The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra and its transmission in Pingcheng 平城 period (398–494) of the Northern Wei 北魏

This article aims to explore the transmission of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Ch. Da banniepan jing 大般涅槃經), translated by the Northern Liang 北涼 monk Dharmakṣema (Ch. Tanwuchen 曇無讖; 385?–433) and its associated doctrine of buddha-nature during the Pingcheng 平城 period of the Northern Wei 北魏 dynasty. Traditional scholarship on Chinese Buddhist history has tended to emphasize the development of the studies of the Da banniepan jing in the Southern Dynasties, often asserting that the anti-Buddhist persecutions in the Northern Wei forced Nirvāṇa scholars to flee southward. However, through an examination of the Buddhist policies of Northern Wei rulers, this article argues that Buddhism in the Northern Wei witnessed a rapid revival following a brief period of suppression, and that state support for the study and propagation of the Da banniepan jing continued unabated. The findings suggest that the doctrinal transmission of the Da banniepan jing at the Northern court was not entirely disrupted. In fact, it continued in ways that were notably different from the more abstract and metaphysical interpretations that developed in the Southern Dynasties.