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Scripture of the Original Bound (Benji jing)太玄真一本际经

Also known as
Benji jing (Scripture of the Original Bound), Benji Miaojing (Wondrous Scripture of the Original Bound)
Author / transmission
,
Period
Sui – Early Tang · According to Xuanyi's Zhenzheng lun of the Tang, the first five juan were composed by the Sui Daoist priest Liu Jinxi and Li Zhongqing of the early Tang extended it to ten juan; composed around the late sixth to early seventh century. The original work was long lost and has been recovered from the Dunhuang manuscripts.
Canon division
Dongxuan Division (outside the Canon)
Collected in
Outside the Canon (only juan 2, the Chapter on the Entrustment, survives in the Taiping Section of the Zhengtong Daozang; nearly a hundred Dunhuang manuscripts survive, collated in vol. 5 of the Zhonghua Daozang)
Category
Early Daoist Scriptures
Fascicles
10 juan

Synopsis

The Benji jing (Scripture of the Original Bound) was one of the most widely circulated doctrinal scriptures of Daoism at the turn of the Sui and Tang; nearly a hundred manuscript copies have come to light at Dunhuang, an index of its standing at the time. Cast in the form of a Buddhist sutra, it has the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, the Most High Lord of the Dao and others expound the teaching, and it develops systematically such notions as "twofold mystery," "dao-nature" and "the original bound": dao-nature is the pure nature inherently possessed by all beings, and the original bound is the ultimate principle that is without beginning or end and neither being nor non-being; the practitioner should awaken to the original bound and comprehend dao-nature, transcending the two extremes of being and non-being to enter the twofold mystery. It also expounds the ten precepts, the three vehicles and the exhortation to good conduct. Its thought directly absorbs the Mahāyāna Buddhist doctrine of buddha-nature and Madhyamaka learning, and supplied the scriptural basis for Tang Chongxuan (Twofold Mystery) learning and the theory of dao-nature; Cheng Xuanying, Li Rong and the Pivot of Meaning of the Daoist Teaching cite it frequently. Emperor Gaozong of the Tang ordered Daoist priests throughout the empire to recite it; because it so plainly imitated Buddhist scripture, it was exposed as a forgery by the Buddhist Xuanyi during the Zhou of Wu Zetian. In recent times Wan Yi, Ye Guiliang and others have collated and restored it from the Dunhuang manuscripts.

Key Ideas

  • Dao-nature: all beings possess a pure dao-nature
  • The original bound: the ultimate reality that is neither being nor non-being
  • The twofold negation of the twofold mystery, transcending the two extremes
  • The teaching of the three vehicles and the ten precepts
  • Sui and Tang Daoism's absorption of Buddhist doctrinal learning

Structure

Ten juan: the Chapters on Protecting the State, on the Entrustment, on Sagely Conduct, on Dao-nature, on Verifying Reality, on the Pure Land, on Parables, on Supreme Victory, on the Secret Treasury, on Penetrating the Subtle at the Root of the Dao, and others (chapter titles restored from the Dunhuang manuscripts).

Editions

  • Dunhuang manuscripts (S.3135, P.2795, etc.)
  • Collated edition in vol. 5 of the Zhonghua Daozang
  • Wan Yi, Transcription and Explanation of the Dunhuang Daoist Text Benji jing

Full Text & Online Resources

Related scriptures

Pivot of Meaning of the Daoist Teaching, Scripture of the Wisdom Treasury of Ocean-Emptiness, Treatise on the Substance of the Dao

Related figures

Cheng Xuanying
References
  1. 万毅《敦煌道教文献〈本际经〉录文及解说》，《道家文化研究》第 13 辑
  2. 大渊忍尔《敦煌道经·目录篇》
  3. 卢国龙《中国重玄学》
  4. 《甄正论》