無生父母=the unborn parents; 《金剛經》=Diamond Sutra; 《金剛經解義》=Explanation of the Diamond Sutra (Jin'gangjing jieyi); 《金剛經口訣》=Secret Oral Teachings on the Diamond Sutra (Jin'gangjing koujue); 《御注金剛般若波羅蜜經宣演》Daoyin's Exposition of the Imperial Commentary to the Diamond Sutra(Yuzhu jin'gang bore poluomijing xuanyan); 《金剛般若經纂要》=Zongmi's Essentials of the Diamond Sutra (Jin'gangjing borejing zuanyao); 《銷釋金剛經科儀》=Zongjing's Explanation of the Diamond Sutra, with Section Headings (Xiaoshi jin'gangjing keyi); 空=Emptiness; 林兆恩=Lin Zho'en; 羅教=the Luo Religion; 無為教=the Non-action Religion; 《五部六冊》=Five Scriptures and Six Texts; 真空家鄉=the hometown of true Emptiness
This paper focuses on the 65 traditional Chinese commentaries on Kumarajiva's translation of the Vajracchedika-prajna-paramita sutra (commonly known as the Diamond Sutra),thereby examining the philosophical evolution of the concept of Emptiness (Sunyata). The examination of these sources revealed several facts:1) the later the commentary,the more likely it was to regard this scripture as giving ultimate rather than provisional teachings; 2) the scripture is more extensively propagated in folk Buddhist commentarties than in "orthodox" Buddhist works; and 3) the later the commentary,the more tendency there was to reify the concept of Emptiness, regarding it as the transcendental essence and source of the phenomenal universe.
The key commentaries examined in this study are the following:1) Tiantai Zhiyi's Commentary on the Diamond Sutra (Jin'gang bore jing shu) (Sui Dynasty),which classifies the Diamond Sutra as a provisional scripture,belong to what in Tiantai is called the "Shared Teaching" (tongjiao). This represents the earliest stratum of Diamond Sutra commentary. 2) Explanation of the Diamond Sutra (Jin'gangjing jieyi) and Secret Oral Teachings on the Diamond Sutra (Jin'gangjing koujue),both attributed to Huineng (Tang Dynasty); Daoyin's Exposition of the Imperial Commentary to the Diamond Sutra (Yuzhu jin'gang bore poluomijing xuanyan) (Tang Dynasty); Zongmi's Essentials of the Diamond Sutra (Jin'gangjing borejing zuanyao) (Tang Dynasty); Zongjing's Explanation of the Diamond Sutra, with Section Headings (Xiaoshi jin'gangjing keyi) (Song Dynasty); and Honglian's Commentary on the Diamond Sutra (Jin'gangjing zhujie) (Ming Dynasty),which represent the middle period of Diamond Sutra commentary. 3) The main works representing the late period of commentary,rooted in the folk religion of the late Ming and thereafter,are the Comprehensive Treatise on the Diamond Sutra (Jin'gangjing tonglun),by Lin Zhao'en,founder of the syncretic Ming "new religion" "the Three-in-One Teaching" (sanyi jiao); and Diamond Sutra commentaries received on planchettes by diviners. These commentaries are characterized by a tendency to classify the Diamond Sutra as a Buddhist scripture of the very highest value,and to consider Emptiness to be a substance or essence which is capable of producing the phenomenal universe. They are all related to the late Ming folk sect,the Luo (Non-Action) religion's notion of "the hometown of true Emptiness."