高僧傳 13.21

13.21

暢本秦州人，亦律禁清白，文惠太子奉為戒師。獻後被勅三吳，使妙簡二眾，暢亦東行，重申受戒之法。時暢與獻二僧，皆少習律檢，不競當世，與武帝共語，每稱名而不坐。後中興僧鍾於乾和殿見帝，帝問鍾如宜，鍾答貧道比苦氣。帝嫌之，乃問尚書王儉：「先輩沙門與帝王共語，何所稱？正殿坐不？」儉答：「漢魏佛法未興，不見其記傳。自偽國稍盛，皆稱貧道，亦預坐。及晉初亦然。中代有庾氷、桓玄等，皆欲使沙門盡敬，朝議紛紜，事皆休寢。宋之中朝，亦頗令致禮，而尋竟不行。自爾迄今，多預坐，而稱貧道。」帝曰：「暢、獻二僧，道業如此，尚自稱名，況復餘者，挹拜則太甚，稱名亦無嫌。」自爾沙門皆稱名於帝王，自暢、獻始也。暢以建武初亡，春秋七十有五。獻以建武末年卒，與暢同窆于鍾山之陽。獻弟子僧祐為造碑墓側，丹陽尹吳興沈約製文。獻於西域所得佛牙及像，皆在上定林寺。

Chang was originally a man of Qinzhou, whose observance of the vinaya restraints was likewise clean and pure; Crown Prince Wenhui honored him as his preceptor. Later, Xian was ordered by imperial decree to the Sanwu region to select carefully between the two assemblies, and Chang also traveled east to reaffirm the rites for receiving the precepts. At that time, both Chang and Xian had studied vinaya regulations since youth and did not vie for worldly favor; when conversing with Emperor Wu, they always referred to themselves by name and did not sit. Later, the monk Zhong of Zhongxing Temple had an audience with the emperor in the Qianhe Hall; when the emperor asked Zhong how he was doing, Zhong replied, "This poor monk has recently suffered from a cold humor." The emperor disliked this and asked the Minister Wang Jian, "When senior śramaṇas conversed with emperors in the past, how did they address themselves? Did they sit in the main palace hall?" Jian replied, "In the Han and Wei, the Buddhadharma had not yet flourished, and no such records or biographies are seen. Ever since the illegitimate regimes became somewhat prominent, they all referred to themselves as 'the poor monk' and were also granted a seat; and in the early Jin it was likewise. In the middle era, there were Yu Bing, Huan Xuan, and others, who all wished to make the śramaṇas render full homage, but the court debates were contentious, and the matter was always dropped. During the middle of the Song, they were also somewhat ordered to offer reverence, but in the end it was never implemented. From then until now, they have mostly been granted a seat and referred to themselves as 'the poor monk'." The emperor said, "If two monks like Chang and Xian, with such practice of the Way, still refer to themselves by name, how much more so should others? To bow and prostrate is indeed excessive, but to refer to oneself by name carries no fault." From that time on, śramaṇas all referred to themselves by name before emperors, which began with Chang and Xian. Chang died in the early Jianwu era at the age of seventy-five. Xian died in the late Jianwu era and was buried together with Chang on the south side of Mount Zhong. Xian's disciple Sengyou erected a stele beside his tomb, with the inscription composed by Shen Yue of Wuxing, Governor of Danyang. The Buddha's tooth and image obtained by Xian in the Western Regions are both at the Upper Dinglin Temple.