable citation coordinates.
For one of the nineteen subheadings in On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless, add the subheading after the segment title:
Shi Huijing, Zhaolun yizhu, “On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless” · Part ⑥ of the Nineteen, “Seeking the Mystery” · Apparatus · Zhiyue · Summer 2026 〔T45 PPPP〕.
The names of the nineteen subheadings follow T1858. Their item-by-item assignment as rebuttal or exposition follows Yuankang's outline 〔T45n1859 0191a25–0192a04〕.
III · Identifying Note
This edition takes Sengzhao's Zhaolun T45n1858 alone as its base text. Yuankang's Tang Commentary on the Zhaolun T45n1859 is the mirror-commentary for Segments 2–8. Its extant line-by-line commentary begins with The Fundamental Thesis 〔0165a07〕, so this edition does not invent a Yuankang commentary on Huida's preface. The preface instead takes Xiaoyue's Song Interlinear Outline and Annotated Preface to the Zhaolun X54n0869 〔0136a03–0140a11〕 as its ancient commentarial spine and consults the Jin Huida's (惠達) Commentary on the Zhaolun X54n0866 〔0052c18–20〕 only where it directly addresses the assignment of the four treatises. Huijiao's Biographies of Eminent Monks T50n2059, Sengzhao's biography 〔0365a09–0366a29〕, serves as the biographical witness. The three treatises recorded in Lu Cheng's Catalogue of Treatises within Sengyou's Collection of Records Concerning the Tripiṭaka T55n2145 〔0083a08、0083a21、0085a08〕 witness their separate circulation in the Southern Dynasties.
The apparatus confines its authority base to the actual wording of scripture, the treatise, and the ancient masters, distinguishing verbatim quotation, rendering of the sense, and uncertainty. On recent authorship questions concerning The Fundamental Thesis and On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless, Huida's preface, Yuankang's commentary, the monastic biography, and the catalogues receive the works together within the canon. This edition records those canonical materials, cites no modern scholar on the public surface, and enters no debate.
The Zhaolun is an original work composed in Chinese, not a translated canonical text. It has no alternate translation and no Sanskrit source text, so this edition establishes no Sanskrit-manuscript, Tibetan, or alternate-translation collation layer. IAST supplies only a pronunciation aid where an ancient transliteration is attested; where none is attested, the form is left absent. It is not a back-translation or authority for Sanskrit textual collation.
License — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (Attribution · NonCommercial · ShareAlike).
This is neither a retranslation nor a fabricated Sanskrit reconstruction. What it establishes is only an eight-segment translation and annotation of the first Chinese-authored treatise on prajñā.
Shi Huijing · 指月 · The Zhaolun · Colophon & Citation · Summer 2026
- 00肇論序The Zhaolun · Preface to the Zhaolun ·〔T45 0150a22〕
- 01宗本義The Zhaolun · The Fundamental Thesis ·〔T45 0150c11〕
- 02物不遷論The Zhaolun · On the Immutability of Things ·〔T45 0151a08〕
- 03不真空論The Zhaolun · On the Emptiness of the Unreal ·〔T45 0152a01〕
- 04般若無知論The Zhaolun · On Prajñā Without Knowing ·〔T45 0153a07〕
- 05劉遺民書問The Zhaolun · Liu Yimin's Letter of Inquiry ·〔T45 0154c24〕
- 06答劉遺民書The Zhaolun · Reply to Liu Yimin's Letter ·〔T45 0155b22〕
- 07涅槃無名論The Zhaolun · On Nirvāṇa Being Nameless ·〔T45 0157a12〕