佛祖歷代通載 14.51

14.51

（三十五）　是歲監察御史柳宗元送𤀹上人歸淮南。序曰。金仙氏之道蓋本於孝敬。而後積以眾德歸於空無。其敷演教戒於中國者離為異門。曰禪。曰法。曰律。以誘掖迷濁。世用宗奉。其有修整觀行尊嚴法容以儀範於後學者。以為持律之宗焉。上人窮討祕義發明上乘。奉威儀三千。雖造次必備。甞以此道宣於江湖之人。江湖之人悅其風而受賜。攀慈航望彼岸者蓋千百計。天子聞之。徵至闕下。御大明祕殿以問焉。道揚本教頗甚稱旨。京師士眾方且翹然。仰大雲之澤以植德本。而上人不勝顧復之恩。退懷省侍之禮。懇迫上乞。遂無以奪。由是杖錫東顧振衣晨往。右司員外郎劉公。深明世典通達釋教。與上人為方外游。始榮其至今惜其去。於是合郎署之友。詩以貺之。退使孺子執簡而序之。因繫其詞曰。上人專於律行。恒久彌固。其儀形後學者歟。誨於生靈觸類蒙福。其積眾德者歟。覲于高堂視遠如邇。其本孝敬者歟。若然者是將心歸空無捨筏登地。固何從而識之乎。古之贈禮必以輕先重。故鄭商之犒先乘韋。魯侯之贈後吳鼎。今餞詩之重皆眾吳鼎也。故乘韋之比得序而先之。且曰。由禮而不敢讓焉。

(35 [806 CE]) In this year, the Investigating Censor Liu Zongyuan saw off Master Wan on his return to Huainan. His preface said: 'The Way of the Golden Immortal is rooted in filial piety and reverence; thereafter it accumulates myriad virtues and returns to emptiness and non-being. In expounding teachings and precepts in China, it divides into different lineages: Chan, Dharma, and Vinaya, in order to guide and support the deluded and turbid. The world takes them as authoritative. As for those who cultivate and refine their contemplation practices and maintain a solemn and stately religious demeanor to serve as an exemplar for later students, they are considered the lineage of upholding the Vinaya. The Master thoroughly investigated esoteric meanings and illuminated the Supreme Vehicle. He upheld the three thousand rules of deportment, being fully equipped with them even in moments of haste. He once proclaimed this Way to the people of the rivers and lakes; the people of the rivers and lakes delighted in his style and received his favor, and those who clutched the boat of compassion looking toward the other shore numbered in the thousands. When the Son of Heaven heard of him, he summoned him to the imperial palace, and granted an audience in the Secret Hall of Daming Palace to question him. The Master's expounding of his original teaching was exceedingly pleasing to the imperial intention. The scholars and commoners of the capital were just then looking up with eager anticipation, gazing toward the nourishment of the Great Cloud to plant roots of virtue. But the Master, unable to overcome the debt of parental care and harboring the propriety of returning to attend to his parents, earnestly and urgently petitioned the throne, so that his intention could not be denied. Thereupon, grasping his staff and looking eastward, he shook his robes and departed at dawn. Gentleman Liu, Vice Director of the Right Bureau, who profoundly understands the secular classics and is thoroughly versed in the Buddhist teachings, engaged in friendship beyond the mundane with the Master. At first he honored his arrival, and now he regrets his departure. Therefore, he gathered friends from the ministries and bureaus to present him with poems, and subsequently had me, a youngster, take brush to compose this preface. I therefore attach these words: The Master focuses on vinaya practice, growing ever firmer with time—is he not an exemplar for later students? He instructs living beings, so that all who encounter him receive blessings—is he not one who accumulates myriad virtues? He visits his parents in the high hall, viewing the distance as near—is he not one rooted in filial piety and reverence? If such is the case, his mind returns to emptiness and non-being, abandoning the raft and stepping ashore; how then can one fully comprehend him? In ancient times, gifts were always presented with the lighter preceding the heavier; thus the merchant of Zheng presented the four-horse carriage first, and the Duke of Lu presented the cauldron of Wu last. Today, the weight of the farewell poems are all like the cauldrons of Wu; hence the analogy of the four-horse carriage allows this preface to precede them. And it is said: Out of propriety, I dare not decline.'