此論文藉著解讀迄今尚未充分瞭解的僧叡《小品經序》，來瞭解中國佛教史上一個關鍵性的發展－－在中觀佛教的架構裡，《般若》和《法華》的結合。在印度的中觀佛教思想裡，《法華》毫無地位，但此經在中國佛教裡被視為經王。論文說明這是受到鳩摩羅什佛教思想的影響，而由僧叡註錄到《小品經序》中。羅什所以結合《般若》和《法華》，一方面是矯正先前的格義佛教，另一方面是對抗一切有部的佛教思想。

By deciphering Sengrui's "Preface to the Small Version of Prajñā­Paramitā," this paper presents a departure point where the Buddhist development in China differed from its counterpart in India. In the beginning of the fifth century, Chinese Buddhism was dominated by two modes of interpretation of the Prajñāparamitā: native concept-matching(geyi) and Indian Sarvāstivadā. Kumārajīva diverted the interpretation to the Madhyāmika philosophical discourse by introducing four Madhyā­Mika śāstras and retranslating many Mahāyāna sūtras (including Saddharmapundarīka and two versions of Prajñāparamitā). To antagonize concept-matching and Sarvāsitvādin Buddhist thoughts, while avoiding the nihilist aftermath of Madhyāmika, Kumārajīva brought up the doctrine of ekayāna and argued that it underlay in both the Prajñāparamitā and the Saddharmapundarīka. With the doctrine of ekayāna, Kumārajīva demonstrated the Buddha's wisdom and compassion as a unity represented in the Prajñāparamitā and the Saddharmapundarīka asserted that the coalescence of these two scriptures was the full unfolding of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Such an argument, noted in Sengrui's Preface, was never seen in Indian Madhyāmika Buddhism, but it since became the foundation of the subsequent Buddhist development in China.