華嚴經探玄記 18.24

18.24

初敘古中，諸說極多，難以備舉，且敘一二。一家云：此中知識有四十五人，後文殊不立，只有四十四人。初一是十信知識，次四十是十住等四十位知識，次二為等覺位知識，後一是妙覺位知識。以舊無補闕文，故但辨四十四五耳。光統等諸德並多同此說。更依一家，總不配位亦不懸科，但隨諸會依文散釋，即如五臺論及意法師等並同此釋。此二之中，前說於文小違，後說於義無妨，准思可見。

First, under recounting the ancient, theories are exceedingly numerous and difficult to present exhaustively, so one or two are briefly cited. One school says: the spiritual friends here are forty-five persons; since the later Mañjuśrī is not established [as distinct], there are only forty-four persons. The first is the spiritual friend of the ten faiths; the next forty are the spiritual friends of the forty stages of the ten abodes and so forth; the next two are the spiritual friends of the stage of virtual enlightenment; the last one is the spiritual friend of the stage of wondrous enlightenment. Because the old text lacked the supplement, they only identified forty-four or forty-five. Many virtuous masters such as Master Guangtong largely agreed with this theory. Further relying on another school: they do not assign stages at all, nor do they pre-establish outlines, but simply explain expansively in accordance with the text across the various assemblies, as seen in the Treatise of Wutai and Dharma Master Yi, who both share this explanation. Between these two, the former slightly conflicts with the text, while the latter presents no obstacle to the principle; this can be seen upon reflection.