高僧傳 14.282

14.282

君白：一日以所撰《高僧傳》相簡，意存箴艾，而來告累紙，更加拂拭。顧惟道藉人弘，理由教顯。而弘道釋教，莫尚高僧。故漸染以來，昭明遺法，殊功異行，列代而興。敦厲後生，理宜綜綴。貧道少乏懷書抱筴自課之勤，長慕鉛墨塗青揚善之美。故於聽覽餘閒，厝心傳錄。每見一分可稱，輒有懷三省。但歷尋眾記，繁約不同，或編列參差，或行事出沒，已詳別序，兼具來告。所以不量寸管，輒樹十科。商搉條流，意言略舉。而筆路蒼茫，辭語陋拙。本以自備疎遺，豈宜濫入高聽？檀越既學兼孔釋，解貫玄儒，抽文綴藻，內外淹劭，披覽餘暇，脫助詳閱。故忘鄙俚，用簡龍門。然事高辭野，久懷多愧，來告吹噓，更增㥏𭟓。今以所著贊論十科，重以相簡。如有紕謬，請備斟酌。釋君白。

Huijiao states: The other day I submitted the *Biographies of Eminent Monks* which I compiled, intending to seek your corrective criticism; yet in your kind letter running to several sheets of paper, you have added lavish praise. Reflecting that the Way relies on humanity to be propagated, and principle is manifested through the teachings, nothing surpasses eminent monks in propagating the Way and expounding the teachings. Therefore, since the gradual infusion [of the Dharma], illuminating the transmitted teachings, extraordinary merits and uncommon deeds have arisen through successive dynasties. To encourage and spur future generations, it is proper to synthesize and arrange them. In my youth, I lacked the diligence of carrying books and slips to school myself; in maturity, I admired the beauty of using ink to extol goodness. Hence, in the leisure remaining from listening and reading, I devoted my mind to recording biographies. Whenever I saw a single commendable trait, I reflected on it repeatedly. However, examining the various records, they differed in detail and brevity: some were irregular in arrangement, while others had gaps in their accounts, as already detailed in my separate preface and also set forth in your letter. Therefore, without measuring my meager brush, I established ten categories. Discussing their categories and streams, I have briefly presented their themes and words. Yet my literary path is dim and indistinct, and my diction crude and clumsy. Originally intended merely to supply my own deficiencies, how could it dare intrude upon your lofty hearing? You, dānapati, have mastered both Confucianism and Buddhism, and your comprehension bridges the profound and the secular. In crafting prose and composing verse, your grasp of inner and outer learning is vast and eminent. If in the leisure from your perusal you might happen to assist by reviewing it closely, I therefore forgot my vulgarity and submitted it to your Dragon Gate. Yet the matter is lofty and the language unrefined, for which I have long harboured much shame; and your letter of glowing praise adds all the more to my embarrassment. Now I present again the eulogies and treatises of the ten categories for your inspection. If there are errors, please feel free to correct them. Shi Huijiao states.