A Study of the Zhu daban niepan jing 注大般涅槃経 by Wei Shen 韋諗: A Commentary Written by a Prefectural Governor under the Tang Dynasty

Abstract

The Zhu daban niepan jing 注大般涅槃経 is a commentary on the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa mahāsūtra 大般涅槃経 written by Wei Shen, a prefectural governor under the Tang dynasty. According to the Tōiki dentō mokuroku 東域伝灯目録, the commentary had 30 scrolls 巻. However, only six scrolls survive, i.e. scrolls II, VIII, X, XII, XIV, and XIX. Most of them are nationally designated Important Cultural Properties in Japan.

Little is known about the author Wei Shen, but his title of governor of Daojiang prefecture 導江県 (within Chengdu 成都 today) offers a clue as to his identity. Based on my research so far, I suggest that Wei Shen lived in the early eighth century. The Zhu daban niepan jing was written during the Kaiyuan 開元 (713–741) period, and transmitted to Nara 奈良 period Japan during the Tenpyo 天平 era before 753. In this article, I introduce three important features of Wei Shen’s commentary: lack of source attributions, alterations in vocabulary and style of the quotations, and avoidance of using the same words. This paper is based on research on scrolls II and XII; further investigation will be carried out on the remaining four scrolls.