新羅玄一撰『無量寿経記』諸本の系譜 ―書陵部蔵奈良朝写本を中心として―=The Relationships among the Different Versions of the Record of the Sūtra of Immeasurable Life by Hyon-il of Silla: With a Focus on the Nara-Era Manuscript in the Archives and Mausolea Department of the Imperial Household Agency
According to catalogues, Hyon-il of Silla (c. 7th century) penned several commentaries, though only the first scroll of his Wuliangshou jing ji 無量寿経記(*Record of the Sūtra of Immeasurable Life) survives. A printed version is contained in the Zokuzōkyō 続蔵経. It is based on a manuscript from Year 7 of the Kaei Era. A much older version can be found in the form of a Nara-era manuscript in the Archives and Mausolea Department of the Imperial Household Agency. There is also an extant scroll copied from this Imperial Archives manuscript by Tanzan Jungei (c.1785衾c. 1847). Upon comparing these different versions, I discovered several noteworthy features. To begin with, the Kaei-era manuscript suffers from lacunae and sheets that are out of order. Next, all versions of the first scroll of Wuliangshou jing ji are missing the first section. This suggests that they all belong to the same line of transmission, but the Imperial Archives manuscript has six lines of text in its opening section not seen in the other versions. In Wuliangshou jing ji, Hyon-il liberally quotes Wuliangshou jing yishu 無量寿経義疏, which was authored by his senior Pop-wi 法位(fl. 7th century). For this reason, in the past, Wuliangshou jing ji has been thought to rely exclusively on the work of Pop-wi, and as a consequence little value was been placed on it as a commentary in its own right. In this paper, however, I challenge that view and reassess the scholarly value of Wuliangshou jing ji.
