佛祖歷代通載 1.3

1.3

dynasty, the rise of the Esoteric and the breadth of doctrinal studies have also been unprecedented in past ages. Such is the broad outline. In the past there were historical records such as the Baolin zhuan, which were lost to the world over time; while the records of the Transmission of the Lamp and the chronicles of the Sangha Jewels touched only upon the Chan school. As for masters of the sūtras and treatises, each transmitted their own teachings, and when ministers acting as external protectors were recorded incidentally in relation to events, how could there not be omissions? In recent times there was one who compiled the Fozu tongji, modeling it after the Shiji, yet its recording of events lacked proper method, which men of discernment found regrettable. At that time, there was the abbot of Xiangfu Chan Monastery in Jiaxing, Nianchang of Huating, who attained the Linji principle in the room of Huiji. Outside the bliss of meditation, he read extensively across all books. He thereupon took the fundamental origins and subsequent developments of the Buddhas and Patriarchs dwelling in the world, the causes and conditions of their preaching the Dharma, the masters who translated scriptures and propagated the teaching, the direct descendants of the transmission of the robe and Dharma, the orthodox streams, side branches, scattered sages, and unusual monks, those honored by rulers of the times and worldly sovereigns, and those protected by princes, ministers, generals, and chancellors. He debated differences and agreements, examined errors, and made corrections. Only after more than twenty years was he able to complete the compilation, entitling it the Comprehensive Record of the Buddhas and the Patriarchs through the Ages, in twenty-two fascicles in all. Its first fascicle speaks of the Zhang suozhi lun, the bhājana-loka, the sattva-loka, the mārgaphala, and asaṃskṛta—the five treatises. These were what was expounded by