釋鑑稽古略續集 1.44

1.44

'Beneath august Heaven, above all men; Propagator of the Teaching and Promulgator of Letters, Assister of Governance, Great Sage of Utmost Virtue, Universal Awakener of True Wisdom and Enricher of the Realm, Wish-Fulfilling Great Jewel Dharma King, Buddhist Disciple of the Western Heavens, Imperial Preceptor of the Great Yuan, Pandita 'Phags-pa the Imperial Preceptor was a native of Tubo. The various auspicious omens at the time of his birth are detailed in the family genealogy. At first he paid reverence to his paternal uncle Sa-skya Pandita as his teacher. With secret gāthās of one to two thousand words, once they passed before his eyes he could recite them from memory. At the age of seven he expounded the Dharma, his eloquence broad and unrestrained, yet he was still not satisfied. He further consulted renowned elders everywhere, probing the profound and searching the hidden, thoroughly mastering the Tripiṭaka. At the age of fifteen, when Emperor Shizu's dragon virtue lay concealed in the deep, the Master knew that the true mandate had its destination and galloped directly along the post-relay to the prince's palace. Shizu, the inner quarters, and the Eastern Palace all received the precept methods from him and accorded him exceptional honour and reverence. At the age of twenty, Buddhists and Daoists corrected the Laozi huahu jing. Emperor Xianzong decreed that the Master analyze the right and wrong; the Daoists could not reply and abandoned their own doctrines. The Emperor was greatly pleased. At the age of twenty-two, Shizu ascended the throne, established the Zhongtong reign era, and honoured him as National Preceptor, conferring a jade seal upon him, appointing him as Dharma Master of the Central Plains, and putting him in charge of the teachings of the realm. He took leave of the Emperor to return west, but before a month had passed he was recalled. At the age of thirty-one, in the seventh year of Zhiyuan (1270), a decree was issued to create the Great Yuan national script. The Master designed and completed it entirely by his own hand. Fitting the imperial will, it was immediately promulgated to the imperial court, ministries, commanderies, and counties, being observed and applied right down to becoming the institutional regulations of an entire dynasty. He was elevated to Imperial Preceptor and granted an additional jade seal, overseeing the Buddhist teaching across all countries. Soon he returned west again. In the eleventh year of Zhiyuan (1274), a special envoy was sent to summon him to the capital. Princes, dukes, chancellors, ministers, literati, and commoners formed a great incense altar one stage outside the city, setting out grand pure offerings and bowing in ranks to welcome him. The myriads of people looked up in reverence as if a single Buddha had appeared in the world. For Crown Prince Zhenjin, he composed the Zhang suozhi lun (Treatise on Explaining What Should Be Known) in five chapters, which is preserved in the canon and circulates in the world.'