佛祖統紀 8.23

8.23

十七祖法智尊者知禮。字約言。四明金氏（世傳所居在郡城白塔巷）父經以枝嗣未生。與妻李氏禱於佛。夢神僧携童子遺之曰。此佛子羅睺羅也。因而有娠。暨生遂以為名（太祖受周禪。建隆元年庚申也）神宇清粹不與眾倫。七歲喪母號哭不絕。白父求出家。遂往依太平興國寺洪選師。十五具戒專探律部。太平興國四年（太宗）從寶雲教觀（時年二十）始三日。首座謂之曰。法界次第汝當奉持。師曰。何謂法界。座曰。大總相法門圓融無礙者是也。師曰。既圓融無礙何有次第。座無對。居一月。自講心經聽者服其速悟。五年其父夢師跪於寶雲之前雲以瓶水注於口。自是圓頓之旨一受即了。六年。常代寶雲講。雍熙元年。慈雲來自天台。始學於寶雲之門。師待以益友。義同手足。端拱元年。寶雲歸寂。師復夢貫寶雲之首。擐於左臂而行（擐音患亦貫也）。即自解曰。將作初表受習流通。次表操持種智之首化行於世也（慈雲。撰指要鈔序。采用法智自解之說也）。淳化二年。始受請主乾符。綿歷四載諸子說隨。至道元年。以所居西偏小院。學徒戾止。盈十莫容。遂徙居城東南隅保恩院。二年。院主顯通舍為長講天台教法十方住持之地。三年。以院宇頹弊。與同學異聞始謀經理。既而丹丘覺圓來任役事。咸平三年（真宗）郡大旱。與慈雲同修光明懺。祈雨約三日無應。當然一手供佛。懺未竟雨已大浹（慈雲行業記云。約三日不雨。自焚。如期果大雨。太守蘇。為刻石為記其事）。六年。日本國遣寂照。持源信法師問目二十七條請答釋。景德元年。撰十不二門指要鈔。成立別理真如有隨緣義。永嘉繼齊立指濫以難之（梵天昭師門人）謂不變隨緣。是今家圓教之理。別理豈有隨緣。師乃垂二十問以祛其蔽。天台元頴復立徵決以代齊師之答。而嘉禾子玄亦立隨緣撲以助齊頴。時仁岳居座下述法智義。立十門折難總破三師。人謂淨覺禦務之功居多（禦音語。務侮同。易外禦其務）四年。遣門人本如會稽什師。持十義書觀心二百問詣錢唐昭師室。初是光明玄有廣略二本。並行於世。景德前錢唐恩師製發揮記專解略本。謂十種三法純談法性。不須更立觀心。廣本有之者後人擅加耳。慈光門人奉先清靈光敏。共造難辭二十條輔成其義。時寶山善信致書法智請評之（慈雲有寄石壁善信上人詩。有曾同結社之句。據此則知俱師寶雲）師亟辭之曰。夫評是議非近於諍競。矧二公吾宗先達。其可率爾。信復請曰。法鼓競鳴何先何後。師於是始作扶宗記。大明廣本附法觀心之義。謂恩師之廢觀心。是為有教而無觀。有梵天昭孤山圓。皆奉先門學。述辨訛以助略本。謂觀有事理。今十法始終皆以一法性而貫之。豈非純明理觀。師作問疑徵之云。若謂十法是理觀者。應此玄文是上三三昧。略本既無揀境。且非約行理觀。則知昭師反成有觀而無教。昭師復述答疑書。從容改轉。以為玄文直顯心性義同理觀。師復作詰難責之云。心性之名釋籤定判在因。上人既以十法是果人所證。則全非直顯心性。又十法既不聞揀陰。將何義同理觀。昭師又述五義云。止觀約行觀心。乃立陰等為境。附法託事皆不立陰。意謂令所立理觀。是事法之例。不須立陰。又被詰之後知心性在因。却潛改云直顯法性（昭師所立。謂之約行。則無揀境。謂之事決。則有執為理。進退兩失無所憑據。是為無觀復無教）師復作問疑責之曰。詰難本徵直顯心性。純明理觀。何得將事法之觀答之。豈非義窮計盡耶。此書既往逾年不答。師復作覆問以促之。昭師徐為釋問。以十乘妙理為所觀境。師復責之云。本立三障四魔為境界。今若以十乘妙理為所觀境。即以三障四魔為能觀智耶。自發揮至令釋問。四番轉計。五回墮負。往復各五。綿歷七載。乃總結前後。為書二卷斥昭師。一不解能觀法二不識所觀境。三不分內外二境。四不辨事理二造。凡十章。目為十義書。又設為二百問以質之。時孤山居昭師座端。觀如什論辯不可。當遽白郡守。以來無公據發遣。令還不復致答。大中祥符二年。重建保恩院成。自興役至今凡十載。通守石待問為之記。三年乞郡奏於朝。十月。賜額延慶。五年。與異聞作戒誓辭以授徒弟立誠。其略有曰。吾始以十方之心受茲住處。逮乎改創安施棟宇。元為聚學何敢自私。但吾宗有五德者。無擇邇遐。吾將授以居之。後後之謀莫不咸然。五德者。一曰舊學天台勿事兼講。二曰研精覃思遠於浮偽。三曰戒德有聞正己待物。四曰克遠榮譽不屈吾道。五曰辭辯兼美敏於將導。何哉。兼講則畔吾所囑。浮偽則誤於有傳。戒德則光乎化道。遠譽則固其至業。然後辯以暢義。導以得人。五者寧使有加。設若不及去辯矣。六年二月十五日。始建念佛施戒會。親為疏文以寓勸意。自此歲以為常。七年撰融心解。明一心三觀。顯四淨土之旨。天禧元年。謂其徒曰。半偈亡軀一句投火。聖人之心為法如是。吾將捐身以警懈怠。乃與異聞結十同志。修法華懺三載期滿。將焚身以供妙經（遺身苦行人之所難。十僧之名惜乎失錄）祕書監楊億（字大年官至翰林諡文公）遐仰道風。白丞相寇準奏賜紫服。復奉書為賀。及聞結懺遺身。乃致書勸請住世。謂方當台教復興之時。正賴傳持為世良導。往復數四尚執前言。楊公乃貽書郡守李夷庚及天竺慈雲俾同勸止。太守親率僚屬。勸請住世說法利生。且密戒隣社常保護之。會慈雲東下力為勸諫。而駙馬李遵勗。亦亟書交勸（尚太宗女魏國公主。諡文和公）師以公私意勤竟沮前志。乃復結十僧修大悲懺法三載以酬素願。是年述消伏三用章。對孤山闡義鈔。不知性惡是理毒義。有咸潤者述籤疑。以三種消伏俱約圓論。淨覺引疏義。歷四教十法界以除三障。述止疑以扶師義。四年。駙馬李遵勗。奏師高行遺身。上嘉歎不已。特賜法智大師之號。宣旨住世演教（郡守錢希白。題塔院云。內翰楊億。為樞使馬知節。撰其父神道碑。不受潤筆。求奏薦四明師號。知節因奏之。上召問。億因言遺身事。上曰。但傳朕言。請師住世傳教。於是賜號法智。據行業碑塔銘實錄及法智往復書。皆言李遵勗。論薦賜號。今詳希白之題。必當時問諸寺僧。繆言之復致繆題耳）是年。京師譯經院證義簡長行肇二十三人。各寄聲詩贊美道德（待制晁說之作序刻於石）五年。上聞師為道勤至。遣內侍俞源清至寺。命修法華懺三日。為國祈福。源清欲知懺法旨趣。為述修懺要旨。是歲撰觀音別行玄記觀經疏妙宗鈔皆成。時梵天門人咸潤述指瑕以非妙宗。且固執獨頭之色不具三千等義。蓋昭圓之餘波也。淨覺為述抉膜以示色心不二之旨。且評他師昧於究竟蝮䘍六即之義。一日。淨覺與廣智辨觀心觀佛求決於師。師示以約心觀佛之談。謂據乎心性。觀彼依正。淨覺不說而去。既而盡背所宗。述三身壽量解。并別立難辭。請潛修前鈔不使外聞。師慮其為後世異說之患。乃加料簡十三科以斥之。淨覺時在天竺上十諫書。謂父有諍子。則身不陷於不義。師復作解謗。謂十諫乃成增減二謗。淨覺復述雪謗。謂錯用權實以判勝劣。師時在疾令門人讀之。為之太息。既逼歸寂遂不復辨。後有希最。即廣慈之子法智之孫。述評謗以辨之。淨覺。時尚無恙。見之曰。四明之說其遂行乎（自師時在疾。以下一節。並預敘後事）天聖元年（仁宗初元）撰光明玄續遺記成。試開幃四十二章答泰禪師十問。時天童凝禪師貽書論指要鈔揀示達磨門下三人得道淺深。往復不已。太守林請師融會其說。師不得已略易數語（往復書。備在教行錄。忠法師為後序。略述其事）三年。先是天禧初詔天下立放生池。師欲廣揚聖化。每於佛生日集眾作法。縱魚鳥為放生之業。是年郡以事聞。勅樞密劉筠撰文以示後人。太守曾會立碑於寺（見教行錄）嘗一夕夢伽藍神曰。翌日相公至。已而曾公領其子公亮入寺。師以夢告母夫人謝曰。後貴無敢相忘（下二句。預敘後事。今教行錄。有曾府捨莊田帖）及公亮入相。乃買田闢屋。歲度其徒（曾魯公。初生夢老僧披幃入慶。歷八年。以知制詰。䘖恤而歸里。僧元達。附舟至錢唐。聞天竺之勝。特往瞻禮。始至見素衣女自寺門出。謂達曰。曾舍人。五十七。入中書。上座是年。亦受師號。已而不見。至是年。果拜相。歷事三朝。贈太師中書令。諡宣靖。陪享英廟。蔡襄守錢唐。以大士靈異。上於朝因賜號靈感云）五年製光明文句記。以迫歸寂不及終帙。其後門人廣智續讚佛一品以成之。六年正月元日。建光明懺七日為順寂之期。至五日結跏趺坐。召大眾說法畢。驟稱阿彌陀佛數百聲。奄然而逝。壽六十九。夏五十四。露龕二七日。顏貌如生爪髮俱長。舌根不壞若蓮華然。明道二年七月。奉靈骨起塔於南城崇法院之左。稟法領徒者三十人。尚賢。本如。梵臻。則全。慧才。崇矩。覺琮等。入室四百八十人。升堂千人。手度立誠等七十人。師自咸平二年。後專務講懺。常坐不臥。足無外涉。修謁盡遣。講法華玄義七遍。文句八遍。止觀八遍。涅槃疏一遍。淨名疏二遍。光明玄義十遍。別行玄七遍。觀經疏七遍。金剛錍。止觀義例。大意。十不二門。始終心要等。不復計數。修法華懺三七期五遍。光明懺七日期二十遍。彌陀懺七日期五十遍。請觀音懺七七期八遍。大悲三七期十遍。結十僧修法華長期三年。十僧修大悲懺三年。然三指供佛。造彌陀觀音勢至普賢大悲天台祖師像二十軀。印寫教乘滿一萬卷。所著續遺記三卷。光明文句記六卷。妙宗鈔三卷。別行玄記四卷。指要鈔二卷。扶宗記二卷。十義書三卷。觀心二百問一卷。解謗書三卷。金光明三昧儀。大悲懺儀。修懺要旨。各一卷。自餘如融心解。義例境觀。起信融會章。別理隨緣二十問。消伏三用章光明玄當體章問。答釋日本源信問。釋楊文公三問。絳幃問答（並載教行錄中）師於起信論大有悟入。故平時著述多所援據。後人扁其堂曰起信。示不忘也。初受命服。神照以書賀。師答之曰。三術寡修致名達朝彥（止觀安忍中云。名譽利養眷屬莫受莫著。推若不去當縮德露玼。若遁迹不脫。當一舉萬里。若名利眷屬從外來破。憶此三術。齧齒忍耐。確乎難拔。若煩惱業定見慢等。從內來破者。亦憶三術。即空即假即中。設使屠析肌肉心不動散。為辨大事彌須安忍。輔行云。外障是軟賊。謂名譽等。內障是強賊。謂煩惱等。內外用術不同）尋蒙帝澤令被紫服。有恥無榮何勞致賀。指要初成。雪竇顯禪師出山來訪。觀其書大加欽讚。即為設齋致慶。親揭茶榜。具美其事云。

The Seventeenth Patriarch, the Venerable Fazhi Zhili, styled Yueyan, was from the Jin clan of Siming (popular tradition says he resided in Baita Lane of the prefectural seat). Because his father, Jing, had no heir, he and his wife, of the Li clan, prayed to the Buddha. In a dream, a divine monk brought a boy and presented him, saying: 'This is the Buddha's son, Rāhula.' Thereupon she conceived. When he was born, they named him after this (the year Taizu received the abdication of the Zhou, the first year of Jianlong, gengshen). His spiritual bearing was pure and exceptional, unlike the common throng. At age seven he lost his mother, weeping incessantly. He informed his father of his wish to leave home, and thereupon went to rely on Master Hongxuan of Taiping Xingguo Temple. At fifteen he received the full precepts and dedicated himself to probing the Vinaya section. In the fourth year of Taiping Xingguo (under Taizong), he studied the doctrinal contemplation under Baoyun (then twenty years of age). Just three days in, the head monk said to him: 'You should uphold the Stages of the Dharmadhātu (Fajie cidi).' The Master said: 'What is meant by the dharmadhātu?' The head monk replied: 'It is the dharma-gate of the great universal characteristic, perfectly integrated and unimpeded.' The Master said: 'If it is perfectly integrated and unimpeded, how can there be stages?' The head monk had no reply. After staying one month, he lectured on the Heart Sūtra by himself; the listeners were awed by his swift awakening. In the fifth year, his father dreamed that the Master knelt before Baoyun, and Yun poured water from a vase into his mouth. From then on, whenever he received the purport of the perfect and sudden [teaching], he instantly grasped it. In the sixth year, he regularly lectured on Baoyun's behalf. In the first year of Yongxi, Ciyun came from Tiantai and began to study at Baoyun's gate. The Master treated him as a beneficial friend, with the affection of brothers. In the first year of Duanhong, Baoyun entered quiescence. The Master again dreamed that he strung Baoyun's head, wore it around his left arm, and walked (huan is pronounced huan, meaning to string). He immediately interpreted it himself, saying: 'This signifies that I shall first receive, practice, and circulate it, and next that I shall uphold the head of sarvākārajñatā to practice conversion in the world' (Ciyun's preface to the Zhiyaochao adopts Fazhi's own explanation). In the second year of Chunhua, he first accepted an invitation to preside at Qianfu. Over four years, various disciples followed him. In the first year of Zhidao, because his residence was a small cloister on the western side, and scholars arrived in crowds such that more than ten could not be accommodated, he moved to the Bao'en Cloister in the southeastern corner of the city. In the second year, the director of the cloister, Xiantong, gave it over as a permanent seat for lecturing on Tiantai teachings and as a ten-direction abbacy. In the third year, because the buildings of the cloister were dilapidated, he and his fellow student Yiwen began planning its management. Soon after, Jueyuan of Danqiu arrived to take charge of the labor. In the third year of Xianping (under Zhenzong), there was a great drought in the prefecture. Together with Ciyun, he cultivated the Brightness Repentance to pray for rain, vowing that if there was no response within three days, he would burn an arm as an offering to the Buddha. Before the repentance was concluded, heavy rain had already soaked everywhere (Ciyun's Account of Conduct says: 'He vowed that if it did not rain in three days, he would burn himself. As pledged, a great rain indeed fell. Prefect Su had a stone carved to record the event'). In the sixth year, Japan dispatched Jakushō, who brought twenty-seven items of inquiry from Dharma Master Genshin to request responses and explanations. In the first year of Jingde, he composed the Shibu'ermen zhiyaochao (Notes on the Essentials of the Ten Non-Dual Gates), establishing that the ultimate principle of true suchness according to the separate teaching possesses the meaning of according with conditions. Jici of Yongjia composed the Zhilan (Pointing Out Excesses) to challenge it (he was a disciple of Master Zhao of Fantian), maintaining that unchanging yet according with conditions is the principle of our school's perfect teaching; how could the principle of the separate teaching accord with conditions? The Master then set forth twenty questions to dispel his obfuscation. Yuanying of Tiantai also composed the Zhengjue (Verification and Resolution) on Master Ci's behalf, and Zixuan of Jiahe also composed the Suiyuanpu (Attacking 'According with Conditions') to assist Ci and Ying. At that time, Renyue sat among the assembly and, expounding Fazhi's meaning, established the Ten Gates of Refutation to defeat all three masters comprehensively. People said that Jingjue's merit in repelling the aggression was immense (yu is pronounced yu; wu is the same as wu [insult]; from the Yijing: 'Repelling insult from without'). In the fourth year, he dispatched his disciples Benru and Master Shi of Kuaiji, carrying the Shiyi shu (Book of Ten Meanings) and the Guanxin erbai wen (Two Hundred Questions on Contemplating the Mind), to call at the chamber of Master Zhao of Qiantang. Formerly, the Guangming xuan existed in two versions, the extensive and the abridged, circulating concurrently in the world. Prior to Jingde, Master En of Qiantang had composed the Fahui ji solely to expound the abridged version, asserting that the ten kinds of threefold dharmas purely discuss dharma-nature, so there is no need to establish contemplation of the mind additionally; and that if the extensive version contained it, later people had added it arbitrarily. Ciguang's disciples, Qing of Fengxian and Min of Lingguang, jointly formulated twenty objections to reinforce his meaning. At that time, Shanxin of Baoshan sent a letter to Fazhi asking him to evaluate it (Ciyun had a poem sent to Superior Shanxin of Shibi containing the line 'we once joined the society together'; based on this, we know they were both students of Baoyun). The Master promptly declined, saying: 'Evaluating right and debating wrong borders on contention. Furthermore, the two venerable masters are senior luminaries of our lineage; how could I act rashly?' Xin requested again, saying: 'When the Dharma drums contend in sounding, which comes first and which follows?' Thereupon the Master began composing the Fuzong ji (Record of Supporting the School), clearly demonstrating the extensive version's meaning of contemplating the mind appended to phenomena, stating that Master En's abolition of contemplating the mind constitutes having the teaching without the contemplation. There were Zhao of Fantian and Yuan of Gushan, both students of Fengxian's gate, who composed the Bian'e (Discriminating Errors) to assist the abridged version, asserting that contemplation has phenomena and principle, and since the ten dharmas from beginning to end are all threaded with the one dharma-nature, how could this not purely illuminate the contemplation of principle? The Master formulated inquiries to cross-examine them, saying: 'If you say the ten dharmas are contemplation of principle, then this mysterious text should belong to the higher three samādhis. Since the abridged version lacks the selection of objects and is not a contemplation of principle correlated with practice, we know that Master Zhao in fact ends up having contemplation without teaching.' Master Zhao again composed the Dayishu (Letter Answering Doubts), shifting his ground with composure, taking the mysterious text as directly revealing the mind-nature, identical in meaning to contemplation of principle. The Master again formulated cross-examinations to reprove him, saying: 'The name mind-nature is definitively determined in the Shiqian as residing in the cause. Since you, Venerable Sir, hold that the ten dharmas are realized by one at the fruit stage, then it is completely not a direct revelation of mind-nature. Furthermore, since the ten dharmas make no mention of selecting the skandhas, on what grounds could their meaning be identical to contemplation of principle?' Master Zhao again set forth five meanings, saying: 'The Zhiguan correlates practice with contemplating the mind, thus establishing the skandhas and so forth as objects; appending to the teaching and relying on phenomena never establishes the skandhas.' His intent was to make the contemplation of principle he established an instance of phenomenal dharmas, not requiring the skandhas to be established. Furthermore, after being cross-examined, knowing that mind-nature resides in the cause, he surreptitiously changed his phrasing to 'directly revealing dharma-nature' (what Master Zhao established: if called correlating with practice, it lacks the selection of objects; if called phenomenal resolution, it clings to it as principle; losing on both advances and retreats, with nothing to rely upon, this is having neither contemplation nor teaching). The Master again formulated inquiries to reprove him, saying: 'The cross-examination originally scrutinized directly revealing mind-nature as purely illuminating contemplation of principle. How can you answer it with the contemplation of phenomenal dharmas? Is this not an exhaustion of your meaning and the end of your stratagems?' After this letter was sent, more than a year passed without a reply. The Master again composed a follow-up inquiry to urge him. Master Zhao slowly composed an explanation of the inquiry, taking the wondrous principle of the ten vehicles as the contemplated object. The Master again reproved him, saying: 'Originally, the three obstacles and four māras were established as objects. Now, if you take the wondrous principle of the ten vehicles as the contemplated object, does that mean you take the three obstacles and four māras as the contemplating wisdom?' From the Fahui down to this explanation of the inquiry, there were four shifts in stratagem and five defeats, with five exchanges back and forth over a duration of seven years. Then, summarizing the entire exchange, he composed a work in two fascicles rebuking Master Zhao: first, not understanding the contemplative dharma; second, not recognizing the contemplated object; third, not distinguishing internal and external objects; fourth, not discerning the two productions of phenomena and principle. Comprising ten chapters in all, it was titled Shiyi shu (Book of Ten Meanings). He also set forth two hundred questions to cross-examine him. At that time, Gushan was seated at the head of Master Zhao's assembly. Seeing that Ru and Shi's debate was insurmountable, he hastily reported to the prefect, and because they had arrived without official permits, had them sent back without offering another reply. In the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu, the reconstruction of Bao'en Cloister was completed, ten years in all from the commencement of labor until now. Tongshou Shi Daiwen composed a record of it. In the third year, he petitioned the prefecture to memorialize the court. In the tenth month, it was bestowed the plaque 'Yanqing'. In the fifth year, he and Yiwen composed a pledge of precepts to transmit to his disciple Licheng, which read in brief: 'I originally accepted this residence with the mindset of the ten directions. When it came to rebuilding and erecting the pillars and beams, it was originally to gather students; how would I dare be selfish? Whoever in our lineage possesses the five virtues, without distinction of near or far, I shall transmit it to him to reside here. All future plans should be likewise. The five virtues are: first, long-term study of Tiantai without engaging in concurrent lecturing on other traditions; second, profound refinement and deep contemplation, keeping distant from superficiality and falsehood; third, renown in precept-virtue, rectifying oneself in dealing with others; fourth, capability to keep distant from honor and praise, not bending our Way; fifth, combined excellence in rhetoric and eloquence, agile in guiding others. Why so? Concurrent lecturing breaches my charge; superficiality and falsehood mislead what is transmitted; precept-virtue glorifies the transforming Way; keeping distant from praise consolidates the supreme endeavor; thereafter, eloquence expands the meaning, and guidance wins people over. For these five, it is better to have more; if one falls short, let eloquence be omitted.' On the fifteenth day of the second month of the sixth year, he first established an assembly for reciting the Buddha's name and bestowing precepts, personally writing an exhortation to convey his urging. From this time on, it became an annual practice. In the seventh year, he composed the Rongxin jie (Explanation of Harmonizing the Mind), illuminating the threefold contemplation in a single mind and revealing the purport of the four pure lands. In the first year of Tianxi, he said to his disciples: 'Giving up one's body for half a verse, casting oneself into the fire for a single line—such was the mind of the sages for the sake of the Dharma. I shall sacrifice my body to warn against negligence.' Thereupon, together with Yiwen and ten like-minded companions, they cultivated the Lotus Repentance for a three-year period; when fulfilled, he intended to burn his body as an offering to the Wondrous Sūtra (giving up the body in ascetic practice is difficult for people; that the names of the ten monks are lost is regrettable). Yang Yi, Director of the Palace Library (styled Da'nian, who reached the post of Hanlin Academician and was posthumously titled Duke Wengong), revering his doctrinal manner from afar, informed Grand Councilor Kou Zhun to memorialize the throne to bestow a purple robe, and again presented a letter of congratulation. Upon hearing of the vow to cultivate repentance and abandon his body, he sent a letter entreating him to remain in the world, stating that at the very time of the Tiantai teaching's revival, it truly relied on his holding and transmitting it as an excellent guide for the world. After three or four exchanges, he still held to his former vow. Lord Yang then sent letters to Prefect Li Yigeng and Ciyun of Tianzhu, asking them to join in dissuading him. The Prefect personally led his subordinates to urge him to remain in the world to preach the Dharma and benefit living beings, and secretly instructed neighboring communities to protect him continually. It happened that Ciyun came east and forcefully remonstrated with him, while Imperial Son-in-law Li Zunxu also sent urgent letters repeatedly joining the plea (he had married Princess Weiguo, daughter of Taizong, and was posthumously titled Duke Wenhe). Yielding to the earnest intentions of both public officials and private friends, the Master finally abandoned his former aspiration. He then once again gathered ten monks to cultivate the Great Compassion Repentance ritual for three years to fulfill his original vow. That year, he composed the Xiaofu sanyong zhang (Chapter on the Three Functions of Subduing), refuting Gushan's Chanyi chao (Notes Expounding the Meaning) for not knowing that innate evil is the meaning of principle-poison. A certain Xianrun composed the Qianyi (Doubts on the Notes), taking the three kinds of subduing as all discussed according to the perfect teaching. Jingjue cited the commentary's meaning, traversing the four teachings and ten dharmadhātus to eliminate the three obstacles, composing the Zhiyi (Stopping Doubts) to support the Master's doctrine. In the fourth year, Imperial Son-in-law Li Zunxu memorialized the throne concerning the Master's noble conduct and willingness to sacrifice his body. The Emperor praised him endlessly and specially bestowed the title 'Great Master Fazhi', issuing an imperial edict ordering him to remain in the world and propagate the teaching (Prefect Qian Xibai inscribed on the Stūpa Cloister: 'Academician of the Hanlin Academy Yang Yi, when composing the spirit-way stele of the father of Bureau of Military Affairs Director Ma Zhijie, refused compensation, asking instead that he memorialize the recommendation of a title for the Master of Siming. Zhijie accordingly memorialized it. The Emperor summoned and questioned him, and Yi took the occasion to speak of his abandonment of the body. The Emperor said: "Merely convey my words, asking the Master to remain in the world to transmit the teaching." Thereupon the title Fazhi was bestowed.' According to the stele of conduct, the stūpa inscription, the veritable records, and Fazhi's correspondence, all state that Li Zunxu discussed and recommended the bestowment of the title. Examining Xibai's inscription now, he must have asked the temple monks at the time, whose erroneous words caused this erroneous inscription). That year, twenty-three individuals including Jian, Chang, and Xingzhao, Verifiers of Meaning at the Translation Bureau in the capital, each sent verses praising his virtue and Way (Chao Shuozhi, Attendant in Ordinary, composed a preface, which was carved on stone). In the fifth year, the Emperor, hearing of the Master's diligence on behalf of the Way, dispatched Palace Attendant Yu Yuanqing to the temple, commanding the cultivation of the Lotus Repentance for three days to pray for blessings for the state. Yuanqing wished to know the purport of the repentance ritual, so the Master composed the Xiuqian yaozhi (Essential Purport of Cultivating Repentance) for him. That year, he composed the Guanyin biexing xuanji (Record on the Mystery of the Separate Action of Avalokiteśvara) and the Guan jing shu miaozong chao (Notes on the Wondrous Purport of the Commentary on the Contemplation Sūtra), both completed. At that time, Xianrun, a disciple of Fantian, composed the Zhixia (Pointing Out Flaws) to reject the Miaozong, stubbornly clinging to such doctrines as isolated form not possessing the three thousand, which was an aftershock of Zhao and Yuan. Jingjue composed the Juemo (Removing the Film) for him to reveal the doctrine of the non-duality of form and mind, and critiqued the other masters for being blind to the meaning of the ultimate viper and the six stages of identity. One day, Jingjue and Guangzhi debated contemplating the mind versus contemplating the Buddha and sought resolution from the Master. The Master instructed them with the discourse on contemplating the Buddha with reference to the mind, stating that relying on the mind-nature, one contemplates those environments and persons. Jingjue departed displeased. Soon afterward, completely betraying what he had upheld, he composed the Sanshen shouliang jie (Explanation of the Lifespan of the Three Bodies) and separately formulated objections, requesting that the former notes be privately amended without letting outsiders hear. Fearing that this would become a hazard of heterodox views for later generations, the Master added thirteen categories of analysis to refute him. At that time, Jingjue was at Tianzhu and submitted the Shi jian shu (Ten Admonitions), stating that when a father has a remonstrating son, his person will not fall into unrighteousness. The Master again composed the Jiebang (Resolving Slander), stating that the Ten Admonitions in fact constituted the two slanders of addition and subtraction. Jingjue again composed the Xuebang (Clearing Away Slander), stating that he had mistakenly used the provisional and the real to judge superiority and inferiority. The Master was ill at the time and had a disciple read it to him; he sighed deeply over it, and being near his passing, debated it no further. Later there was Xizui, son of Guangci and grandson of Fazhi, who composed the Pingbang (Appraising Slander) to resolve it. Jingjue was still alive at the time, and seeing it, said: 'Will the doctrines of Siming indeed prevail?' (From 'The Master was ill at the time' downward, this section narrates subsequent events in advance). In the first year of Tiansheng (the beginning of Renzong's reign), his composition of the Guangming xuan xuyi ji (Record Continuing What Was Omitted in the Mystery of the Brightness Sūtra) was completed. He tested students by setting up the Shikaiwei sishi'er zhang (Opening the Curtain in Forty-Two Chapters) to answer the ten questions of Chan Master Tai. At that time, Chan Master Ning of Tiantong sent a letter discussing the Zhiyaochao's selection indicating the depth of attainment of the Way among the three disciples under Bodhidharma, back and forth without end. Prefect Lin asked the Master to harmonize their doctrines; the Master, having no choice, slightly altered a few words (the correspondence is fully contained in the Jiaoxing lu; Dharma Master Zhong wrote an afterword briefly narrating the matter). In the third year—previously, at the beginning of Tianxi, an imperial edict ordered the establishment of release-of-life ponds throughout the empire; wishing to widely propagate the sacred transformation, the Master assembled the multitude on the Buddha's birthday each year to perform rituals and release fish and birds as the work of releasing life—in this year, the prefecture reported the matter to the throne, and an imperial decree ordered Liu Yun of the Bureau of Military Affairs to compose a text to instruct future generations. Prefect Zeng Hui erected a stele at the temple (see the Jiaoxing lu). He once dreamed at night that the saṃghārāma deity said: 'Tomorrow a minister of state will arrive.' Soon after, Lord Zeng led his son Gongliang into the temple. The Master informed them of the dream; the lady mother expressed thanks, saying: 'When he becomes noble in the future, we will not dare forget you' (the latter two lines narrate subsequent events in advance; today the Jiaoxing lu contains the Zeng family's deed donating estate fields). When Gongliang entered the premiership, he indeed bought fields and expanded buildings, ordaining his disciples year after year (when Duke Zeng Lugong was born, his father dreamed an old monk parted the curtain and entered to offer congratulations. After eight years, holding the post of Drafter, he returned home in mourning. The monk Yuanda took a boat to Qiantang; hearing of the scenic excellence of Tianzhu, he made a special trip to pay homage. When he first arrived, he saw a woman in plain clothes emerge from the temple gate, who said to Da: 'Drafter Zeng will enter the Secretariat at fifty-seven; the Venerable Elder will also receive a master's title in that year.' Then she disappeared. In that year, he was indeed appointed Grand Councilor. Serving three reigns, he was posthumously granted the titles Grand Preceptor and Director of the Secretariat, with the posthumous name Xuanjing, sharing sacrifices in the imperial ancestral temple of Yingzong. Cai Xiang governed Qiantang, and because of the Mahāsattva's spiritual miracles, reported it to court, whereupon the name Linggan was bestowed). In the fifth year, he composed the Guangming wenju ji (Record on the Sentences of the Brightness Sūtra), but approaching his passing, he could not finish the fascicle. Later, his disciple Guangzhi continued it with the chapter 'Praising the Buddha' to complete it. On New Year's Day in the sixth year, he established a seven-day Brightness Repentance as the appointed time for his peaceful passing. On the fifth day, he sat cross-legged, summoned the assembly, and preached the Dharma; when finished, he abruptly recited the name of Amitābha Buddha several hundred times, and peacefully passed away. His age was sixty-nine; his monastic seniority was fifty-four. His shrine was left open for two weeks; his facial appearance remained as if alive, his nails and hair both grew, and his tongue root did not decay, resembling a lotus flower. In the seventh month of the second year of Mingdao, his sacred relics were enshrined in a stūpa erected to the left of Chongfa Cloister in the southern city. Those who received his Dharma and led disciples numbered thirty: Shangxian, Benru, Fanzhen, Zequan, Huicai, Chongju, Juecong, and others. Four hundred and eighty entered his room, one thousand ascended the hall, and seventy were personally ordained by his hand, such as Licheng. From the second year of Xianping onward, the Master dedicated himself exclusively to lecturing and repentance. He always sat and never lay down, never set foot outside, and turned away all visits and calls. He lectured on the Fahua xuanyi seven times, the Wenju eight times, the Zhiguan eight times, the Niepan shu once, the Jingming shu twice, the Guangming xuanyi ten times, the Biexing xuan seven times, the Guan jing shu seven times; and works such as Jingangpi, Zhiguan yili, Dayi, Shibu'ermen, and Shizhong xinyao were too numerous to count. He cultivated the Lotus Repentance for three-week periods five times, the Brightness Repentance for seven-day periods twenty times, the Amitābha Repentance for seven-day periods fifty times, the Invocation of Avalokiteśvara Repentance for seven-week periods eight times, the Great Compassion Repentance for three-week periods ten times, assembled ten monks to cultivate the Lotus Repentance long-term for three years, and ten monks to cultivate the Great Compassion Repentance for three years. He burned three fingers as an offering to the Buddha, fashioned twenty images of Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, Samantabhadra, Great Compassion, and Tiantai Patriarchs, and printed and copied doctrinal vehicles to the total of ten thousand fascicles. His writings included: Xuyi ji, three fascicles; Guangming wenju ji, six fascicles; Miaozong chao, three fascicles; Biexing xuanji, four fascicles; Zhiyaochao, two fascicles; Fuzong ji, two fascicles; Shiyi shu, three fascicles; Guanxin erbai wen, one fascicle; Jiebang shu, three fascicles; and Jinguanming sanmei yi, Dabeiqian yi, and Xiuqian yaozhi, one fascicle each. Others included Rongxin jie, Yili jingguan, Qixin ronghui zhang, Bieli suiyuan ershi wen, Xiaofu sanyong zhang, Guangming xuan dangti zhang wen, replies and explanations to the inquiries of Genshin of Japan, explanations of the three questions of Lord Yang Wengong, and the Jiangwei wenda (all recorded in the Jiaoxing lu). The Master had a great awakening into the Awakening of Faith (Qixin lun); thus his writings at normal times frequently cited it. Later generations hung a plaque on his hall reading 'Qixin', showing that it was not forgotten. When he first received the imperial robe, Shenzhao sent a letter congratulating him. The Master replied: 'Having cultivated the three methods little, my name reached the courtiers (in the section on Patient Endurance in the Zhiguan, it says: "Do not accept or attach to fame, gain, or followers. If pushing them away fails, shrink your virtue and reveal your flaws; if retreating fails, take flight across ten thousand leagues. If fame, gain, and followers come to break you from the outside, remember these three methods, grit your teeth and endure, solid and unyielding. If afflictions, karma, fixed views, arrogance, and so forth come to break you from the inside, also remember the three methods: namely empty, namely provisional, namely middle. Even if your flesh is butchered and torn apart, your mind does not stir or scatter; to accomplish the great matter, you must be all the more patient and enduring." The Fuxing says: "External obstacles are soft thieves, meaning fame and the like; internal obstacles are strong thieves, meaning afflictions and the like. The internal and external use different methods"). Soon I received imperial favor ordering me to wear the purple robe; it is a shame, not an honor, so why bother congratulating?' When the Zhiyao was first completed, Chan Master Xuedou Xian came down from the mountain to visit. Viewing his work, he praised it with great reverence, immediately hosted a vegetarian feast to offer congratulations, and personally hung the tea placard, praising the matter in full.