The present paper investigates a synoptic text, surviving only in Dunhuang manuscript fragments (Stein Nos 8044, 8166, and 9723 衾 all part of the same scroll), dealing with the Yu zhu jingang bore jing xuan yan 御註金剛般若經宣演, the work of Daoyin 道氤 (668-740), a scholar-monk active during the Kaiyuan 開元 era. My examination of the content and form of the extant fragments leads me to conclude that this must be a synopsis compiled on the basis of the Jingang ying, a commentary to the Yu zhu jingang bore jing xuan yan. We know from Yitianʼs 義天 Xin bian zhu zong jiao zang zong lu 新編諸宗教藏總録 that a synoptic text called Yu zhu jingang bore jing xuan yanke 御註金剛般若經宣演科, in two scrolls, was composed by Quanming 詮明, a scholar-monk who lived under the Liao 遼 Dynasty. The text, however, has not been indentified so far. My investigation raises the possibility that the author of the above Dunhuang manuscript fragments might be no other than Quanming. These materials thus become very important sources not only for our understanding of the influence exerted by the Yu zhu jingang bore jing xuan yan ke and the Jingang ying on later Chinese Buddhism but also for the study of Quanmingʼs work and thought.
