四明尊者教行錄 7.182

7.182

明州傳教院（臣）僧延德。右以輒具丹誠上干天聽，退量踰僭頓抱憂惶。切念（臣）師授和尚傳天台教僧義通所住當院，是開寶元年得福州前轉運使顧承微，經淮海大王申請入院住持，為國長講天台教，聽徒六十餘眾，院宇一百來閒，統眾安居二時供應。雖蓮臺登陟宣揚，久贊於皇風；且華社莊嚴輝煥，未霑於勅額。恭惟皇帝陛下應天撫運、執禮臨朝，萬邦而盡被無私，四海而咸歌有道。（臣）叨逢聖代，幸預真徒，是敢遠詣明廷，仰祈寵錫。伏乞俯迴督造，特降勅命指揮，賜（臣）當院真額圖記。所冀天恩顯授、梵剎遐傳，俾光佛法之門永、贊成平之化。干犯宸聽，（臣）無任瞻天荷聖激切屏營之至。謹進狀奏聞，伏聽聖旨。太平興國六年十二月日，明州傳教院（臣）僧延德狀奏。

The subject monk Yande of the Chuanjiao Cloister in Mingzhou states: Because I have presumptuously set forth my sincere devotion to petition the Heavenly Hearing, upon stepping back I feel presumptuous and am suddenly gripped by anxiety and dread. Deeply reflecting that the current cloister where my preceptor, the monk Yitong who transmits the Tiantai teachings, resides was, in the first year of the Kaibao reign period, granted by the former Transport Commissioner of Fuzhou, Gu Chenghui, who petitioned Prince Huaihai for him to enter the cloister and serve as abbot, constantly lecturing on the Tiantai teachings for the nation, with an audience of over sixty people, around one hundred bays of cloister buildings, maintaining the assembly for the retreat and providing for them at the two meal times. Although his ascending the lotus seat to proclaim and propagate [the teachings] has long assisted the imperial transformation, and the adornment of the lotus assembly is radiant and splendid, it has not yet received an imperial plaque. Respectfully considering that Your Imperial Majesty has responded to Heaven and taken up the mandate, upholding propriety to oversee the court, so that all ten thousand states are touched by your impartiality and all the four seas sing of the Way being present. I, your humble subject, have undeservedly met with this sage era and have fortunately joined the ranks of the true disciples; hence I have dared to travel far to the luminous court, looking up to pray for your gracious bestowal. We prostratingly beg that you deign to heed our request and specially issue an imperial decree and command to confer an authentic plaque and seal upon our cloister. We hope that the heavenly favor will be visibly bestowed and the Buddhist monastery will be propagated far and wide, so that the gate of the Buddha's Dharma may be glorified forever, assisting in the transformation of peace and harmony. For intruding upon the imperial ear, I am filled with boundless awe, veneration, and anxious agitation as I look up to Heaven and receive the sage's blessing. Respectfully submitting this memorial, I prostratingly await the imperial decree. Submitted on a day in the twelfth month of the sixth year of the Taiping Xingguo reign period by the subject monk Yande of the Chuanjiao Cloister in Mingzhou.