高僧傳 1.13

1.13

案釋道安《經錄》云：「安世高以漢桓帝建和二年至靈帝建寧中二十餘年，譯出三十餘部經。」又《別傳》云：「晉太康末，有安矦道人來至桑垣，出經竟，封一函於寺，云：『後四年可開之。』吳末行至楊州，使人貨一箱物以買一奴，名福善，云『是我善知識。』仍將奴適豫章，度䢼亭廟神，為立寺竟，福善以刀刺安侯脇，於是而終。桑垣人廼發其所封函，財理自成字云：『尊吾道者居士陳慧，傳禪經者比丘僧會。』是日正四年也。」又庾仲雍《荊州記》云：「晉初有沙門安世高，度䢼亭廟神，得財物立白馬寺於荊城東南隅。」宋臨川康王《宣驗記》云：「蟒死於吳末。」曇宗《塔寺記》云：「丹陽瓦官寺，晉哀帝時沙門慧力所立，後有沙門安世高，以䢼亭廟餘物治之。」然道安法師既校閱群經，詮錄傳譯，必不應謬。從漢桓建和二年至晉太康末，凡經一百四十餘年，若高公長壽，或能如此，而事不應然，何者？案如康僧會注《安般守意經》序云：「此經世高所出，久之沈翳。會有南陽韓林、穎川文業、會稽陳慧，此三賢者，信道篤密，會共請受，乃陳慧義，余助斟酌。」尋僧會以晉太康元年乃死，而已云：「此經出後，久之沈翳。」又世高封函之字云：「尊吾道者，居士陳慧；傳禪經者比丘僧會。」然《安般》所明，盛說禪業，是知封函之記，信非虛作。既云二人方傳吾道，豈容與共同世？且《別傳》自云：「傳禪經者，比丘僧會。」會已太康初死，何容太康之末，方有安侯道人？首尾之言，自為矛盾，正當隨有一書謬指晉初，於是後諸作者或道太康，或言吳末，雷同奔競，無以校焉。既晉初之說，尚已難安，而曇宗記云：「晉哀帝時，世高方復治寺。」其為謬說過乃懸矣。

According to the Scriptural Catalogue by Shi Dao'an: 'Between the second year of the Jianhe reign of Emperor Huan of the Han and the Jianning reign of Emperor Ling, a period of over twenty years, An Shigao translated over thirty sūtras.' Moreover, a Separate Biography states: 'At the end of the Taikang reign of the Jin, there was a man of the Way named the Marquis An who came to Sangyuan. Having finished producing a sūtra, he sealed a box at the temple, saying: "It may be opened after four years." At the end of the Wu, he traveled to Yangzhou and had someone sell a chest of goods to purchase a slave named Fushan, saying: "This is my good spiritual friend (kalyāṇamitra)." He then took the slave to Yuzhang and crossed over the deity of the Gongting shrine. After building a temple for him, Fushan stabbed Marquis An in the ribs with a knife, whereupon he died. The people of Sangyuan then opened the box he had sealed; the grain of the wood had naturally formed characters that said: "The one who honors my way is the upāsaka Chen Hui; the one who transmits the dhyāna scriptures is the monk Sengui." It was precisely four years to that day.' Furthermore, Yu Zhongyong's Record of Jingzhou states: 'At the beginning of the Jin, there was the śramaṇa An Shigao, who crossed over the deity of the Gongting shrine and, obtaining wealth and goods, erected the Baima Temple in the southeastern corner of the city of Jing.' Prince Kang of Linchuan under the Song states in his Records in Proclamation of Manifestations: 'The python died at the end of the Wu.' Tanzong's Record of Pagodas and Temples states: 'Waguan Temple in Danyang was erected during the reign of Emperor Ai of the Jin by the śramaṇa Huili; later, there was the śramaṇa An Shigao, who repaired it using the leftover property from the Gongting shrine.' However, since Dharma Master Dao'an collated the various scriptures and arranged the records of their translations, he certainly could not have been mistaken. From the second year of the Jianhe reign of Emperor Huan of the Han to the end of the Taikang reign of the Jin is over one hundred and forty years in all. While it might be possible if Master Gao lived to a great age, the facts cannot be so. Why is this? Consider that Kang Senghui's preface to his commentary on the Ānāpānasmṛti-sūtra states: "This sūtra was produced by Shigao, and for a long time it lay obscure. By chance there were Han Lin of Nanyang, Wen Ye of Yingchuan, and Chen Hui of Kuaiji; these three worthy men possessed deep and sincere faith in the Way. Together they requested instruction; Chen Hui then explained the meaning, and I assisted in weighing the interpretations." Now, Sengui died in the first year of the Taikang reign of the Jin, yet he had already stated: "After this sūtra was produced, for a long time it lay obscure." Furthermore, the writing inside the box sealed by Shigao said: "The one who honors my way is the upāsaka Chen Hui; the one who transmits the dhyāna scriptures is the monk Sengui." Now, what the Ānāpāna clarifies deals extensively with the practice of dhyāna; thus we know that the inscription in the sealed box was surely not a fabrication. Since it says that these two men were only then to transmit his way, how could [Shigao] have shared the same era with them? Moreover, the Separate Biography itself states: "The one who transmits the dhyāna scriptures is the monk Sengui." If Sengui had already died at the beginning of the Taikang reign, how could the man of the Way Marquis An have appeared only at the end of the Taikang reign? The statements from beginning to end contradict each other. It must simply be that an errant book mistakenly pointed to the beginning of the Jin, and subsequent writers either spoke of the Taikang reign or mentioned the end of the Wu, blindly following each other in rivalry without any way to verify it. Since the claim regarding the beginning of the Jin is already difficult to accept, Tanzong's record stating that "During the reign of Emperor Ai of the Jin, Shigao once again repaired the temple" is an even more wildly divergent error.