This thesis is a study of what I shall call the “Arhat Prediction,” the 10th chapter of Kumārajīva’s Great Exposition of Meaning, a correspondence between Lushan Huiyuan and Kumārajīva. The first part discusses the context of Chinese Buddhism at the stage of incubation as reflected by the text under examination, analyzing the early Chinese sangha, which was attempting to reconcile the dissonance between and within Buddhist scriptures, and to some extent, with their own native philosophies. This thesis takes Huiyuan as a participant of this general intersection of different intellectual strands, who resorts to corresponding with Kumārajīva for clarification. The second part of the thesis reconstructs the thought of Kumārajīva and analyzes his replies on ‘how an arhat could become a Buddha,’ a question of Huiyuan based on the “one-vehicle” philosophy of the Lotus Sūtra. Kumārajīva attempts to resolve the disjunction introduced by Huiyuan between the three-vehicle and one-vehicle models, and provides hints and leads both from śrāvaka traditions and Mahāyāna scriptures, which can be extended to a logical conclusion to resolve this disjunction.
目次
ABSTRACT I DEDICATION III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IV CONTENTS V ABBREVIATIONS VII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Review of Previous Scholarship And Relevant Texts 9 1.1.1. Review of Modern Scholarship on Kumārajīva’s Exposition and a General Discussion on the Early Chinese Buddhism 10 1.1.2. Relevant Buddhist Texts to Compare the Thoughts of Kumārajīva and Huiyuan in Chapter Ten (the “Arhat Prediction”). 15 1.2. Approach, Method And Convention 19 CHAPTER 2: ORIGIN, STRUCTURE AND POSITION OF THE MASTER KUMĀRAJĪVA’S EXPOSITION OF MEANING (KUMĀRAJĪVA’S EXPOSITION) 22 2.1. Early Chinese Context And The Origin Of The Text 22 2.2. The Sources of the Text 50 2.3. Structural Analysis of the Text 53 2.3.1. The Literary Structure and the Style of the Text 56 2.3.2. Structure of Three Fascicle 64 2.3.3. The Content of Kumārajīva’s Exposition 64 2.4. The Appropriation of Correspondence in Chinese History – Influence and the Position of the Text 73 CHAPTER 3: AN ARHAT RECEIVING THE PREDICTION OF BUDDHAHOOD (VYĀKARAṆA; SHOUJI 受記) 77 3.1. The Concept of Prediction (vyākaraṇa; shouji 受記) And Early Chinese Buddhism 80 3.2. Vehicular Systems and Paths in Buddhism and the Chapter of “Arhat Prediction” 92 3.3. The Lotus Sūtra (Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra) and One-Vehicle (skt: ekayāna; yisheng 一乘) 135 CHAPTER 4: THE QUERIES OF HUIYUAN 159 CHAPTER 5: KUMĀRAJĪVA’S ANSWERS 183 5.1. The Problem of Remainders, or Habitual Tendencies (vāsanā; canqi殘氣; yuxi餘習; xiqi習氣) and The Path to Buddhahood 186 5.2. Great Compassion (mahākaruṇā) And Great Loving Kindness (mahāmaitri) 209 5.3. Skill-in-means (upāyakauśalya) And Wisdom (prajñā) 227 5.4. Miscellanous Issues on Arhat, Bodhisattva and Buddha 239 5.4.1. Types of Śrāvakas (hearer) and the Path to Buddhahood. 239 5.4.2. Inconceivable Nature of a Buddha and the Lotus Sūtra 268 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION 277 6.1. Conclusion Of The Historical Research 277 6.2. Conclusion Of The Doctrinal Research 285 APPENDIX 291 1. Translation of Compilers Preface and Chapter Headings of Kumārajīva’s Exposition 291 2. Translation of “Arhat Prediction,” Master Kumārajīva’s Great Exposition of Meaning (Jiumoloushi fashi dayi鳩摩羅什法師大義) 294 3. Miscellanous Translations from the Dazhidulun大智度論 312 4. Miscellanous Traslations from The Satyasiddhi Śāstra (Chengshi Lun成實論) 319 BIBLIOGRAPHY 321 Primary Sources 321 Secondary Sources 322
