"Explanation and Annotation of the Treatise on the Conventional and Transcendent Consciousness"

Author: [Tang] Xuanzang Translated, Han Tingjie Edited
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-02-01
Features: During Xuanzang's time in India, he mainly studied Yogacara (Consciousness-Only). After returning to China, his translations and teachings were also primarily focused on Yogacara, becoming the founder of the Yogacara school in the Tang Dynasty. After translating the "Thirty Verses on the Nature of Consciousness," he wanted to translate the commentaries of the ten major masters one by one. However, doing so would have been excessively cumbersome, resulting in hundreds of volumes and millions of words. Moreover, the views of some of the ten masters were not entirely consistent, leaving people uncertain about who was right or wrong and making it difficult to decide. Therefore, his disciple Kuiji suggested basing the translation on the teachings of Haribhadra while incorporating the theories of the other nine masters. Xuanzang accepted his suggestion and completed the "Ten Volumes of the Treatise on the Nature of Consciousness" in the fourth year of the Xianqing era (AD 655).