釋氏稽古略 1.2

1.2

吳興有大比丘。曰寶洲岸公。博學通古今。甞考釋氏事實上下數千載。年經而國緯著書一編。曰稽古手鑑。既又以為未備。復因其舊輯而廣之為稽古略。至正十四年秋九月。太原劉堯輔為之持其書。請於余為序以冠其編首。因取而閱之。蓋自有佛以來。凡名師大德之行業出處。以及塔廟之興壞。僧侶之眾寡。靡不具載。本之內典。參之諸史。旁及於傳記。而間以事之著顯者為之據。將以侈歷代之際遇而寓勸戒於其間。歲月先後。攷覈精審無所遺闕。可謂瞻且詳矣。然猶以略名之寶洲自謙也。竊甞怪夫佛之為教。自身毒萬里。遠至於中國。愈久益盛。根本深固而不可搖拔。其故何也。豈非扶植其教者代有其人與。若是編之所記。往往皆英偉魁傑之才。自重不屈。卓然有立。而使王公卿大夫向慕崇信奔走之不暇。則其扶植之功為何如。此師所以加之纂述表而出之之意也。傳之言曰。道不同不相為謀。佛氏之書非余之所學。余特嘉其聞見之博用心與力之。勒道雖不同而不可以不序。嗚呼觀其書而見其教之盛。知彼之扶植為有人。則亦可以有感也夫。

In Wuxing there was a great bhikṣu named the venerable Baozhou [Jue]'an. He was broadly learned and versed in past and present. He once investigated the historical facts of the Śākya lineage spanning several thousand years, taking the years as warp and the states as weft, and composed a volume entitled the Hand Mirror of Examining Antiquity (Jigu shoujian). Subsequently, considering it still incomplete, he expanded upon his previous compilation to produce the Brief Historical Survey of Examining Antiquity (Jigu lüe). In the autumn of the fourteenth year of Zhizheng [1354], the ninth month, Liu Yaofu of Taiyuan brought this book on his behalf and requested that I write a preface to head the volume. Thereupon I took it and read it. From the time the Buddha appeared, the deeds and lives of eminent teachers and bhadantas, the rise and decline of stūpas and monasteries, and the numbers of monks are completely recorded without omission. He took the internal scriptures as his root, collated them with the various dynastic histories, drew broadly upon biographies, and occasionally drew upon prominent and manifest events as evidence, intending to magnify the patronage across successive dynasties while lodging admonitions and warnings therein. The chronology of years and months was verified with utmost precision, leaving nothing wanting. It can truly be called comprehensive and detailed! Yet he still titled it a 'Brief Survey' out of his personal modesty. I have often wondered at how the Buddhist teaching travelled tens of thousands of li from Shendu to reach China, where the longer it stayed the more it flourished, its roots becoming so deep and firm that they could not be uprooted. What is the reason for this? Is it not because there have been individuals across successive generations who sustained this teaching? Those recorded in this compilation were often men of heroic and eminent talent who maintained self-respect without yielding and stood remarkably upright, causing princes, dukes, and high ministers to look up to them in devotion and faith, hurrying forward with no leisure to spare. How great, then, was their service in sustaining it! This was precisely the Master's intention in compiling and setting it forth. An ancient transmission says: 'Those whose paths are different cannot lay plans together.' The books of the Buddha are not what I have studied. Yet I particularly praise his extensive knowledge and the diligence and energy of his mind. Though our paths are different, I could not decline to write a preface. Alas! Looking at his book and seeing the flourishing of his teaching, and knowing that there were indeed people who sustained it, one can truly be deeply moved.