佛祖歷代通載 19.5

19.5

（三　壬子）　明教契嵩禪師。字仲靈。藤州鐔津李氏子也。七歲出家。既受具。甞戴觀音像誦其名號。一日十萬聲。經傳雜書靡不博究。得法洞山聰公。明道間從豫章西山歐陽氏昉借其家藏之書。讀於奉聖院。遂以佛五戒十善通儒之五常。著為原教篇。是時歐陽文忠公慕韓昌黎排佛。旴江李泰伯亦其流。嵩乃携所業三謁泰伯。以儒釋脗合。且杭其說。李愛其文之高理之勝。因致書譽嵩於歐陽。既而居杭之靈隱。撰正宗記定祖圖。齎往京師。經開封府。投狀府尹王公素仲儀。以劄子進之曰。臣今有杭州靈隱寺僧契嵩。經臣陳狀稱。禪門傳法祖宗未甚分明。教門淺學各執傳記。古今多有爭競。故討論大藏備得禪門祖宗本末。因刪繁撮要撰成傳法正宗記一十二卷并畫祖圖一面。以正傳記謬誤。兼著輔教篇。印本一部三卷。上陛下書一封。並不干求恩澤。乞臣繳進。臣於釋教粗曾留心。觀其筆削註述。故非臆論。頗亦精緻。陛下萬機之暇。深得法樂。願賜聖覽。如有可采乞降中書看詳。特與編入大藏目錄。取進止。仁廟覽其書可其奏。勅送中書。丞相韓魏公。參政歐陽文忠公。相與觀歎。探經考證既無訛謬。於是朝廷旌以明教大師。賜書入藏。中書劄子有曰。權知開封府王索奏。杭州靈隱寺僧契嵩。撰成傳法正宗記并輔教編三卷。宜令傳法院於藏經收附。傳法院准此。由是名振海內。已而東還。屬蔡公襄為守延置佛日山。居數年退老于靈隱永安精舍熙寧五年示寂。闍維六根不壞者三。曰眼。曰舌。曰童真。與頂骨數珠為五。舍利紅白晶潔狀如大菽。葬于永安之左。

(3. Renzi) Chan Master Qisong of Mingjiao, courtesy name Zhongling, was a native of Tanbin in Tengzhou, born into the Li family. At seven he left home. After receiving the full precepts, he used to wear a statue of Avalokiteśvara on his head and chant her name one hundred thousand times a day. He extensively investigated all scriptures, commentaries, and miscellaneous books. He attained the Dharma under Master Cong of Dongshan. During the Mingdao reign-era [1032–1033], he borrowed books preserved by the Ouyang family of Xishan in Yuzhang through Ouyang Fang, and read them at Fengsheng Cloister. He then harmonized the Buddhist Five Precepts and Ten Virtues with the Confucian Five Constants, writing the Yuanjiao pian (Treatise on Tracing the Teaching to Its Origin). At that time, Duke Wenzhong Ouyang [Xiu] admired Han Changli's rejection of Buddhism, and Li Taibo of Xujiang was of the same ilk. Qisong thus brought his writings and visited Taibo three times, arguing that Confucianism and Buddhism were in exact accord and disputing his theories. Li loved the elevation of his writing and the excellence of his reasoning, and so sent a letter praising Qisong to Ouyang. Afterward, he resided at Lingyin in Hangzhou, compiled the Zhengzong ji (Record of the Correct Lineage), and fixed the patriarchal charts. Carrying them to the capital, he passed through Kaifeng Prefecture and submitted a petition to the Prefect Wang Su, courtesy name Zhongyi, who submitted an official memorial stating:
"Your subject now has the monk Qisong of Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, who presented a petition stating that the ancestral lineage transmitting the Dharma in the Chan gate is not very clear, and shallow scholars of the doctrinal schools each adhere to their own records, giving rise to many disputes from ancient times to the present. He therefore examined the great Canon, fully grasped the origin and development of the Chan school's patriarchs, and, cutting the superfluous and summarizing the essentials, compiled the Chuanfa zhengzong ji (Record of the True Lineage of the Transmission of the Dharma) in twelve fascicles, along with one patriarchal chart, to correct errors in the records. In addition, he composed the Fujiao pian (Treatise in Support of the Teaching), a printed edition of one work in three fascicles, and a letter to Your Majesty, neither seeking favor nor grace, but begging your subject to submit them. Your subject has broadly paid attention to the Buddhist teaching; observing his editorial revisions and annotations, they are truly not baseless conjectures, but rather quite refined. In the leisure of Your Majesty's myriad affairs, having deeply attained the joy of the Dharma, may Your Majesty grant it imperial perusal. If there is anything worthy of adoption, I request that it be sent down to the Secretariat to be examined in detail, and specially compiled into the catalogue of the great Canon, awaiting your imperial decision."
Emperor Renzong perused his book and approved the memorial, issuing an imperial decree sending it to the Secretariat. Prime Minister Duke Wei, Han [Qi], and Assistant Executive Duke Wenzhong, Ouyang [Xiu], examined it together in admiration. Searching the sutras for verification, they found no errors. Thereupon the imperial court honored him with the title Master Mingjiao and granted that his writings enter the Canon. An official memorandum of the Secretariat stated: "Wang Su, Provisional Prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture, memorialized that the monk Qisong of Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou compiled the Chuanfa zhengzong ji together with the Fujiao pian in three fascicles; it is fitting to order the Institute for the Propagation of the Dharma to include them in the Canon of Scriptures. The Institute for the Propagation of the Dharma shall follow this." From this his fame shook the country. Soon afterward he returned east. It happened that Duke Cai Xiang was prefect; he invited him to settle at Mount Furi. After dwelling there for several years, he retired in his old age to the Yong'an Hermitage at Lingyin. In the fifth year of the Xining reign-era [1072], he passed away. At the cremation, three of his six faculties remained indestructible: his eyes, tongue, and sexual organ; together with his parietal bone and prayer beads, there were five relics. The relics were red and white, pure and crystalline, shaped like large beans. He was buried to the left of Yong'an.