釋氏稽古略 3.126

3.126

律至日本　開元十四年。日本國沙門榮叡等至揚州。奉僧伽黎衣十領。其上綴以山川異物之狀。蓋其國主附之。以施中國沙門。時鑒真律師受其衣。嘆外國人有佛種性。欲往化之。會叡等勸請。律師遂附舶而東至日本。彼王枉駕迎勞。舘於毘盧殿。未幾請真授歸戒。夫人群臣皆以次稟受。日本自是始有律宗焉（本傳）。

The Vinaya Reaches Japan. In the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan [726], the monk Yōrei and others from the state of Japan arrived in Yangzhou. They presented ten saṃghāṭī robes, upon which were embroidered representations of mountains, rivers, and extraordinary creatures. Their lord had sent them along to be bestowed upon Chinese śramaṇas. At that time, Vinaya Master Jianzhen received the robes and marveled that foreigners had the seed-nature of Buddhahood and wished to go and convert them. Meeting Yōrei and the others who urged and requested him, the Vinaya Master thereupon boarded a ship and sailed east to Japan. Their king took the trouble to come out to welcome and console him, housing him in the Vairocana Hall. Shortly thereafter, he requested Jianzhen to confer the refuges and precepts; the queen and all the ministers received them in succession. From this time onward, Japan began to have the Vinaya school (His biography).