高僧傳 1.9

1.9

An Qing, courtesy name Shigao, was the crown prince of the principal queen of the king of the Arsacid Empire. In his youth, he was praised for his filial conduct, and in addition was intellectually astute and resolutely fond of learning; he comprehensively mastered foreign classical texts, the seven luminaries, the five phases, medical recipes, unusual arts, and even the sounds of birds and beasts. Once, while walking, he saw a flock of swallows and suddenly said to his companions: 'The swallows say that someone ought to be bringing food.' In a short while, someone indeed brought [food]. Everyone marvelled at it, and therefore his reputation for extraordinary talent spread early throughout the Western Regions. Although Shigao was living as a householder, he observed the precepts strictly and meticulously. When the king passed away, he succeeded to the royal throne, but contemplating deeply on suffering and emptiness, he grew weary of and detached from material existence. Once the mourning observances were completed, he yielded the kingdom to his uncle and left home to practice the Path. He was broadly versed in the sūtrapiṭaka and especially refined in Abhidharma studies; chanting and upholding dhyāna sūtras, he grasped nearly all of their subtleties. Thereafter, he traveled abroad to propagate and convert, journeying through various countries, and at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Huan of the Han, he first arrived in China. With sharp aptitude and quick wit, he could comprehend upon hearing once, and not long after his arrival, he was fully fluent in the Chinese language. Thereupon, he proclaimed and translated various sūtras, changing the foreign into Chinese, producing the Ānāpānasmṛti, the Skandhadhātvāyatana-sūtra, the Greater and Lesser Twelve Gates, and the One Hundred and Sixty Sections. Earlier, the foreign Tripiṭaka master Saṃgharakṣa had compiled the essentials of the sūtras into twenty-seven chapters; Shigao analyzed the seven chapters compiled by [Saṃgha]rakṣa and translated them into the Han language, which is the Yogācārabhūmi-sūtra. In all, the sūtras and treatises he produced earlier and later numbered thirty-nine texts. Their meaning was clear and precise, the phrasing fitting and correct, eloquent without being florid, plain without being crude; all who read them did so tirelessly without fatigue. Shigao investigated principles and fully realized nature, knowing his own karmic affinities; he possessed many miraculous signs that the world could not fathom. In the beginning, Shigao stated of himself that in a previous life he had already left home: he had a fellow student who was prone to anger, and whenever he encountered a donor who was not compliant during piṇḍapāta, he would always resent him. Shigao repeatedly admonished him, but he never reformed. After more than twenty years of this, he bid farewell to his fellow student, saying: 'I must go to Guangzhou to settle an account from a past life. You are clear in the sūtras and diligent, not behind me; however, by nature you are given to anger, and when your life ends you will receive an evil rebirth. If I attain the Path, I will surely deliver you.' Afterwards, he proceeded to Guangzhou. Encountering the great turmoil of bandits, as he walked along the road he met a youth who spat on his hands, drew a blade, and said: 'I have truly caught you!' Shigao smiled and said: 'In a previous life I owed you, so I have come from afar to repay you. Your fury is simply the intention from our former life.' Thereupon, he stretched out his neck to receive the blade, his countenance showing no fear. The bandit then killed him. Those who watched filled the streets, and all were astonished at this extraordinary event. Subsequently, his vijñāna returned to become the crown prince of the Arsacid king, which is the present Shigao in this life.