[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [高僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2059) › 13.83 # 高僧傳 13.83 高僧傳 13.83 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [13.83](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2059.13.83) 論曰：唱導者，蓋以宣唱法理，開導眾心也。昔佛法初傳，于時齊集，止宣唱佛名，依文致禮。至中宵疲極，事資啟悟，乃別請宿德，昇座說法。或雜序因緣，或傍引譬喻。其後廬山釋慧遠道業貞華，風才秀發。每至齋集，輒自昇高座，躬為導首。先明三世因果，却辯一齋大意，後代傳受，遂成永則。故道照、曇頴等十有餘人，並駢次相師，各擅名當世。夫唱導所貴，其事四焉：謂聲辯才博。非聲則無以警眾，非辯則無以適時，非才則言無可採，非博則語無依據。至若響韻鍾鼓，則四眾驚心，聲之為用也。辭吐後發，適會無差，辯之為用也。綺製彫華，文藻橫逸，才之為用也。商搉經論，採撮書史，博之為用也。若能善茲四事，而適以人時。如為出家五眾，則須切語無常，苦陳懺悔。若為君王長者，則須兼引俗典，綺綜成辭。若為悠悠凡庶，則須指事造形，直談聞見。若為山民野處，則須近局言辭，陳斥罪目。凡此變態，與事而興，可謂知時知眾，又能善說。雖然故以懇切感人，傾誠動物，此其上也。昔草創《高僧》，本以八科成傳。却尋經導二技，雖於道為末，而悟俗可崇。故加此二條，足成十數。何者？至如八關初夕，旋繞行周，煙蓋停氛，燈惟靖燿，四眾專心，叉指緘默。爾時導師則擎爐慷慨，含吐抑揚，辯出不窮，言應無盡。談無常，則令心形戰慄；語地獄，則使怖淚交零。徵昔因，則如見往業；覈當果，則已示來報。談怡樂，則情抱暢悅；敘哀慼，則灑淚含酸。於是闔眾傾心，舉堂惻愴。五體輸席，碎首陳哀。各各彈指，人人唱佛。爰及中宵後夜，鍾漏將罷。則言星河易轉，勝集難留。又使人迫懷抱，載盈戀慕。當爾之時，導師之為用也。其間經師轉讀，事見前章。皆以賞悟適時，拔邪立信。其有一分可稱，故編《高僧》之末。若夫綜習未廣，諳究不長，既無臨時捷辯，必應遵用舊本。然才非已出，製自他成。吐納宮商，動見紕謬。其中傳寫訛誤，亦皆依而唱習。致使魚魯淆亂，鼠璞相疑。或時禮拜中間，懺疏忽至。既無宿蓄，恥欲屈頭，臨時抽造，謇棘難辯。意慮荒忙，心口乖越，前言既久，後語未就。抽衣謦咳，示延時節，列席寒心，觀途啟齒。施主失應時之福，眾僧乖古佛之教。既絕生善之萌，祇增戲論之惑。始獲濫吹之譏，終致代匠之咎。若然，豈高僧之謂耶？ > An appraisal says: Vocal cantillators (chàngdǎo) expound and chant the principles of the Dharma to open and guide the minds of the multitude. In ancient times, when the Buddhadharma was first transmitted, whenever people gathered at fasts, they merely chanted the Buddha's names and offered salutations according to the written texts. When they grew utterly exhausted by midnight and matters called for awakening and inspiring them, they would specially invite a senior monk of venerable virtue to ascend the high seat and preach the Dharma. Sometimes they interwove various causes and conditions; sometimes they cited parables and metaphors. Afterwards, Shi Huiyuan of Mount Lu possessed pure, flourishing religious practice and outstanding natural talents. Whenever a fasting assembly took place, he would personally ascend the high seat and lead the cantillation himself. First he illuminated the causes and effects across the three times, and then he explained the overarching meaning of a single fast; later generations transmitted this, and it eventually became an enduring rule. Thus Daozhao, Tanying, and more than ten others succeeded one another as masters, each renowned in his own generation. Now, what is valued in vocal cantillation consists of four things: voice, eloquence, talent, and erudition. Without voice, there is nothing with which to alert the crowd; without eloquence, there is nothing with which to suit the moment; without talent, one's words have nothing worthy of selection; without erudition, one's expressions have no foundation. When the resonance sounds like bells and drums, startling the minds of the fourfold assembly, that is the function of voice. When words are uttered in response to the moment without the slightest discord, that is the function of eloquence. When ornate compositions are richly decorated and literary flourishes run unrestrained, that is the function of talent. When one examines sūtras and treatises and gathers from secular books and histories, that is the function of erudition. If one can master these four matters and adapt them to persons and times—as when preaching for the fivefold assembly of renunciants, one must speak earnestly of impermanence and painfully urge repentance; when preaching for rulers, kings, and elders, one must also cite secular classics and weave them into ornate diction; when preaching for the ordinary run of common folk, one must point directly to affairs and portray concrete shapes, speaking directly of what they hear and see; when preaching for mountain folk and rustic dwellers, one must use immediate, plain language to declare and castigate their sins—all such variations arise in accordance with circumstances, and this may be called knowing the time, knowing the assembly, and also being able to preach skillfully. Even so, it is sincerity and earnestness that move people, and utmost sincerity that sways beings; this is supreme. Formerly, when drafting the \*Biographies of Eminent Monks\*, the biographies were originally organized into eight categories. Yet looking into the two skills of scriptural recitation (jīngshī) and vocal cantillation (chàngdǎo), although they are peripheral to the Way, they are worthy of respect for awakening the worldly. Therefore, these two items were added, bringing the total to ten. Why so? Take, for example, the opening evening of the eightfold fast (aṣṭāṅga-poṣadha): circumambulations have been completed, the canopy of incense smoke hangs still, the lamps shine quietly within their curtains, the fourfold assembly concentrates its mind, clenches its fingers, and keeps silent. At that moment, the cantillator holds the censer with impassioned bearing, raising and lowering his voice; his eloquence flows inexhaustibly, and his words respond without limit. When he speaks of impermanence, he causes minds and bodies to tremble; when he talks of hell (naraka), he makes tears of terror flow mingling together. When he investigates past causes, it is as though past karma were seen; when he examines future results, he has already displayed the coming retribution. When he speaks of joyful delight, their sentiments become carefree and glad; when he recounts sorrow and grief, they shed tears laden with bitterness. Thereupon the whole assembly turns its heart, and the entire hall is moved to sorrow. All five limbs are cast upon the mats, and they knock their heads to express their grief. Each snaps their fingers, and everyone chants the Buddha's name. When it reaches midnight and the late watches, when the bell and clepsydra are about to cease, he says that the river of stars readily shifts and that splendid gatherings are difficult to keep. This again leaves people weighed down with emotion, filled with longing and attachment. At such a time, this is the function of the cantillator! As for the recitation by scriptural masters among them, the matter is seen in the preceding chapter. All of them are honored for their timely awakening of others, eradicating heterodoxy, and establishing faith. Since each possesses a commendable quality, they are compiled at the end of \*Biographies of Eminent Monks\*. But if one's broad learning is not vast and one's deep mastery is not long-standing, lacking quick eloquence on the spur of the moment, one must necessarily follow old manuscripts. Yet when the talent does not stem from oneself and the text was composed by another, in breathing and modulating musical tones, errors are revealed at every turn. Moreover, scribal errors in transcription are also uncritically relied upon and chanted, causing characters like \*yu\* and \*lu\* to be muddled, and stones to be mistaken for jade. Or when, in the midst of worship, a repentance petition suddenly arrives: having no prepared draft beforehand and being ashamed to bow one's head, one hastily invents words on the spot, faltering, stumbling, and hard to understand. With thoughts in disarray, mind and mouth contradict each other; a long time after the preceding words are spoken, the subsequent words are still not formed. Tugging at one's robes and clearing one's throat to stall for time, those in attendance feel their hearts turn cold, and onlookers break into laughter. The donors lose the timely merit, and the assembly of monks goes against the teachings of the ancient Buddhas. Having cut off the sprouts of emerging good, they merely increase the confusion of frivolous discourse (prapañca). In the beginning, they invite ridicule for playing the flute without skill; in the end, they bring upon themselves the blame of usurping the master carpenter's axe. If such be the case, how could they be called eminent monks? > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 13.82](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2059.13.82) - [Next: 13.84](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2059.13.84) - [Up: 13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2059.13) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2059~en-mt.13.83) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2059.13.83](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2059.13.83) · Pramāṇa