釋氏稽古略 4.46

4.46

The śramaṇa Zanning accompanied the King of Wuyue to the imperial court. The emperor bestowed on him the title "Master Tonghui" (Master of Penetrating Wisdom), decreed that he reside at Tianshou Monastery of the Left Street, and ordered him to compile a history of the sangha. In the following year, an imperial decree commanded Zanning to travel by courier relay to present the true-body relic of Śākyamuni Buddha from Mount Aśoka in Mingzhou for worship within the imperial palace. A single grain of the relic was obtained; consequently, on empty ground to the northwest of Kaibao Monastery, an eleven-tiered pagoda was constructed, with a heavenly palace built underneath it to enshrine [the relic] (Huangchao shiyuan). In the tenth month of the seventh year of the Taiping xingguo era, an imperial decree commanded Zanning to compile the Da Song gaoseng zhuan (Great Song Biographies of Eminent Monks), permitting him to return to Zhedong to hold the brush. Formerly, in the eighteenth year of the Tianjian era of Emperor Wu of the Liang, the śramaṇa Huijiao of Jiaxiang Monastery composed the Gaoseng zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Monks), beginning with the tenth year of the Yongping era of Emperor Ming of the Later Han and ending in the Tianjian era, completing fourteen fascicles. In the nineteenth year of the Zhenguan era of Emperor Taizong of the Tang, Vinaya Master Daoxuan of Ximing Monastery on Mount Zhongnan composed the Xu gaoseng zhuan (Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks), beginning with the advent of the Tianjian era and ending in the Zhenguan era, completing thirty fascicles. Zanning's compilation begins with the twentieth year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang and ends here in the first year of the Duangong era, completing thirty fascicles. Following the models and conventions of Liang and Tang, he opened ten categories: first, the category of translators of scriptures; second, the category of exegetes of wisdom; third, the category of practitioners of dhyāna; fourth, the category of vinaya disciplinarians; fifth, the category of defenders of the Dharma; [sixth], the category of grand spiritual responders; seventh, the category of self-immolators; eighth, the category of cantors and reciters; ninth, the category of promoters of blessings; tenth, the miscellaneous category of renowned virtue. Those with primary biographies number five hundred and thirty-three; those appended number one hundred and thirty. In winter, the tenth month of the first year of the Duangong era, he dispatched his disciples Xianzhong and Zhilun to the imperial palace to present a memorial submitting it. An imperial rescript and an award of silk praised and commended [them], decreeing its inclusion in the Great Tripiṭaka for circulation. In the eleventh month, an imperial decree summoned Zanning to the palace. In the first year of the Chunhua era, he received an imperial order to compose the Jiuling shengxian lu (Record of the Sages and Worthies of Vulture Peak) in one hundred fascicles. In the second year of the Chunhua era, an imperial decree appointed Zanning as a compiler in the Institute of Historiography (Diwang nianyun quanyao). In the second year of the Zhidao era, an imperial decree appointed Zanning to oversee the affairs of the Buddhist teaching in the Luoyang capital (Postface to the Song seng zhuan). In the wuxu year, the first year of the Xianping era of Emperor Zhenzong, an imperial decree promoted Zanning to the position of Right Street Monastic Recorder of the Bianjing capital, superintending public affairs of the Buddhist teaching. In the following year, he was promoted to the Left Street. In the spring, the second month of the jihai year, the second year of the Xianping era, the Monastic Recorder of the Left Street in the Eastern Capital, Compiler in the Institute of Historiography, and Superintendent of Public Affairs of the Buddhist Teaching, Master Tonghui Zanning, entered quiescence at the age of eighty-two. In the third month, his whole body was buried at Tianshou Monastery. In the jisi year, the seventh year of the Tiansheng era of Emperor Renzong, Zanning's great-grandson Zongsheng opened the pagoda, cremated him, collected his skeletal relics, and returned to bury them in his native district of Qiantang. Zanning was born in Lin'an County, Hangzhou. During the Tiancheng era of Emperor Mingzong of the Later Tang, he went forth from the household at Xiangfu Monastery in Hangzhou. Early in the Qingtai era of King Lu, he entered Mount Tiantai and fully investigated the Vinaya division, becoming thoroughly versed in the Tripiṭaka. King Zhongyi of Wuyue appointed Zanning as Sangha Controller of Both Streets, bestowing the title "Master Mingyi Zongwen" (Illustrator of Righteousness and Master of the Teaching's Letters). The monastic history and monastic biographies he composed both circulate in the world (Qiantang ta ji).