佛祖統紀 29.19

29.19

法師法藏。其祖康居國（在葱嶺銕門北境居音渠）人來居長安。藏年十六。詣四明阿育王舍利塔。鍊一指誓學華嚴。則天朝為沙彌。策名宮禁。通天元年詔於太原寺開華嚴宗旨。感白光昱然自口而出須臾成蓋。萬眾歡呼。都講奏其事。則天有旨命京城十大德為授滿分戒。賜號賢首戒師。詔入大遍空寺。佐實叉難陀譯華嚴經。聖歷二年十月詔講於佛授記寺講堂。京師地皆震動。即日召對長生殿。師乃指殿隅金師子謂大經理深事廣文博義幽。非入理聖人。無以達其奧。是以立見邊之喻。曉無涯之法。以況法界體。師子喻法界用。其中立為五教。一愚法聲聞教。二大乘始教。三大乘終教。四大乘頓教。五一乘圓教。則天豁然領解。乃著其說為金師子章。睿宗受內禪。請師授菩薩大戒。師糞衣糲食。講華嚴三十餘遍。楞伽密嚴梵網經起信論等十部。皆為義疏。先天元年十一月終於大薦福寺。贈鴻臚卿。葬神和原。師既亡。弟子慧苑。悉叛其說。滅後百年而得澄觀。

Dharma Master Fazang: His ancestors were from the country of Kangju (located north of the Iron Gate of the Congling Mountains; the character 居 is pronounced *qū*), and came to dwell in Chang'an. When Fazang was sixteen, he went to the relic stupa of King Aśoka in Siming and burned off a finger, vowing to study the Avataṃsaka. During the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, he became a śrāmaṇera and had his name entered in the palace registry. In the first year of the Tongtian era, an imperial decree ordered him to open the essential tenets of the Avataṃsaka at Taiyuan Monastery. This elicited a radiant white light that burst forth from his mouth and in a moment formed a canopy. The multitude of ten thousand cried out in joy. The chief lecturer memorialized this event. Empress Wu issued a decree commanding the ten great virtues of the capital to confer upon him the full precepts, bestowed the title 'Precept Master Xianshou', and decreed that he enter the Dabiangkong Monastery to assist Śikṣānanda in translating the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. In the tenth month of the second year of the Shengli era, an imperial decree ordered him to lecture in the lecture hall of the Foshouji Monastery. The ground of the capital trembled. On the same day he was summoned for an audience in the Hall of Longevity. The Master then pointed to the golden lion in the corner of the hall, stating that the principle of the great sūtra is deep, its phenomena vast, its text extensive, and its meaning profound, such that none but a sage who has penetrated principle could reach its depths. Therefore, he set forth the metaphor of the visible aspect to clarify the boundless Dharma, using it to represent the substance of the dharmadhātu, while the lion metaphorized the function of the dharmadhātu. Within it, he established the five teachings: first, the teaching of the Śrāvakas who are foolish about phenomena; second, the initial teaching of the Great Vehicle; third, the final teaching of the Great Vehicle; fourth, the sudden teaching of the Great Vehicle; and fifth, the complete teaching of the One Vehicle. Empress Wu suddenly grasped and understood. He thereupon wrote down this discourse as the Essay on the Golden Lion. When Emperor Ruizong received the abdicated throne, he requested the Master to confer the great bodhisattva precepts. The Master wore patched rags, ate coarse food, and lectured on the Avataṃsaka more than thirty times. For ten texts, including the Laṅkāvatāra, the Ghanavyūha, the Brahmajāla Sūtra, and the Awakening of Faith, he composed commentaries. In the eleventh month of the first year of the Xiantian era, he passed away at Da Jianfu Monastery. He was posthumously granted the title of Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies and buried on Shenhe Plain. After the Master died, his disciple Huiyuan completely rebelled against his doctrines. A hundred years after his decease, Chengguan was obtained.