A Multilingual Collation and Comparative Study of Multiple Editions of the Zhenshimingjing: Textual Variants, Editorial History, and Philological Value

The Zhenshimingjing 真實名經, a Chinese Buddhist scripture translated from the Tibetan Nāmasaṃgīti, is preserved in multiple Tripitaka editions and multilingual manuscripts. Previous studies either confined themselves to intra-Chinese collation without the Tibetan source, or to multilingual comparison based solely on the Taisho Tripitaka. This study integrates both approaches by analyzing Chinese Tripitaka editions alongside two multilingual versions of the Zhenshimingjing. It clarifies the interrelationships among the extant versions and evaluates their correspondence to the Tibetan source text, thereby determining their philological value. The results show that the earliest Tripitaka editions already contained numerous graphic and phonetic corruptions, which later recensions largely perpetuated. Although the Yonglebei Tripitaka represents the most extensively collated recension, it remained limited by the collators’ lack of Tibetan knowledge. By contrast, the multilingual manuscripts—especially the Vira edition—preserve readings closer to the Tibetan Nāmasaṃgīti and demonstrate the diachronic continuity of transmission independent of the Tripitaka. The study underscores the necessity of combining intra-Chinese collation with multilingual comparison to reconstruct a more reliable text and reassess long-standing issues in the philological study of Chinese Buddhist translations.