The Hu jing jing 護淨經or Scripture on Preserving the Purity, one scroll 一巻, is extant only in Chinese translation. Its translator (s) and translation date are not known. The scripture is mainly known in its version found in volume XVII of the Taishō Canon. The recent survey of the Kongō-ji Tripiṭaka 金剛寺一切經(Osaka-fu, Kawachi Nagano City) has revealed the existence of a version bearing the same title as the Taishō text but having a different content. This paper is dedicated to a presentation of the Kongō-ji manuscript金剛寺本as well as the Kōshō-ji manuscript 興聖寺本of the Hu jing jing, a collation of the variant readings in these manuscripts and the text belonging to the wood-block lineage reflected in the Taishō version, and an analysis of the formation of and relation between the two versions. I also discuss the close connection between the newly identified version of the Hu jing jing and the Dunhuang text Zhaifa qingjing jing齋法清淨經and assess the textual value of the former in the wider context of East Asian Buddhism.
