佛祖統紀 47.62

47.62

朝而甚詳如文瑩湘山錄載。國初潭州僧童試經。此州郡比試也。歐陽歸田錄載。執政宋綬夏竦同試童行。此朝廷開試也。若僧史略載。朱梁時不許私度。願出家者入京比試。竊詳三書之意。當是天下童行。先就州郡試中。然後入京。執政開場親監覆試第名奏上。乃下祠部給牒。若特詔疏恩。如建隆八千僧。太平普度十七萬。則又不在試經之限。或謂有虧國用者。則將對之曰。但於每歲以千牒為試經之擬。即以千牒之資均於餘牒。俾不能誦經而裕於財者亦得求度。厥今天下僧冗矣。試經以行古道。貴牒以限常人。誠足以復祖宗之成法救末流之冗弊也。上可其奏。付執政。下僧司。具格式。以供申不明。竟為中書所沮○建興福院成。先是上竺訥法師。屢以疾求閒。上曰。且賜地築室。一二年後。彼此作閑人。水邊石上共說無生。至是以賜師為佚老。授兩街都僧錄。東宮為書歸隱扁其室。十六年。上遜位於皇太子。退養重華宮稱壽皇○壽皇召慧光若訥法師入內殿。注金剛般若經書成。上積日披覽。益有省發。

'...dynasty, they are exceedingly detailed. For instance, Wenying's Xiangshan lu records that at the beginning of the dynasty, boy postulants were tested on scriptures in Tanzhou; this was a prefectural examination. Ouyang [Xiu]'s Guitian lu records that the grand councilors Song Shou and Xia Song jointly examined postulants; this was a court-instituted examination. As the Seng shi lüe records, during the Zhu Liang era, private ordinations were not permitted, and those wishing to leave household life entered the capital for the examination. Reverently considering the import of these three books, the postulants of the realm must first pass the examinations in their prefectures, and then enter the capital, where the grand councilors open the examination hall to personally supervise the re-examination, ranking their names and reporting them to the throne; only then are ordination certificates issued from the Ministry of Rites. If there is a special imperial decree granting benevolence—such as the eight thousand monks of Jianlong or the universal ordination of one hundred and seventy thousand during Taiping [Xingguo]—then that is not limited by scripture examinations. Should someone say that this causes a loss to state revenue, I would reply: simply designate one thousand certificates each year for scripture examinations, and distribute the cost of those one thousand certificates among the remaining certificates, allowing those who cannot chant scriptures but have abundant wealth also to seek ordination. At present, the monks of the realm are redundant. By testing on scriptures, the ancient way is practiced; by making certificates valuable, ordinary people are restricted. This is truly sufficient to restore the established laws of the ancestors and rescue against the redundant abuses of the degenerate age.' The Emperor approved his memorial and committed it to the grand councilors to send down to the Buddhist Registry to prepare the format; because the report was not clear, it was ultimately blocked by the Secretariat. ○ The construction of the Xingfu Cloister was completed. Prior to this, Master Ne of Shangzhu had repeatedly requested retirement due to illness. The Emperor said: 'We shall first grant you land and build a hermitage. After a year or two, you and We will both become men of leisure, speaking together of non-arising on the stones beside the water.' At this point, it was bestowed upon the Master for his retirement, and he was appointed Registrar of the Two Streets. The Crown Prince wrote the plaque 'Returning to Reclusion' for his room. In the sixteenth year, the Emperor abdicated the throne to the Crown Prince, retired to live in the Chonghua Palace, and was titled Emperor of Longevity. ○ The Emperor of Longevity summoned Master Huiguang Ruone to the inner palace; the commentary on the Diamond Prajñā Sutra was completed as a book. The Emperor perused it for days on end and gained even more awakening and inspiration.