高僧傳 4.20

4.20

至年二十四，講《法華》、《大品》，既蘊深解，復能善說，故觀風味道者，常數盈五百。晉永嘉初，避亂過江。中宗元皇，及肅祖明帝、丞相王茂弘、大尉庾元規，並欽其風德，友而敬焉。建武太寧中，潛恒著屐至殿內，時人咸謂方外之士，以德重故也。中宗、肅祖昇遐，王、庾又薨，乃隱迹剡山，以避當世。追蹤問道者，已復結旅山門。潛優游講席三十餘載，或暢《方等》，或釋《老》、《莊》。投身北面者，莫不內外兼洽。至哀帝好重佛法，頻遣兩使慇懃徵請，潛以詔旨之重，暫遊宮闕，即於御筵開講《大品》，上及朝士並稱善焉。于時簡文作相，朝野以為至德，以潛是道俗標領，又先朝友敬，尊重挹服，頂戴兼常，迄乎龍飛，虔禮彌篤。潛甞於簡文處遇沛國劉惔，惔嘲之曰：「道士何以遊朱門？」潛曰：「君自覩其朱門，貧道見為蓬戶。」司空何次道，懿德純素，篤信經典，每加祇崇，遵以師資之敬，數相招請，屢興法祀。

By the age of twenty-four, he expounded the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra and the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra; having accumulated profound understanding and being also adept in exposition, those who came to observe his demeanor and savor the Way regularly numbered more than five hundred. At the beginning of the Yongjia era of the Jin dynasty, he crossed the Yangtze River to flee the disturbances. Emperor Yuan (Zhongzong), Emperor Ming (Suzu), Chancellor Wang Maohong, and Grand Commandant Yu Yuangui all admired his demeanor and virtue, befriending and revering him. During the Jianwu and Taining eras, Qian constantly wore wooden clogs when entering the palace halls; people of the time all regarded him as an eccentric scholar beyond the mundane realm, on account of the weight of his virtue. When Zhongzong and Suzu passed away, and Wang and Yu also died, he then concealed his traces in the Shan Mountains to withdraw from the contemporary world. Those who followed his footsteps to inquire about the Way once again gathered in bands at the mountain gate. Qian leisurely occupied the lecture seat for more than thirty years, sometimes elucidating the Fangdeng (vaipulya) scriptures, sometimes interpreting Laozi and Zhuangzi. Among those who committed themselves as his disciples facing north, none failed to be thoroughly versed in both inner and outer learning. When Emperor Ai came to favor and revere the Buddhadharma, he repeatedly dispatched two envoys to courteously summon him; Qian, out of respect for the imperial decree, temporarily visited the imperial palaces, and immediately opened an exposition of the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra before the imperial banquet, where the Emperor and the court officials all praised it. At that time, Jianwen served as Prime Minister and was regarded by both court and countryside as possessing supreme virtue; considering Qian a leader of both the religious and the secular, and revered as a friend by the previous reigns, he honored and submitted to him, bearing him on the crown of his head beyond the ordinary, and when he ascended the imperial throne, his reverent courtesy grew even more sincere. Qian once met Liu Tan of Pei Commandery at Jianwen's residence, and Tan teased him, saying, "Why does a Daoist master frequent the vermilion gates [of the nobility]?" Qian said, "You yourself see them as vermilion gates; this poor monk sees them as thatched huts." Minister of Works He Cidao, whose fine virtue was pure and unadorned and who deeply believed in the scriptures, constantly accorded him deep veneration, treating him with the respect due to a teacher, frequently inviting him, and repeatedly holding Dharma ceremonies.