Dasheng qixin lun 大乘起信論

The Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna (Dàshèng qǐxìn lùn 大乘起信論) is an important text of the East Asian Buddhist tradition. Although it is traditionally attributed to Aśvaghoṣa 馬鳴 (fl. 1st - 2nd centuries CE), the earliest versions appeared in Chinese in the sixth and seventh centuries of the Common Era. Paramārtha 眞諦 is credited with its translation.

Content

The text is an attempt to reconcile the two notions of Buddha Nature (rúláizàng 如來藏; tathāgatagarbha) and the Yogacara-influenced Storehouse Consciousness (ālàiyēshì 阿賴耶識; ālayavijñāna) into a single soteriological position. It would later be one of the most influential texts in the development of Buddha-nature theory in East Asia.

Several important Buddhist figures wrote commentaries on the text:

• Huìyuǎn 慧遠: Commentary on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna (Dàshéng qǐxìnlùn yìshū 大乘起信論義疏)
• Wonhyo 元曉: Commentary on the Awakening of Faith (Gisillon so 起信論疏) and Further Notes on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna (Daesung gisillon byeolgi 大乘起信論別記)
• Fǎzàng 法藏: Notes on the Meaning of the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna (Dàshèng qǐxìnlùn yìjì 大乘起信論義記)
• Zōngmì 宗密: Annotations and Commentary on the Awakening of Faith (Qǐxìn zhùshū 起信註疏; Qǐxìnlùn zhùshū 起信論註疏)

Modern Influence and Controversy

According to his biography, Yáng Wénhuì 楊文會 was initially moved to study Buddhism thanks to reading a copy of this text. He would later reprint an edition (Dàshèng qǐxìnlùn zuǎnzhù 大乘起信論纂註) at his Jinling Scriptural Press 金陵刻經處 in Nánjīng 南京.^[1] Other editions were also being reprinted in Kyōto, Japan in the 1880s. Tàixū 太虛 was also an avid student of his text during his period of sealed confinement on Mount Pǔtuó 普陀山 in the 1910s.

In the mid 1920s a debate broke out among Chinese Buddhists over whether or not the Awakening of Faith was an apocryphal text composed in China, or whether it had been written in India in Sanskrit as tradition held. See the article on 大乘起信論真偽辯.

Bibliographic Information and Published Editions

The Sanskrit title of the text is often given as Mahāyāna-śraddhôtpāda or Mahāyānâdhimukty-utpāda, though as mentioned above no Sanskrit edition exists. In the Taishō canon, it appears as T 1666.32.575b-583b. There are at least three English translations that have been widely published:

• Hakeda, Yoshito S., trans. Awakening of Faith Attributed to Aśvaghoṣa. New York: Columbia University Press, 1967; Reprint, 2006.
• Richard, Timothy. The Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna Doctrine, the new Buddhism. Shanghai: Christian Literature Society, 1907. Later published by Kelly and Walsh in 1918 with a slightly different title.
• Suzuki, Daisetsu Teitaro. Aśvaghoṣa's Discourse on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana. Chicago: Open Court Publishing Co, 1900.

The Chinese text was reprinted in many editions throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Japanese editions are even greater in number, and some were translated and published in Chinese.

• Fǎzàng 法藏. 大乘起信論疏. Chángshā 長沙: 長沙刻經處, 1877.
• Fǎzàng 法藏. 大乘起信論義記. Nánjīng 南京: 金陵刻經處, 1879.
• Mǎmíng (Aśvaghoṣa) 馬鳴, Déqīng 德淸. 大乘起信論直解. Nánjīng 南京: 金陵刻經處, 1890.
• Zhēndì (Paramārtha) 眞諦譯, Yuánxiǎo (Wonhyo) 元曉. 大乘起信論疏記會本. Nánjīng 南京: 金陵刻經處, 1899.
• Mǎmíng (Aśvaghoṣa) 馬鳴, Zhēndì (Paramārtha) 眞諦譯. 大乘起信論科注. Wǔchāng 武昌: s.n., 1904.
• Liáng Qǐchāo 梁啓超. 大乘起信論考證. Shànghǎi 上海: The Commercial Press 商務, 1924.
• Sū Mànshū 蘇曼殊. 大乘起信論講義. Shànghǎi 上海: The Commercial Press 商務, 1928.
• Xú Wénwèi 徐文霨. 大乘起信論科會. Shànghǎi 上海: The Commercial Press 商務, 1929.
• Yuányīng 圓瑛. 大乘起信論講義. Shànghǎi 上海: The Commercial Press 商務印書館, 1933.
• Táng Dàyuán 唐大圓. 大乘起信論解惑. Shànghǎi 上海: Shànghǎi Buddhist Books 佛學書局, 1934.
• Tánxū 倓虛. 大乘起信論講義. Qīngdǎo 靑島: Qīngdǎo Buddhist Studies Association 靑島佛學會, 1935.

Notes

1. ↑ This edition was printed around 1885.