A Textual Witness Used in the Taishō Edition of the Anjizhou sixi fabaozifuchan si dazangjing mulu and Its Problems

Abstract

In this article, I present a brief history of the Sixi Edition Tripiṭaka (思渓版大蔵経) and the features of its catalogue, the Anjizhou sixi fabaozifuchansi dazangjing mulu (安吉州思渓法宝資福禅寺大蔵経目録).

The Sixi Edition Tripiṭaka was first published in Sixi Yuanjuechan yuan (思渓円覚禅院) temple, located in Guian xian (帰安県), Huzhou (湖州), Zhejiang (浙江), with the support of the Wang Yongchog (王永従) family during the period from the late Northern Song to the early Southern Song. Sometime after its publication, the temple fell into a state of decline, but it was rebuilt as the Fabaozifuchan si (法宝資福禅寺) temple with the support of imperial family during the Chunyou (淳祐) era (1241–1252). With renewed woodblocks, the temple resumed publishing operations after a suspension. The copies printed in Yuanjuechan yuan temple are called the Early Sixi Edition Tripiṭaka (前思渓蔵), and the copies printed in Fabaozifuchan su temple are called the Later Sixi Edition Tripiṭaka (後思渓蔵). Depending on two kinds of copies, there exists two catalogues of the Sixi Edition Tripiṭaka: First is the Huzhou sixi yuanjuechanyuan xindiao dazangjing mulu (湖州思渓円覚禅院新彫大蔵経目録), known as the Early Sixi Catalogue; Second is the Anjizhou sixi fabaozifuchansi dazangjing mulu (安吉州思渓法宝資福禅寺大蔵経目録), known as the Later Sixi Catalogue.

The first Japanese typographical printing of the Later Sixi Catalogue was published in the Comprehensive Catalogue of the Shōwa Hōbō (昭和法寶総目録), as separate volumes of the Taishō Tripiṭaka, in 1929. Even though the Comprehensive Catalogue does not mention bibliographic information about the textual witness (es) on which its editorial work was based, the text of the Later Sixi Catalogue contained in this printed edition is widely referred to as a basic source for research on the Later Sixi Edition Tripiṭaka. In this article, I prove that the Comprehensive Catalogue used a copy of the Later Sixi Catalogue preserved in the library of Kyoto University as its textual witness, and will point out problems that lie in this copy.