The Relationship between Three Short Indigenous Chinese Buddhist Scriptures and the Textual Practices Found in their Dunhuang Manuscript Colophons

Abstract This article studies the relationship between colophons for, and the content of, Dunhuang manuscripts of three indigenous Chinese Buddhist scriptures: the Jiu zhuzhongsheng kunan jing , the Xin pusa jing , and the Quanshan jing . I find that the aspirations for copying these scriptures and the ways of using them are mostly consistent with their content. The patrons or users of these scriptures seem to have largely understood their content. Also, the similarities in the content, and the length of the Jiu zhuzhongsheng kunan jing and the Xin pusa jing should be two factors that account for why these scriptures were frequently copied as one set. Concerns for one’s own family and the relevant instructions in the texts may have led patrons to prefer to copy the Xin pusa jing twice, but the other two scriptures only once as a single scribal act.