仁王護國般若經疏 1.3

1.3

During the Chen and Sui periods, Master Zhizhe of Tiantai, having remotely inherited Nāgārjuna's lineage, established a great teaching. Transmitted through nine generations, it reached Jingxi [Zhanran]. After Jingxi, it was transmitted through another nine generations to the Silla monk Pŏmyung. Pŏmyung transmitted it to Iŭng, and Iŭng transmitted it to Yŏngsun; they were all people of Silla. For this reason, this teaching spread to Japan and flourished overseas. When the Central Plains suffered warfare and chaos, canonical texts were wiped out; only this teaching was one that could not perish, yet it was also difficult to preserve. However, as the bright sun is about to emerge, the morning clouds rise first; when a true person responds to the turning point of fortune, cultural brilliance naturally appears. At the beginning of our Song dynasty, this teaching gradually sailed across the sea and entered Wu and Yue; the works like the three major treatises transmitted in the present age are examples of this. Yet there were still some texts that remained behind and did not arrive, as well as those that arrived but were not authentic originals. There were two editions of the Commentary on the Sūtra of the Benevolent Kings that had arrived earlier, but everyone rejected them as spurious. Formerly, after receiving the pratyekabuddha hair sent by Zen Master Shin of Japan and answering his twenty inquiries on doctrine, Fazhi [Zhili] requested the commentary he had referred to as the Commentary on the Sūtra of the Benevolent Kings. Shin then entrusted it to a seafaring vessel. Before long, amidst the voyage, violent winds and alarming waves arose. Thinking there was no other way to appease the wrath of the dragons and scaly beasts, the mariners hastily cast this commentary into the sea to pacify them. Fazhi then sought out two monks with strong memories to visit Shin, directing them to recite and memorize it to bring it back; unfortunately, the two monks died in Japan. At the beginning of the Yuanfeng reign, a maritime merchant finally brought the present three-fascicle Commentary on the Benevolent Kings to Siming. Thereupon, the elderly monk Ruxun obtained it through fortunate circumstances. Its prose is clear while its gist is subtle; its words are concise while its meaning is broad. Taking the Qin translation as its base, the momentum of its meaning resembles the Commentary on the Treatise on the Contemplation of Mind; in truth, it was recorded by Zhang'an from the exposition of Zhizhe. Xun's way was solitary and companionless; he studied the ancient teachings, which are difficult to understand, lived in poverty, and lacked resources, having no means to enhance the weighty importance of this sūtra by even a hair's breadth. He would frequently point to it and sigh, saying: 'It arrived so late! Studying it is so difficult! I would rather lock it up amidst dust and let the silverfish gorge on it than bring it down from the desk to show others.' Alas! How could this commentary fail to rank alongside the three major treatises, remaining with its light concealed and its brilliance buried, as if still as remote as the overseas lands? This year, Xun is seventy-six years old. One day, embracing it, he wept and said: 'Is it about to perish along with me? My previous resolve was wrong!' Encountering Chao Shuozhi of Mount Song, he said: 'Why not write a preface for me to circulate it?' Shuozhi considered himself: 'How am I worthy to participate in this?' Yet he once remarked: 'If Zhizhe had been born before the Qi and Liang dynasties, Bodhidharma would not have had to come to the East. Zhizhe exhausted dharmatā to establish śamatha-vipaśyanā, tracing the source of Śākyamuni's Way and encapsulating the purport of Bodhidharma. Now it is flourishing in Yue; in days to come, it will surely spread throughout the world. How could this text alone be concealed? I only regret that I am too old to live to see it.' Thus I provide this brief preface regarding its origins.