佛祖歷代通載 6.64

6.64

敘曰。經云。三界無常。有為非久。晉氏之基。魏室遠系。乃誅曹爽而絕其宗。設帝策而陳其績。金承土運曆數在躬。平蜀而降大吳。升平而布寬政。文既允備武亦戢戈。百六奄臻王官失守。天下大亂莫匪斯焉。于時道俗崩離。朝不謀久。寄政江表法隨代興。沙門信士於是攸集。故就紀之。別號東晉。元帝者宣皇曾孫。恭王覲之子也。諱睿字景文。初生之辰。內有神光一室盡明。白毫生于日角之左。累官都督楊州諸軍事左丞相。懷愍敗後百官分離。或走江南。或為俘戮。長安失據帝幽平陽江東于時。忽有五日並出。都下勸睿宜稱晉王。統攝萬機以臨億兆。愍帝崩後遂即居尊。立元建武。因都建鄴。避愍帝諱改名建康。先是泰康二年。吳舊將管恭作亂。太史伍振筮曰。恭即滅矣。然更三十八年。楊州當有天子。至是果如其言。又秦始時。望氣者云。吳金陵山五百年後當出天子。始皇忌之。因發兵鑿金陵山斷。改稱抹陵冀絕其王。凡自政至睿五百二十六年。有晉金行奄君四海。又時謠曰。五馬浮渡江。一馬化為龍。永嘉喪亂宗室中。唯瑯瑘西陽汝南南頓彭城五王。獲濟江表。而睿首基為帝。將知受命上感天靈。欲跨輿圖下資地勢。地負其勢。始皇鑿之而弗亡。天降其靈。劉曜殲之而莫盡。爰自建武至於元熙。凡十二主。一百四年。華戎道俗譯經律論垂六百卷。而弘法之務至是特盛焉。

The commentary says: A sūtra says, 'The three realms are impermanent; conditioned phenomena do not endure.' The foundation of the Jin clan was distant lineage to the Wei royal house. They executed Cao Shuang and extinguished his clan; they devised imperial plans and displayed their merits. With metal succeeding the phase of earth, the celestial mandate rested on his person. They pacified Shu and brought Great Wu to surrender; enjoying peaceful times, they spread lenient governance. Civil accomplishments were fully perfected, and military arms were put away. Then the crisis of the 'one hundred and six' suddenly arrived, and the royal court lost its positions; the grand chaos of the realm was entirely due to this. At that time, clergy and laity broke apart and scattered; the court could not plan for longevity. Entrusting the administration to Jiangbiao, the Dharma arose along with the dynastic transition. Śramaṇas and faithful laymen assembled there accordingly. Therefore we record it consecutively, under the distinct designation Eastern Jin. Emperor Yuan was the great-grandson of Emperor Xuan and the son of Prince Gong, Sima Jin. His taboo name was Rui and his courtesy name Jingwen. At his birth, there was a spiritual light within, illuminating the entire room. A white curl grew to the left of his forehead. He held successive offices as Commander-in-Chief of Military Affairs in Yangzhou and Chancellor of the Left. After the defeats of Emperors Huai and Min, the hundred officials scattered: some fled south of the Yangtze, while others were captured and slaughtered. Chang'an lost its hold, and the emperor was held captive in Pingyang. At that time in Jiangdong, five suns suddenly appeared together. Those in the capital urged Rui that he ought to assume the title of King of Jin, to oversee the myriad affairs and govern the millions of people. After Emperor Min passed away, he thereupon ascended the supreme throne, establishing the era Jianwu. He took Jianye as his capital, renaming it Jiankang to avoid the taboo of Emperor Min. Prior to this, in the second year of Taikang, the former Wu general Guan Gong rebelled. The Grand Astrologer Wu Zhen divined: 'Gong will be destroyed forthwith. However, in another thirty-eight years, Yangzhou shall have a Son of Heaven.' When the time arrived, it proved true just as he had predicted. Furthermore, during the time of the First Emperor of Qin, those who observed the atmospheric emanations said: 'Five hundred years hence, Mount Jinling in Wu will produce a Son of Heaven.' The First Emperor feared this, so he dispatched troops to excavate and sever Mount Jinling, changing its name to Moling in the hope of extinguishing its royal aura. In total, from [Qin Shi Huang's name] Zheng to Rui was five hundred and twenty-six years; the Jin, with the movement of metal, suddenly lorded over all within the four seas. Moreover, a contemporary ditty sang: 'Five horses swim across the river; one horse transforms into a dragon.' In the chaos and loss of the Yongjia era, of the imperial clan only the five princes of Langya, Xiyang, Runan, Nandun, and Pengcheng succeeded in crossing to Jiangbiao; and Rui was the very first to establish himself as emperor. We may thus know that receiving the mandate is inspired from above by the celestial spirits, while wishing to command the territorial realm is aided from below by the land's configuration. The earth sustained its configuration, so the First Emperor excavated it without destroying it; heaven bestowed its spiritual favor, so Liu Yao slaughtered without eradicating it. From Jianwu down to Yuanxi, there were twelve rulers in total spanning one hundred and four years. Clergy and laity from the Chinese and barbarian realms translated nearly six hundred rolls of sūtras, vinaya, and treatises; the undertaking of propagating the Dharma flourished with particular splendor at this time.