Structuring of Analytical Topic Outlines in the Commentary to Xuanzang's Translation of the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya

Abstract

Xuanzang's translation of the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya (Jushe-lun, 倶舎論 ) has been studied as a fundamental Buddhist doctrinal treatise in East Asia. The elucidations provided by Xuanzang's immediate disciples became the basis for subsequent commentaries. Scholarly works focused on these commentaries on the Jushe-lun are collectively called “Kusha-gaku ( 倶舎学 ),” and have assumed a significant role in the Japanese Buddhist tradition. Recent research has revealed that Kusha-gaku is the foundation of modern Japanese investigations into primitive and mainstream Buddhism. Thus, it is necessary to conduct a thorough analysis of Kusha-gaku. An effective approach for this task is using an analytical topic outline (kadan, 科 段 ) since it shows the commentator's comprehension and provides a condensed overview of the entire Jushe-lun.
Despite previous efforts to represent the structure of kadan in the Jushe-lun through diagrams, substantial labor is required to compare the kadan structures across various works when conducting a paper-based analysis. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a markup methodology for the Jushe-lun-ji ( 倶舎論記 ) based on text encoding initiative (TEI) guidelines. The Jushe-lun-ji was authored by a direct disciple of Xuanzang and exerted a profound influence on the writing style employed in Kusha-gaku works. Consequently, the markup of the Jushe-lun-ji can serve as a model that can be applied to the complete collection of Jushe-lun commentaries.
Within the Jushe-lun-ji, the entire text of the Jushe-lun is divided into sections at the discretion of the annotator, and annotations are inserted for each section. Each section is assigned a section title, and these sections collectively form a hierarchical structure based on their titles. However, not all section titles are included within a single hierarchical structure; rather, two independent hierarchical structures coexist, one covering the entire Jushe-lun and the other specific topics within it. To represent such a structure in the Jushe-lun-ji, the relationship between section titles is expressed using the <seg> element in accordance with the TEI guidelines. The dual hierarchical structures of those section titles are effectively conveyed through the dual usage of the <seg> element. This method elucidates the relationship between the Jushe-lun text and the section titles, thereby allowing for a comprehensive depiction of the Jushe-lun's structure as Linked Data.