佛祖統紀 43.44

43.44

Shenzhou reported: "Wang Xu, a resident of Luze County, was herding cattle in the fields when he saw a white rabbit. Chasing it into an earthen burrow, he probed the burrow and discovered fifty stone Buddha statues. Their style was extraordinarily ancient, and all were over a foot in length." An imperial decree ordered them to be enshrined in a local monastery. The statues regularly emitted white light. In the sixth month, the Institute for Translating Sutras was completed. An imperial decree ordered Tianxizai and the others to reside there. The title Master of Illuminating the Teaching was conferred upon Tianxizai, Master of Transmitting the Teaching upon Fatian, and Master of Manifesting the Teaching upon Dānapāla, and they were commanded each to translate one scripture from the Sanskrit manuscripts they had brought. An imperial decree appointed Sanskrit-scholar monks Fajin, Changjin, Qingzhao, and others as transcribers and stylists; Director of the Banqueting Court Yang Yue and Vice Director of the Ministry of War Zhang Ji as polishers; and Palace Attendant Liu Su as supervisor. Tianxizai set forth the ritual procedures for translating sutras: in the eastern hall facing west, a sacred altar was arranged with powder (arranging an altar with powder ornamentation is recorded in the canon). Four gates were opened, each overseen by a Sanskrit monk. Secret mantras were recited for seven days and nights. A wooden altar was also set up displaying the wheel of the names of the sages and worthies (the shape of the altar was a perfect circle, on which the names and titles of the Buddhas, great beings, and devas were arranged in tiers encircling it above like a cartwheel), termed the Great Dharma Maṇḍala (translated here as 'great assembly'). The sages and worthies were invited for argha ablutions (argha is translated here as 'vessel'; all vessels used for offerings are termed argha; here argha refers to an ablution vessel), and offerings of incense, flowers, lamps, water, delicacies, and fruits were presented. They bowed and circumambulated, praying for unseen assistance to eradicate demonic hindrances. First, the Principal Translator sat upright facing outward, reciting and expounding the Sanskrit text. Second, the Certifier of Meaning sat at his left, assessing and weighing the Sanskrit text together with the Principal Translator. Third, the Certifier of the Text sat at his right, listening to the Principal Translator read the Sanskrit aloud to check for errors. Fourth, the Sanskrit-writing monk carefully listened to the Sanskrit text and wrote it out in Chinese characters, still retaining the Sanskrit phonetics (e.g., hṛdaya was initially transliterated as helidiye; sūtra as sudalan). Fifth, the Transcriber translated the Sanskrit phonetics into the Chinese language (helidiye was re-translated as 'mind' [xin]; sudalan was translated as 'sutra' [jing]). Sixth, the Stylist arranged the words to form coherent sentences and meanings (e.g., when the Transcriber gave 'contemplated the five skandhas their intrinsic nature empty saw this,' it was now phrased as 'contemplated that the five skandhas are all empty.' As a rule, Sanskrit phonetics often place the active before the passive, as 'recite Buddha' [nian fo] becomes 'Buddha recite' [fo nian], or 'strike bell' [da zhong] becomes 'bell strike' [zhong da]; hence it is necessary to arrange the words and phrases to conform with the literature of this land). Seventh, the Collator compared the texts of the two lands to ensure there were no errors. Eighth, the Editor pruned redundancies and fixed the sentential meaning (such as deleting two redundant characters from 'wuwuming wuming' [no ignorance, ignorance], or supplying a missing character 'wu' [un-] before 'shang zhengbianzhi' [anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi]). Ninth, the Polishers—officials seated facing south in front of the saṅgha—deliberated and polished the literary style (for instance, the line 'saved all from suffering and adversity' in the Heart Sutra originally had no Sanskrit text; likewise, in the line 'therefore, in emptiness,' the two characters 'therefore' originally had no Sanskrit text). The monks bathed daily, donned their three robes and sitting mats, maintaining orderly and dignified deportment; all their necessary provisions were supplied by the state. Tianxizai said: "Where the translated text coincides with imperial personal names or ancestral taboos, earlier dynasties did not avoid them. If the text is altered to avoid them, it is feared the meaning of the scripture will be compromised. We now wish to follow the model of the Nine Classics at the Imperial Academy and merely omit strokes." An imperial rescript replied: "Characters used in the Buddhist scriptures should follow the authentic text; ancestral taboos and imperial names need not be avoided." In the seventh month, Tianxizai submitted his newly translated Holy Mother of the Buddhas Sutra; Fatian submitted the Auspicious Vasudhārā Sutra; Dānapāla submitted the Tathāgata Alaṃkāra Sutra, each in one fascicle. An imperial decree ordered the two avenues of the capital to select one hundred doctrinal scholar-monks to examine and verify the meaning of the sutras. At that time, Shenyao, Registrar of Monks of the Left Avenue, and others stated: "The translation hall has long been defunct, and transmission and translation are extremely difficult." Tianxizai and the others immediately took the Sanskrit text, first translated the Sanskrit meaning, and verified it with the Chinese text; Shenyao and his group were then convinced. An imperial decree ordered that the new scriptures be entered into the canon and carved on printing blocks for circulation. The imperial carriage made a personal visit to the Institute for Translating Sutras; he summoned the monks, granted them seating, and offered comforting words. He bestowed bedclothes, silks, and utensils, ordained ten novices of the institute, and took all the Sanskrit manuscripts preserved in the imperial palace, ordering them to translate them. In the twelfth month, an imperial decree ordered the selection of Sanskrit-scholar monks as transcribers and ten doctrinal scholar-monks as certifiers of meaning. From this time forth, on every imperial birthday, new scriptures were invariably presented; the monks were always summoned to be seated and granted a feast, and the scriptures were committed to the canon. An imperial edict stated: "We are currently exalting the teachings of the Dharma to bring blessings upon the state. Postulants and novices both inside and outside the various prefectures are all permitted to be tonsured and ordained." Monk Guangyuan of Chengdu returned from his travels in the Western Heavens; he went to the palace and presented a memorial from Prince Mutuonang of Western India, a Buddha's crown seal, and pattra leaves and leaves of the Bodhi tree. An imperial decree ordered Tripiṭaka Master Dānapāla to translate the memorial, which read: "I have respectfully heard that in the land of Cīna (the Western Heavens refer to the Great Tang as Cīna; here it is used in continuation of the old convention) there is a Great Son of Heaven, supremely sage and supremely divine, possessed of sovereign wealth and nobility. Ashamed of my own meager merit, I have had no means to pay audience at court. From afar I received the imperial favor bestowing a kāṣāya of Śākyamuni Tathāgata from the Diamond Throne, which I have already donned and made offerings to. I humbly pray that the Emperor of Cīna may have blessings and wisdom perfected, life extended, and all sentient beings delivered from their drownings. Respectfully, I send Śākyamuni's relics along with Monk Guangyuan to be presented." (As for the bestowal of the Buddha's kāṣāya from the Diamond Throne, no actual record of its dispatch is seen in the records of the two reigns; examining it now, in the fourth year of Qiande [966], Xingqin and others responded to an imperial edict to seek the Dharma in the Western Heavens, and imperial letters were bestowed upon all states; it must have been presented in connection with that year.) In the eighth year, in the sixth month, an imperial decree ordered Hanlin Academician Zanning to compile the Song Biographies of Eminent Monks. Ning begged to return to Qiantang to compose it; an imperial decree granted permission. An imperial decree renamed the Institute for Translating Sutras the Institute for Transmitting the Dharma, and an Institute for Printing Sutras was established on its western wing (the present Transmitting the Dharma Institute in Lin'an is the former Institute for Translating Sutras of the Eastern Capital; today it merely serves the ritual affairs of the inner palace chapel). Chengdu had previously carved the printing blocks for the Great Canon in accordance with the decree of Emperor Taizu; they were now completed and presented. An imperial decree ordered Taiyuan and Chengdu to cast bronze bells and bestow them upon the famous mountains Wutai and Emei. On the day they were sent to be hung, more than ten Sanskrit monks appeared in the sky on both mountains to welcome the bells; their sound was heard for a hundred li. Tianxizai and the others stated: "Translations across successive dynasties have all relied on Sanskrit monks. If distant obstacles prevent them from coming, the translation of scriptures will cease. We wish to have the two avenues select fifty novices to study Sanskrit characters." An imperial decree commanded High-ranking Eunuch Wang Wenshou to select Weijing and nine others and usher them into the side hall for an audience, decreeing that they be sent to the Institute for Translating Sutras to receive instruction. Weijing was a nephew of Li Yu of Jiangnan; when taught Sanskrit verses orally, he immediately grasped their meaning. After a year or so, he was ordained as a monk, promoted to Sanskrit Transcriber, and granted the purple robe and the title Master of Luminous Sanskrit. Monk Fayu arrived from the Western Heavens and presented relics of the Buddha's crown and palm-leaf Sanskrit scriptures. Fayu solicited donations among the multitudes to make a dragon-jeweled canopy and a gold-brocade kāṣāya, intending to travel again to the Diamond Throne in Central India to make offerings; he begged for letters of safe-conduct to the various states he would pass through. An imperial decree granted imperial letters addressed to Śrīvijaya, Geguoluoke, Lan, and other countries to dispatch him. Sizhou reported that the pagoda of Master Sangha emitted light during the broad daylight; more than a thousand gentlemen and commoners offered incense by burning their scalps and arms daily. An imperial decree sent an inner attendant to take Śākyamuni relics and enshrine them beneath the pagoda. The Emperor showed the newly translated scriptures to the grand councilor, saying: "The Buddha's teaching is of aid to government and principle, universally benefiting all living beings. Those who attain it naturally awaken to its source; fools willfully give rise to slander. In this Way, We faintly understand its core: whenever a ruler rectifies his mind without selfishness, that is the practice of self-benefit; whenever he performs a good deed to pacify the realm, that is the practice of benefiting others. When Emperor Wu of Liang gave up his body to become a monastery slave, this was the biased view of the Hīnayāna, not a model to be followed by later generations." Zhao Pu replied: "Your Majesty governs the world by the Way of Yao and Shun, and cultivates the mind through the practice of the Tathāgata. Your sacred wisdom is lofty and profound, beyond what ministers can know." An imperial decree promulgated the imperially composed Palindrome Gāthā on the Lotus Heart, Explication of the Secret Treasury, and Chants of Carefree Wandering to be shown to the close ministers. An imperial decree ordered Inner Attendant Zhang Chenggui to go to Mount Tiantai to rebuild Shouchang Monastery, in accordance with the petition of monk Zixun.