高僧傳 6.38

6.38

持有姑為尼，名道儀，住在江夏。儀聞京師盛於佛法，欲下觀化。持乃送姑至都，止于東安寺。晉衛軍瑯瑘王珣，深相器重。時有西域沙門僧伽羅叉，善誦四《含》，珣請出《中阿含經》。持乃校閱文言，搜括詳定後還山。少時，豫章太守范寧請講《法華》、《毘曇》，於是四方雲聚，千里遙集。王珣與范寧書云：「遠公、持公孰愈？」范答書云：「誠為賢兄弟也。」王重書曰：「但令如兄，誠未易有，況復弟賢耶。」兗州刺史瑯瑘王恭致書於沙門僧檢曰：「遠、持兄弟至德何如？」檢答曰：「遠、持兄弟也，綽綽焉信有道風矣。」羅什在關，遙相欽敬，致書通好，結為善友。

Huichi had a paternal aunt who was a nun named Daoyi, who lived in Jiangxia. Having heard that the Buddhadharma flourished in the capital, Daoyi wished to travel down and observe the edification there. Huichi thereupon escorted his aunt to the capital, where they stayed at Dong'an Temple. Wang Xun of Langya, General of the Guard of the Jin, deeply valued and respected him. At the time, there was the Western Regions śramaṇa Saṃgharakṣa, who was skilled in reciting the four Āgamas; Wang Xun requested him to bring forth the Madhyamāgama-sūtra. Huichi then collated the text and phrasing, scrutinized and definitively established it, and afterward returned to the mountain. A short while later, Fan Ning, the Grand Administrator of Yuzhang, invited him to lecture on the Lotus Sūtra and the Abhidharma; thereupon crowds gathered like clouds from the four quarters, assembling from a thousand li away. Wang Xun wrote a letter to Fan Ning, saying: 'Between the Venerable Yuan and the Venerable Chi, who is the better?' Fan replied in a letter: 'They are truly worthy brothers!' Wang wrote back: 'Merely to equal the elder brother is truly no easy thing—how much more so that the younger brother is equally worthy!' Wang Gong of Langya, the Inspector of Yanzhou, sent a letter to the śramaṇa Sengjian, asking: 'How is the supreme virtue of the brothers Yuan and Chi?' Sengjian replied: 'The brothers Yuan and Chi—abundantly indeed do they possess the style of the Way!' While Kumārajīva was at the Pass, he admired and respected Huichi from afar, sending letters to exchange courtesies and bonding as good friends.