佛祖統紀 41.19

41.19

In the second year, Tibet sent an envoy requesting that the imperial court bestow śramaṇas skilled in explaining Buddhist principles; the Emperor ordered Liangxiu and Wensu to go forth to preach the Dharma and transform the people, alternating once every year. Layman Hu Youzhen, known as Wusheng of Siming, compiled the Record of Responses to the Avataṃsaka in one volume, recording in full the traces of those who propagated the sūtra through successive generations. It stated that of the shorter version of one hundred thousand verses transmitted by Nāgārjuna from the dragon palace, the version translated into eighty fascicles in this Eastern Land contains only forty-five thousand verses, with the remainder still kept secret in Tianzhu; therefore he now made a vow, entreating that the verses of the shorter version of the sūtra circulate in full in this land. Chan Master Caoyi of Nan'yan in Xinzhou sat in meditation for thirty years, his feet never stepping on the ground and his mouth never tasting flavors. While the myriad things bustled noisily, this body remained motionless. Vice Minister Quan Deyu wrote an account of him, stating: 'Of those who in ancient times were said to abandon worldly things, detach from people, and stand alone—who knows whether his sitting in meditation in this place is not also preaching the Dharma in other worlds?'