Korean Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

This computational study aims to re-examine and reinterpret the passages in Zongmi’s Commentary on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna (Dasheng qixin lun shu, 大乘起信論疏) that directly quote Wŏnhyo’s Commentary on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna (Gishinron so, 起信論疏), without passing through Fazang’s Commentary on the Meaning of the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna (Dasheng qixin lun yiji, 大乘起信論義記). Common n-grams were extracted from digitized texts, and a new pipeline integrating slice similarity analysis and third-text filtering was applied to construct a structured dataframe. The findings were then cross-checked against previous studies to assess their reliability.
The analysis yielded three principal results. First, the computational method successfully reconfirmed all the matching passages previously identified in earlier research and additionally revealed one further long quotation and one short quotation of Wŏnhyo’s Commentary within Zongmi’s Commentary. Second, it visually mapped the citation pattern, showing that references to Wŏnhyo in Zongmi’s work are concentrated in specific sections. Third, it demonstrated that Zongmi did not uncritically adopt Wŏnhyo’s ideas, but instead selectively reinterpreted those elements that aligned with his own philosophical stance.
This study is significant in three respects: (1) it introduces a digital, computational approach to textual comparison that complements traditional philological methods; (2) it establishes reproducible criteria for data refinement by comparative analysis with prior research; and (3) it offers new empirical evidence for investigating the intellectual influence of Wŏnhyo on Zongmi through slice-based computational analysis.