In the modern Buddhist Studies, no matter for the circles of the Early or Mahayana Buddhism, the concept of Obstruction of Knowledge (jñeyāvaraṇa) is coherently perceived as an unique idea of the Mahayana tradition. The purpose of this article, on the one hand, is to review the present scholarship of jñeyāvaraṇa, while on the other hand, is to reframe the issue, and to search for new prospect in the studies of jñeyāvaraṇa, according to two Chinese traditions of Buddhist scholastic literature, namely East Asian Sakara-vijnanavada and Sarvastivada. The article is composed of four sections. Firstly, analyzing the ambiguity of jñeyāvaraṇa, through a review on the highly diverfied translations of jñeyāvaraṇa in various Western languages. Secondly, it is a critical analysis of the Western, Japanese and Chinese scholarship on jñeyāvaraṇa, regarding to the approach, research pattern and limition. Thirdly, to reframe the perspective on jñeyāvaraṇa, through tracing a series of Chinese Sarvastivadian concepts suggested, which are the forerunners of jñeyāvaraṇa. Fourthly, to provide a theoretical outline on the multi-folded structure of jñeyāvaraṇa, according to Xuanzang’s Cheng-wei-shih-lun, the major text of East Asian Sakāra-vijñānavāda.
