釋氏稽古略 3.512

3.512

二月。周帝詔併省天下無勅額寺院。令郡府歲造僧帳。凡死亡者以時開落之。僧帳自此而始。

In the second month, the Emperor of the Zhou issued an edict to merge and abolish monasteries and cloisters throughout the empire that lacked imperial name plaques. He commanded commanderies and prefectures to compile monastic registers annually, deleting those who had died at the proper times. Monastic registers began with this.