歷代三寶紀 4.2

4.2

Regarding the Catalogue of the Later Han: Zhuang, the fourth son of Emperor Guangwu, succeeded to the throne, posthumously titled Emperor Xiaoming. In the seventh year of the Yongping reign, he dreamt by night of a golden man sixteen feet tall, wearing a solar disk upon the nape of his neck, who flew through the void and arrived, radiant and luminous, illuminating the palace courtyard. At dawn, he assembled the courtiers and ordered them to divine the dream. The broadly learned Fu Yi stepped forward and replied: "Your servant has heard that in the west there is a spirit named the Buddha; might what Your Majesty saw not be he?" The emperor considered this so. Rejoicing and stirred by the numinous omen, he issued an edict dispatching envoys: Qin Jing, Palace Gentleman of the Feather Forest, Wang Zun, a disciple of the Erudites, and others, fourteen people in all, to proceed to Tianzhu. In the country of the Yuezhe, they encountered She Moteng, copied the Sūtra of Forty-two Sections, and obtained painted images. Loading them onto white horses, they returned to Luoyang. Thereupon a saṅghārāma was erected and named the White Horse Monastery. Various prefectures vied to establish them to repay the favor of the white horses. Over two hundred paces to the left of the Qing Gate Road in the old city of Chang'an, to the right of Zhongxing Monastery, lies the remaining foundation of the White Horse Monastery. The Sūtra of Forty-two Sections was then translated and sealed away inside the pavilion of the Stone Chamber of the Orchid Terrace. From then on, the teachings of Śākya arose like clouds in succession, and śramaṇas and faithful devotees translated and transmitted them one after another. In the reign of Emperor Xiaohuan, Buddha images were also made of gold and silver. In the third year of the Guanghe reign of Emperor Xiaoling, a Grand Palace Grandee was dispatched to feast the śramaṇas at the stūpa monastery in Luoyang, hanging silk banners, burning incense, scattering flowers, and lighting lamps. In the seventh year of the Guanghe reign, when Zhang Jue and others plotted rebellion, their treasonous faction and maternal and paternal relatives were executed; all practices of Laozi, deceptive shamans, physicians, and diviners were abolished, while those who upheld the Buddha's five precepts were not implicated. From the śramaṇa Shi Lifang in the Qin era and Liu Xiang's collation of books in the Heavenly Pavilion in the Western Han down to this point, an established catalogue first appeared. For sūtras, the Forty-two Sections is the foremost; for persons, Kāśyapa Mātanga is the very first. Down to the final years of the Jian'an reign of Emperor Xian, during those one hundred and fifty-two years, spanning eleven sovereigns, twelve persons—both Chinese and non-Chinese, monastic and lay—supplemented earlier omissions and gathered old remnants, together with ancient anonymous translations, bringing forth a total of 359 scriptures and Vinaya works in 427 fascicles. These form the Catalogue of the Later Han contained in this roll. It is hoped that those who unroll and read it will observe past and present, the dispersal and gathering of eras, and the division and combination of scriptures, so that the glorious transformation will be clearly illuminated and the treasures of the Dharma will be complete.