釋氏稽古略 4.240

4.240

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?"