Chinese Saṃyuktāgama has drawn attention to scholars in recent years. It is considered to be one of the earliest Buddhist texts and its philological value is comparable to the Pāli canons. By studying the texts in depth, early Buddhist teaching can be revealed. There are mainly three types of Chinese translation, and the one translated in the Liu-Song dynasty is the most exhaustive. The structure of the canon, unfortunately, is not in sequence. Lǚ Chéng (呂澂)(1896-1989) and Yìnshùn (印順) (1906-2005) tried to rearrange the order of the texts by making reference to other Buddhist canons like Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra《瑜伽師地論》. A book namely Discussion and Collation of Chinese Saṃyuktāgama《雜阿 含經論會編》was published by Yìnshùn and the book has become a typical reference material in the field of Chinese Buddhist studies. Japanese scholar Masaharu Anesaki (姉崎正治)(1873-1949), actually, has already tried to bring the Liu-Song dynasty version back to order. Since then, the methodologies and terminologies used by Masaharu has become a paradigm. This essay discusses the work done by Masaharu, and a comparison with Yìnshùn‟s work is made. Besides reintroducing Masaharu Anesaki to readers, the article also aims at reflecting on the future development of the study of Chinese Saṃyuktāgama.
