緇門警訓 1.51

1.51

書者如也。敘事如人之意。防現生之忘失。須繕寫而編錄。欲後代以流傳。宜躬書以成集。則使教風不墜。道久彌芳。故釋氏經律結集貝多。孔子詩書刪定竹簡。若不工書事難成就。翻思智者無礙之辯。但益時機。自非章安秉筆之力。豈留今日。故罽賓高德盤頭達多。從旦至中手寫千偈。從中至暮口誦千偈。但當遵佛能寫名字。慎勿傚世精草隷焉。

Writing is correspondence; it recounts affairs in accordance with a person's intent. To prevent forgetting and losing [the teachings] in this present life, one must copy and compile them; wishing to transmit them to future generations, one should personally write them down to complete collections. Then the style of the teachings will not collapse, and the Way will remain ever fragrant over time. Thus the sūtras and vinaya of the Śākya clan were compiled on palm leaves; Confucius's Odes and Documents were edited onto bamboo slips. If one is not skilled in writing, it is difficult to accomplish tasks. When we reflect upon the unhindered eloquence of Zhiyi, it only benefited the capacity of his time; were it not for the brush-holding effort of Zhang'an, how could it have survived to this day? Therefore, the eminent and virtuous Bandhudatta of Kashmir wrote out a thousand verses with his hand from dawn to midday, and recited a thousand verses from his mouth from midday to evening. One should simply follow the Buddha in being able to write the words; be careful not to imitate the worldly in mastering cursive and clerical scripts.