佛祖歷代通載 9.58

9.58

（二十八　庚申）　佛祖傳法偈。按禹門太守楊衒之銘系記云。東魏靜帝興和二年庚申。西魏文帝大統六年。梁武大同六年。高僧雲啟往西域求法。至龜茲國。遇天竺三藏那連耶舍欲來東土傳法。雲啟曰。佛法未興且同止此。遂將梵本譯為華言。雲啟去游印土。那連親將至西魏。值時多故乃入高齊。以宣帝禮遇甚厚廷居石窟寺。以齊方受禪。未暇翻譯別經。乃將龜茲與之合所譯祖偈因緣。傳居士萬天懿。乃殷勤扣問深悟玄旨。遂將校勘昭玄沙門曇曜同天竺三藏吉迦夜所譯付法藏。失於次序兼無偈讖。寫本進去魏朝證其差謬付法藏傳乃魏武真君年中。崔浩寇謙之邪說毀滅佛法。至文成帝和平中重興故缺。梁簡文帝聞魏有本。遣使劉玄運往彼傳寫。歸建康流布江表。唐貞元中金陵沙門惠炬將此祖偈往曹溪。同西天勝持三藏。重共參校。并唐初以來傳法宗師機緣集成寶林傳。光化中華嶽玄偉禪師集貞元以來出世宗師機緣。將此祖偈作其基緒。編為聖胄集。開平南嶽三生藏惟勁頭陀又錄光化以後出世宗匠機緣。亦以祖偈為由。集成續寶林傳。宋景德中吳僧道原集傳燈錄進于真宗。勅翰林學士楊億工部員外李淮太常丞王曙同議校勘具奏。詔作序編入大藏頒行。天聖中附馬都尉李遵勗參石門聰禪師發明因緣。聚禪學僧列此祖偈世系事緣。成廣燈錄上仁宗。御製序文。勅入大藏流通。建中靖國元年沙門惟白將此祖偈以為標本。成續燈錄進上（云云）。他宗不知其原。謂七佛偈無譯。寡聞淺識一至妄謬。良可笑也。

(28. Gengshen) On the verses of transmission of the Dharma by the Buddhas and Patriarchs. According to the inscribed lineage record by Yang Xuanzhi, governor of Yumen: In the second year of the Xinghe era of Emperor Jing of the Eastern Wei, the cyclical year gengshen, which was the sixth year of the Datong era of Emperor Wen of the Western Wei and the sixth year of the Datong era of Emperor Wu of the Liang, the eminent monk Yunqi went to the Western Regions to seek the Dharma. Reaching the kingdom of Kucha, he met the Indian Tripiṭaka Master Narendrayaśas, who wished to travel to the eastern lands to transmit the Dharma. Yunqi said, "The Buddhadharma has not yet flourished [there]; let us stay together here for now." Thereupon they translated Sanskrit texts into the Chinese language. Yunqi departed to travel in the land of India, while Narendrayaśas personally brought [the translations] to the Western Wei. Encountering many troubles in that era, he then entered Northern Qi. Because Emperor Xuan treated him with great courtesy, he resided at court in Shiku Monastery. Since Qi had just received the abdication, there was no leisure to translate other scriptures. He therefore transmitted the patriarch verses and their circumstantial accounts, which he and Yunqi had jointly translated in Kucha, to the lay householder Wan Tianyi. [Wan Tianyi] earnestly made inquiries and deeply awakened to their profound purport. He then collated them against the *Transmission of the Dharmapiṭaka* translated by the Shaomen Shamen Daoyao and the Indian Tripiṭaka Master Kiṃkārya, [which] lacked proper order and furthermore contained no verses or prophecies. Submitting a copied text to the Wei court, he corroborated its errors. The *Transmission of the Dharmapiṭaka* had been [lost] during the Zhenjun era of Emperor Wu of the Wei, when the heterodox doctrines of Cui Hao and Kou Qianzhi destroyed the Buddhadharma; it was revived during the Heping era of Emperor Wencheng, and thus was incomplete. When Emperor Jianwen of the Liang heard that the Wei possessed a copy, he dispatched the envoy Liu Xuanyun there to make a transcription. Returning to Jiankang, it was circulated throughout the regions south of the Yangtze. During the Zhenyuan era of the Tang, the Jinling monk Huiju took these patriarch verses to Caoxi, and together with the Western Indian Tripiṭaka Master Vijayadhara, re-examined and collated them. Incorporating the encounters of the patriarchs who transmitted the Dharma from the beginning of the Tang onward, he compiled the *Baolin zhuan*. In the Guanghua era, the Chan master Xuanwei of Mount Hua compiled the encounters of the world-transcending masters from the Zhenyuan era onward; taking these patriarch verses as his foundation, he compiled the *Shenghou ji*. In the Kaiping era, the dhūta monk Weijin of the Sansheng Tripiṭaka library on the Southern Sacred Peak also recorded the encounters of the world-transcending masters after the Guanghua era, likewise taking the patriarch verses as his basis to compile the *Xu Baolin zhuan*. During the Jingde era of the Song, the Wu monk Daoyuan compiled the *Record of the Transmission of the Lamp* and presented it to Zhenzong. An imperial edict commanded Hanlin Academician Yang Yi, Vice Director in the Ministry of Works Li Huai, and Assistant Director in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices Wang Shu to jointly discuss and collate it, and submit a complete memorial. An edict ordered a preface to be composed, and it was incorporated into the Tripiṭaka for promulgation. During the Tiansheng era, Imperial Son-in-law Commandant Li Zunxu studied under Chan Master Cong of Shimen and clarified the circumstantial cause. Gathering Chan monks, he arranged these patriarch verses, lineages, and circumstantial events, producing the *Guangdeng lu* and presenting it to Renzong. The Emperor composed a preface, and ordered it to be entered into the Tripiṭaka for dissemination. In the first year of the Jianzhong Jingguo era, the monk Weibai took these patriarch verses as the model and completed the *Xudeng lu*, presenting it to the throne (and so forth). Other schools, unaware of their origin, claim that the verses of the Seven Buddhas were never translated. Such scant hearing and shallow knowledge reaching such delusion and error is truly laughable!