六祖大師法寶壇經 1.167

1.167

歷朝崇奉事蹟

Also, Governor Liu Zongyuan composed an Epitaph on the Patriarch’s Posthumous Title, which says, “The master received the implement of authentication and hid himself in Nanhai for sixteen years. When [the time was right for him to] undertake the salvation [of sentient beings], he took up residence in Caoqi and became the teacher of humans.”

Furthermore, Grand Councilor Zhang Shangying composed a Record of the Fifth Patriarch, which says, “The Fifth Patriarch taught at Dongchan yuan in Huangmei Xian, which was convenient in his support of his mother. In the first year of Longshuo, after bestowing the robe and Dharma on the Sixth Patriarch, he dispersed his following and entered a hut on East Mountain. There was a layman [named] Pingmao, who gave the mountain to the master (i.e., Hongren) for a training center.”

In consideration of this [evidence, we must conclude] then that the master’s journey to Huangmei and reception of the Fifth Patriarch’s robe and Dharma was in fact in the fifty-eighth hexagenary year, the first year of the Longshuo [period, or 661. From this year] to the twelfth hexagenary year of Yihuang [676], when the master first went to Faxing[si] and shaved his hair, is sixteen years. Other texts may say that the master went to Huangmei in the Xianheng (“Universal Penetration”) [period, 670–674], but I fear this is incorrect.

Details of Accolades through the Dynasties Emperor Xianzong (r. 805–820) of the Tang bestowed on the Great Master the posthumous title, “Chan Master Great Mirror.”

Emperor Taizong (r. 976–997) of the Song supplemented this posthumous title to “Chan Master Great Mirror of True Emptiness” and by edict reconstructed the master’s stupa and named it “Stupa of Great Peace and Benefit of the Country.”

Emperor Renzong (r. 1022–1063) of the Song, in the tenth year of the Tiansheng (“Heavenly Sage”) [period, 1032], welcomed the master’s body, robe, and bowl into the palace for offerings. He supplemented the posthumous title to “Chan Master Great Mirror of True Emptiness and Universal Enlightenment.”

Emperor Shenzong (r. 1067–1085) of the Song supplemented the posthumous title to “Chan Master Great Mirror of True Emptiness and Universal Enlightenment and Perfect Wisdom.”

All of these details are found in the epitaph and record of Yan [Shu] Yuanxian.

Epitaph on the Bequest of the Posthumous Title

“Chan Master Great Mirror”

by Liu Zongyuan

[The Military Commissioner Ma Zong,] Lord of Fufeng, inquired in detail about [the events of ] the three years in Lingnan, where a Buddhist became the Sixth Patriarch. Since no title had been granted, he enumerated [these details] to the emperor, who in an edict granted the posthumous title “Chan Master Great Mirror” (Dajian chanshi). [The Sixth Patriarch’s] stupa was called “Stupa of Numinous Illumination” (Lingzhao zhi ta). On the thirteenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of the Yuanhe (“Original Harmony”) [period, 815], the tally promulgated from the Bureau of Sacrifices of the Department of State Affairs was received by the Military Commissioner, who then commanded that subofficial functionaries from the bureau receive a report [on the welcoming of the tally] from the city’s clerks to be forwarded to the [Bureau of ] Sacrifices.

[The report read, in part:] “So many banners and canopies, bells, and drums were placed on the mountain that its size increased, and the valleys were filled. Ten thousand people gathered together, as if to hear the gods and demons. At that time there were more than a thousand scholars [present], all of whom danced for joy in vigorous excitation, as if the master [Huineng] were alive again. Then, again, they felt pain and cried in fond remembrance, as if the master had just died.”

Therefore I, [Liu Zongyuan,] say, living beings are naturally inclined to fighting, robbing, and killing. Disaster is our fundamental lot, obstruction and resistance the licentious flow [of samsara]. Thus there is nothing better than to return to the beginning. Confucius was without great position, but in death his words have been maintained in the world. Then again, Yang [Zhu], Mo [Di], the Yellow [Emperor], and Lao[zi] have become increasingly heterogeneous, their areas of expertise rent asunder. Last to appear was

our Buddha [Śākyamuni], who, reasoning, transcended and returned to the source, and who must be called the one who lived in serenity.

[Emperor Wu] of the Liang enjoyed performing conditioned [works of