佛祖統紀 19.17

19.17

法師文節。字通叟。自號操庵。四明慈溪夏氏子。世為大族百餘家。行路者常聞讀書聲。父諱歷年賢厚人□□□二時有住土山定講師者祖免。親異其貌勸出家于邑之永明寺。明年落髮。十七遊□□□□□遷悅庵皆山家之□峻者師與填自聰應無□□□□□未有所得。遇西山次教柏庭月法師。以大爐鞴煅煉學者。師於是竪精進幢留十三載。隨赴上竺。有謙慧應三師皆有大名。師合而為四傑焉。柏庭謂師曰。汝國汝國得吾之大全矣。畢竟至當一句作麼生。師厲聲曰。瞎却頂門竅壼中別有春。至此天上地下無一可見之形一無可翫之色矣。柏庭九旬謝事眾散。師獨留三夏。至唱滅乃退。年五十一。始出世定海觀音寺。十四年住象山玉泉。六年陞天竺集慶寺。乃理廟所剏在九里松度廟。繼志式念先訓適住持本法。師求去九重獨斷以操庵補其處。萬眾駭伏。十年間講鐘法鼓震動湖山。四方學者如水就下。樹規立範有典有則。四明南湖之歸有世忠寺。在萬山中曰東吳好處。眾強起師主之。至正壬午二月二十六日鳴鼓告眾拂龕書偈擲筆而逝。壽八十六臘七十三。著述有指要會宗集英等。書于度弟子覺初羿歸家山善慶庵全身窆焉。得法者如吳之似蘭子華思治惟簡明之大東慧海法東等說金錍有半月偷閑解夢書。又觀心觀佛偈曰。春到上林渾似錦不須尋訪賣華翁之句。徑山愚禪師嘆賞不已。

Dharma Master Wénjié, courtesy name Tōngsǒu, called himself Cāo'ān. He was a son of the Xià clan of Cíxī in Siming. For generations, they were a great clan of more than a hundred families; passers-by would often hear the sound of recitation of books. His father, taboo name Lìnián, was a worthy and honest man [...]. At that time, there was Lecture Master Dìng, the ancestral uncle, who resided at Tǔshān; he personally marvelled at [Wénjié's] appearance and encouraged him to leave home at Yǒngmíng Monastery in the county. In the following year, he had his head shaved. At age seventeen, he travelled [...] Qiān and Yuè'ān were both steep and rigorous masters of the Home-Mountain faction; the Master and Tián were naturally intelligent and responsive without [...] yet he had not attained anything. He met Dharma Master Bǎitíng Yuè of the secondary teaching at Xīshān, who tempered and refined students with a great forge. The Master thereupon erected the banner of vigorous advancement and remained there for thirteen years. Later, he accompanied him to Upper Tianzhu. There were the three masters Qiān, Huì, and Yìng, all of whom had great renown; joined with the Master, they were called the Four Outstanding Ones. Bǎitíng said to the Master, 'My country, my country! You have attained my complete wholeness. But after all, what is the single phrase that hits the mark precisely?' The Master said in a stern voice, 'Blind the crown of the head! Within the pot, there is another spring.' At this point, throughout heaven above and earth below, there is not a single visible form to be seen, nor a single pleasing appearance to be enjoyed. When Bǎitíng retired from his duties at the age of ninety, the assembly dispersed, but the Master alone remained for three summer retreats, retiring only when [Bǎitíng] proclaimed his demise. At age fifty-one, he first appeared in the world [as abbot] at Guānyīn Monastery in Dìnghǎi. For fourteen years, he resided at Yùquán in Xiàngshān. For six years, he was promoted to Tiānzhú Jíqìng Monastery, which was founded by Emperor Lizong at Jiǔlǐsōng and succeeded by Emperor Duzong, who carried on his predecessor's intentions and kept his prior instructions in mind. It happened that the incumbent abbot, Dharma Master Běn, sought to resign; the Sovereign made the sole decision to appoint Cāo'ān to fill the post. The myriad masses were awestruck and submissive. For ten years, the lecture bell and Dharma drum shook the lakes and mountains. Scholars from the four quarters flocked to him like water flowing downward. He established rules and standards, with precedents and regulations. In Siming, at the Southern Lake's Gui, there was the Shìzhōng Monastery, situated among myriad mountains, which was called 'the fine spot of Eastern Wu'. The assembly prevailed upon the Master to preside over it. On the twenty-sixth day of the second month of the renwu year of Zhizheng [1342], he beat the drum to announce to the assembly, brushed the shrine, wrote a verse, threw down his brush, and passed away. His age was eighty-six, and his monastic seniority was seventy-three. His writings include the *Zhǐyào* (Guide to Essentials), *Huìzōng* (Reconciling the School), *Jíyīng* (Collection of Excellences), and other works. His ordination disciple Juéchū Yì returned him to Shànqìng Hermitage in his home mountain, where his entire body was entombed. Those who attained the Dharma under him included Sīlán, Zǐhuá, Sīzhì, and Wéijiǎn of Wu; and Dàdōng, Huìhǎi, Fǎdōng, and others of Ming. Expounding the *Jīnbī* (Golden Scalpel), he wrote the *Bànyuè tōuxián jiěmèng shū* (Explaining Dreams while Stealing Half a Month's Leisure). In addition, his verse on 'Contemplating the Mind and Contemplating the Buddha' contains the lines: 'When spring arrives in the imperial park, it is entirely like brocade; / There is no need to seek out the old flower-seller.' Chan Master Yú of Jìngshān praised it unceasingly.