釋氏稽古略 2.63

2.63

釋道安法師　常山扶柳衛氏子。世業儒。早失恃怙依表兄。年十一出家師事佛圖澄。讀書日記萬言。才辯無敵。性聰而貌醜。時語曰漆道人驚四隣。及澄卒率徒眾渡河依陸渾山。木食㵎飲。至是武帝寧康元年於襄陽立檀溪寺。建浮圖鑄銅佛像。武帝聞安名詔曰。法師以道德照臨天人。使大法流行為蒼生依賴。宜日食王公祿。所司以時資給。安固辭不受。己卯晉太元四年二月。秦主堅攻取襄陽。得安而喜。謂左右曰。吾以十萬師取襄陽。得一人半耳。左右問為誰。曰安公一人。習鑿齒半人也。安至長安。沙門萬數各隨其師為姓。安曰師莫如佛世尊也。應沙門宜以釋為氏。及增一阿含經至乃云。四河入海無復異名。四姓出家同稱釋氏。與經符合。世益重之。己丑年正月晦日命門徒具浴。忽有異僧出入隙中。安以生處問之。僧指西北。雲即開見樓閣如幻出。曰彼兜率天也。是夕有數百小兒皆就浴而去。識者以為應真之侶也。二月八日跏趺而逝。安每疏經義必求聖證。安左臂有肉方寸隆起如印。時號印手菩薩。著僧尼軌範及法門清式二十四條。世遵行之（本傳）　秀紫芝編年論曰。佛教之盛由佛圖澄而得安。由安而得遠公。是三大士化儀全偉。

Dharma Master Shi Dao'an: A son of the Wei clan of Fuliu in Changshan. His family had been scholars for generations. Having lost his parents early, he relied on his maternal cousin. At the age of eleven, he left home to serve Fotudeng as his teacher. In reading books, he memorized ten thousand words a day. His talent and eloquence were matchless. He had an intelligent nature but an ugly appearance; people at the time had a saying: "The lacquer-black man of the Way startles the four neighbors." When Deng died, he led his disciples across the River to dwell at Mount Luhun, eating herbs and drinking from streams. By the first year of the Ningkang era of Emperor Wu, he established Tanxi Monastery in Xiangyang, erecting a stupa and casting a bronze Buddha statue. Emperor Wu, having heard of An's fame, issued an edict saying: "The Dharma Master's virtue shines down upon gods and humans, allowing the Great Dharma to circulate widely so that the common people may rely on it. It is fitting that he receive daily stipends worthy of princes and dukes, which the relevant officials shall provide in due season." An firmly declined and did not accept. In the second month of the fourth year of the Taiyuan era of Jin (a jimao year), Qin's ruler Jian attacked and took Xiangyang. Delighted at obtaining An, he told his attendants: "I took Xiangyang with a host of one hundred thousand, only to obtain one person and a half." The attendants asked who they were; he said, "Master An is one person, and Xi Zuochi is half a person." When An arrived in Chang'an, śramaṇas numbered in the tens of thousands, each taking their master's surname as their own. An said, "No master compares to the Buddha, the World-Honoured One. It is proper for all śramaṇas to take 'Shi' (Śākya) as their clan name." Later, when the Ekottara Āgama arrived, it indeed stated: "The four rivers entering the sea no longer have distinct names; the four castes leaving home are all called members of the Śākya clan." This coincided with the sūtra, and the world revered him even more. On the last day of the first month of the jichou year, he ordered his disciples to prepare a bath. Suddenly, an extraordinary monk entered and exited through a gap in the wall. An asked him about his place of rebirth. The monk pointed to the northwest; the clouds immediately parted to reveal multistoried pavilions appearing as if by magic. He said, "That is the Tuṣita Heaven." That evening, several hundred small children all took a bath and departed; those with insight took them to be companions of the arhats. On the eighth day of the second month, he sat cross-legged and passed away. Whenever An commented on the meanings of scriptures, he always sought holy confirmation. On An's left arm, there was a square inch of raised flesh resembling a seal; at the time he was called the Bodhisattva with the Sealed Hand. He composed the Regulations for Monks and Nuns and the Twenty-Four Pure Rules for the Dharma Gate, which were observed by the world (from his biography). Xiu Zizhi's Annalistic Treatise states: "The flourishing of Buddhism was due to Fotudeng obtaining Dao'an, and Dao'an obtaining Venerable Yuan. The transformative conduct of these three great masters was truly magnificent."