高僧傳 4.20

4.20

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.