國清百錄 1.3

1.3

My late master first retired into seclusion at Tiantai in the seventh year of Taijian of the Chen dynasty, the year yihai. The peak where he stayed was formerly named Folong. Inquiring of the local people, they said: “Those who travel through this mountain often see images of the Buddha; thus, through handed-down tradition, it came to be so called.” In the tenth year of Taijian, the year wuxu, an imperial decree from Emperor Xuan of the Chen bestowed the name Xiuchan Monastery, and Mao Xi, Minister of Personnel, inscribed the plaque in seal script and sent it to be mounted at the monastery gate. In the eighteenth year of Kaihuang of the great Sui dynasty, the year wuwu, the Grand Defender, the Prince of Jin, founded a monastery at the foot of the mountain for my late master; taking its name from the mountain, it was called Tiantai. When the prince ascended to the supreme throne, in the first year of Daye, the year yichou, he decreed to the eminent monks of Jiangyang, saying: “Formerly I founded a monastery for Zhizhe, temporarily named after the mountain. Now a proper name must be established. What superior titles are found within the sūtras and treatises? Let each state his thoughts, and We shall examine and choose.” The monks presented two names: one was Chanmen, and the other was Wujingju. Before their memorial was submitted, the monastic envoy Zhizao reported the auspicious omen of “Guoqing” (Purity of the State). The emperor decreed: “This is an auspicious spiritual omen of my late master. Use it at once! Use it at once!” He decreed that the plaque from the Daya Hall of the Jiangdu Palace be taken, filled in with orpiment, written in great seal script, and dispatched Lu Zhengli, Concurrent Director of the Palace Secretariat and Master of Protocols, to deliver and mount it at the monastery gate. The name “Guoqing” began from this. My late master was born amid miraculous light and passed away seated in the lotus posture. Within, he realized the wondrous Dharma; without, he served as Imperial Preceptor. These details are fully recorded in the three biographies by Falun of Zhugong, Zhiguo of Kuaiji, and Guanding of Guoqing. Furthermore, the monk Zhiji compiled the correspondence sent and received by our late master, but before his searches and inquiries were complete, Zhiji passed away, and the labor of his brush and ink was abandoned along with his breath. I examined his drafts, continued to arrange the various scriptural methods and other matters, bringing the total to one hundred items, and entitled it the One Hundred Records of Guoqing Monastery, bequeathing it to show future generations so they may know that abundant virtue resided here.