高僧傳 6.38

6.38

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.