佛祖歷代通載 19

English (machine translation) 19

Language: English

19.1

Compiled by Nianchang of Huating, Abbot of Dazhong Xiangfu Chan Temple in Jiaxing Route

(1. Wushen) Emperor Shenzong, personal name Xu (his mother was Empress Xuanren Shenglie, from the Gao clan, niece of Empress Dowager Cao. In her youth she was raised together with Yingzong in the Empress's palace; later she became Yingzong's consort and gave birth to the Emperor. From Prince of Ying he became Crown Prince and soon ascended the throne. At the age of thirty-eight he died in the Funing Hall and was buried in the Yongyu Mausoleum). He changed the reign-era to Xining (this year there was an extraordinary earthquake). In the Liao Kingdom, it was the fourth year of Xianyong (this year, the Jin ruler Aguda was born).

19.3

Qian Gongfu, Administrator of the Bureau of Policy Criticism, stated that in times of famine and flooding caused by the Yellow River, ordination certificates from the Ministry of Sacrifices should be sold to provide relief for emergencies. This was approved.

19.4

(2. Xinhai) On the sixteenth day of the third month of this year, Chan Master Juenan of Yuantong passed away. His courtesy name was Zhongmin, and he came from the Jian family. He was a native of Zhongjiang in Zizhou. When young he was heroic and outstanding; upon glancing at poetry and canonical texts, he could recite them from memory. At the age of eleven, he relied on Yuanfang at Zhulin Temple in Shifang, Hanzhou. At seventeen, he was tested on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka and received ordination. He received the full precepts under Vinaya Master Yingzhen. Because of his lecturing and learning, he was foremost in both regions of Sichuan, and many elders deferred to him. At that time, a Chan practitioner returned from the South, declaring that the Patriarchs' way was covering all under heaven: "Great Master Mazu was a native of Shifang, fulfilling Prajñātāra's prophecy. Eminent men of Sichuan known for the sutras and treatises—such as Master Liang—left their disciples and hid in the Western Mountains; such as Master Dexian—burned his commentaries and sub-commentaries, declaring that a drop of water cannot contend with the vast ocean." Juenan was downcast for a long while and said, "Do you know it?" The person said, "I cannot know it. If you wish to know it, why begrudge making the journey?" Juenan thereupon departed Sichuan. Later he traveled to Mount Lu and attained the Dharma from Chan Master Rong. Cheng Shimeng, Prefect of Nankang, invited him to reside at Guizong, and later he moved to Yuantong. Emperor Renzong heard of his fame, and in the early Huangyou reign-era [1049–1054], issued an edict summoning him to reside at Jingyin in the capital. Juenan cited eye trouble and could not comply with the edict. An edict ordered him to recommend someone to take his place, so he recommended the monk Huailian, saying, "His Chan learning is profound and subtle, and stands above mine." Thereupon Huailian answered the imperial summons and was brought in for an audience to be questioned on the general meaning of the Buddha-Dharma; it met with the Emperor's approval. Everyone under heaven regarded Juenan as worthy for knowing people. In his old age, he retired to dwell at the Baoji Cliff, and died without illness. His worldly age was sixty-two, and he had sat for forty-five summer retreats.

19.5

(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.

19.6

(4) Chan Master Shouduan of Baiyun passed away. He was born into the Ge family of Heng[yang]. When young he was skilled in writing, and did not enjoy secular life. Relying on Mountain Master Yu of Chaling, he shaved his head. In his twenties, he studied under Chan Master [Gao]yong. When Yong passed away, Yangqi Fanghui succeeded to the seat. Seeing Duan, he marveled at him, and would converse with him throughout the night. One day he suddenly asked, "Who is the master under whom the Venerable One trained?" Duan said, "The Upādhyāya Yu of Chaling." Hui said, "I have heard that when crossing a stream he had an awakening and wrote a verse that was extraordinarily remarkable. Can you remember it?" Duan then recited:
"I have a bright pearl, / Long fettered and locked by worldly toil. / Today the dust is gone and light arises, / Illumining ten thousand peaks of mountains and rivers."
Hui laughed loudly and stood up to leave. Duan looked around in astonishment, unable to sleep all night. The next day, he sought to enter the room to inquire about the matter. At the time it was New Year's Day. Hui said, "Did you see the players performing as foxes yesterday and last night?" Duan said, "I saw them." Hui said, "You are one notch inferior to them." Duan was again greatly astounded and said, "What do you mean?" Hui said, "They love to have people laugh; you fear people laughing." At these words, Duan had a great awakening. Bidding farewell, he went to travel Mount Lu. Master Yuantong Juenan saw him, considered himself inferior, recommended him to reside at Chengtian in Jiangzhou, and vacated his own seat for him to dwell there, while residing himself in the Eastern Hall. Duan was twenty-eight years old at the time. Believing that when an elder yields to the virtuous, the monastery places a heavy responsibility on oneself, he presided over the assembly with respect and strictness, abolishing selfishness through public devotion; thus the lineage style flourished greatly. Before long, Master Juenan grew weary of quietude; when the prefect arrived, Juenan personally explained his feelings of being a guest. The prefect, deeply sympathetic, looked at Duan; Duan smiled and merely assented. The next day, he ascended the hall and said, "In the past, Fayan had a verse saying:
'Difficult, difficult, difficult, shedding affection is difficult; / Utterly pure, perfectly bright, a single cold sphere. / Using expedients to shed affection is still not it; / To eliminate expedients as well is utterly without cause.'
Assembly, tell me: how is affection to be shed?" He gave a shout, stepped down from the seat, shouldered his bundle, and left. The entire assembly was greatly startled and tried to restrain him, but could not. He crossed the river and spent the summer in a spare room at Wuzu. In Shuzhou there was a small monastery called Fahua; its abbots were like birds in a cage, never forgetting to fly away. The prefect of Shu heard of Duan's lofty reputation and wished to observe the man, so he sent an official invitation requesting him to reside there. Duan came gladly, leaning on his staff. Monks arrived in such numbers that there was no room to accommodate them, and scholar-officials considered him worthy. When he moved to Baiyun Haihui, he ascended the hall, looked over the assembly, and said: "Before the drum was struck, before this mountain monk ascended the seat, it was a fine likeness of an ancient Buddha. If someone can appreciate it here, it can be said that the ancient Śākyamuni is not before, and the present Maitreya is not after. If you further listen to the three-inch tongue uttering empty fabrications, discrepancies have already arisen. One must possess eyes that discern discrepancies before one can save it completely." Then he said: "Let me be grandmotherly with you again: when you open your mouth, the very last phrase hits the mark precisely; when you take a step, the very last step treads upon it precisely. Why are your nostrils not straight? Because you usually see that nostrils are stubborn, and so are unwilling to rest your mind. Today I urge all of you to let them go." After a long pause, he said, "One!" and immediately stepped down from the seat. His sectarian style was lofty and outstanding like this.

19.7

(Guichou) An edict ordered that on the Day of the Tongtian Festival, monks and nuns be ordained universally.

19.8

(5) Dharma Master Huibian, courtesy name Ne'ong, of the Fu clan of Huating, was styled Haiyue. He studied under Puzhao. When he first traveled to study at Tianzhu, Mingzhi was amazed by him at first sight, and he immediately devoted his mind to studying the doctrinal teachings and contemplation. When Zhi grew old, he ordered him to take the first seat to lecture on his behalf. Eight years later, Mingzhi and Master Shao had him succeed to the abbot's seat. Shen Gou, Hanlin Academician, governed Hangzhou relying on sheer awe and sternness; those who saw him mostly panicked and lost their composure, but Bian was relaxed and self-possessed as always. Gou marveled at him and appointed him Metropolitan Buddhist Controller (Du sengzheng). At that time, Dongpo was the vice-prefect and composed a preface to present to him, saying: 'The flourishing of Buddhist monks in Qiantang is indeed the foremost under heaven. Men of virtue, talent, and wisdom dwell mingled with the foolish, mediocre, cunning, and deceitful, and it is known to be difficult to bring order among them. Therefore, beyond the rector and vice-rector, an additional Metropolitan Controller has been appointed. The labor of running about, receiving and seeing off visitors, and handling registers and dossiers is placed solely upon the vice-controllers and below, while the Metropolitan Master exercises overall supervision of the essential matters, using understanding and practice to set an example for the assembly. Once the master took office, whenever a seat was vacant in the monasteries under his jurisdiction, he selected a date, gathered the prominent talents from all the monasteries and his own seat, and opened an examination ground for inquiring into doctrinal meanings. He set up thorn fences, sealed names, and tested them. Those who answered five out of ten questions correctly passed the selection; those with fewer than three correct were demoted. Then, according to the ranks of the monasteries, their names were filled in order. From this, all the mountains looked up to him and took him as their model.' He lectured for twenty-five years, and his students must have reached a thousand. In his late years, weary of strenuous labor, he retired to the Caotang [Hermitage]. On the seventeenth day of the seventh month of the sixth year of Xining, he rose at dawn, washed, announced his farewell to the assembly, joined his palms, and passed away while sitting cross-legged. At first, Bian had left word that the niche should only be closed once Dongpo arrived. On the fourth day, Dongpo arrived and saw him sitting cross-legged as if alive, the crown of his head still warm. Dongpo paid his deepest respects and departed.

19.9

(Ding-si) Wang Anshi, Duke of Jing State, memorialized requesting to donate his former residence in Jinling as a monastery, and invited Zhenjing Kewen to serve as abbot. The plaque 'Baoning' was bestowed upon it.

19.10

(Wu-wu) The reign title was changed to Yuanfeng.

19.11

(Geng-shen) Empress Dowager Cisheng Guangxian passed away in the second month of this year. An assembly of one thousand Dharma masters of the capital was gathered for a vegetarian feast at the Qingshou Palace, and they were conventionally bestowed mulberry robes and master titles. ○ An imperial decree reformed the sixty-four cloisters of Xiangguo Monastery into two Chan and eight Vinaya cloisters. Chan Master Zongben was decreed to reside at Huilin, and was granted an audience at the Yanhe Hall to inquire about the Dharma.

19.12

(6. Xin-you) Chan Master Qingxian of Jizhou showed the cessation. He was from the Zhuo clan of Fuzhou. He was a Dharma heir of Chan Master [Huanglong Hui]nan. When the smoke from his cremation spread, relics were scattered for more than forty li. Su Ziyou composed an inscription for him.

19.13

(Gui-hai) The construction of Fayun Monastery in the capital was completed.

19.14

(7) Touzi [Yiqing] of Shuzhou, named Yiqing, was originally a man of Qingshe from the Li clan. At age seven, he was extraordinarily precocious, left home at Miaoxiang Monastery, and at age fifteen passed the examination on the Lotus Sūtra to be ordained as a fully ordained monk. His master had him study the Treatise on the Hundred Dharmas (Śatadharma-vidyāmukha-śāstra), but he sighed and said: 'The path of the three asaṃkhyeya kalpas is distant; what benefit is there in tormenting oneself?' He went to the Luoyang region and listened to the Avataṃsaka Sūtra for five years. Reflecting back on the texts, he saw them all like meat pierced upon a spit, having the same taste of meaning everywhere. Once, lecturing up to Bodhisattva Dharmamati's verse, 'The mind itself is the self-nature,' he was suddenly awakened with a shock and said: 'The Dharma is free from words; how could it be lectured on?' He then abandoned it, went on pilgrimage, and reached Fushan. At that time, Master [Fushan Fa]yuan, Yuanjian, had stepped down from his abbot's seat to reside at Huisheng Rock. He dreamt of catching an extraordinary falcon and keeping it. When he awoke, Yiqing happened to arrive. Yuan took this as an auspicious sign and treated him with special courtesy. Yiqing stayed for three years. Yuan asked him: 'A non-Buddhist asked the Buddha: "I do not ask about the spoken, nor do I ask about the unspoken." The World-Honoured One remained silent. How do you understand this?' As Yiqing attempted to speak, Yuan abruptly covered his mouth with his hand. Thereupon Yiqing was awakened and bowed down to acknowledge it. Yuan said: 'Have you subtly awakened to the abstruse subtlety?' He replied: 'Even if there were a subtle awakening, it must also be spat out.' At the time, Attendant Zi was at his side and said: 'Today Qing of the Avataṃsaka is like someone recovering from illness by breaking into a sweat!' Yiqing looked back and said: 'Shut your dog mouth! If you prattle any more, I will vomit right now.' He served diligently for another three years. Fushan entrusted him with Dayang's leather sandals and cloth cassock, saying: 'Continue the tradition of the Dongshang lineage on my behalf. I will not remain long in this world. Protect and preserve it well; do not linger here.' Yiqing then took his leave and departed the mountain. He read through the Great Canon at Huiri Monastery on Mount Lu. In the sixth year of Xining, he returned to Longshu. Monastics and laypeople invited him to reside at Haihui Monastery on Mount Baiyun. Calculating the years since he obtained the Dharma, it had just been several decades up to that point. Eight years later, he moved to Mount Touzi. His reputation in the Way spread further day by day, and the Chan practitioners increased daily. The flourishing of extraordinary sprouts indeed fulfilled the earlier omen. Throughout his life, Yiqing never kept extra possessions, having only a tattered cassock and a paper quilt. Originally, Ciji, the founder of the mountain, had left a record saying: 'If my stupa turns red, it signifies my return.' By chance, local people renovated his stupa and made it the color of carnelian; not long after, Yiqing took charge of the affairs of the cloister. The mountain originally had no water, which the assembly always found distressing. Suddenly, a spring welled up among the rocks of the mountain, sweet, cool, and pure. Prefect He named it 'Return Spring'. Toward the end of the fourth month in the sixth year of Yuanfeng, he manifested a slight illness and took leave of the prefectural officials and various donors by letter. On the fourth day of the fifth month, after bathing, ascending the hall, and taking farewell of the assembly, he wrote a verse: 'In two places I dwelt on mountains, with nothing to aid the Way. / Take care, all of you; there is no need to search and seek.' He then placidly passed away. His sacred bones and relics were gathered after cremation and enshrined in a stupa behind the Sanfeng Hermitage to the northwest of the monastery. He had seen fifty-two years of life, with thirty-seven summer retreats. Yang Jie, Master Wuwei, composed a praise for his portrait: 'One shoe and two ox hides; / Where the golden bird crows, the wooden rooster flies. / In the middle of the night, the old oil-seller laughs; / The white-headed has borne a black-headed child.' He had one foremost Dharma heir, named Chan Master Daokai.

19.15

(8. Jia-zi) Sima Guang presented the work he had compiled to the throne, and the emperor bestowed on it the title Zizhi Tongjian, personally composed a preface, and conferred upon him the rank of Hanlin Academician of the Zizheng Hall. He once composed 'A Record of the Avataṃsaka Dharma Hall of Zhenru in Xiushui', which reads: 'In the summer of the ren-chen year, in the fourth month, the monk Qingbian came to my gate and reported: "I, Qingbian, am a monk of the Zhenru Caotang in Xiuzhou. Zhenru formerly had a lecture hall, but it was low and cramped, insufficient to shelter scholars. Together with my fellow-practitioner Huizong, I repaired and renovated it, and now it stands lofty and prominent. We wish to obtain your writing to carve on stone so as to inform those who come after." Guang declined, saying: "My writing is not worthy to grace an inscription, and furthermore, throughout my life I have not studied Buddhist books and do not know what to say. Master, please request it of someone else." He said: "I, Qingbian, would not presume to ask anyone else. Therefore, I have come solely to you; how could you decline?" Guang resolutely declined but could not avoid it, so he spoke, saying: "Master, in building this hall, what was your intention?" He said: "In building this hall, I addressed the people in the hall, saying: 'Can you gentlemen thoroughly fathom our Buddha's scriptures? If you cannot, we shall seek capable persons from all quarters.' They all bowed, apologized, and admitted inability. Thereupon, leading one another, we went to Jingyan Monastery to invite the śramaṇa Daohuan to be our teacher. I then addressed his disciples, saying: 'All you gentlemen, from now into the future, work together with one mind: if the hall collapses, prop it up; if the teacher is missing, replenish the seat, even until metal and stone wear away and mountains and abysses are leveled, yet the sound of lectures and recitations must not cease.'" Guang said: "The master's aspiration is indeed admirable. Yet, although I have not studied Buddhist books, I have also casually heard of what kind of man the Buddha was. The Buddha was presumably a worthy man of the Western Regions. In his character, he was pure, frugal, and had few desires, compassionate and loving toward all creatures. Therefore, he wore patched clothes, ate coarse vegetable foods, lived in caves and dwelt in the wilderness, rejecting wife and banishing children; thus he provided for himself very frugally and feared troubling others. Even plants, trees, insects, and fish he did not dare kill arbitrarily, wishing to live alongside all things without harming one another. All these practices were meant to cleanse his body and avoid being burdened by material things. In China, men like Yuling Zizhong and Jiao Xian were close to this. The virtue of a sage is comprehensive; the virtue of a worthy is extensive. What is comprehensive leaves nothing uncovered, yet men of the degenerate stream still cannot avoid abandoning the root and turning their backs on the source; how much more so for those who are partial? Therefore, later generations who composed Buddhist books grew further astray and more corrupted day by day. None failed to aggrandize their master's words, adding to them with extravagant, monstrous, false, and deceptive statements to shock worldly people and acquire worldly wealth, enriching themselves without knowing when to stop. Thus, the cost of a single robe may be a hundred pieces of gold, worse than silks and satins; the price of a single meal may be ten thousand coins, worse than fine roasted meats. They rely on high halls and huge mansions to provide for themselves—how could the Buddha's intention have been like this? Throughout the realm, those who serve the Buddha are without exception like this, and the people of Wu are the worst. The master's construction of this hall is intended to illuminate the Buddha's Way. You must reflect deeply on the fundamental source and not indulge in the degenerate streams; then the benefit of this hall will indeed not be minor!"'

19.16

(9) Li Pingshan of the Jin State said: 'Su Shi's epitaph for Sima Guang states: "The duke did not like Buddhism, saying: 'Its subtleties mostly do not exceed our books; its extravagances I do not believe.' Alas! Can the obstruction of intelligence in men really be as severe as this? If it is identical, he considers it to derive from our books; if it is different, he considers it extravagant and does not believe it. This merely suffices to obstruct his own intelligence! When the ways of the sages communicate with each other, it is like key and lock; when they accord with each other, it is like matching tallies. Separated by thousands of miles, they are as if in one room; succeeding each other across tens of thousands of generations, they are as if at one mat. Therefore Confucius said: 'There is a sage in the West.' Zhuangzi said: 'To meet a great sage ten thousand generations hence who understands his explanation is like meeting him morning and evening.' How could their subtle points not be identical? Liezi said: 'In antiquity, spiritual sages first communed with ghosts, spirits, and demons; next they reached the people of the eight directions; finally they assembled birds, beasts, insects, and moths. They fully knew the conditions of all things and thoroughly understood the sounds of diverse species. Nothing was omitted from their teachings.' What extravagance is there in this? Confucius wandered within the realm; therefore he set aside what was beyond the six directions without discussing it. Men beyond the realm such as Zou Yan, Lie Yukou, and Zhuang Zhou left nothing undiscussed, though their words were not as detailed as those in Buddhist books. Because it was not what his ears and eyes could reach, Guang did not dare believe it. Yet precisely because it is not what ears and eyes can reach, how dare we not believe it? Guo Pu was a diviner; his predictions for ten years in the Jin dynasty were like matching tallies. Do you doubt that our Buddha could remember the many kalpas numbering in the millions? Zuo Ci was a sorcerer; his transformations of form in the Wei capital were all identical to real things. Do you doubt that our Buddha could manifest thousands of hundreds of millions of transformation bodies? People believe Fei Changfang's travels inside a gourd; yet do they not believe the statement that Vimalakīrti's ten-foot-square room accommodated thirty thousand seats and that Sumeru was contained inside a mustard seed? People believe the dream on the pillow of Handan; yet do they not believe that the stupa of Prabhūtaratna Buddha remained for five thousand kalpas, or the saying that an asaṃkhyeya kalpa is crossed in the snapping of a finger? If you disbelieve both, I wonder whether Guang ever had a dream? Closing his eyes on a single bed, vividly for a short while, mountains, rivers, and settlements appear distinctly in form; what people, objects, and utensils are not present? In bowing, rising, and social exchanges among them, a realm forms of itself. This is merely a phantom projection of the sixth distinguishing consciousness of an ordinary person. Its power is such; how much more so with the Tathāgata's Great Round Mirror Wisdom and the bodhisattvas' illusory samādhi? Students should understand this for themselves and not be hijacked by empty reputation!'

19.17

(10. Yichou) Cheng Hao, styled Master Mingdao by his disciples. Shenzong, having long heard of his renown, summoned him for several audiences. One day, because he disagreed with Wang Anshi during a discussion of affairs, Anshi said: “Your learning, sir, is like scaling a wall—it means it is difficult to put into practice.” Hao said: “The Participant in Determining Governmental Matters' learning is like catching the wind.” Li Ding impeached him, claiming that at the very beginning of the New Policies he had taken the lead in voicing contrary opinions, so he was dismissed and returned to his former post. Furthermore, because he was implicated in a case involving an escaped prisoner, he was demoted to controller of Ruzhou. When the Emperor ascended the throne, he summoned him to be Director of the Imperial Clan Court, but before he could set out, he died. Hao and his younger brother Yi discussed learning with Zhou Dunyi of Runan; thereupon they came to loathe the practices of the civil service examinations and sighed with aspiration for the Dao. Claiming that after Meng Ke died the sacred learning was not transmitted, he took the revival of this cultural tradition as his personal duty. His words said: “That the Dao is not illuminated is because heterodox teachings harm it. In the past, the harm was close at hand and easy to recognize; today, the harm is deep and difficult to discern. In the past, when they deluded people, they took advantage of their ignorance and darkness; today, when they deluded people, they build upon their intelligence and brilliance. They proclaim themselves to have exhausted the spirit and understood transformation, yet they are inadequate to open up things and accomplish affairs. In name there is nowhere they do not pervade, but in reality they stand outside human relations. Although it is said they exhaust the deep and reach the subtle, one cannot enter the Way of Yao and Shun through them. If scholars under heaven are not shallow, crude, and obstinately obstructed, they will certainly fall into this. Ever since the Dao was not illuminated, deviant, absurd, strange, and wondrous theories have arisen in competition, blocking the ears and eyes of the people and drowning the world in defilement. Men of great talent and bright intelligence are glued to what they see and hear, drunkenly living and dreaming their lives away without realizing it. These are all weeds choking the correct path, blockages at the sage's gate. Refuting them allows one to enter the Dao.” His teaching of people proceeded from extending knowledge to knowing where to abide, from sincerity of intention to bringing peace to all under heaven, from sprinkling, sweeping, answering, and replying to exhausting principle and fulfilling nature—methodical and orderly. He lamented that worldly scholars cast aside what is near to pursue what is far, and occupy the low while peering at the high, so that they take things lightly and grow conceited, in the end achieving nothing. ○ Layman Li Pingshan of the Jin dynasty made this refutation:

19.18

(11) Cheng Hao, discussing learning with Zhou Dunyi, said: “That the Dao is not illuminated is because heterodox teachings harm people. In ancient times, the harm was close at hand and easy to recognize; today, the harm is deep and difficult to discern. In the past, when they deluded people, they took advantage of their ignorance and darkness; nowadays, when they delude people, they build upon their intelligence and brilliance. They proclaim themselves to have exhausted the spirit and understood transformation, yet they are inadequate to open up things and accomplish affairs. In name there is nowhere they do not pervade, but in reality they run contrary to human relations. Although it is said they exhaust the deep and reach the subtle, one cannot enter the Way of Yao and Shun through them. If scholars under heaven are not shallow, crude, and obstinately obstructed, they will certainly fall into this.” How lamentable! When the various Confucians rejected the words of the Buddha and Laozi, none spoke with such profundity and bitter distress as this statement. Yet reading the *Zhouyi*, I know that heterodox teachings are not to be wondered at; reading *Zhuangzi*, I know that heterodox teachings are all delightful; reading the *Vimalakīrti Sūtra*, I know they are not heterodox teachings; and only upon reading the *Avataṃsaka Sūtra* do I know there are no heterodox teachings at all. The *Zhouyi* says: “The Dao proceeds concurrently without mutual conflict; whether staying or departing, silent or speaking, different paths lead to the same destination, one coherence emerges from a hundred ponderings.” Although there are heterodox teachings, why should they be wondered at? *Zhuangzi* says: “Not perceiving the wholeness of heaven and earth, the grand substance of the methods of the Dao of the ancients was torn apart by the world, like ears, eyes, nose, and mouth which do not communicate with each other, or hawthorns, pears, tangerines, and pummelos whose tastes are not the same. Though inadequate to govern the world, they may be used by the world; the vast, deceptive, strange, and wondrous are all unified through the Dao.” Thus heterodox teachings are all delightful. The *Vimalakīrti Sūtra* says: “All false views and outsiders are my attendants; only a bodhisattva on the sixth ground acts as Māra, slandering the Buddha, reviling the Dharma, not entering the saṃgha, and falling along with the six teachers—only then may they receive food.” Thus there are no heterodox teachings. The *Avataṃsaka Sūtra* says: in the “Entry into the Dharma Realm” chapter, all the good friends, in asaṃkhyeya numbers, have practiced the bodhisattva path throughout immeasurable kalpas: kings, elders, householders, monks, nuns, women, young maidens, non-Buddhists, ghosts, spirits, ship captains, physicians, diviners, and incense sellers—none are not Dharma gates. Fifty-three types are briefly shown: the cruelty of King Anagāmin, the licentiousness of the woman Vasumitrā, the asceticism of the ṛṣi Jayoṣmīya, the play of the children piling up sand, the weirdness of Mahādeva, the deep obscurity of the night goddesses—all possess the gate of great liberation. Within this Dharma realm there is no longer any such thing as heterodox teachings. The Dao has no past or present; how could harm have depth or shallowness? One only fears that the ignorant and dark are not necessarily ignorant and dark, while those of brilliant intelligence merely claim themselves to be brilliant. Let us try to discuss this: the three sages emerged together during the Zhou dynasty, like the sun, moon, and stars converging over Fusang, or like the Yangzi, Yellow River, Huai, and Han draining into the abyss of the Weilu. This was no accident! Their minds were the same, but their traces differed; their Dao was one, but their teachings were three. Confucius wandered within the bounds of society; in guarding the people, he was deeply afraid that they would be dazzled by excessively high teachings, thus becoming untethered with nowhere to return, so he restrained them through the teachings of the names. Laozi wandered beyond the bounds of society; in guiding the world, he was keenly afraid that they would be benighted by the most subtle words, thus becoming blocked with nowhere to enter, so he revealed true principle to them. That there were slight divergences—this is why their disciples became splintered and did not agree. But when the scriptures of our Buddha came east, they were not like this. Immense, they encompass heaven and earth with room to spare; subtle, they enter the autumn down without a gap. Using words of dreams, they play with these phantom humans: the five precepts and ten virtues open the path of humans and devas in the Deer Park; the four dhyānas and eight concentrations establish the śrāvaka vehicle beneath Vulture Peak; the six perfections and ten thousand practices plant the cause of the bodhisattva; the three bodies and four wisdoms bear the fruit of the Tathāgata. Ascending to right awakening in a single instant, they ferry across sentient beings through asaṃkhyeya kalpas. Vertically exhausting the three realms, horizontally pervading the ten directions, they turn the wheel of Dharma in the snap of a finger, and bring forth scripture rolls from within a speck of dust. The fine details of the vinaya conduct comprise eighty-four thousand, and the wondrous awakenings, in layers simple and compound, count twelve. Secretly supplementing the classics of rites, which the Plain King did not establish, and directly opening the learning of the Dao, which the Dark Sage found hard to articulate—when the teaching is widely practiced, who does not receive its bounty? Like fish swimming in the great ocean, plunging and emerging within it; like birds flying in the great void, free and unfettered everywhere. Perfuming flesh and bone like campaka fragrance, irrigating the viscera like the nectar of immortality. Pen, ink, and literary compositions are also the play of samādhi; the Daoist cap and the Confucian shoes are all the bodhimaṇḍa of the bodhisattva. The intelligence and eloquence of you gentlemen must also have had their origins; it is merely that due to events of other lives you have forgotten them. What is more, the Cheng brothers' learning stemmed from Buddhist scriptures; why must you intentionally slander and injure them? Furthermore, word by word you teach people with sincerity, yet you yourself produce such utterances! If you intend to deceive others, it is foolish; if you intend to deceive yourself, it is madness. What a pity! When your discourse on exhausting nature and principle reached such a point, yet your breast still held this sort of thing, your illness had truly reached the vitals! Alas!

19.19

(12. Bingyin) Zhezong Xu (the sixth son of Shenzong. Initially Prince of Yan'an Commandery. When Shenzong became gravely ill, he was established as Crown Prince. He once suffered from a wasting illness, and detested officials looking up at him, turning to have them executed; he was not a benevolent ruler. He ascended the throne at age ten, with Empress Dowager Gao presiding at court. After nine years he was given personal rule. He passed away at the age of twenty-five and was buried at the Yongtai Mausoleum. He reigned for fifteen years) changed the reign era to Yuanyou.

19.20

Liao dynasty: the twenty-second year of Xianyong.

19.21

(13) Zhang Shangying, styled Wujin, sent off the Daoist master Jian Gongchen, courtesy name Yizhi, with a preface, on his way to consult Chan Master Zhaojue Changzong of Mount Lu. His text reads: “The Chengdu Daoist Jian Yizhi came and spoke to me, saying: ‘In my native place, the feathered-robe clans intermarry generation after generation, taking wives and begetting children no different from the common folk. Because I read the *Daoist Canon* and the biographies of divine immortals, I was abruptly awakened. When my blood and qi were strong and my sight and hearing sharp, warblings and sweet singing pleased my ears, cyan, yellow, red, and white dazzled my eyes, sweetness, crispness, fat, and marrow delighted my mouth, rich and fragrant perfumes suited my nose, smooth, delicate, and soft textures relaxed my body, and joy, excitement, and turbulence stirred my mind. These six bandits, taking advantage of my bewilderment, were intimate with me day and night, never once leaving me. Once my form was consumed and emaciated, my qi consumed and decayed, my essence consumed and withered, and my spirit consumed and exhausted, pressed by the eight winds, cold, and heat, and deceived by the hundred evils, ghosts, and haunts, my yin hun-soul was about to sink and my yang po-soul about to take flight. Then the six bandits could never take my place, and the supreme bitterness of the world had to be borne by me alone. In the bedchamber there is no affection like that for a wife; in blood and flesh there is no bond like that with a daughter. I thereupon took everything in my pouch, gave it to them, and took my leave. Deceiving them with another matter, I traveled a hundred li, then sailed down the Fu River, descending the Pu River, passing through Jinyun, emerging from Mount Tu, visiting Master Cen's cavern residence, paying respects at the shrine of the Divine Maiden, and reaching Zhugong. I am now about to sail the Jiujiang to enter Mount Lu, build a thatched hut in the Brocade Valley, let out a long whistle at the crest of Incense Burner Peak, caress Tao [Qian]'s stone to reminisce from afar, and greet Yuan [Huiyuan]'s creek to wash my feet. For my method takes nature as its foundation and life-destiny as its reliance, beginning with purposeful action and ending with non-action. I have humbly heard that you, sir, have investigated the purport of separation and subtlety, exhausted the return of mind and traces, played the tune of the stringless lute, and mastered the mechanism of the iron ox. Therefore, I have come from afar to see you; please speak to me for a while.’ I said: ‘How magnificent is your resolve! You can do what is difficult to do, and abandon what is difficult to abandon; I am not your equal. I happen to have an ailment of the mouth and cannot answer you. I have a companion beyond the worldly bounds named Changzong who resides at Donglin. He will certainly be able to resolve your doubts. Please take my words and go inquire of him.’”

19.22

(Dingmao) An imperial edict was issued converting the Lingfeng Temple on Mount Dahong into a Chan monastery.

19.23

(14) Supreme Clergy Controller Ŭich'ŏn, surnamed Wang, was the fourth son of King Munjong Inhyo of Koryŏ. Renouncing worldly glory, he left the household and was enfeoffed as Supreme Clergy Controller Who Protects the World. Early in the Yuanyou era, he entered the Central Realm to seek the Dao. Ŭich'ŏn submitted a memorial requesting the transmission of the Xianshou (Huayan) teachings. An imperial decree ordered the Two Streets to recommend someone capable of conferring the Dharma. They answered with Chan Master Jueyan Cheng of the Eastern Capital. Cheng nominated Jingyuan of Huayin in Qiantang to take his place. Thereupon, an edict was issued ordering Yang Jie of the Bureau of Reception to escort him to Huayin to receive the Dharma. The various monasteries welcomed and sent him off with the etiquette accorded to an envoy. When he first arrived at the capital, after paying homage at court, an imperial order directed Su Shi of the Ministry of Rites to serve as his escorting host. He visited Chan Master Yuanzhao Ben, who revealed the essential purport to him. When he reached Jinshan, Foyin accepted his salutations while remaining seated. Yang Jie was alarmed and asked about this; Foyin said: “Ŭich'ŏn is merely a monk from a foreign realm. If we bend the Dao to accommodate worldly customs, all directions would first lose an eye; how could we display the standard of masters for Huaxia?” When the court heard of it, they considered that he understood the proper standard. When Ŭich'ŏn reached Huayin, he brought the *Huayan Commentaries and Subcommentaries* to consult and resolve his doubts, completing this after a year. Thereupon, the lost texts and meanings of the Huayan school were transmitted once again. When he met Ciban of Tianzhu, he inquired about the Tiantai path of teaching and contemplation. Later, he traveled to Folong and paid homage at Zhiyi's stupa, vowing: “Having received Ciban's teaching and contemplation, upon returning to my home country I shall propagate them; I pray you grant me unseen protection.” He also met Dazhi of Lingzhi, who expounded the vinaya precepts for him, and Ŭich'ŏn requested to transmit his written works back to his country. Furthermore, he donated gold-inscribed copies of the three translations of the *Avataṃsaka Sūtra* to Huayin (now popularly called Koryŏ Temple) and erected a pavilion to house them.

19.24

(15. Wuchen) Dharma Master Jingyuan of Jinshui in Hangzhou passed away into quiescence in the eleventh month. He was of the Yang clan of Jinjiang. He received the Avataṃsaka from Chengqian of Wutai; [Cheng]qian had once commented on the Jin shizi zhang (Treatise on the Golden Lion). He studied the Helun (Combined Treatise) under Mingtan of Henghai. Returning south, he heard the Śūraṅgama, Complete Enlightenment, and the Awakening of Faith under Changshui [Zixuan]. Senior scholars of the four quarters praised him as a dragon of the doctrinal meaning. When he went to visit his parents in Quan[zhou], he was invited to preside over Qingliang [Monastery]. Later he traveled through Wu and resided at Bao'en and Guanyin [monasteries]. Shen Wentong, the prefect of Hangzhou, established the Xianshou Cloister at Xiangfu [Monastery] to invite him. Later he presided over Mi'yin and Baoge in Qingzhen, and Puzhao and Shanzhu in Huating. The Korean monk superintendent Ŭich'ŏn crossed the sea to seek the Dharma and offered the courtesies of a disciple. Originally, the commentaries and sub-commentaries of the Avataṃsaka school had long been scattered and lost; because Ŭich'ŏn brought them to inquire and resolve his doubts, what had been lost was recovered. Pu Zongmeng, Assistant Director of the Left, was governing Hangzhou; sympathizing with his arduous aspiration, he petitioned to convert Huiyin [Monastery] from Chan to the doctrinal school and ordered the master to preside over it. When Ŭich'ŏn returned to his country, he sent back the three translations of the Avataṃsaka written in gold letters, in one hundred and eighty fascicles, to present to the master and to pray for the longevity of the sovereign (the sixty-fascicle translation jointly made by Dharma Master Buddhabhadra under the Jin; the eighty-fascicle translation by Śikṣānanda under the Tang; and the forty-fascicle translation by Dharma Master Chengguan from the text presented by Uḍra under the Tang). The master then built a great pavilion to enshrine them. At that time, people hailed the master as the leader of the revival of the doctrinal school. Because this monastery enshrined the sutras written in gold letters, it was popularly called the Koryŏ Temple. His relics were stupaed to the northwest of the temple. He lived to the age of seventy-eight. His ancestors were people of Jinshui in Quan[zhou]; therefore scholars called him 'Jinshui'. This was indeed the third year of Yuanyou.

19.25

(16) Chan Master Zanyuan of Jiangshan was styled Wanzong. He was a man of Yiwu in Wuzhou, a distant descendant of the Great Being Fu of Shuanglin. At three years of age he left home, and at seven he became a fully ordained monk. By nature he was deliberate, calm, tranquil, and reserved in speech; looking at him, he seemed like an unpolished, simple man. Yet among historical records and biographies, there was nothing he had not perused. When he gave voice to phrases, they mostly bore a cadence far beyond the mundane dust, though he composed them only rarely. At the age of fifteen he traveled on pilgrimage; arriving at Shishuang, he visited Ciming [Chuyuan], pestling grain and chopping firewood. In quiet obscurity he spent ten years among the assembly. When [Ci]ming moved to Nanyue, he accompanied him again. When [Ciming] died, he buried his bones at Shishuang, and departed only after planting crops for eight years. He served Master Xin of Jiangshan as an elder brother; when Xin died, Yuan succeeded to his seat. When the Prince of Shu (Wang Anshi) first observed mourning for his mother, he read sutras in the mountains and associated with Yuan like a brother. When he asked about the ancestral masters' cardinal purport, Yuan did not answer. The Prince questioned him even more insistently. Yuan said: 'You, Sir, have three obstacles to prajñā, but you possess the natural capacity for nearing the Way. In one or two lifetimes, I fear it will ripen fully.' The Prince said: 'I wish to hear your explanation.' Yuan said: 'You are endowed with a vast, unyielding spirit, and your worldly entanglements are deep. Meeting deep worldly entanglements with a vast, unyielding spirit, you will certainly take upon yourself the heavy burdens of the world; harboring ambitions of statecraft, you cannot be certain whether you will be employed or dismissed, and thus your mind is not at peace. Holding ambitions of ordering the world with an unpeaceful mind, when will you ever be able to abide in one thought for ten thousand years? Moreover, you are prone to anger, and in your learning you prioritize rational principles; for the Way, this is the ignorance born of knowledge. These are the three. On the other hand, you view fame and profit like shed hair, and relish simplicity and austerity like a dhūta; this is what nears the Way. For now, you should nourish it with the doctrinal vehicles; that will do.' The Prince bowed twice and accepted the instruction. From the beginning of the Xining era, the Prince entered into imperial audience; he was subsequently employed in high office, attained genuine premiership, and his noble standing shook the realm. Not a month passed without tidings, yet Yuan never unfolded [the letters] to read them. When guests came, whether noble or lowly, he spoke no words beyond conventional greetings, then closed his eyes as if entering samādhi; the guests would then leave. He was once feeding the monks when suddenly a fire was reported in the kitchen storehouse, spreading toward the Chaoyin Hall. The assembly spewed their food in frantic confusion, like swarming bees and disturbed ants; yet Yuan went on sipping and eating as if nothing were happening, gazing up at the roof beams. When the meal was finished, he asked nothing about it. Another time, when he had gone outside the city walls, a madman entered the temple, slashed a monk to death with a blade, and then killed himself, their corpses lying one upon the other. Attendants ran to report it, their footsteps crossing on the road. Returning from the Baixia Gate with his followers, Yuan passed the place of the corpses without ever glancing at them. He ascended to his quarters and sat upright. The attendants stood to the side, hoping Yuan would do something to deal with it, but he kept his eyes closed as usual. Thereupon, they slipped away one by one, and in the end he never asked about it. At the beginning of Yuanyou, he said: 'I wish to return to Eastern Wu,' and urged that preparations be made.

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佛祖歷代通載 — Classical Chinese