Author Description

In Chinese, there are preserved four different editions of the Dharmapada. They are: 1. Fa-chü-ching or Fa-Jyu-Jing the text contains thirty-nine chapters; 2. Fa-chu-p'i-yü-ching the text contains forty chapters, 3. Ch'u-yao-ching it consists of thirty-four chapters and 4. Fa-chi-yao-sung-ching the text contains thirty-three chapters. There are at least two versions of the Chinese Dharmapada that were not preserved to our time. **Fa-chi-yao-sung-ching also known as The Chinese Udanavarga**. This text is dated approximately to the end of the ninth century CE - during the Sung (宋) dynasty. It is therefore very late and not directly important for research on the early period of Buddhism in China. It only sums up the verses from the Ch'u-yao-ching although in many places wording is different. The main difference of course is that the commentary part was left out - only the verses are listed. The reason for compiling this book was probably to put the verses together without the need to read through extensive commentary first. Also, there might be felt a "gap" - that is to say, Fa-chü-ching lists only the verses, whereas Fa-chu-p'i-yü-ching brings the commentary to them. Therefore, if the Ch'u-yao-ching has both the verses and the commentary, Fa-chi-yao-sung-ching could have been created as a counterpart of Fa-chü-ching to list only the verses. The above book name The Chinese Udanavarga- a Collection of Important Odes of the Law (Fa Chi Yao Sung Ching) Author Charles Willemen has translated these Chinese texts into English with introduction and annotations.