釋氏稽古略 4.240

4.240

六月九日。韶州南華寺禪師重辯。請龍圖閣學士蘇軾。書柳宗元所撰六祖大鑒禪師碑。軾又題其後曰。釋迦以文設教。其譯於中國。必託於儒之能言者。故大乘諸經至楞嚴則委曲精盡勝妙獨出者。以房融筆受故也。柳宗元南遷始究佛法。作曹溪南嶽諸碑。妙絕古今。自唐以來頌述祖師者多矣。未有通亮簡正如宗元者。蓋推本其言與孟軻氏合。其可不使學者晝見而夜誦之。

On the ninth day of the sixth month, Chan Master Chongbian of Nanhua Monastery in Shaozhou requested the Academician of the Hall of Longtu Su Shi to inscribe the stele of the Sixth Patriarch, Chan Master Dajian, which had been composed by Liu Zongyuan. Shi also appended an inscription after it, which read: "Śākyamuni established the teachings through literature. When they were translated into China, they necessarily depended upon those among the Confucians who were gifted in language. Thus, among the Mahāyāna sūtras, when it comes to the Śūraṅgama, the reason it is so exquisitely detailed, profoundly exhaustive, and singularly wondrous is that it was recorded by the brush of Fang Rong. When Liu Zongyuan was banished to the south, he first began to investigate the Buddha-Dharma, composing various steles for Caoxi and Nanyue that are wondrously supreme across both ancient and modern times. From the Tang dynasty onward, many have eulogized and recounted the patriarchs and masters, yet none have been as thoroughly penetrating, concise, and upright as Zongyuan. For tracing his words back to their root, they accord with Master Meng Ke. How could one not cause students to look upon them by day and recite them by night?"