四分比丘戒本疏 1.10

1.10

Third, the origin and history of its transmission and translation. In the past, in the tenth year of the Yongping era under Emperor Ming of the Han dynasty, Kāśyapa Mātaṅga travelled and transformed this land; after having people enter the monastic life and shaving their hair, they donned plain cloth robes and received only the three refuges and the five precepts. Down through the time of Emperor Ling of the Han dynasty, for a total of one hundred years, as the number of monks was insufficient, they were unable to receive full ordination. After Emperor Ling, there were five śramaṇas from Northern India who for the first time conferred the precepts upon five individuals of this land; Zhi Faling orally recited one fascicle of the prātimokṣa, which is the ancient prātimokṣa text of today. Later, arriving at the second year of the Jiaping era of the Cao Wei dynasty, ten Indian monks were again obtained, and full ordination was received anew. These, then, were the circumstances of the bhikṣus' receiving ordination. At the end of the Han dynasty and the beginning of the Wei dynasty, there were also bhikṣuṇīs from Eastern India who conferred the precepts upon nuns. Furthermore, arriving at the time of Emperor Wen of the Song dynasty, the Sri Lankan nun Tessarā and others again conferred ordination anew. Only from then onward was there a tradition of transmission of the precepts. Arriving at the Qin dynasty under Yao Xing, posthumously titled Emperor Wenhuan, in the third year of the Huangchu era, an unrestricted great assembly was held before the palace. The emperor asked: "What proof and verification is there of having attained the precepts?" Thereupon Dharma Master Zhiyan requested to go to the Western Regions to inquire about the matter of attaining the precepts. Having reached Northern India, he happened upon an arhat and asked him. The arhat said: "I am a lesser sage and do not fully understand the attainment of the precepts. Stay here for a while; I shall now go and ask Maitreya on your behalf." Thereupon he entered samādhi and ascended to heaven to ask Maitreya for him. Maitreya replied: "The monks and nuns of Cīnasthāna have attained the precepts." He then gave him a one-foot golden flower that manifested as a phantom to serve as proof and verification. After the arhat obtained it, he passed it on to Zhiyan. On the day Zhiyan set out to return, the deity Kapila escorted him to this land; before the palace of Emperor Wen, a golden flower had already appeared beforehand. The Grand Astrologer divined it, saying: "The Buddha-Dharma will arrive within a month; Zhiyan will arrive." On the day he arrived, the matter of proof and verification was concluded, and the golden flower vanished once again. Furthermore, arriving at the Yao Qin dynasty, there was the Tripiṭaka Master Buddhayaśas from Khotan, who translated the great Dharmaguptaka-vinaya and also collated the ancient prātimokṣa anew; only then was a homage added to the beginning of the text. Later, there was the śramaṇa Zhi Faling of the Jin dynasty, who came from Khotan to the Qin state and also collated and established [the text] anew. Furthermore, arriving at the Yuan Wei era, Vinaya Master Huiguang edited and revised its text, also retaining the homage. Following Vinaya Master Fayuan of the Qi era, who carefully checked the great vinaya, another text was produced, which removed the homage, out of support for the ancient text from the Han era. Now, retaining the homage while also relying on the great vinaya, we hope that the meaning may be complete and the conditions and explanations made manifest, aspiring that those who chant and recite it will not suffer a diminution of their merit. This, then, concludes the brief explanation of the transmission and translation.