佛祖歷代通載 13

English (machine translation) 13

Language: English

13.1

Compiled by Nianchang of Huating, Abbot of Dazhong Xiangfu Chan Monastery in Jiaxing Circuit

(1. Gengxu [710 CE]) Emperor Ruizong, [named] Dan, changed the era name to Jingyun. (He was the eighth son of Gaozong. He was initially enfeoffed as King of Yu. Empress Wu deposed Zhongzong and enthroned him as emperor; after seven years, he was deposed and enfeoffed as King of Xiang. His age was fifty-five. He established Longji as crown prince. He appointed Song Jing and Yao Chong to handle the government. The emperor's younger sister, Princess Taiping, relied on her achievements to behave arbitrarily and arrogantly. He reigned for three years.)

13.4

(Renzi [712 CE]) First, the era was changed to Taiji, then changed to Yanhe, and then changed to Xiantian. (In the seventh month, he abdicated the throne to the crown prince.)

13.5

(2) In the first year of Xiantian, the Thirty-third Patriarch, the Great Master Huineng, demonstrated nirvāṇa. His surname was Lu. His ancestors were people of Fanyang. His father, Xingtao, was demoted during the Wude era to Xinzhou in Nanhai, and subsequently registered as a resident there. At three years of age, he lost his father; his mother kept her resolve and reared him. When he grew up, the family was poor, and the master gathered firewood to provide for them. One day, carrying firewood into the market, he heard a traveler reciting the Diamond Sūtra. Startled, he asked the traveler, "What teaching is this? From whom was it obtained?" The traveler said, "This is called the Diamond Sūtra; it was obtained from the Great Master Ren of Huangmei." He returned to inform his mother, and for the sake of the Dharma sought a master, going directly to Huangmei. The Great Master Ren recognized him silently at first sight. Later, he transmitted the robe and the Dharma to him, and told him to conceal himself between Huaiji and Sihui. On the eighth day of the first month of the first year of Yifeng, he arrived at Nanhai. When he returned to Caoxi, he rained the great Dharma rain. One day, he instructed the assembly, saying: "Virtuous friends, each of you purify your mind and listen to my expounding of the Dharma. You people's own minds are the Buddha; do not harbor further doubts. Outside, there is not a single thing that can be established; it is entirely the original mind that generates the myriad kinds of phenomena. Therefore, the sūtra says: 'When the mind arises, diverse phenomena arise; when the mind ceases, diverse phenomena cease.' If you wish to accomplish the wisdom of all modes, you must realize the samādhi of one mark and the samādhi of one practice. If in all places you do not abide in marks, and toward all phenomena do not generate hatred or affection, nor grasping or abandoning, and do not contemplate matters such as benefit, success, or decay, but remain at ease, calm, vacuous, harmonious, and detached, this is called the samādhi of one mark. If in all places, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, you maintain a purely straight mind, the unmoving site of enlightenment is immediately the pure land; this is called the samādhi of one practice. If a person possesses both samādhis, it is like the earth containing seeds that can preserve, nurture, and bring their fruits to fruition; the one mark and the one practice are also like this. My expounding the Dharma now is like seasonal rain universally moistening the great earth. Your Buddha-nature is like seeds encountering this soaking moisture, all being able to sprout. Those who accept my words will certainly attain bodhi; those who rely on my practice will definitely realize the wondrous fruit." The Master expounded the Dharma and saved people, with scholars coming and going often exceeding a thousand in number. In the seventh month of the next year, he bid farewell to return to the Guo'en Monastery at his old home in Xinzhou. His disciples wept and said, "When the Master returns, will you come back again?" The Master said, "Fallen leaves return to their roots; when I come, I will have no mouth." They also asked, "To whom is the Master's Dharma-eye transmitted?" The Master said, "One who has the Way obtains it; one who has no mind penetrates it." Arriving at Guo'en Monastery, on the third day of the eighth month he instructed the assembly, saying: "I received the robe and Dharma from Great Master Ren. Now I expound the Dharma for you without handing down the robe. Because your roots of faith are already mature, resolute, and free of doubt, you are capable of assuming the great task. Listen to my gāthā: / The mind ground contains all seeds; / Under the universal rain, they all sprout. / Once the flower of emotional awakening is realized, / The fruit of bodhi naturally matures." He further said to the assembly: "Its Dharma is non-dual; its mind is also like this. Its Way is pure and free of all marks. You do not need to contemplate stillness or empty your mind. This mind is originally pure, with nothing to grasp or abandon. Each of you strive and go forth well according to conditions. The time of my nirvāṇa has arrived; take care!" He then sat cross-legged and passed away. Thereupon, the mountains and forests turned white, birds and beasts cried sorrowfully, and colorful clouds and fragrant mists did not disperse for consecutive days. At that time, the Area Commander of Guangzhou, Wei Ju, led officials of the two commanderies of Shao and Xin to welcome and escort his whole body back to Baolin Monastery in Caoxi to erect a stupa. His true body still exists today. The Old Tang History states: Zetian heard Shenxiu's renown and summoned him to the capital, having him carried in a sedan chair into the palace hall and personally kneeling in reverence to him. She ordered the founding of Dumen Monastery on Mount Dangyang to honor his virtue. At that time, from princes and dukes on down to the scholars and commoners of the capital, upon hearing of his wind, they vied to come and see him, bowing in the dust day after day by the tens of thousands. Formerly, Shenxiu and Huineng were fellow students under Hongren, their practices and conduct being equal. When Ren died, Neng resided at Guangguo Monastery in Shaozhou. Formerly, there were many tigers and leopards in the Shaoyang Mountains; in one night, they all disappeared, and those near and far were astonished and sighed, all submitting to him. Xiu once memorialized Zetian, requesting that Neng be summoned to the palace. Neng firmly declined. Xiu again personally wrote a letter repeatedly inviting him. Neng said to the messenger, "My appearance is short and rustic. If people in the north see it, I fear they will not respect my Dharma. Moreover, my late master considered that I have affinity in the south, so this cannot be disobeyed." Even when Zhongzong summoned him, he ultimately did not cross the mountains, and passed away. His Dharma was widely transmitted throughout the empire; Xiu was called the Northern School, and Neng was called the Southern School.

13.6

(3. Guichou [713 CE]) Emperor Xuanzong, [named] Longji, changed the era name to Kaiyuan. (He was the third son of Ruizong. He favored Noble Consort Yang, who was made a Daoist priestess titled Taizhen. In his early years, the emperor employed Yao Chong and Song Jing as chief ministers, bringing peace and good governance. In his later years, he indulged in licentiousness and dissipation, employing Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong as chief ministers, and An Lushan as general, leading to rebellion and almost destroying the state. He ascended the throne at age twenty-nine and lived to seventy-eight. He passed away in the first year of Shangyuan and was buried in the Tai Mausoleum.)

13.7

(4. Jiayin [714 CE]) On the seventeenth day of the tenth month of the second year, Chan Master Xuanjue of Yongjia demonstrated nirvāṇa. His surname was Dai. He went forth into the monastic life in his childhood, broadly mastered the Tripiṭaka, and was skilled in the wondrous, complete Dharma-gate of Tiantai calming and contemplation (śamatha-vipaśyanā). Together with Chan Master Ce of Dongyang, he went to visit the Sixth Patriarch. When the Master arrived, he shook his khakkhara and circumambulated the Patriarch three times. The Patriarch said, "A śramaṇa possesses three thousand dignified demeanors and eighty thousand subtle conducts. From where has the Great Worthy come, giving rise to such great arrogance?" The Master said, "The matter of birth and death is great; impermanence is swift." The Patriarch said, "Why not embody the unborn and realize the non-swift?" The Master said, "The embodiment itself is unborn; realization is originally without swiftness." The Patriarch said, "So it is, so it is." The Master then assumed dignified deportment, paid homage, and after a moment took his leave. The Patriarch said, "Are you not returning too quickly?" The Master said, "Originally there is no movement; how could there be quickness?" The Patriarch said, "Who knows it is non-moving?" The Master said, "The benevolent one yourself generates discrimination." The Patriarch said, "You have understood very clearly the meaning of the unborn." The Master said, "How could the unborn have any meaning?" The Patriarch said, "Without meaning, who discriminates?" He said, "Discrimination is also not a meaning." The Patriarch said, "Excellent, excellent! Stay for a night." At the time, he was called the "One-Night-Enlightened One." When he returned, students flocked to him. He composed a piece, the Zhengdao ge (Song of Enlightenment). An Indian monk transmitted it back to India, where all revered it, regarding it as a Mahāyāna scripture from the Eastern Land. He also wrote the Chan zong wu xiu yuan zhi (Ten Essays on the Complete Tenets of Enlightenment and Cultivation in the Chan School) and the Guan xin shi men (Ten Gates of Mind Contemplation), both of which were widely circulated in the world.

13.8

(5. Yi-mao [715 CE]) On the eighth day of the third month, Xuanzong dispatched Zhang Qia, director of a bureau in the Ministry of Rites, carrying an imperial edict to Dangyang Shan to summon Śramaṇa Yixing to court. As an imperial order had been issued twice and no refusal was permitted, Yixing went. An edict directed that he be accommodated in Guangtai Hall. The emperor frequently consulted him on the essentials of bringing peace to the country and comforting the people; Yixing set forth his replies concealing nothing. Soon afterward, Princess Yongmu was to be married off. An imperial decree ordered that she be provided for generously in accordance with the precedent of Princess Taiping. Yixing remonstrated, holding that at the end of Gaozong's reign there was only this single daughter, which was why she was shown exceptional courtesy; yet Taiping eventually incurred guilt through arrogance and usurpation, so she should not be cited as a precedent. The emperor accepted his advice and hastily revoked the order, decreeing that only standard ritual be followed. His loyal admonitions were mostly of this kind. Some reported that Yixing was superior in memory and recitation. One day the emperor ordered the palace registers brought out and shown to him. When Yixing finished perusing them, he had an attendant hold the original text before the emperor while he recited it back, not missing a single word. Amazed and astonished, the emperor looked to his attendants and said: "A sage!" From then on, he frequently summoned him to inquire into the essentials of the Buddha-mind. Yixing's decorous counsel nurtured the sovereign, and the imperial favor grew greater by the day. Because the emperor sought instruction in the Way from him, the people of the realm called him "Heavenly Master."

13.9

(6. Bing-chen [716 CE]) Chan Master Yuangui of Songyue passed away. The master resided at Pangwu on the mountain. One day, an extraordinary being, wearing a high cap and splendid garments, arrived surrounded by guards. Gui said: "Welcome, benevolent one. Why have you come?" The being shouted sternly: "Does the Master not recognize me?" Gui said: "I regard buddhas and sentient beings as equal; I see them with one eye. How could I make distinctions?" He said: "I am the god of this mountain; I hold the power of life and death over human beings. How can the Master see me with one eye?" Gui said: "I was originally never born; how could you kill me? I see my body as equal to empty space; I see myself as equal to you. Can you destroy empty space and yourself? Even if you truly could, I am neither born nor destroyed. How much less when you cannot; how then could you give me life or death?" The god bowed his head and said: "I am bright, wise, and upright, surpassing other gods; how could I have known that the Master possesses such vast and great wisdom? I pray you bestow upon me the correct precepts so that I may be delivered from the world." Gui said: "Since you have asked for the precepts, you have already received the precepts. Why is that? Outside the precepts, there are no precepts; what more is there to receive as precepts?" The god said: "This principle is dark and dim to my understanding. I only seek the Master's precepts, and I wish to become your disciple." Gui thereupon arranged a seat, held an incense burner, adjusted his table, and said: "I transmit to you the five precepts. If you are capable, say 'capable'; if not, say 'not.'" The god said: "I respectfully receive your teaching." Gui said: "Can you abstain from sexual misconduct?" The god said: "I also take a wife." Gui said: "That is not what is meant; it means to have no entangling desires." The god said: "I can." Gui said: "Can you abstain from stealing?" The god said: "I lack for nothing; how could I steal?" Gui said: "That is not what is meant; it means not to bless the licentious when offered sacrifice, nor to bring disaster upon the good when not offered sacrifice." The god said: "I can." Gui said: "Can you abstain from killing?" The god said: "I hold the authority over this; how could I not kill?" Gui said: "That is not what is meant; it means not to act wantonly, mistakenly, doubtfully, or confusedly." The god said: "I can." Gui said: "Can you abstain from false speech?" The god said: "I am solely upright; how could I speak falsely?" Gui said: "That is not what is meant; it means not to act inconsistently with the Mind of Heaven." The god said: "I can." Gui said: "Can you not suffer ruin through alcohol?" The god said: "I can." Gui said: "The above are the Buddha's precepts. Uphold them with mind, yet without a mind that clings. Act for sentient beings with mind, yet without a mind conceiving of a self. If you can be like this, then you will be born before Heaven and Earth without being pure essence; you will die after Heaven and Earth without growing old; you will transform all day without moving; and you will be ultimately quiescent without ceasing. Awakened to this, though you marry, she is no wife; though you receive sacrifice, it is not taking; though you hold authority, it is not power; though you act, it is not contrivance; though you be drunk, it is not confusion. This is simply called 'no-mind.' When there is no-mind, there are no precepts; when there are no precepts, there is no-mind. There is neither buddha nor sentient being; there is neither you nor I. When there is no you, who is it that takes the precepts?" The god said: "How far is my supernatural power from that of a buddha?" Gui said: "As for your supernatural power, among ten phrases, five are impossible for you; as for a buddha, among ten phrases, seven are possible and three are impossible." The god straightened up in awe, stepped back from his mat, and said: "May I hear of this?" Gui said: "Can you oppose the Sovereign on High by causing the heavens to travel eastward and the seven luminaries westward?" He said: "I cannot." Gui said: "Can you seize the terrestrial deities, dissolve the five sacred peaks, and freeze the four seas?" He said: "I cannot." Gui said: "These are the five impossibilities. A buddha can make all marks empty and achieve the wisdom of the myriad dharmas, yet cannot instantly extinguish fixed karma. A buddha can know the natures of all beings and fathom the events of hundreds of millions of kalpas, yet cannot transform and guide those who lack conditions. A buddha can liberate immeasurable sentient beings, yet cannot empty the realm of sentient beings. These are called the three impossibilities. However, fixed karma is not enduring, lacking conditions also refers only to a single period, and the realm of sentient beings originally undergoes neither increase nor decrease. Vast and empty, not a single person can master existing dharmas. Existing dharmas having no master is called 'no dharma.' Having no dharma and no master is called 'no-mind.' As I understand the Buddha, he also has no supernatural powers; he can only penetrate all dharmas through no-mind." The god said: "I am truly shallow and dim; I had not heard the meaning of emptiness. I shall uphold the precepts the Master has bestowed. I now wish to repay your compassionate virtue by exerting what power I have." The Master said: "I contemplate the body as containing no thing, and contemplate dharmas as impermanent. Thoroughly clear, what further desire could I have?" The god said: "The Master must command me to perform some worldly deed to display my divine power, so that those who have brought forth the mind, those who have not brought forth the mind, those with faith, and those without faith may all witness my divine traces and know that there is a buddha, there are gods, there are capabilities, there are impossibilities, there is what is natural, and there is what is not natural." The Master said: "I have no use for this." The god said: "The Buddha also made dragon spirits protect the Dharma. Would the Master rather fall into betraying the Buddha? Pray instruct me as you please." Left with no choice, the Master said: "The barrier of Dongyan Temple is bleak and devoid of trees; the northern summit has them, but behind it there is no screen of protection. Can you move the trees from the north to the eastern ridge?" The god said: "I have heard your command. I fear there must be clamour and movement in the dead of night; I pray the Master will not be alarmed." He then made prostrations and took his leave. The Master had his disciples see him off and watch: they saw a retinue of guards winding like that of a monarch, with mist and clouds intertwined in profusion, and banners and pendant jewels rising into the void and disappearing. That night there was indeed a violent wind and swift thunder, rushing clouds and vibrating lightning; the rafters and eaves shook and swayed, and roosting birds cried out in fright. The Master said to the assembly: "Do not be afraid; the god has made a pact with me." At dawn, it was mild and clear; the pines of the northern mountain had all been moved to the eastern ridge, densely planted in rows. The Master admonished his disciples, saying: "After my passing, do not let outsiders know of this; if it becomes fodder for talk, people will regard me as demonic." The Master was a man of Yique, surnamed Li. He went forth from home at an early age, received the full precepts, and obtained the Dharma from National Preceptor Lao'an. He lived to the age of seventy-three.

13.10

The appraisal says: Duke Wen of Jing, Wang Anshi, once asked Duke Wending, Zhang Dun: 'A century after Confucius, there was Mencius. After Ke, who came close to Confucius and Mencius? Why has our Way become so desolate?' Wending pondered for a long time and said: 'There are men, but I only fear they have surpassed them.' Wang asked: 'Who are they?' Wending said: 'Rang of Nanyue, Gui of Songshan, Mazu, Shitou, Danxia, Wuye—men of this kind could not be reined in by the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and therefore took refuge in Śākya's school.' Duke Wen deeply assented to this. Later, Duke Zhang Wujin heard this and sighed, saying: 'This is the discourse of a man of profound understanding! Yet Songshan was merely an offshoot of the ancestral court; since his resonance with the supernatural was so transcendent and his exposition of the Dharma so surging, one can plainly see that the true lineage masters who handed down the transmission directly from Nanyue onward could not be restrained by the bridle of worldly teachings. How could one not believe the righteous discourse of these two or three gentlemen?'

13.11

(7) That year, the Indian Tripiṭaka Master Śubhakarasiṃha arrived at the capital. At the beginning of the emperor's accession, one night he dreamed of an Indian monk coming to an audience whose demeanor was remarkably extraordinary. Upon waking, the emperor remembered it ceaselessly; he then summoned court painters, gave them his form and features, and had it painted on the palace wall. When Śubhakarasiṃha arrived and entered for an audience, the emperor scrutinized him and found he was indeed the monk seen in his dream; he was awestruck and amazed. He accommodated him at Ximing Temple. The Prince of Ning, the Prince of Xue, and the other princes all lowered their status in courtesy and showed him deep reverence. Afterward, during an autumn drought, the emperor learned that Śubhakarasiṃha was able to summon dragons and dispatched an inner courier to convey an edict requesting rain. Śubhakarasiṃha found it difficult and submitted a memorial stating that the drought was natural destiny, and that if dragons were forced to be summoned, it was feared they would inflict violence on things. The emperor again sent an edict stating that the people were suffering from the autumn heat, and that even violent wind and rushing rain would be just enough to delight them. Śubhakarasiṃha assented. The officials set up an altar arrayed with magnificent, colorful splendor. Śubhakarasiṃha smiled and said: 'Can this bring rain?' He ordered it cleared away, and holding only a bowl full of water, stirred it with a small knife, reciting spells more than a hundred times. Thereupon, a tiny creature like a horned dragon raised its head above the water's surface from the bowl, and after a moment sank down again. Śubhakarasiṃha incanted to send it forth, and white vapor surged up from the bowl. He said to the imperial envoy: 'Return quickly; the rain will arrive at once.' The envoy rode out, looked back, and saw clouds like a white silk ribbon spiraling upward from the lecture hall. In an instant, wind and thunder shook with lightning. When the envoy hurried into the palace to present his report, his clothes and cap were already soaked through. Thereupon, howling wind and torrential rain battered dwellings, and the gentry and common people were terrified; it subsided only after a whole day. At another time, when continuous heavy rain exceeded its season, an edict ordered Śubhakarasiṃha to stop it. At the temple, Śubhakarasiṃha kneaded five clay old women and spoke Sanskrit toward them as if rebuking them; immediately it cleared up. His supernatural verifications were generally of this kind. The emperor revered him like a god. Soon after, he became fluent in Chinese and translated more than ten scriptures, including the Ākāśagarbha, Vairocana, and Susiddhikara. Chan Master Yixing, Tripiṭaka Master Baoyue, and others took part in the work. Śubhakarasiṃha was by nature simple and tranquil, fond of Chan contemplation, and regularly encouraged students to practice it. He repeatedly submitted memorials requesting to return home, but the emperor firmly detained him and would not grant permission.

13.12

(8) That year, the military commissioner of Guangzhou, Song Jing, went to Caoxi to pay homage to the Patriarch's pagoda. He made a vow, saying: 'This disciple vows to serve as an external protector of the Great Dharma for his entire life, and prays for an auspicious sign as a token of faith.' When he finished speaking, a gentle breeze wafted fragrance, enveloping and pervading everyone. Presently sweet rain poured down, falling solely within the confines of the single monastery. Jing departed in great joy. Soon afterward he was summoned to the capital and, following Yao Yuanchong, took charge of the administration. The world referred to Yao and Song as the worthy ministers of the restoration.

13.13

(9. Xin-you [721 CE]) Because the solar eclipses calculated by the Linde Calendar had recently failed to prove accurate, the court decreed that Chan Master Yixing compose a new calendar. Receiving the decree, Yixing derived the Dayanshi system and established methods to correspond with it. Comparing them with the seasonal qi, new moons, day names, and degrees recorded in the classics and histories that could be verified, all coincided, and he set them forth in writing. After some time, the Daoist Xing Hepu said to Yin Yin, Director of the Astrological Service: 'Is Yixing not a sage? Long ago, when Luoxia Hong created the Taichu Calendar, he once recorded: "After eight hundred years, there should be an error of one day; a sage must appear in the world to rectify it." This year the period of error has been fulfilled, and Yixing has derived the Dayanshi system to rectify the errors of the various schools. Hong's words were not false.' Yin also agreed. Yixing further wished to know the advance and regress of the ecliptic, but the Astrological Service lacked an ecliptic armillary sphere; he submitted a memorial requesting to construct one, and the imperial decree granted permission.

13.14

(10. Ren-xu [722 CE]) The emperor commented on the Classic of Filial Piety and composed a preface.

13.15

That year, Śramaṇa Zhisheng presented a twenty-fascicle catalogue of Buddhist sūtras, vinayas, and treatises, classifying and arranging the scriptures of the Great Canon as well as the treatises and compositions of the sages, totaling 5,048 fascicles. From this point on, it became the fixed number.

13.16

(Eleventh year, guihai) In the tenth month of the eleventh year, on the day guiyou, the Chan master Yixing completed the construction of an ecliptic armillary sphere. The Emperor personally composed an inscription for it and decreed that it be placed in the courtyard of the Wucheng Hall to show to the civil and military officials. The instrument was modelled after the form of the spherical heavens, fully displaying the lunar lodges, the celestial equator, and the degrees of the entire heavenly circuit. Water was poured to drive wheels, causing it to rotate by itself; in one day and night, the celestial circuit turned once. On the outside two rings were interlocked, affixed with the sun and moon so that they were made to revolve: each day the heaven travelled eastward one full circuit, while the sun travelled westward one degree, and the moon travelled thirteen and twenty-nine-nineteenths degrees; after twenty-nine rotations and a fraction of a day, the sun and moon met, and after three hundred and sixty-five rotations, the sun completed a heavenly circuit. A wooden casing served as the horizon, keeping half the instrument below ground, so that dark and light, the new moon and full moon, and slowness and speed had accurate measures. Two wooden figures were erected on the horizon: before one was placed a drum to observe the quarter-hours, and upon reaching a quarter-hour, it struck it on its own; before the other was placed a bell to observe the double-hours, and upon reaching a double-hour, it likewise struck it on its own. Within the base, wheels and axles were subtly installed, their interlocking mechanisms mutually engaging. At that time, it was praised for its ingenuity and considered a divine achievement. Not long after, the bronze and iron gradually grew stiff and could no longer rotate by themselves, and it was eventually stored in the Jixian Academy.

13.17

In this year, the Hall of Government Affairs was renamed the Department of the Chancellery and Secretariat.

13.18

(Twelfth year) ○ There was a woman named Wang, the wife of Guo Xing of Wendeng County in Dengzhou, who gave birth to a daughter with a crane's beak. When she was about to die, she said of her own accord that she was repaying the retribution of having tasted vegetarian offerings in a past life, and was showing this to people.

13.19

(Jiazi, fifty-seven) The monk Niuyun was not intelligent in his youth. Because of this, he went to Wutai Shan to pay homage to Mañjuśrī. When he first arrived at the Eastern Terrace, he saw an old man who asked, "Why have you come?" He replied, "I only wish to see the Great Sage and seek intelligence." The old man said, "Mañjuśrī resides at the Northern Terrace; you should go and see him." Yun obeyed the instruction and hurried to the Northern Terrace, where the old man was already present. Yun suspected that he was indeed Mañjuśrī, and thereupon bowed to him. The old man said, "You are a monk; you should not bow to a layman." Yun bowed unceasingly. The old man took pity on him and entered samādhi to observe Yun's past life, which had in fact been an ox; because it had once carried scriptures with haste, it obtained the recompense of becoming a bhikṣu. The old man arose from samādhi and told this to Yun, adding, "Your nature is dull and bewildered, and there is stagnant flesh in your chest. I should hoe it away for you." Thereupon he cautioned Yun to close his eyes and not open them at all. Yun complied with the agreement. He distinctly felt the old man hoeing at his chest with a mattock, yet it was not very painful. In a short while, his heart opened wide, suddenly different from former times. When he opened his eyes, he saw the old man manifest his body as Mañjuśrī, wondrously featured and dignified, who said to Yun, "I have finished granting you intelligence." Yun leaped with joy and made obeisance; when he arose, Mañjuśrī had vanished. From then on, Yun possessed total dhāraṇī retention and discerning awakening, becoming a guide of the era. Because of his past karma, he was called "Niuyun" (Ox Yun).

13.20

(Fourteenth year, bingyin) The Japanese monks Yōei, Fushō, and others arrived in Yangzhou. They presented ten saṃghāṭī robes, upon which were embroidered depictions of mountains, rivers, and exotic objects; these had been entrusted by their sovereign to be bestowed upon Chinese monks of eminent conduct. At that time, the Vinaya Master Jianzhen received these robes, sighed in admiration that foreigners possessed the buddha-lineage, and wished to go and transform them. Just then, Yōei, Fushō, and the others also urged and invited him, so he boarded a ship and sailed east. Blown by foul winds into seas of fish and serpents, they all escaped disaster because of Jianzhen's exalted vinaya practice. Once they arrived in Japan, the king there had prior knowledge of it, deigned to welcome and comfort him in person, and lodged him in the Vairocana Hall. Before long, he requested Jianzhen to confer the refuges and precepts; the queen and the assembly of ministers all received them in turn. From this time on, Japan first had the vinaya teaching.

13.21

(Fifteenth year, dingmao) The Tripiṭaka Master Bodhiruci died at the age of one hundred and fifty-six. Bodhiruci was the son of a king of South India; he yielded the throne and went forth from the household life. Emperor Gaozong heard of his fame and issued an imperial decree inviting him, so he arrived at the capital during the Chuigong reign era (685–688). Over a total of forty years, works such as the Avataṃsaka and Ratnakūṭa Sūtras were all translated by his hand. The Emperor and heavy ministers revered him as a living Buddha. On the day of his burial, an imperial guard of honour and ceremonial regalia were specially provided, and a stūpa was erected on the western plateau of Longmen. He was posthumously granted the title "Tripiṭaka Master of the Kaiyuan Era, Omniscient One." The grandeur of his fame and virtue was unprecedented in antiquity.

13.22

(Sixteenth year) At that time, there was the Upādhyāya Pozhaoduo of Mount Song, who did not state his name and surname, and whose words and deeds were unpredictable. When he first met National Preceptor Lao'an, he tallied with and awakened to the mind-essential, and lived in seclusion on Mount Song. On the mountain was a shrine that was extremely efficacious; inside the hall only a single stove was installed. From near and far, sacrifices and slaughterings took place without an idle day. The master led his disciples into the shrine, struck the stove three times with his staff, and said, "Bah! This stove is made from mud and tiles. Whence comes the holiness? From where does the efficacy arise, that you thus slaughter living beings?" He struck it three more times, whereupon the stove collapsed and fell to pieces. In an instant, a man in blue robes and a tall cap made obeisance before the master and said, "I was originally the stove god of this shrine, and have long suffered karmic retribution. Now, having received the master's exposition of the unarisen Dharma, I have been released from this place and am to be born in heaven; I have come specially to pay my respects and offer thanks." The master said, "This is your inherently existing nature; it is not my forced assertion." The god bowed twice and departed. A short while later, the assembly of disciples asked the master, "We have long been at your side, Upādhyāya, yet have not received instruction. What direct purport did the stove god obtain, that he immediately attained rebirth in heaven?" The master said, "I merely told him that it was made from mud and tiles; there was no other principle for him." The assembly was silent. After a long while, the master said, "Do you understand?" The assembly replied, "We do not understand." The master said, "Why do you not understand your inherently existing nature?" The assembly of monks then bowed. The master said, "Broken, broken! Fallen, fallen!" Thereupon the assembly all awakened to the profound purport. Later, the Chan Master Yifeng related this and questioned National Preceptor An. The National Preceptor sighed and said, "This fellow has fully understood the oneness of object and self; he may be said to be like the bright moon hanging in the empty sky, where nothing remains unseen. It is only difficult to keep pace with the vein of his speech." Feng said, "I wonder what kind of person can keep pace with the vein of his speech?" An said, "One who does not know." Again, a monk asked, "What is it like when thing after thing is formless?" The master said, "If you bow, then there is only you and not I; if you do not bow, then there is only I and not you." The monk bowed in thanks. The master said, "Inherently existing things are not things. Therefore it is said: 'If you can turn things, you are identical to the Tathāgata.'" There was a monk who came from Niutou's place. The master asked, "From whose Dharma assembly have you come?" The monk stepped forward, clasped his hands, circumambulated the master once, and went out. The master said, "Such a person should not exist in the assembly of Niutou." The monk then returned, stood above him with clasped hands. The master said, "As expected, as expected." The monk conversely asked, "What is it like when responding to things does not depend on others?" The master said, "How could it not depend on others?" The monk said, "If so, then I shall follow the correct and return to the origin." The master said, "In returning to the origin, what is there to follow?" The monk said, "Were it not for you, Upādhyāya, I would almost have incurred error." The master said, "This is still the principle from before [Niutou] saw the Fourth Patriarch. Speak of what came after he saw him!" The monk then circumambulated the master once and went out. The master said, "The way of following the correct has ever been thus from antiquity to present." Again, while a monk was standing in attendance, the master said, "The Patriarchs and Buddhas only spoke of a person's original nature and original mind. Other than this, there is no other principle. Grasp it! Grasp it!" The monk bowed in thanks. The master struck him with his flywhisk and said, "As it is in one place, so it is in a thousand places." Later, the master's end was not known.

13.23

(Seventeenth year) In the eleventh month of this year, on the day jichou, the Chan master Yixing lay ill at the Huayan Monastery. The Old History of the Tang states: One night the Emperor dreamed that he visited the monastery and saw a room with a rope-bed and bamboo window, of bleak appearance. At dawn, Yixing's illness was reported. The Emperor sent a palace envoy to enquire after him; when the envoy returned and reported the condition of Yixing's residence, it matched the dream exactly. The Emperor sighed over this for a long time. An imperial decree ordered the ten Great Virtues of the capital to erect an altar and pray for blessings on Yixing's behalf. Soon after, Yixing's illness improved slightly, and a decree ordered him to accompany the imperial retinue to Xinfeng. Before long, Yixing's illness became critical; the Emperor personally enquired after him. He then bathed, sat upright, and passed away at the age of forty-five. The Emperor wept for him in deep grief and suspended court for three days. A decree of mourning was issued allowing his casket to remain for three times seven days, so that those within and outside the court could pay their respects. Yixing's countenance remained as if alive, and his hair and temples grew longer day by day. The Emperor personally composed an inscription and inscribed it on stone, and issued fifty thousand coins from the inner treasury to build a stūpa at Tongren Plateau, posthumously naming him Chan Master Dahui. The Emperor had once casually asked him how long the dynastic destiny would last and whether there would be difficulties. Yixing said, "The imperial carriage will make a journey of ten thousand li; the altars of state will end in ji (fortune)." The Emperor was startled and asked the reason, but he did not answer. On retiring, he presented a small gold box, saying, "Open it only upon reaching ten thousand li." One day the Emperor opened the box and looked into it; it contained a small amount of danggui (angelica root). When An Lushan rebelled, the imperial carriage went to Chengdu, and upon arriving at the Wanli (Ten-Thousand-Li) Bridge, the Emperor suddenly understood; before long, he indeed returned (danggui). Emperor Zhaozong was initially enfeoffed as the Prince of Ji, and the Tang was extinguished under Zhaozong; hence he said "end in ji." There was an elderly village woman who had long provided for Yixing, whose only son was implicated in a homicide and was about to be executed. The old woman wept bitterly and begged for rescue. Yixing took pity on her and ordered his disciples to capture living creatures, obtaining seven pheasants and pigs. Each day Yixing concealed one in a vat and chanted over it in Sanskrit. For seven days, the Northern Dipper completely disappeared. The court was shaken and alarmed; the Grand Astrologer memorialised that a calamity was imminent and requested that the Emperor avoid the main hall to perform an apotropaic ritual. The Emperor secretly questioned Yixing, who replied, "This is nothing else; it is merely an evil demon. In general, an angry mind destroys all goodness, while a compassionate mind subdues all demons. If you grant a general amnesty to the realm, the demon will be unable to act." The Emperor agreed and thereupon issued a great amnesty; the old woman's son was thereby spared. Each day Yixing released one pig, and one star reappeared; on the seventh day, the Dipper was as it had been before. His secret arts were mostly of this kind. He authored the Yi lun in twelve fascicles, the Dayan lun in twenty fascicles, the Kaiyuan dayan li in fifty-two fascicles, the Qizheng changli in three fascicles, the Shishi xilu, Dayan xuantu, Xinji suanshu, Kuo dunjia shiliu ju, Liuren lianzhu ge, Liuren suijing, Tianyi taiyi jing, and Taiyi ju dunjia jing, each in one fascicle, and the Wuyin dili jing in fifteen fascicles. The Chief Minister Li Jifu compiled a one-fascicle biography of Yixing in obedience to an imperial decree; all these are recorded in the Tang Treatise on Arts and Literature. In the sixteenth year, a decree ordered Specially Advanced Zhang Yue, the Calendar Official Chen Xuanjing, and others to compile and implement the Dayan Calendar authored by Yixing. In the third month, the imperial retinue visited the Wentang hot springs; the path went by Yixing's stūpa. The Emperor halted his carriage and lingered there, ordering ranked officials to go to the stūpa to announce the intent of his tour, and bestowed fifty bolts of silk, ordering that pines and cypresses be planted in front of the stūpa. Such was the sacred favor shown to him. The Song historian Ouyang Xiu (Wenzhong) said: "From the Taichu to the Linde calendars, there were twenty-three schools in all; though they were close to heaven, they were not yet precise. With Yixing, it became precise. The way he relied on numbers to establish methods was truly irreplaceable. Even though later generations made modifications, they merely followed his model." There was a monk named Daohong, born in Huangzhou, who was on intimate terms with Vice Minister Zhang Jingzhi; he could foretell good and bad fortune, and none failed to be verified. He once inspected the residence of Secretariat Director Zhang Yue and warned him, "Do not dig into the ren corner in the northeast." On another day, seeing Yue, he said, "The aura of your residence is desolate; why is this?" Together with Yue he inspected the corner, and found three pits over a zhang deep. Hong said in alarm, "Your wealth and honour will last for one lifetime only; your sons will not meet a good end." Yue was frightened and intended to fill them level. Hong said, "Alien soil has no qi and does not connect with the veins of the earth. Just as with sores and wounds on the body, patching them with another's flesh brings no benefit." Afterwards, Yue's sons were all implicated with An Lushan and banished to their deaths, just as he had predicted.

13.24

The appraisal states: Duke Ouyang Wenzhong [Ouyang Xiu] was habitually averse to our Buddhist teaching and never showed the slightest indulgence toward it. Yet, solely in the Treatise [on Astronomy and Calendar] of the Tang History, he honoured Yixing's Dayan system. Song Jingwen [Song Qi], however, in the 'Biographies of Diviners and Magicians', excised the biographies of Yixing, Xuanzang, and others, recording only Daohong's discourse on geography. Some might think that the conducts and practices of Tang Buddhists held nothing worthy of acceptance by these two dukes, and so it ended at that. But could that really be so? The Dayan calendar governs celestial seasons, while geography pertains closely to human affairs; it was therefore appropriate for the historical brush to record them. As for the flourishing of our Buddhist teaching, nothing surpassed the Tang dynasty. Throughout those three hundred years, those who served as the empire's supreme masters in virtue and the Way were beyond counting. Ouyang and Song, deeming it to be following the teaching of a foreign land, therefore deliberately omitted it and did not record it. This is like the Spring and Autumn period, where despite the worthiness of Laozi and the Viscount of Tan, they were, on the contrary, not recorded in the Classic as were the men of Jiang and Huang. Could it be that the Master Lao also held nothing worthy of acceptance? The statutes of state classics record nobles and commoners alike wherever rites, music, punishments, and administration reach. As for our Buddhists, who completely sever worldly entanglements and rise extraordinarily above the realm of dust, what do they have to do with punishments and administration? It is fitting indeed that they are not included in secular canons. From this perspective, Ouyang and Song's exclusion of our Buddhist teaching was, in its subtle intent, precisely the means to honour it. How magnificent was Yixing! Long before, he fulfilled the eight-hundred-year prophecy of Luoxia Hong; in his own time, the enlightened Son of Heaven knelt before him and called him a sage. When his works were transmitted to later generations, embracing Heaven and Earth and penetrating the hidden and the manifest, his calculations and methods became ever more verified over several centuries. Was he truly a sage or a worthy? That I cannot know.

13.25

([Kaiyuan], Year 18, [cyclical year] Jisi) [729 CE]: For the first time, the Emperor's birthday was designated as the Thousand Autumns Festival. ○ The Dayan calendar was put into use.

13.26

In this year, Grand Preceptor and Duke of the State of Yan Zhang Yue passed away. Yue was an eminent statesman of the Tang, and most of the imperial court's major compositions came from his hand. In composing prose his thoughts were refined and robust, and he was especially adept in the Buddhist scriptures. He was once banished to Yuezhou, where his poems became all the more plaintive and poignant; contemporaries said he received the aid of rivers and mountains. Throughout the realm people did not speak of his surname, but called him Duke Yan. He composed the 'Preface to the Engraved Stone Heart Sūtra', which reads: 'The myriad practices arise from the mind; the mind is the master of man. The three vehicles return to the One; the One is the ancestor of dharmas. Knowing that the mind has nothing to attain is true attainment; seeing that the One leaves nothing unpenetrated is mysterious penetration. The Tathāgata taught that the five aggregates are all empty; the person is fundamentally empty. The Tathāgata taught that the marks of all dharmas are empty; dharmas are also empty. Knowing the dharma illuminates emptiness; seeing emptiness abandons the dharma. Are not both this knowledge and vision themselves empty? Therefore, both concentration and wisdom abide within empty dharmas. Entering this gate is the luminous gate; travelling this path is the transcendent path. Were it not for one who practices profound prajñā, who could verify this?' Fuma Duwei Zheng Wanjun of Xingyang was a gentleman of profound arts; his learning was uniquely transmitted and his calligraphy achieved the status of a sage of cursive script. He then brandished his brush and carved the Heart Sūtra on stone, establishing a precious sanctuary of sagely goodness and initiating a splendid enterprise for the future. The Buddha spoke through markless non-reliance, for the Dharma is fundamentally unarisen; I transmit it through a mind without attainment, and now it is without extinction. The Way resides in writing, its meaning matching Heaven and Earth. When the Elder of the State Zhang Yue heard of it, he praised it, extolled the Buddhist work, and inscribed it on the joyous stone. He also composed 'Eulogy on the Two Dharma Halls of the Fachi Cloister, with Preface', which states: 'The Two Dharma Halls of the Sanguis [Three Refuges] Cloister to the west of Fachi were built by the elder of this cloister, Chan Master Chushang. The Chan Master’s surname was Peng, and his given name was Zhi. By nature profoundly filial, he ate nothing for seven days while observing mourning for his parents. With subtle words and esoteric practices, he set his will upon the Way and probed the mysterious, investigating the principles of the Yijing, Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Taiyi. He was skilled in regular script and mastered the styles of Zhong [Yao] and Wang [Xizhi]; his strokes were graceful and elegant, every hair-line fully visible, like breaking dried lotus stems or polishing veined stone—its crisp and flowing sinews and textures were certainly not achievable by mere human effort. Renowned scholars of the court and lofty recluses of the mountains, pioneers in the Buddhist current, admired him from near and far. In his later years he focused his mind entirely on Chan chanting, brushing off his lifelong achievements like discarded dust. He often sighed: 'The emperor and my parents permitted me to leave the householders' life; their rain-and-dew-like nurturing of me represents a single, uniform kindness. Following the Tathāgata's teaching, I establish this merit, hoping against hope to dedicate blessings to the Two Palaces [the Emperor and Empress], secretly aid the seven generations of ancestors, and ascend to the bodhimaṇḍa together with all beings.' Thereupon, the Sangui Hall was erected on the Guimao day, the full moon of the Zi month, in the first year of Chang'an, a Xinchou year; the Shanfa Hall was built on the Wuchen day, the full moon of the Chou month, in the first year of Kaiyuan, a Guichou year. The Chan Master’s maternal younger brother Renwan, his disciple Qiyi, and the novice Lingzhe truly provided strong assistance in these works.' He then wrote the eulogy: 'I respectfully address all the sons of the Buddha: / With single-minded, pure contemplation, / If you wish to seek the true, correct Way, / You should enter through the faculty of faith. / This is the Buddha's space-like mark; / This is the Dharma's subtle, wondrous light. / Concentration and wisdom are inseparable; / This is the Saṃgha's meaning of harmony. / The person is empty, and dharmas are also empty; / The two emptinesses are also empty. / Abiding the mind in the jewel of the three emptinesses / Is called the place of the Three Refuges. / Supreme is the Venerable Chushang, / Who established the Shanfa Hall! / Adorned with the variegated greens of the Buddhas of the three periods, / Embellishing the pure eye, / Able to exercise an unhindered mind / And universally enter into all things. / If one sees without being stained by form, / And knows without grasping consciousness, / This is called true seeing, / And is also called the knowledge of liberation. / The Buddha's vision is free from arising and ceasing; / All dharmas are uniformly like this.'

13.27

([Kaiyuan], Year 19, [cyclical year] Renshen) [731 CE]: In this year, the regulations for the Five Grades of Mourning Attire were established. These originated from antiquity. When Empress Wu [Zetian] petitioned for three years of mourning for mothers, Lu's rebuttals presented differing views. In the fifth year of Kaiyuan, Lu Lübing submitted a memorial, and public debate was contentious. From that time on, among the households of ministers and gentry, mourning attire had discrepancies. Now, in the twentieth year, Xiao Song and others revised the Five Rites, and an imperial edict decreed that they be implemented. The ritual of the Five Grades of Mourning is as follows: First, three years' mourning: for a father, it is called zhancui [unhemmed sackcloth], mourning with utmost grief as though one's heart were cut through; for a mother, it is called qicui [hemmed sackcloth], secondary to that for a father. However, it concludes in twenty-seven months. At the twelfth month is the minor auspicious sacrifice (xiaoxiang); at the twenty-fifth month is the major auspicious sacrifice (daxiang); at the twenty-seventh month is the tan sacrifice to change attire, with an additional month of internal mourning (xinsang), which marks the conclusion of the mourning period. The qicui and zhancui mourning garments are made of coarse hempen sackcloth; a minister's mourning for his sovereign is likewise. Second, one year's mourning: thirteen months, for paternal grandfathers, etc. Third, dagong [nine months' mourning]: nine months, for paternal uncles, etc. Fourth, xiaogong [five months' mourning]: five months, for paternal cousins, etc. Fifth, sima [three months' mourning]: three months, for third cousins, maternal and paternal relatives, etc. The rest are fully described in the commentaries and sub-commentaries on the Five Grades of Mourning.

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佛祖歷代通載 — Classical Chinese