[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [法華經義記](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1715) › 1.2 # 法華經義記 1.2 法華經義記 1.2 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1715.1.2) 欽惟我朝肇自八聰王子，而聖君賢臣靡不世遵，崇於西方慈仁之教。梵容紺字眩耀于方輿，圜顱畦服棲止于林藪，貝葉琅函綫華琪軸，藏諸名山、充溢于輪棟，三寶備著既舊矣。予忝預僧數，自少遍歷禪叢、染指教海，都以南京以北，久遊諸家之講壇。每覽朽簡逸編於蠧魚之遺，雖暑之流金、寒之折膠，孳孳焉謄摹之，遂致蔚然填篋稇載而旋，蓋傚慧布得之勤耳。飯塢靈講主，學富才邁、倫輩罕及，頃闡暢《法華文句》于台麓，仍日抉剔開顯權實立陰觀妄，蛣蜣性惡即具三千之妙髓，俾聽者想味於甘露醍醐。講演之暇，適顧余曰：「昔者姚秦什公親翻《妙經》於震旦，上足僧融創開九轍，叡、生等林立諸曹相繼而有著作。在齊之時，劉虬居士共十名僧務，捃輿師之異言，撰為《注法華》。逮乎梁初光宅法師，師受中興，獨為雄匠，嘗講《法華》，屢感天雨華之徵，又謂燈明佛之所曾誦茲典。方策所詳，不亦誣矣。第恨其所注《疏記》厄之當時，漫弗復存。唐宋而降，豐聞碩學皆不及睹，而幸獨此方存焉。敢請以其所褚刊行于世，克壽其傳，庶幾使後乎千百世之人，賴之遡乎千百世之上，若同堂接膝而相摩軋。此豈細故也哉！」予欣然歎曰：「韙哉主言！夫天台之道，迨至荊溪克任荷負，尤加光顯。竊閱其箋釋於玄文，台家宗體一翕一張，靡不昂然精覈震發。然至析丹丘㪺酌於光宅，鋤剗乎玄論之意，令人嘅焉不能無議。蓋不窺二書故也。其嘉祥《玄論》已行于世，此疏尚未及翻刻，予亦甚歉于衷。以誼不忍辭，丞欲鏤梓以公同好。」 > I respectfully reflect that our dynasty originated with the prince of eightfold sagacity, and holy rulers and worthy ministers have ever generationally revered and venerated the compassionate and benevolent teachings of the Western regions. Saffron visages and dark-blue graphs shine dazzlingly across the realm; round-pated and furrow-robed \[monks\] abide in the forest groves; palm leaves in jade-green cases, embroidered brocades, and fine rollers are stored in celebrated mountains and fill rafters and beams. The complete presence of the Three Jewels has indeed long been established. Unworthily counted among the clergy, from my youth I travelled broadly through the monastic groves and dipped my fingers into the ocean of teachings; mostly south and north of Nanjing, I long frequented the lecture platforms of various traditions. Whenever I came across rotting scrolls and scattered fascicles left behind by bookworms, though in summer the heat might melt gold and in winter the cold might snap glue, I tirelessly copied and transcribed them, thereby amassing a flourishing collection that filled chests and packed carts upon my return—in all, merely emulating the diligence shown by Huibu in acquiring texts. Lecturer Ling of Fanwu was rich in learning and surpassing in talent, seldom equalled by his peers. Recently, expounding the \*Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra\* at the foot of Mount Tiantai, day after day he excavated and disclosed the opening and revealing of the expedient and the real, established the contemplation of delusion in the skandhas, and showed that the nature-evil of dung beetles already contains the wondrous marrow of the three thousand \[realms\], causing his listeners to savor the taste of sweet dew and ghee. In a moment of leisure between lectures, he happened to turn to me and say: 'In the past, Master \[Kumāra\]jīva of the Yao Qin personally translated the \*Sublime Sūtra\* in the land of China. His principal disciple Sengrong first blazed the nine tracks, and the likes of Sengrui and Daosheng, standing thick as trees, sequentially produced treatises. In the Qi period, the lay devotee Liu Qiu together with ten renowned monks undertook to harvest the divergent sayings of the various commentators and compiled the \*Annotated Lotus Sūtra\*. Down to the early Liang, Dharma Master Guangzhai inherited the teaching to bring about its revival, uniquely standing as a heroic master. He once lectured on the \*Lotus Sūtra\* and repeatedly elicited the auspicious omen of heavenly flower rain; he also maintained that it was this scripture that the Buddha Candrasūryapradīpa had recited. What is detailed in the histories is surely not false! One can only lament that the \*Commentary and Notes\* annotated by him suffered adversity at that time and were widely lost to survival. Down through the Tang and Song, men of wide hearing and great learning were never able to lay eyes on them, yet fortunately they survive exclusively in this land. I make bold to request that you print and publish the text you have stored away to give enduring life to its transmission, in the hope of enabling those of hundreds and thousands of generations hence to rely on it to trace back hundreds and thousands of generations prior, as if sharing the same hall and sitting knee to knee in mutual discourse. How could this be a trifling matter?' Rejoicing, I sighed and said: 'How true are your words, O Lecturer! As for the Way of Tiantai, down to the time when Jingxi took up the burden, it shone with even greater brilliance. In secretly perusing his subcommentaries on the \*Profound Meaning\*, every contraction and expansion of the Tiantai school’s fundamental doctrine is set forth with lofty precision and stirring vigor. Yet when it comes to dissecting Danqiu's drawings upon Guangzhai, or raking over the meaning of the \*Profound Treatise\*, it brings a sigh and cannot be free from dispute. This is simply because people have not looked into these two works. Jiaxiang's \*Profound Treatise\* is already in circulation in the world, but this commentary has not yet been recarved in print, which had also left me with deep regret in my heart. Bound by righteousness, I cannot bear to refuse, and I urgently desire to engrave the blocks to share it with those of like mind.' > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1715.1.1) - [Next: 1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1715.1.3) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1715.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1715~en-mt.1.2) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1715.1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1715.1.2) · Pramāṇa