Or.74.cc.15

Author/compiler: Kuiji 窺基, 632-82.

Imprint: N.p., n.d. [Nara, Kōfukuji 興福寺, late-Heian period, c. 1170-80] . No colophon, but see the two shikigo transcribed under manuscript notes below.

Description: 1 kan (of 10, sometimes 20, kan), 1 roll (巻子本) in an old wooden box.

Incomplete copy, maki 3 only, made up of 47 sheets of kōzo paper, each 50-51 cm. long and 26 cm. in height. From the evidence of numerous folds in the paper, and their positioning at regular intervals, it is clear that this volume was formerly folded in senpūyō style and was converted to roll form in comparatively recent times. Conceivably, it may have originated as a roll and then folded in orihon (senpūyō) style for easier handling.

Blockprint. Printing frame (height) 24-24.5 cm. No borders. No vertical rules between columns.

Kanbun text, with shōten (声点) added in red ink throughout, in the year Kennin 3 建仁三年 (1203). (See shikigo transcribed under manuscript notes below.) 24 lines to sheet, 21 characters to line.

Protective end-cover of brown paper, not original but added in early Edo period (c. Kan'ei period ?). Old black-lacquered wooden roller, with traces of red lacquer on ends. No title slip. No gedai. Title from naidai, which is followed at head of text by: 大乗基撰.

Edition: Kasuga-ban, among the earliest in this category. Printed in Nara, almost certainly at the Kōfukuji. All late-Heian editions of this work which have survived are fragmentary, and none bears a printed date. (Indeed the only surviving example of a Heian-period Kasuga-ban with printed kanki is the Jōyuishikiron 成唯識論 of Kanji 2 寛治二年 (1088), the earliest authenticated example of Nara printing.) Isolated volumes, or small groups of volumes, of the present work, held by the Kōfukuji, Hōryūji, Kōyasan Shōchiin, and Nikkō Tenkaizō (Rinnōji), contain dated manuscript shikigo ranging from Hōan 4 保安四年 (1123) to Yōwa2 養和二年 (1182). Since the BL copy of maki 3 (matsu 末) bears two handwritten shikigo dated Kennin 3 建仁三年 (1203) and Genkyū 3 元久三年 (1206), it is fair to assume that the volume was printed at a date some 20 or 30 years earlier than the shikigo, i.e. c. 1170-80. This is supported by the printing style (hanshiki), the paper used and the pale colour of the ink, all of which are characteristic of late-Heian printing. Comparison of this volume with the copy of maki 3 (matsu) owned by the Hōryūji and reproduced in pl. 7 of Nara kokyōsen, vol. 2, 寧楽古経選 shows that the two belong to different editions.

Contents: Commentary on the Jōyuishikiron (Skt. Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi-śāstra, Ch. Chengweishilun), a basic scripture of the Hossō sect 法相宗, compiled by Dharmapāla and translated into Chinese by Xuanzang 玄奘 in 659. Each maki of the commentary is in two parts: hon 本 and matsu 末.