釋鑑稽古略續集 3.39

3.39

In the nineteenth year of Yongle, xinchou, the Western monk Great Precious Dharma King came to court. Someone requested that the emperor personally welcome and comfort him, but Xia Yuanji dissuaded him. The emperor said, 'Do you wish to emulate Han Yu?' and therefore did not go out to comfort him. On another day, when the Dharma King entered for an audience, [Xia] Yuanji did not bow. On the twenty-first day of the first month, Left Awakener of Righteousness Huijin and others of the Central Buddhist Registry submitted a memorial regarding the transcription of the Great Canon: 'Respectfully we consider: the imperial court's collation and carving of the canonical scriptures is a rare encounter of a thousand years. Your ministers prostrate and request an imperially composed preface to head the scriptures, enhancing the radiance of the sun of the Buddha to circulate for ten thousand ages; this is truly the supreme blessing of our teaching. For this reason, we respectfully submit this for imperial consideration.' On the thirtieth day of the first month, the emperor inspected the transcribed canonical scriptures and ordered them to be carved right within the monastery, bestowing upon each monk one copy of Wondrous Formula of Mind Transmission. On the tenth day of the eighth month, the monks transcribing the scriptures were instructed to return for the time being: 'Do not come next year; come the year after. This is a matter of your teaching. It would be inconvenient if you had to wait for official documents to fetch you. Once the scripture blocks are carved for the meditating monks, I will send you to sit in the mountains, and I will also establish some affinity by making offerings to you. Respect this.'