釋氏稽古略 2.63

2.63

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."