歷代三寶紀 8.58

8.58

The above twenty-four items, totaling twenty-eight fascicles, were written by the śramaṇa Shi Dao'an. Dao'an was originally from Fuliu in Changshan. His secular surname was Wei. His family had been eminent Confucians for generations. Having lost his parents at an early age, he was raised by his maternal cousin of the Kong clan. At the age of seven, he read books, and after reviewing them twice he was able to recite them by heart. His fellow villagers and neighbors were astonished. When he reached the age of twelve, he went forth from household life. His spiritual nature was clever and perceptive, yet his physical appearance was quite ugly. He was not valued by his master. He carried out menial tasks and servitude without ever showing resentment. Firm in nature and vigorous, he observed the abstinences and precepts without omission. After several years, he finally requested sūtras from his master. The master gave him the Sūtra on Distinguishing Intent in one fascicle, about five thousand words. Dao'an took the sūtra into the fields, and during rests he read it. In the evening he returned and gave the sūtra back to his master, asking for another. The master said, 'You have not read yesterday's sūtra, yet now you ask for another?' Dao'an replied that he had already recited the sūtra to completion. Although the master marveled at this, he did not yet believe him. He then gave him the Chengju guangming jing in one fascicle, nearly ten thousand words. Dao'an took it as before, and in the evening returned it to the master. The master held the sūtra and examined him on it; not a single word was off. The master was greatly astonished and respected him with wonder. Later, he conferred the full precepts upon him and allowed him to travel and study as he pleased. During the reign of Huaimin of Jin, while escaping disasters in the west and east, he first met Fotudeng. Deng saw him, sighed in admiration, and spoke with him all day long. The assembly then respectfully submitted. Later he went to Xiangyang, where he greatly propagated the Buddhadharma. Previously, sūtras had been produced long ago, but older translations often contained errors, causing the deep meaning to be hidden and poorly grasped. Whenever it came to lecturing, teachers would only outline the general drift and recite the texts. Dao'an then thoroughly examined the canonical texts, plumbing the depths and reaching the far-off, and thereupon annotated the twenty-odd works mentioned above. His prefaces were profound and rich, wondrously exhausting the subtle meanings. The thematic structure having been laid out, the literary style and doctrinal logic came into seamless coherence. The clear illumination of the sūtras' meanings truly began with Dao'an. At that time in Xiangyang there was Xi Zuochi, whose keen eloquence was extraordinary, surpassing his contemporaries. Relying on Dao'an's already established high reputation, he had previously sent a letter to establish cordial relations. When he heard that Dao'an had arrived, he immediately went to pay a visit. Once seated, he announced, 'Xi Zuochi of the Four Seas.' Dao'an said, 'Shi Dao'an of the Vast Sky.' Contemporaries regarded this as a famous retort. Zuochi later presented ten pears just as the saṅgha was eating. Dao'an sliced and distributed the pears with his own hands; when the pears were exhausted, everyone had been served without any discrepancy. Que Chao of Gaoping sent an emissary to deliver a thousand bushels of rice, writing a letter across several sheets of paper expressing deep affection. Dao'an replied in a letter, saying, 'Diminishing the rice makes me feel all the more how troublesome having attachments is.' From the Han and Wei through to the Jin, sūtras arrived in ever greater numbers. The names of the persons who transmitted these sūtras were often unrecorded, so later generations who sought after them could not determine their eras. Dao'an then compiled a comprehensive catalog of titles, indicated their historical periods, evaluated the new and old, and composed a catalog of sūtras. That the sūtras possess verifiable provenance is truly due to his merit. The Fu ruler heard of him from afar; thus he ordered Fu Pi to lead a host of one hundred thousand to attack and seize Xiangyang, capturing Shi Dao'an. After Dao'an returned to Chang'an, he resided at Wuchong Temple. With a monastic assembly numbering several thousands, he greatly promoted the transformation of the Dharma. The Fu ruler once went out and invited Dao'an to mount his imperial carriage and ride with him. Some admonished and criticized this. The emperor said, 'We do not find governing the world easy, so how could the honor of an imperial carriage suffice to match his virtue?' Dao'an admonished him not to embark on a southern campaign; the emperor did not listen and indeed suffered defeat. Dao'an frequently stated that translating from the foreign language into Qin involves five losses of the original and three difficulties. The first is that foreign word order is entirely reversed, and making it conform to Qin is the first loss of the original. The second is that foreign sūtras esteem plainness while the people of Qin favor literary embellishment; to transmit in a way that pleases the minds of the masses requires literary phrasing, which is the second loss of the original. The third is that foreign sūtras are exhaustive, going so far as to offer praises, repeating themselves earnestly three or four times without begrudging repetitiveness; yet now this is abridged and excised, which is the third loss of the original. The fourth is that foreign texts have explanatory disquisitions that look just like rambling words; tracing the discussion back to earlier remarks reveals no difference in the phrasing; whether a thousand or five hundred words, they are pruned and discarded, which is the fourth loss of the original. The fifth is that after an exposition is completed and is about to turn to another topic, it loops back to restate the prior words before stating what follows; yet all of this is eliminated, which is the fifth loss of the original. However, the scriptures of wisdom originate from the mind of the three knowledges; what is expounded by the wide-tongued Tathāgata must certainly adapt to the times. Contemporary customs change, yet pruning ancient elegance to suit modern times is the first difficulty. The foolish and the wise are separated like heaven and earth; holy beings cannot be stepped up to. To wish to take the subtle words of a thousand years ago and transmit them to match the degenerate customs under a hundred dynasties of kings is the second difficulty.