維摩經略疏垂裕記 1.59

1.59

Second, the auspicious designations of the expounder and the abridger. First is the expounder, next the abridger. "Tiantai" is the mountain where the Great Master resided. Tao Yinju's Zhengao states: "The mountain is eighteen thousand zhang high and eight hundred li in circumference. The mountain has eight tiers, identical on all four sides; facing the sector of the Dipper and Ox constellations, it corresponds above to the Santai stars, hence it is called Tiantai." The two characters "Zhizhe" are the auspicious designation of the Great Master. Shenyong's Tiantai ji states: "When Emperor Yang resided in his feudatory mansion as the Prince of Jin, after subjugating the Chen in the ninth year of the Kaihuang era, he requested the Great Master to confer the bodhisattva precepts upon him. Having received the precepts, the prince then relied on the Bodhisattvabhūmi Sūtra (Dichi jing) to bestow upon the master the title of Zhizhe." As for "Great Master" (dashi): one who reviews the old to know the new is called a master (shi). The Fayan states: "A teacher is a model for human beings." Master Sun (Xunzi) says: "There are four methods for being a master: being venerable and awe-inspiring, one can be a master; being aged and trustworthy, one can be a master; reciting and expounding without transgression, one can be a master; knowing the subtle and discussing it, one can be a master." "Great" is merely an epithet of praise. As for "expounded" (shuo): the Wenxin diaolong states: "'Expounding' (shuo) means 'pleasing' (yue)." The Dui trigram represents the mouth and tongue, thus words assist in pleasing. Next is the designation of the abridger. "Śramaṇa" is translated here as "diligent cessation," meaning diligently practicing all virtues and putting an end to all evils. One who puts an end to evils within the threefold realm is a śramaṇa of the Tripiṭaka and Common Teachings; one who sequentially puts an end to evils both within and beyond the realm is a śramaṇa of the Separate Teaching; one who universally puts an end to all internal and external evils within a single thought-moment is a śramaṇa of the Perfect and Harmonious Teaching. "Jingxi" refers to the person: his taboo name was Zhanran, and his secular surname was Qi. His family resided for generations in Jingxi of Jinling, so he was a native of Changzhou. People revered his teachings and consequently used Jingxi as his appellation. In his twenties, he received the scriptures under Zuoxi; as a retired scholar he followed the Way, and students gladly followed him. Only in the early years of the Tianbao era did he enter the monastic registry, being thirty-seven years of age at that time. He then received the Vinaya from Vinaya Master Danyi of Kuaiji. He initially resided in the Wu commandery of Jinling, later visited Mount Wutai, and afterwards resided on Mount Tiantai, spreading and practicing Cessation and Contemplation (Zhiguan) in all these places. At the end of the Tianbao era and the beginning of the Dali era, imperial edicts summoned him repeatedly, but he declined them all on grounds of illness. On the fifth day of the second month in the third year of the Jianzhong era of the Tang, he passed away at the Folong Bodhimaṇḍa, at seventy-two years of age and thirty-four years of monastic standing. In ordinary times, he compiled and organized the doctrines, clarifying and resolving past doubts and opening up subsequent impasses; what was transmitted by this one lineage was entirely inherited and elaborated by him, circulating widely in the world in over a hundred fascicles. Therefore, the Dynastic Biographies of Eminent Monks states: "Examining his course from its beginning in the Tianbao era to its end in the Jianzhong era, with a mind of self-realization he expounded teachings unheard before. Does not the sūtra say: 'In a brief time performing great Buddha-work'? Truly, the master possessed this." As for "abridged" (lve): it means trimming redundant phrasing and preserving the essential meaning.