Sishi'er zhang jing 四十二章經

Sishi'er zhang jing 四十二章經, the Sutra in Fourty-two Chapters, is the oldest Buddhist text that was translated into Chinese. It is also called Xiaoming Huangdi sishi'er zhang 孝明皇帝四十二章 because it became popular under Emperor Ming 漢明帝 (27-75 CE, r. 57-75 CE) of the early Eastern Han period 東漢 (25-220 CE), with the translation by Kāśyapa Mātaṇga (Ch. Jiaya Moteng 迦葉摩騰, d. 73 CE). It is first mentioned in Sengyou's 僧祐 (445-518) book catalogue Chu sanzang jiji 出三藏記集 from the Liang period 梁 (502-557). Fei Zhanfang's 費長房 (fl. 562-597) history of early Buddhism in China, Lidai sanbao ji 歷代三寶記, clarifies that Kāśyapa Mātaṇga hailed from India. The same book lists another, qualitatively better, translation by Zhiqian 支謙 (3rd cent.) in the Wu empire 吳 (222/229-280), but this version is unfortunately lost.

Judging from its content, the Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters is likely a selective translation and compilation of scriptures such as the Āgama texts (Ch. ahan 阿含) of Hīnayāna (Theravada) Buddhism, though it is now difficult to determine precisely which chapters of the Āgama collection it derives from. The central aim of the sutra is to encourage the practice of pure conduct, to elucidate the two hundred and fifty precepts (erbaiwushi jie 二百五十戒) observed by śramaṇas（Ch. shamen 沙門, disciples or monks), to renounce the faults of evil actions, to eliminate the defilements of afflictions, and to instruct people to subdue desire and craving so as to attain the fruit of arhatship (Ch. aluohan 阿羅漢, successfully enlightened disciple-practitioner).

However, because Chinese historical sources differ considerably in their accounts of its transmission, title, and nature, it has given rise to long-standing debates among Chinese and foreign scholars, and no consensus has been reached to this day. The sutra is quoted in a memorial of Xiangkai 襄楷 from 166 CE, the preface Fajujing xu 法句經序 (Preface to the Dharmapada), and in Xi Jingxing's 郗景興 (c. 400) treatise Fengfayao 奉法要.

Emperor Ming dispatched envoys to the Western Regions (Xiyu 西域( in search of the Dharma (teachings of the Buddha), and that in the land of the Yuezhi 月支 they encountered the śramaṇa Kāśyapa Mātaṅga, who translated this sutra and returned with it to the capital Luoyang 洛陽. Huijiao's 慧皎 (497-554) biographical account Gaoseng zhuan 高僧傳 records that Dharmaratna (Ch. Zhu Falan 竺法蘭, 1st cent.) and Mātaṅga arrived together in Luoyang and translated five works: Shidi duanjie 十地斷結 "Ten stages for cutting off the bonds [of desire]", Fo bensheng 佛本生 "The Buddha's former lives", Fahai zang 法海藏 "Treasury of the Dharma-Sea", Seng benxing 僧本行 "Original practices of the Sangha (monks' community)", and the Sishi'er zhang . In the turmoil of the late Western Jin period 西晉 (265-316), the originals of four of these texts were lost. The text of the Sishi'er zhang jing as it survives today is written in refined and elegant prose and does not resemble the style of early Han translations, which has therefore often given rise to doubts.

More than ten different versions of the sutra are extant today. Broadly speaking, they may be divided into three categories, namely the Korean edition, which is largely identical to the Song 宋 (960-1279), Yuan 元 (1279-1368), and imperial palace editions, and closest to the original text; the annotated edition attributed to Emperor Zhenzong 宋真宗 (r. 997-1022), Song Zhenzong zhuben 宋真宗注本, which was first included in the Southern Canon (Hongwu nanzang 洪武南藏) of the early Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) and contains only the sutra text and a preface. During the Qianlong reign-period 乾隆 (1736-1796) of the Qing era 清 (1644-1911), the sutra was translated by imperial order into Manchu, and later also into Tibetan and Mongolian, all based on the Zhenzong version; and the annotated edition by Shousui of the Song-period, Song Shousui zhuben 宋守遂注本, formal title Sishi'er zhang jing buzhu 四十二章經補注, which is the version most widely circulated today.

The sutra holds that what makes people foolish and blinded are love and desire, that one who harbours love and desire cannot see the Way, that "those driven by desire are like someone holding a torch while walking against the wind" (zhi ju ni feng er xing 執炬逆風而行), and that from desire arises sorrow, and from sorrow arises fear. Therefore, renunciant monks should cut off desire and abandon attachment, and recognise the source of their own mind. The removal of desire and attachment, it teaches, lies in "loving goodness and delighting in generosity" (hao shan le shi 好善樂施). The scripture states that "the Buddha Way upholds great compassion; it respond to evil with good" (Fo dao shou da renci, yi e lai, yi shan wang 佛道守大仁慈，以惡來，以善往). Worldly wealth should be relinquished, and begging should suffice to meet one's needs. In the Buddhist teaching, giving with empty wealth is esteemed (yi kong caibi shi 以空財幣施). Thus, one should have no attachment to external things.

It further teaches that all beings born must inevitably die, that human life is impermanent and its suffering immeasurable. Mental afflictions accumulate into karmic offences (xin nao ji zui 心惱積罪), and the cycle of birth and death continues without end (sheng si bu xi 生死不息). Because of actions performed in past lives, beings receive their recompense in future lives, and consciousness revolves endlessly through the suffering ocean of impermanent birth and death. Therefore, heaven, earth, and the world are like illusions, and mountains, rivers, and the great earth are all devoid of permanence.

The text thus consists entirely of teachings characteristic of Theravada Buddhism, such as impermanence, non-self, and the quiescence of nirvāṇa. By contrast, the Shousui recension incorporates Mahāyāna doctrines such as "seeing one's nature and cultivating the Way" and "no cultivation and no attainment". Moreover, when examined chapter by chapter, much of the content of the Korean edition closely corresponds to passages found in the Chinese translations of the Āgama sutra (see Chang ahan jing 長阿含經) as well as in the Nikāyas of the Pali tradition. This indicates that the original form of the sutra was a kind of "sutra anthology", comparable to works such as the Nipāta of the Pali Suttas. The language of the Korean edition is plain and unadorned. Although its content is simple, it is well organised and internally coherent, forming a complete doctrinal system. This strongly suggests that the original text was of Indian provenance.

Apart from the above-mentioned integral commentaries, there are the commentaries of Zhixu 智旭 (1599-1655), Sishi'er zhang jing jie 四十二章經解, Liaotong's 了童 Sishi'er zhang jung buzhu 四十二章經補注, Daopei's 道霈 (1615-1702) Sishi'er zhang jing zhinan 四十二章經指南, Xufa's 續法 (1641'1728) Sishi'er zhang jing shuchao 四十二章經疏鈔 and Ding Fubao's 丁福保 (1874-1952) Sishi'er zhang jing jianzhu 四十二章經箋注. Japanese commentaries are 良定 Sishi'er zhang jing zhu 四十二章經注 and 靈空 Sishi'er zhang jing jie shiyi 四十二章經解事義.