The Chuandeng yuying ji 傳燈玉英集, compiled by Song literatus Wand Sui 王隨, is an abridged edition of the Jingde chuandeng lu 景德傳燈錄. Wang Sui states that the abridgement was done by adoptiong the writing style of Chinese historical works: "brief, but reserving that which is important" (jucun jilüe 具存紀略). The Chuandeng yuying ji was to be included in the Chinese Buddhist Canon, carved, printed, and circulated by decree of Song Emperor Renzong 仁宗 during years 2-3 of Jingyou 景祐 period (1035-36). This text was long considered lost until 1933, when the monk Fancheng 範成 discovered a copy of the Jin dynasty Chinese Buddhist Canon (Jinzang 金藏) at the Guangsheng 廣勝 temple in Zhaocheng 趙城. Shanxi 山西. This Jinzang version of the Chuandeng yuying ji maintains its status as the single extant version. This article attempts to examine the textual value and significance of the Chuandeng yuying ji from the historical and cultural points of view. It first introduces the life of Wang Sui and describes Wang Sui's reasons for compiling the Chuandeng yuying ji. then it presents the edition information and structure of the text. Following that, the author supplies missing characters in the table of content for the fourteenth fascicle. Finally, in order to bring to light the principles Wang Sui used in creating his abridged text, the author compares the fourteenth fascicle of the Chuandeng yuying ji with its counterpart in the Jingde chuandeng lu, the twentyseventh and twenty-eighth fascicles. In summary, Wang Sui often edited out tedicus descriptions of years and dates, accounts of strange behaviors, difficult Buddhist terms and concepts, and words and concepts that might offend emperors or go against Chinese customs or probably challenge general images of female Buddhists. For the study of Chinese Buddhism, the importance of the Chuandeng yuying ji is in its unique manner of compilation. Through the example of compiler Wang Sui, a Song Confucian scholar and a Buddhist, it is possible to find the elements contained in Chan biographical literature that might cause conceptual or ideological difficulties for Song literati. The words and sentences excised by Wang Sui provide clues for an understanding of what Wang Sui considered to be the types of content that required adjustment when Buddhist materials were propagated among the Song literati. The study of this text helps us gain a greater understanding of the interchange between Buddhism and Confucianism in the Song, and also provides Buddhists with a broader view with which to perceive the development of Buddhism in Chinese society.
