Origin and Early Translations
The earliest extant text of the Heart Sutra is the palm-leaf manuscript found at the Horyuji Temple, and dated to 609 CE. It was one of two texts which formed the basis for a published edition by Max Müller (1881), and formed the basis of a published edition by Shaku Hannya (1923). (See image top right) However it is important to note that a comparison of the script with India manuscripts and inscriptions argues for a date in the 8th century for the Horyuji manuscript.
A Chinese text attributed to Xuanzang and dated 649 CE is preserved in the Chinese Tripiṭaka. Stories exist of earlier translations but are likely to be apocryphal. In particular Edward Conze acknowledges that the text attributed to Kumarajīva is the work of his student. It is not mentioned a biography compiled in 519 CE. John McRae and Jan Nattier have argued that this translation was created by someone else, much later, based on Kumarajiva's Large Sūtra. Zhi Qian's version, supposedly composed in 200-250 CE, was lost before the time of Xuanzang, who produced his own version in 649CE, which closely matches the one attributed to Kumarajiva. Xuanzang's version is the first record of the title "Heart Sūtra" (心經 xīnjīng) being used for the text, and Fukui Fumimasa has argued that 心經 actually means dhāraṇī scripture. According to Huili's biography, Xuanzang learned the sutra from an inhabitant of Sichuan, and subsequently chanted it during times of danger in his journey to the West.
Thus the available evidence points towards the Heart Sutra being composed in 6th or 7th century.
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