The Awakening of Faith: Introduction: Works in Chinese Translations
WORKS IN CHINESE TRANSLATIONS.
The works ascribed to Açvaghosha and still existing in Chinese translations are eight in number. They are: (1) The
Tai shêng ch‘i hsin lun (Mahâyânaçraddhotpâdaçâstra): discourse on the awakening of
Ta sung ti hsüan wên pên lun, a fundamental treatise on the spiritual stages for reaching final deliverance. The book has a decided tendency to mysticism, explaining a gradual development of religious consciousness through fifty-one different spiritual stages. It may be considered a precursory work out of which Vajrabodhi's Mantrism finally made a full manifestation. It was translated by Paramârtha between A. D. 557-569. Twenty fasciculi, forty chapters. (3) The
Ta chuang yen lun ching (Mahâlamkârasûtraçâstra), the Book of Great Glory, or a compilation of stories illustrating the retribution of karma. The stories relate mostly to the events that occurred in Western India. Beal translated some of them in his Buddhist Literature in China. The Chinese translator is Kumârajîva, circa A. D. 405. Fifteen fasciculi.. (4) The
Fo shu hing tsan (Buddha-caritakâvya), a well known poem on the life of Buddha. The Chinese translation is by Dharmaraksha between A. D. 414-421. Five fasciculi, twenty eight chapters, Beal's English translation forms Vol. XIX. of The Sacred Books of the East; and Cowell's translation from Sanskrit, Vol. XLIX of the same. (5) The
Ni kan tzŭ wên wu wu i ching, a sûtra on a Nirgrantha's asking about the theory of non-ego. The book foreshadows the Mâdhyamika philosophy of Nâgârjuna, for the two forms of truth are distinguished there, Pure Truth (Parmârtha-satya) and Practical Truth (Samvṛtti-satya), 1 and the Çûnyatâ theory also is proclaimed. (6) The
Shih pu shan yeh tao ching, a sûtra on the ten no-good deeds. (7) The
Shih shih fa wu shih sung, fifty verses on the rules of serving a master or teacher. (8) The
Lu tao lun ‘hui ching, a sûtra on transmigration through the six states of existence. These last four works are very short, all translated by Jih-ch‘êng (Divayaças?), between A. D. 1004-1058.