佛祖歷代通載 12.23

12.23

是歲帝勅奘三藏于玉華宮譯般若經。至龍朔三年冬十月二十三日纔畢。凡六百卷進上。帝嘉歎曰。朕以軍國務殷不及委讀。今觀佛經之大。若其瞻天望海莫測高深。以儒道九流方之。如河瀅之類溟渤也。而世云三教齊致者是妄談耳。

In this year, the Emperor decreed that the Tripiṭaka Master Xuanzang translate the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra at the Yuhua Palace. It was only completed on the twenty-third day of the tenth month in the winter of the third year of the Longshuo reign era [663 CE], totaling six hundred fascicles, which were presented [to the throne]. The Emperor praised it with admiration, saying: "Occupied with the pressing affairs of the military and the state, I have not had time to read it in detail. Now, observing the greatness of the Buddhist scriptures, looking upon them is like gazing at the heavens or beholding the sea—one cannot fathom their height and depth. If one compares them to Confucianism, Daoism, and the Nine Schools of thought, it is like comparing a small stream to the vast ocean. That people in the world say the Three Teachings reach the same end is mere empty talk."