The Buddhist doctrinal texts from Dunhuang provide a genuine record of the debates among Buddhists in the Dunhuang region during the late Tang, Five Dynasties, and early Song periods. These texts document how Buddhists in Dunhuang engaged in debates using the question-and-answer format to explain concepts related to Buddhist numerical symbolism. There are 102 extant Buddhist doctrinal texts from Dunhuang, of which the academic community has fully or partially edited and collated 35 scrolls. However, due to the complexity of their content, the use of many variant characters, and common issues such as missing text and blurred writing, there are still some aspects deserving of discussion in the previous schola rs’ revisions. This article attempts to supplement the work of previous sages from the following aspects: 1. Corrections of unclear familiar characters; 2. Corrections of unclear ambiguous terminology; 3. Corrections of undefined borrowed characters; 4. Corrections of unclear allusions; 5. Corrections of dim literary writing styles; and 6. Corrections of blurred original scrolls.

In recent years, many Vietnamese and International researchers have been interested in two aspects of Vienamese variant Chinese charaters – International variants and national variants. International variant characters here are Chinese characters originating from China. National variant characters are Chinese characters created by each country under the Chinese cultural influence, such as Vietnam, Korea and Japan. In order to clarify the charateristics of Vienamese unique variant Chinese charaters (national variants), we analyzed two Buddhist texts: The first one is Chư phẩm kinh 諸品經 (there are 187 variant Chinese charaters correspond to 183 standard charaters with total number of appearance is 1,697); the second one is Thích thị bảo dỉnh hành trì bí chỉ toàn chương 釋氏寶鼎行持秘旨全章 (there are 56 variant Chinese characters correspond to 41 standard characters with total number of appearance is 243).

Buddhist Texts written in Chinese are important data not only for studies of Buddhist texts but also for studies regarding the history of the Chinese language. Seonmun Yeomsongjip (hereafter SMYSJ), a book compiled by monk Hyesim during the Goryeo era, is the oldest and largest Buddhist scriptures in the nation and has always been one of the must-reads in the Buddhist community. This Zen dialogue-type SMYSJ which details quotations by founders of religious sects has many interrogative sentences. From such an aspect, this book is highly valued as precious data for studying colloquial words during the Song Dynasty. However, there have not been many linguistic studies with regard to this text. Considering that there are plenty of interrogative sentences in SMYSJ, for this study, efforts were made to understand the patterns of development of interrogative sentences based on an analysis of the kinds, types, and frequency of interrogative sentences that appear in the book. Based on this kind of analysis, interrogative sentences appearing in SMYSJ can be divided into six categories. The ‘何’ category, which has the largest number of lower types and is used the most frequently, has been used in the forms of 如何, 云何, 若何, 何物, 何者, 何等, 何处, 何方, 何所, 何在, 何人, 何故, 何以故, 因何, 何以, 以何, 作何, 何似生, 何时, and 如何 has enjoyed the highest frequency of use. The ‘什么’ category of the second-highest frequency of use contains the forms of 什麼, 什麼生, 什麼处, 什处, 什麼人, 什麼时, 什摩时节, 作什麼, followed by the ‘怎么’ category to which the forms of 作麼, 作麼生, 作生, 怎生 belong. An interrogative pronoun of the fourth-highest frequency of use is the ‘怎么’ category to which the forms of 作麼, 作麼生, 作生, 怎生 belong, followed by the ‘那’ category with just three forms of 那箇, 阿那箇, 阿那个, and the ‘几’ category with 幾箇, 幾何, 多小, 大小. In the ‘几’ category, 大小 appeared most. Regarding the study on the usage of interrogatives, those interrogatives for asking men, things and places were connected by type and their semantic functions were analyzed. According to the analysis, each type had very different forms of expression, but there were significant differences in terms of frequency. Regardless of types, most of the interrogatives appearing in SMYSJ were used in interrogative sentences. A considerable proportion of them, of course, were used for rhetorical questions but some of them were used for directing. In conclusion, regarding interrogatives appearing in SMYSJ, expressions used for colloquial words during the Song Dynasty appeared, but some types of usage during this period did not appear. Considering these aspects, interrogatives appearing in SMYSJ did not have the complete features of the modern version of the spoken language.

부정관(不淨觀)은 수식관(數息觀)과 더불어 초기불교의 핵심적인 붓다의 수행법 중 하나이다. 비구들의 욕심, 특히 성적 욕심의 제도 를 목적으로 했던 부정관은 몸의 36가지의 부정물을 관찰하고, 무덤 가에서 여러 시신부패의 모습과 변화의 모습을 보고 이를 통하여 자 신을 안으로 관찰하는 것이었다. 그래서 초기불교의『염처경』등 여 러 경전에서는 몸의 부정을 관찰하는 부정관 관법을 내신(內身)을 중 심으로 하여 시설한 것이다. 그러나 이러한 부정관이 폐기되고 안나반나염(安那般那念)이라는 새로운 수행법이 시설되는 계기가 있었는데, 여기에는 교단 내 큰 사 건이 일어났기 때문이다. 즉 부정관을 닦는 비구들이 부정관을 열심 히 수행한 결과, 피와 고름이 흐르는 등의 몸의 현상을 경험하고 몸을 극도로 싫어하게 되어서 자살에까지 이른 사건이 일어났기 때문이다. 사건의 시발은 부정관을 열심히 닦던 한 비구가 옷과 발우를 주겠다 는 조건으로 다른 사람을 시켜 자신을 죽여 달라고 부탁한 것에서 비 롯된다. 살해자는 자신의 행위를 처음에는 후회하나 천마(天魔)의 권 청으로 살해가 오히려 비구를 열반시킨 것으로 착각하여 수행처 곳곳 을 다니며 몸의 현상에 괴로워하던 비구 60명을 죽이게 된다. 그러나이사건의일화를기록한『잡아함경』제29권,『 마하승기율』 제4권,『 사분율』제2권,『 오분율』제2권,『 십송률』제2권,『 근본설일 체유부비나야』제7권은 그 전모에 대해서는 동일하게 기록하고 있으 나 결정적 내용에서 다르게 기술하고 있다. 사건의 전개과정과 시설처, 붓다의 부정관 찬탄, 비구들의 자살의 형태, 천마의 권유, 60명의 비구의 살해에 대해서 약간의 차이를 보 이며, 60명의 비구를 살해한 살해자의 신분은 다르게 기록하고 있다. 특히 이 참혹상에 대한 재가자들의 비난내용은『사분율』을 제외한 다 른 경전과 율전에는 기록되어 있지 않다. 사건의 전개과정을 밝힌 부정관의 일화 속에서 본 논문은 당시의 수행상과 더불어 사건의 시설처, 주체, 부정관의 폐해상을 상세하게 밝혔다. 특히『사분율』제2권은 다른 경율과 다르게 60명 비구의 살 해자가 바라문과 외도, 전다라가 아닌 물력가난제(勿力伽難提) 비구 라고 밝히고 있으며, 참혹상을 본 재가자들의 비난의 소리도 생생하 게 밝히고 있다. 여기에서 상좌부를 제외한 각 부파 교단은 교단내의 엄청난 살해사건을 숨기고 싶었던 의도가 있었음을 알 수 있었다.