The Shi moheyan lun 釈摩訶衍論 (hereafter Shilun 釈論) is a commentary on the Dasheng qi xin lun 大乗起信論, but it expounds ideas and possesses characteristics that differ from other commentaries. Until now, the thesis that it was composed in Korea has had wide support, but this thesis is problematic in that almost no signs of the Shilun can be found on the Korean peninsula. In the past, I have comparatively analyzed the preface to the Shilun and the text proper with reference to the policies of Empress Wu Zetian 武則天, the so-called Zetian characters introduced by her, and the preface to the Chinese translation of the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra in eighty fascicles. Recently, in the field of research on the history of Buddhist art during the Tang period, there has been presented a new perspective on Wu Zetian, the Zetian characters, and her political policies through an analysis of Bodhiruci’s translation of the Ratnamegha-sūtra. The Ratnamegha-sūtra contains a passage pertaining to the appearance of Wu Zetian, according to which there would emerge from a land in the east a cakravartin ruler, at the time of whose coronation mountains would rise up throughout the realm and who would receive a prophecy of future enlightenment from the bodhisattva Maitreya. When this is compared with the preface to the Shilun, it is found that the preface includes views that can be considered to have incorporated these ideas about the appearance of Wu Zetian. When the above circumstantial evidence is combined with my past findings, it can be pointed out that the author of the Shilun was quite familiar with Wu Zetian’s policies, and one can also point to the influence of not only the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra but also the Ratnamegha-sūtra, something that had not been pointed out in the past.
