This paper studies the transmission discourse (rather than the transmission itself) of a 6th-century Buddhist treatise entitled the Awakening of Faith in Mahāyāna, or Qixinlun in its popular Chinese abbreviation.While the study of a transmission looks at its historical facts, the study of a transmission discourse looks, instead, at the perceptions of such a transmission, perceptions that are continued, elaborated and systematically formulated in the hands of interpreters. The transmission of Qixinlun has been extensively and almost exhaustively studied since the famous debate over the authenticity of the treatise in the last century, but the transmission discourse of the treatise has remained virtually neglected. Such a study, however, is equally important, for, to Buddhist believers (or, perhaps, to all human beings), what is perceived is what matters and, in that sense, the perceptions are in themselves facts, and our understanding of Qixinlun would not be complete without such “facts” of its transmission. This paper is thus designed to treat this unexplored subject, and, with the basic framework of writing, translation and interpretation, seeks to present what the Qixinlun tradition perceives to be the transmission of the treatise.
