華嚴經探玄記 1.35

1.35

二陳朝真諦三藏等立漸頓二教，謂約漸悟機，大由小起，所設具有三乘之教，故名為漸，即《涅槃》等經。若約直往頓機，大不由小，所設唯是菩薩乘教，故名為頓，即《華嚴》等經。後大遠法師等亦同此說。

Second, the Tripiṭaka Master Paramārtha of the Chen dynasty and others established the two teachings of gradual and sudden. That is, with respect to faculties of gradual awakening, where the great arises from the small, what is established is a teaching possessing the three vehicles, hence called gradual, namely the Mahāparinirvāṇa and other sūtras. If with respect to sudden faculties that advance directly, where the great does not arise from the small, what is established is solely the teaching of the bodhisattva vehicle, hence called sudden, namely the Avataṃsaka and other sūtras. Later, Dharma Master Huiyuan and others also followed this theory.