Bailun 百論

Bailun 百論 "Hundred-Treatise" is a Buddhist scholastic work. It consists of two juan. It was originally composed in ancient India by Āryadeva (Ch. Tipo 提婆, 3rd cent.) as Śataśāstra and later commented upon by Vasubandhu (Ch. Shiqin 世親 4th-5th cent.).

This treatise was translated twice into Chinese. The first translation was completed in 402 CE by Kumārajīva (Ch. Jiumoluoshi 鳩摩羅什, 3444-413), with a preface written by Sengrui 僧睿 (fl. 401). However, since Kumārajīva had only recently arrived in China and was not yet fully proficient in the language, the wording and meaning were considered somewhat inaccurate. In 404 CE, Kumārajīva retranslated the text, with a preface by Sengzhao 僧肇 (384-414). This second version is the one that has been transmitted to the present.

The treatise derives its name from the fact that the Sanskrit original contained one hundred verses. In this context, a "verse" (gāthā, Chinese transcription ji 偈) is defined not by sentence length, but by a unit of thirty-two characters, also called a "standard verse". The treatise consists of twenty chapters (pin 品), each containing five verses. However, the latter ten chapters were considered by Kumārajīva to be of no benefit to this region, and thus were omitted.

The central theme of the Bailun is the refutation of non-Buddhist philosophical schools in ancient India. Through the structure of "external says" (wai yue 外曰, representing the views of other schools) and "internal says" (nei yue 內曰, representing Āryadeva's own perspective), the argumentation of each topic is developed into a chapter.

The Bailun played an important role in the development of Indian Buddhism. Extensively refuting heterodox schools helped to maintain and defend the status of Buddhism. According to the preface to the commentary on the book, Bailun shuxu 百論疏序 by Jizang 吉藏, more than ten scholars in India wrote commentaries and expounded its meaning at that time, among which the most important were Buddhapālita (Ch. Boshu 波數, c. 600) and Vasubandhu. In the text, Āryadeva's original verses are marked by the words xiudulu 修妬路, which is a transcription of the word sūtra.

After the Chinese translation appeared, the text circulated widely over successive generations and became an important doctrinal treatise in Chinese Buddhism. Scholars of the Three Treatises School (Ch. Sanlun Zong 三論宗) revered this work (apart from the Zhonglun and the Shi'ermen lun), not only adopting its ideas of refuting the concept of dual "existence" and "nonexistence" and emphasising the principle of śūnyatā or ultimate emptiness (bijing kong 畢竟空), but also extensively applying its logical methods of argumentation to refute contemporary schools such as the Satyasiddhi (Ch. Chengshi 成實), Dharmatrāta (Ch. Dilun 地論), and Sarvāstivāda (Shelun 攝論).

Āryadeva advocated the principle of "break only, do not establish" (wei po bu li 唯破不立), meaning that one had to break through all phenomena to reveal the principle of voidness, and would then sees one's true nature and awakens to the Way, without establishing an external doctrine. This idea exerted influence on the development of Zen Buddhism (Chanzong 禪宗). Chan monks advocated teaching spontaneously according to the situation, without attachment to anything, including doctrinal sayings or essential points of the Dharma, which reflects the influence of Āryadeva's thought.

The most important commentaries are Jizang's 吉藏 Bailun shu 百論疏 (T1827), Daopin's 道憑 Bailun shu 百論疏, Yuankang's 元康 Bailun shu 百論疏 and Jingnan's 荊南 Bailun shu lüeji 百論疏略記. The commentaries Bailun yishu 百論義疏 and Bailun siji 百論私記 are lost.