佛祖統紀 6.14

6.14

贊曰。章安有言。智者觀心論云。歸命龍樹師。驗知龍樹是高祖師也。輔行釋之曰。智者應稱龍樹為曾祖師。若以尊上為高。則如漢齊諸君。並指始祖為高。所謂功德無上。諡為高耳。今家亦以龍樹為始祖。故智者指為高祖也。夫傳佛心宗紹隆道統。後人尊之通稱為祖。故金口祖承二十四聖。皆以祖為稱也。下至此土。九祖相繼亦此義焉。是知今言高者。誠如荊溪功德無上之義。非同俗間曾高之稱也。

Appraisal: Zhāng'ān said: 'Zhiyi's Treatise on the Contemplation of the Mind says: "I take refuge in Master Nāgārjuna." From this it is proven that Nāgārjuna is the first patriarch master.' The Fuxing explains: 'Zhiyi should have called Nāgārjuna his great-grandfather master. If one takes exalted status as "gao" (great/first), it is like the various sovereigns of the Han and Qi dynasties who all referred to the founding ancestor as "gao"; this means that because their merit was unsurpassed, their posthumous title was "Gao". Our school also considers Nāgārjuna the founding ancestor, so Zhiyi designated him as the first patriarch.' Transmitting the Buddha's mind-lineage and continuing the lineage of the Way, later generations revered them and universally called them 'patriarchs'; thus the twenty-four sages of the patriarchal transmission from the golden mouth are all called 'patriarchs'. Down to this land, the succession of the nine patriarchs also bears this meaning. Hence we know that what is now termed 'Gao' is truly as Jīngxī meant—unsurpassed merit—and is not like the secular designations of great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather.