佛祖統紀 1.9

1.9

參天地之才。司萬物之化。同功而異位者。其唯人道乎。故自有生以來。蚩蚩群氓。必立大人。為之君牧。是以四輪統乎四洲。粟散占乎異域。而南洲震旦。實為東方君子之國。伏羲稱皇。始畫八卦。降及三代。文物大明逮吾世尊出興天竺。將施化於此方也。乃先遣三聖。為世良導。以禮樂為前驅。以真道為後教。機成時至。大法可行。於是漢皇致夢感之祥。摩騰應東來之運。魏晉以降。盛譯群經。矯矯諸師。競登講席。雖各立義門。取名當世。而尚昧乎如來一代之化意。篤生天台。紹隆法運。以五時八教四種三昧。與夫事理即具境觀不二之旨。以為後學入道之本。歷代師承。寶茲大訓。至於今七百年。守之弗墜。翰林梁子之言曰。言佛法者。以天台為司南。則殊塗異論。往往退息。誠然哉斯論也。志磐手抱遺編。久從師學。每念佛祖傳授之迹。不有紀述。後將何聞。惟昔。良渚之著正統。雖粗立體法。而義乖文薉。鏡菴之撰宗源。但列文傳。而辭陋事疏。至於遺逸而不收者。則舉皆此失。於是並取二家。且刪且補。依放史法。用成一家之書。斷自釋迦大聖訖於法智。一佛二十九祖。並稱本紀。所以明化事而繫道統也。至若諸祖旁出為世家。廣智以下為列傳。名言懿行。皆入此宗。而表志之述。非一門義。具在通例。可以類知。既又用編年法起周昭王。至我本朝。別為法運通塞志。儒釋道之立法。禪教律之開宗。統而會之。莫不畢錄。目之曰佛祖統紀。凡之為五十四卷。紀傳世家。法太史公。通塞志。法司馬公。書成即負笈。詣白雲堂。仰求佛光法師為之考校。而同志之士。共謀鋟版以期流布。將令家藏其本。人觀此書。開人心之性靈。資國政之治化。豈不曰大有益於世哉。自寶祐戊午。首事筆削。十閱流年。五謄成[葶-丁+呆]。夜以繼晝。功實倍之。仰報佛恩。上酬

Participating in the capacities of Heaven and Earth, presiding over the transformation of the ten thousand things, sharing equal merit while holding different stations—is this not the domain of humanity alone? Therefore, since living beings first existed, for the ignorant masses, great persons had to be established as their rulers and shepherds. Thus the four wheel-turning kings governed the four continents, and millet-scattered monarchs occupied the outlying domains. As for Cīnasthāna in the southern continent, it was truly the realm of gentlemen in the East. Fuxi was called Sovereign and first drew the eight trigrams; coming down to the Three Dynasties, culture and institutions shone brightly. When our Bhagavat arose in Tianzhu, about to bestow his teaching upon this land, he first dispatched the three sages to be fine guides for the world, using rites and music as the vanguard and the true Dao as the later teaching. When capacities matured and the time arrived, the Great Dharma could be practiced. Thereupon the Han emperor received the auspicious omen of a dream, and Mātanga answered the destiny of coming east. From the Wei and Jin onward, scriptures were extensively translated, and eminent masters vied in ascending the lecture seats. Although each established doors of doctrinal meaning and achieved fame in their era, they were still obscure concerning the Tathāgata's intent behind his lifetime of teaching. Then Tiantai was born, continuing and elevating the fortune of the Dharma. Taking the five periods and eight teachings, the four kinds of samādhi, and the doctrines of the inherent integration of phenomena and principle and the non-duality of object and contemplation, he made them the foundation for later students to enter the Dao. Masters across successive generations treasured this great instruction; down to the present, for seven hundred years, they have maintained it without decline. Hanlin Academician Master Liang said, "For those who discuss the Buddha-Dharma, if they take Tiantai as their compass, then divergent paths and opposing theories will often fall silent." How true this discourse is! Clutching the surviving writings and having long studied under his master, Zhipan constantly reflected: if the traces of the transmissions of the Buddhas and patriarchs are not chronicled, how will later generations hear of them? In the past, Liangzhu's composition of the *Zhengtong* roughly established the formal rules, yet its doctrinal meaning was flawed and its style coarse; Jing'an's compilation of the *Zongyuan* only arranged biographical texts, and its language was base and its details sparse. As for omissions left uncollected, all suffered from these defects. Thereupon, taking from both houses, excising and supplementing, and following the methods of standard histories, I composed a work of a single house. It begins with the Great Sage Śākya and concludes with Fazhi: one Buddha and twenty-nine patriarchs, all entitled Basic Annals, in order to clarify the matters of conversion and connect the lineage of the Dao. As for the collateral branches of the patriarchs, they form the Hereditary Houses; from Guangzhi onward, they form the Biographies. Renowned words and virtuous deeds are all included in this tradition. The accounts of the Tables and Treatises are not of a single category of meaning; they are fully presented in the General Principles, so they can be known by category. Furthermore, using the annalistic method, starting from King Zhao of Zhou down to our present dynasty, I separately created the Treatise on the Prosperity and Decline of the Dharma. The institutional establishments of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, and the founding of the schools of Chan, Teaching, and Vinaya, are unified and brought together, none failing to be fully recorded. It is titled the *Fozu tongji*, comprising fifty-four fascicles in all. The Annals, Biographies, and Hereditary Houses model themselves upon the Grand Historian [Sima Qian]; the Treatise on Prosperity and Decline models itself upon Duke Sima [Guang]. When the book was completed, I carried my book-boxes and went to the Baiyun Hall, respectfully requesting Dharma Master Foguang to collate and examine it; and fellows of like mind joined together to carve the blocks in hopes of circulating it, intending that every family possess a copy and everyone read this book, opening the spiritual nature of human minds and assisting the governance and transformation of the state. Could this not be said to be of great benefit to the world? Since the *wuwu* year of the Baoyou era when I first began drafting and editing, ten flowing years have passed, and it was transcribed five times to become a draft. Continuing night into day, the effort was truly doubled, reverently repaying the Buddha's kindness above, and requiting above the power of the Emperor, not falling short of what I have learned. My aspiration lies herein.