佛祖統紀 14.46

14.46

Monastic Director Ŭich'ŏn, of the Wang clan, was the fourth son of King Inhyo, Munjong of Goryeo. He renounced worldly glory to leave home, and was enfeoffed as Monastic Director Who Protects the World. In the early Yuanyou era, he entered the central realm to seek the Way. Arriving in Siming commandery, Mingzhi Huizhao accommodated and received him. Ŭich'ŏn submitted a memorial requesting the transmission of the Xianshou teachings. An imperial decree was issued to the Two Streets to recommend someone who could impart the Dharma; they replied by proposing Chan Master Jueyan Cheng of the Eastern Capital. Cheng recommended Jingyuan of Huiyin in Qiantang to take his place. Thereupon, an imperial order was given to Director of Receptions Yang Jie to escort him to Huiyin to receive the Dharma. The various monasteries welcomed and sent him off with the etiquette accorded to an envoy. When he first arrived in the capital, after paying audience at court, Su Shi of the Ministry of Rites was imperially commissioned to accompany his lodgings. He visited Chan Master Yuanzhao Zongben, who revealed the central principle to him. When he reached Jinshan, Foyin received his salutations while remaining seated. Yang Jie was astonished and questioned Foyin, who said: "Ŭich'ŏn is merely a monk from a foreign land. If one bends to conform to worldly ways, the various quarters will first lose one eye; how then can the pedagogical standards of the Huaxia realm be displayed?" When the court heard of this, they considered that he understood proper decorum. Arriving at Huiyin, he brought the Huayan commentaries and subcommentaries to resolve his doubts, completing this after a year. Thereupon, the lost texts and meanings of the Huayan school were transmitted once again. When he met Cibian of Tianzhu, he inquired into the path of Tiantai doctrine and contemplation. Later, he traveled to Folong and paid homage to Zhiyi's stūpa, making this vow: "Having received the doctrine and contemplation from Cibian, I shall return to my country to proclaim them. May you grant me unseen protection." When he met Dazhi of Lingzhi, [Dazhi] explained the precepts and Dharma for him, and [Ŭich'ŏn] requested the transmission of the texts he had written. After returning to his country, he established a monastery named Tiantai, revering the doctrinal texts transmitted by Cibian and establishing his image as the first patriarch. Every year he dispatched envoys to exchange greetings. Furthermore, he donated the three translations of the Avataṃsaka written in gold to Huiyin, building a pavilion to store them (today popularly called Goryeo Monastery). Having seen the Biechuan yi (Treatise on the Separate Transmission) of Feishan, he wrote a colophon for it, saying: "How extreme it is that ancient Chan and modern Chan are so far apart in name and reality! What was called Chan in ancient times entered Chan by relying on the teachings. What is considered Chan today speaks of Chan apart from the teachings. Those who part from the teachings cling to its name while abandoning its reality; those who rely on the teachings attain its purport by following its explanation. Rescuing the fraudulent shortcomings of modern men and restoring the pure, unadulterated path of the ancient sages—Venerable Zhu's disquisitions have truly reached the pinnacle of this. Recently, the Liao state decreed to the authorities that the doctrinal śramaṇa Quanxiao should re-examine and settle the scriptural catalogue. What the world calls the Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch, Baolin zhuan, and the like were all burned and discarded, whereas in recent generations the verses and sayings of the Chan school in the central realm have largely bordered on heterodoxy. This is why teachers in the land east of the sea have doubted whether there were any true men in the Huaxia realm. Now that I have seen the lofty discourse of Feishan, I know that there are Bodhisattvas who protect the Dharma. That the degenerate Dharma will be sustained down through a hundred generations, is it not indeed reliant on the power of Venerable Zhu?" (Jiezhu authored the Biechuan yi, which had profound insights into the relation between Chan and the teachings. He lived to ninety-three and was buried on Mount Feishan).