Ancient Buddhism in Japan, Vol. 2

...arrived in China, where he translated entry No. 678 in the Nanjō catalogue original: Nanjō No. 678; referring to Bunyiu Nanjō's 1883 catalogue of the Chinese Buddhist Canon (the Sutra of 42 Sections) (Nanjō Appendix II, 1), and had previously explained the Golden Light Sutra original: Konkwōmyōkyō in a small country bordering India.

In China, however, it was not until the Northern Liang dynasty (A.D. 397—439) that the Sutra of Golden Light original: Suvarṇaprabhāsa-sūtra was translated by Dharmaraksha II (active A.D. 414—423). Shortly before this (A.D. 402—412), the monk Kumārajīva had translated the Benevolent Kings Sutra original: Ninnōkyō (compare above, Chapter V, Section 2), and during the fifth century, both sutras were very frequently explained and studied together.

The sixth century (during the Ch‘en and Sui dynasties, A.D. 557—618), however, was the period when the Emperors began to pay significant attention to the Golden Light Sutra, and the priests of the T‘ien-t‘ai school included it among their most important texts.¹ In November of A.D. 558 (the second year of the Ying-ting era), Emperor Wu Ti went to the Temple of Solemn Adornment original: Chwang-yen-szĕ (莊嚴寺, Shōgonji), where he devoted himself to a special study of this subject. In A.D. 563 (the fourth year of the T‘ien-kia era), his successor Emperor Wen Ti held a meeting of Buddhist priests in the Great Hall of State original: Ta-kih-tien (Daigokuden) of his Palace in order to perform the Golden Light Repentance original: Konkwōmyōsen (懺), or "Ceremony of Repentance based upon the Sutra of Golden Light" (also known as the Golden Light Samadhi Repentance or the Penance of the Goddess of Fortune original: Konkwōmyō-sammai-sen or Kichijō-kekwa or Kichijō-sembō) (compare above, Chapter VIII, Sections 7 and 15).

During the Sui dynasty (A.D. 581—618), Chi-i (智顗), also known as Grand Master Chizhe original: Chi-ché ta-shi, the founder of the T‘ien-t‘ai school (A.D. 531—597), taught the Golden Light Sutra. (See Nanjō entries No. 1548 and 1552, which are commentaries he gave orally and which were recorded by his disciple Kwan-ting (A.D. 561—632)). From that point on, the priests of this sect attached increasing importance to this sutra (see Nanjō Nos. 1549 and 1553, which are commentaries on those two works written about A.D. 1020 by the T‘ien-t‘ai priest Chi-li, 智禮).

The first commentary on the Golden Light Sutra was written by

¹ Regarding Nanjō No. 130 (A.D. 597), which is a compilation of three incomplete translations of this sutra (No. 127 and those by Paramārtha and Yaśogupta, made between A.D. 548—557 and 561—578; see above, Chapter I, Section 8, and the Great Dictionary of Buddhism original: Daijii, Vol. I, p. 1442, column 2, under the entry for Konkwōmyōkyō).