高僧傳 8.35

8.35

Shi Senghui's secular surname was Huangfu, and he was originally a native of Chaona in Anding. He was a descendant of the eminent scholar [Huangfu] Mi. His ancestors had fled hardships and lodged in Xiangyang, where they were a prominent family for generations. Hui went forth from home at an early age, staying at Zhulin Temple in Jingzhou and serving Tanshuan as his teacher. Shun was a disciple of Huiyuan of Mount Lu and had long enjoyed a high reputation. After submitting himself [to Shun], Hui devoted his mind to doctrinal studies. By the age of twenty-five, he was able to lecture on the Nirvāṇa, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, Daśabhūmika, Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, and Saṃyuktābhidharmahṛdaya. Naturally possessed of a powerful memory, he did not need a prompter (dujiang); his analysis of passages and phrases was incisive, and his exposition flowed smoothly. He was also skilled in the Zhuangzi and Laozi, becoming a teacher revered by scholars of the western region. He was friendly with the eminent scholars Zong Bing of Nanyang, Liu Qiu, and others. Bing often praised him, saying: 'That the wheel of the Dharma in the Western Xia does not cease to turn—is it not perhaps due to Master Hui!' Zhang Chang of the state of Wu, when traveling through the western lands, went to visit Hui and asked to form a friendship with him. At the beginning of the Qi dynasty, he was appointed by imperial order as the monastic rector (sengzhu) of Jingzhou. His demeanor was refined and elegant, and in assisting the Dao and aiding the world, his meritorious benefits won him praise far and wide. In his declining years, he often rode a palanquin to the lecture hall. Onlookers called him the 'Bald-Headed Official.' He lived at the same time as Xuanchang, and people of the era referred to them as 'the two outstanding figures in black robes.' He died in the fourth year of the Yongming era of the Qi dynasty (486 CE) at the age of seventy-nine.