[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [續高僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060) › 1.12 # 續高僧傳 1.12 續高僧傳 1.12 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [1.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.1.12) 釋寶唱。姓岑氏。吳郡人。即有吳建國之舊壤也。少懷恢敏清貞自蓄。顧惟隻立勤田為業。資養所費終於十畝。至於傍求。傭書取濟。寓目流略便能強識。文采鋪贍義理有聞。年十八。投僧祐律師而出家焉。祐江表僧望多所製述。具如前傳紀之。唱既始陶津。經律諮稟。承風建德有聲宗嗣。住莊嚴寺。博採群言酌其精理。又惟開悟土俗。要以通濟為先。乃從處士顧道曠呂僧智等。習聽經史莊易。略通大義。時以其遊涉世務。謂有俗志。為訪家室執固不迴。將及三十天廕既崩。喪事云畢。建武二年擺撥常習。出都專聽。涉歷五載又中風疾。會齊氏云季。遭亂入東。遠至閩越。討論舊業。天監四年便還都下。乃勅為新安寺主。帝以時會雲雷遠近清晏。風雨調暢百穀年登。豈非上資三寶中賴四天下藉神龍。幽靈叶贊方乃福被黔黎歆茲厚德。但文散群部難可備尋。下勅。令唱總撰集錄以擬時要。或建福禳災。或禮懺除障。或饗接神鬼。或祭祀龍王。部類區分近將百卷。八部神名以為三卷。包括幽奧詳略古今。故諸所祈求帝必親覽。指事祠禱多感威靈。所以五十許年。江表無事兆民荷賴。緣斯力也。天監七年。帝以法海浩汗淺識難尋。勅莊嚴僧旻。於定林上寺。纘眾經要抄八十八卷。又勅開善智藏纘眾經理義。號曰義林。八十卷。又勅建元僧朗。注大般涅槃經七十二卷。並唱奉別勅。兼贊其功。綸綜終始緝成部帙。及簡文之在春坊。尤耽內教。撰法寶聯璧二百餘卷。別令寶唱綴紕區別。其類遍略之流。帝以佛法沖奧近識難通。自非才學無由造極。又勅唱自大教東流。道門俗士。有敘佛理著作弘義。並通鳩聚。號曰續法輪論。合七十餘卷。使夫迷悟之賓見便歸信。深助道法無以加焉。又撰法集一百四十卷。並唱獨斷專慮。纘結成部。既上親覽。流通內外。十四年。勅安樂寺僧紹。撰華林佛殿經目。雖復勒成未悏帝旨。又勅唱重撰。乃因紹前錄。注述合離甚有科據。一帙四卷。雅悏時望。遂勅掌華林園寶雲經藏。搜求遺逸皆令具足。備造三本以用供上。緣是又勅撰經律異相五十五卷。飯聖僧法五卷。帝又注大品經五十卷。于時佛教隆盛。無德稱焉。道俗才筆互陳文理。自武帝膺運。時三十有七。在位四十九載。深以庭癊早傾。常懷哀感。每歎曰。雖有四海之尊。無由得申罔極。故留心釋典。以八部般若為心良。是諸佛由生。又即除災滌累故。收採眾經躬述注解。親臨法座講讀敷弘。用此善因崇津靈識。頻代二皇。捨身為僧給使。洗濯煩穢仰資冥福。每一捨時地為之震。相繼齋講不斷法輪。為太祖文皇。於鍾山北㵎。建大愛敬寺。糺紛協日臨睨百丈。翠微峻極流泉灌注。鍾鯨遍嶺𨥜鳳乘空。創塔包巖壑之奇。宴坐盡林泉之邃。結構伽藍同尊園寢。經營彫麗奄若天宮。中院之去大門。延袤七里。廊廡相架簷霤臨屬。旁置三十六院。皆設池臺周宇環遶。千有餘僧四事供給。中院正殿有栴檀像。舉高丈八。匠人約量晨作夕停。每夜恒聞作聲。旦視輒覺功大。及終成後乃高二丈有二。相好端嚴色相超挺。殆由神造屢感徵迹。帝又於寺中龍淵別殿。造金銅像舉高丈八。躬伸供養每入頂禮。歔欷哽噎不能自勝。預從左右無不下泣。又為獻太后。於青溪西岸建陽城門路東。起大智度寺。京師甲里爽塏通博。朝市之中途。川陸之顯要。殿堂宏壯寶塔七層。房廊周接華果間發。正殿亦造丈八金像。以申追福。五百諸尼四時講誦。寺成之日。帝顧謂群后曰。建斯兩寺。奉福二皇。用表罔極之情。以達追遠之思。而不能遣蓼莪之哀。復於中宮起至敬殿景陽臺。立七廟室。崇宇嚴肅欝若卿雲。粉壁珠柱交映相耀。設二皇座。具備諸禮冠蘊奩篋。舉目興慕晨昏如在。衣服輕暖隨時代易。新奇芳旨應時日薦。帝又曰。雖竭工匠之巧。殫世俗之奇。水石周流華樹雜沓。限以國務不獲朝夕侍食。惟有朔望親奉饋奠。而無所瞻仰。內心崩潰如焚如灼。又作聯珠五十首。以明孝道。又制孝思賦。廣統孝本。至於安上治民移風易俗。度越終古無德而稱。故元帝云。伏尋我皇之為孝也。四運推移。不以榮枯遷貿。五德更用。不以貴賤革心。臨朝端默。過隙之思彌軫。垂拱巖廊。風樹之悲逾切。潔齋宗廟虔事郊禋。言未發而涕零。容不改而傷慟。所謂終身之憂者是也。蓋虞舜夏禹周文梁帝。萬載論孝。四人而已。廣如繹所撰金樓子述之。又以大通元年。於臺城北。開大通門。立同泰寺。樓閣臺殿擬則宸宮。九級浮圖迴張雲表。山樹園池沃蕩煩積。其年三月六日。帝親臨幸。禮懺敬接。以為常准。即捨身之地也。雖億兆務殷。而卷不輟手。披閱內外經論典墳。恒以達曙為則。自禮記古文周書左傳莊老諸子論語孝經。往哲所未詳悉。皆為訓釋。又以國學員限隔於貴賤。乃更置五館。招引寒俊。故使孔釋二門榮茂峙列帝前後集百有餘卷。著通史書苑數千卷。唱當斯盛世。頻奉璽書預參翻譯。具如別傳。初唱天監九年先疾復動。便發二願。遍尋經論使無遺失。搜括列代僧錄創區別之。撰為部帙。號曰名僧傳三十一卷。至十三年。始就條列。其序略云。夫深求寂滅者。在於視聽之表。考乎心行者。諒須丹青之工。是萬象森羅立言之不可以已者也。大梁之有天下也。威加赤縣功濟蒼生。皇上化範九疇神遊八正。頂戴法橋伏膺甘露。竊以外典鴻文布在方冊。九品六藝尺寸罔遺。而沙門淨行獨亡紀述。玄宗敏德名絕終古。擁歎長懷靡茲永歲。律師釋僧祐。道心貞固高行超邈。著述集記振發宏要。寶唱不敏。預班二落。禮誦餘日捃拾遺漏。文廣不載。初以脚氣連發。入東治療。去後勅追。因此抵罪讁配越州。尋令依律以法處斷。僧正慧超任情乖旨擯徙廣州。先懺京師大僧寺遍方徙嶺表永棄荒裔。遂令鳩集為役多闕。晝則伏懺。夜便纘錄。加又官私催逼惟日弗暇。中甄條流文詞墜落。將發之日遂以奏聞。有勅停擯令住翻譯。而此僧史方將刊定。改前宿繁更加芟定。故其傳後自序云。豈敢謂僧之董狐。庶無曲筆耳。然唱之所撰。文勝其質。後人憑據揣而用之。故數陳賞要。為時所列。不測其終。 > Shi Baochang's lay surname was Cen, and he was a native of Wu Commandery—that is, the former territory of the founding state of Wu. In his youth he possessed expansive intelligence and preserved a pure integrity. Considering that he stood alone, he took diligent farming as his occupation, yet what he spent on maintenance was limited to ten mu. As for seeking additional means, he sustained himself by working as a scribe. Casting his eyes over literary synopses, he was immediately able to memorize them forcefully; his literary elegance was copious and rich, and his grasp of doctrinal principles was renowned. At the age of eighteen, he took refuge with Vinaya Master Sengyou and received pravrajyā. Sengyou was an eminent monk of great renown south of the Yangzi and produced many writings, fully detailed as recorded in his earlier biography. Once Baochang began to be steeped in the ford \[of the Dharma\], he inquired about and received the sūtras and vinaya; inheriting the traditions and establishing virtue, he gained renown within the ancestral lineage. Residing at Zhuangyan Temple, he extensively gathered the sayings of various thinkers and extracted their refined principles. Moreover, considering that in awakening worldly customs, thorough aid must be given priority, he studied and listened to the classics, histories, Zhuangzi, and Yijing under the recluses Gu Daokuang, Lü Sengzhi, and others, briefly mastering their general significance. At the time, because he associated with worldly affairs, people thought he had secular ambitions and sought a marriage for him, yet he remained resolute and did not turn back. Approaching thirty, when the paternal shade collapsed, after the funeral rites were concluded, in the second year of Jianwu \[495 CE\] he cast aside his ordinary pursuits, left the capital to listen exclusively \[to lectures\], and after five years contracted a wind disorder. It coincided with the decline of the Qi dynasty; meeting with disorder, he went east, reaching as far as Minyue, to discuss his former undertakings. In the fourth year of Tianjian \[505 CE\], he returned to the capital and was imperial decree appointed abbot of Xin'an Temple. Considering that the timely conjunction of thunderclouds brought tranquility far and wide, that the wind and rain were harmoniously regulated, and that the hundred grains enjoyed an abundant harvest, the Emperor thought: Could this not be due above to the support of the triratna, in the middle to reliance upon the Four Deva-kings, and below to the aid of divine dragons? When obscure spirits assist in agreement, only then does blessing cover the black-haired commoners and receive this thick virtue. Yet because the texts were scattered among various collections, making it difficult to investigate them fully, an imperial decree ordered Baochang to compile and record a comprehensive collection to provide for contemporary needs—whether establishing merit to avert disaster, performing repentance to eliminate hindrances, making offerings to spirits and ghosts, or offering sacrifices to dragon kings. The categories were distinguished into nearly a hundred fascicles, with the names of the eight classes of divine spirits made into three fascicles, encompassing the obscure and profound and detailing ancient and modern times. Therefore, for all that was prayed for, the Emperor would invariably inspect it in person; pointing to circumstances for sacrificial prayers, he often moved the awe-inspiring spirits. For this reason, for about fifty years there were no incidents south of the Yangzi, and the myriads of people relied upon it; it was due to this power. In the seventh year of Tianjian \[508 CE\], the Emperor, considering that the sea of the Dharma is vast and difficult for shallow knowledge to seek out, ordered Sengmin of Zhuangyan \[Temple\] to compile eighty-eight fascicles of an essential digest of various sūtras at the Upper Dinglin Temple. He also ordered Zhizang of Kaishan to compile the principles and meanings of various sūtras, entitled the Yilin in eighty fascicles. He further ordered Senglang of Jianyuan to annotate the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra in seventy-two fascicles. All of these Baochang undertook by special decree, additionally assisting in their accomplishments, weaving together the beginning and end and stitching them into volumes. When Emperor Jianwen was in the Eastern Palace, he was especially fond of internal teachings and compiled over two hundred fascicles of the Fabao lianbi; he specially ordered Baochang to patch together and categorize them, sorting them into comprehensive and abridged classes. The Emperor, considering that the Buddha-Dharma is profound and obscure, difficult for shallow intellects to penetrate, and impossible to reach the utmost without talent and learning, further ordered Baochang to gather together the writings and expositions of Buddhist principles by both monks and lay scholars since the eastward flow of the Great Teaching, entitling it the Xu falun lun in over seventy fascicles, so that confused and awakened guests upon seeing it would take refuge in faith, providing profound aid to the Way and the Dharma beyond compare. He also compiled the Faji in one hundred and forty fascicles; all of these Baochang resolved independently with dedicated deliberation, synthesizing and knitting them into volumes, which after imperial inspection were circulated inside and outside \[the court\]. In the fourteenth year \[515 CE\], Sengshao of Anle Temple was ordered to compile a catalogue of sūtras for the Hualin Buddha Hall; although it was completed, it did not satisfy the imperial intention. Baochang was then ordered to recompile it; relying on Shao's previous catalogue, his annotations on syntheses and separations possessed rigorous criteria, in one case of four fascicles, gracefully satisfying contemporary expectations. Thereupon, he was ordered to take charge of the Baoyun Sūtra Repository in the Hualin Garden, searching out omitted works to make them all complete, preparing three copies to present above. Because of this, he was further ordered to compile the Jinglü yixiang in fifty-five fascicles, and the Fansheng sengfa in five fascicles. The Emperor also annotated the Dapin jing in fifty volumes; at that time Buddhism flourished grandly, beyond words of praise. The literary talents of both monks and laymen alternately set forth literary principles. From the time Emperor Wu met with good fortune, he was thirty-seven, and remained on the throne for forty-nine years. Deeply saddened that his parental shade had fallen early, he constantly harbored grief, often lamenting: 'Although I possess the honor of the four seas, I have no way to express my boundless \[filial devotion\].' Thus he turned his mind to the Buddhist scriptures, taking the eight Prajñā divisions as the mind's fine field; this is that from which all Buddhas are born, and it immediately eliminates calamities and cleanses burdens. Therefore, gathering the various sūtras, he personally composed annotations, mounted the Dharma seat in person to lecture, recite, and propagate them, using this wholesome cause to elevate the spiritual consciousness. Frequently on behalf of the Two Emperors, he renounced his body to serve as a menial for the saṅgha, washing away afflictions and defilements to offer unseen merit upward; every time he renounced himself, the earth trembled for it, with continuous vegetarian feasts and lectures, unbrokenly turning the Dharma wheel. For Taizu, Emperor Wen, he constructed the Da Aijing Temple at the northern ravine of Mount Zhong, intersecting the clouds to match the sun, looking down hundreds of zhang; the verdant peaks were steeply lofty, and flowing springs poured forth. The bell-whale resounded across the ridges, and the flying phoenix-ridge rose into the void. Founding the stupa encompassed the wonders of crags and ravines; peaceful sitting exhausted the depths of forests and springs. The constructed saṅghārāma was revered equally with the imperial mausoleum; its execution was carved and magnificent, suddenly like a heavenly palace. The middle courtyard lay seven li from the main gate; the corridors and verandas framed each other, eaves and gutters contiguous. Flanking it were thirty-six cloisters, all provided with ponds and terraces, enclosed by surrounding structures. Over a thousand monks were provided with the four requisites. The main hall of the middle courtyard held a sandalwood image, eighteen feet in height; the artisans measured it, working at dawn and stopping at dusk, yet every night they constantly heard sounds of work, and upon looking at daybreak, they always felt the progress was great. When it was finally completed, it was twenty-two feet high, with dignified and austere major and minor marks, and extraordinary color and form, almost as if divinely made, repeatedly manifesting miraculous traces. The Emperor also made a gilt-bronze image eighteen feet high in the separate Longyuan Hall of the temple; he personally offered worship, weeping and choking with emotion beyond control every time he entered to pay homage, and none among the flanking attendants failed to weep. Furthermore, for Empress Dowager Xian, on the west bank of Qingxi, east of the road at the Jianyang City Gate, he raised the Da Zhidushi Temple. Situated in the capital's premier neighborhood, dry, elevated, open, and broad, midway through the court and market, at a prominent juncture of waterways and land routes, the halls were magnificent, with a seven-storied jeweled stupa; the rooms and verandas were continuously linked, with flowers and fruits blooming between them. In the main hall, an eighteen-foot golden image was also made to express post-mortem merit. Five hundred nuns lectured and recited through the four seasons. On the day the temple was completed, the Emperor turned and spoke to the nobles: 'Building these two temples offers merit to the Two Emperors, expressing boundless feelings to reach thoughts of pursuing the distant, yet I cannot dispel the sorrow of the Liaoe poem.' Furthermore, within the inner palace he built the Zhijing Hall and Jingyang Terrace, establishing the seven ancestral shrines; the lofty buildings were austere and solemn, dense like auspicious clouds, with white-plastered walls and pearl columns mutually reflecting their brilliance. He set up the seats of the Two Emperors, completely providing all rites, caps, robes, and cases; raising the eyes aroused longing, as if they were present morning and evening. The clothes, light or warm, were changed according to the seasons; rare and fragrant delicacies were presented fresh according to the day. The Emperor also said: 'Although I have exhausted the skills of craftsmen and spent all worldly wonders, with waters and stones flowing around and flowering trees mingled, limited by state affairs I cannot serve their meals morning and evening; only on the new and full moons do I personally present offerings, yet there is nothing to look up to, and my inner mind collapses as if burnt and scorched.' He also composed fifty Lianzhu poems to clarify the way of filial piety, and created the Xiaosi fu (Rhapsody on Filial Thoughts) to broadly unify the root of filial piety. As for pacifying superiors, governing the people, and transforming manners and customs, he surpassed antiquity beyond all praise. Therefore Emperor Yuan said: 'I observe prostrating how our Emperor practices filial piety: the four seasons shift, yet he does not alter with prosperity and decay; the five virtues alternate, yet he does not change his mind with high and low status. Facing the court in upright silence, the sorrow of fleeting time grieves him all the more; hanging his robes in the cliff-corridors, the grief of the wind and trees cuts all the more deeply. Purifying himself in the ancestral temple and reverently serving the suburban sacrifices, before his words are spoken tears fall, and without changing his countenance he grieves in agony; this is what is called a lifelong sorrow. From Yu Shun, Xia Yu, King Wen of Zhou, to the Emperor of Liang, in ten thousand years when discussing filial piety, there are only four men.' This is broadly recorded as described in the Jinlouzi composed by Xiao Yi. Furthermore, in the first year of Datong \[527 CE\], to the north of the Palace City, he opened the Datong Gate and established Tongtai Temple; the towers, pavilions, terraces, and halls were modeled on the imperial palace, with a nine-tiered pagoda rising into the clouds, and mountain trees, gardens, and ponds washing away accumulated afflictions. On the sixth day of the third month of that year, the Emperor personally visited, performing repentance and respectful reception as a regular standard; this was the place where he renounced his body. Although the affairs of the myriad millions were burdensome, the scroll never left his hand; opening and reading inner and outer sūtras, treatises, and ancient classics, he constantly made reaching dawn his rule. From the Liji, Guwen Zhoushu, Zuozhuan, Zhuangzi, Laozi, the various philosophers, the Lunyu, and the Xiaojing, what former sages had not explained in detail, he provided commentary for all. Furthermore, considering that enrollment in the National Academy was limited by high and low social status, he further established Five Institutes to recruit poor talents; thus the two gates of Confucius and Śākya stood flourishing in balance. The Emperor's earlier and later collections numbered over one hundred fascicles, and he composed the Tongshi and Shuyuan in several thousand fascicles. Baochang, meeting with this flourishing age, repeatedly received imperial rescripts to participate in translation, fully detailed as in the separate biography. Earlier, in the ninth year of Tianjian \[510 CE\], when Baochang's previous illness flared up again, he made two vows: to search all sūtras and treatises so that none would be lost, and to investigate the saṅgha catalogues of successive generations to initially classify them and compile them into a collection, entitled the Mingseng zhuan in thirty-one fascicles. By the thirteenth year \[514 CE\], he finally completed the arrangement of items. His preface states in brief: 'Now, those who deeply seek quiescent cessation lie beyond seeing and hearing; those who examine inner conduct indeed require the work of cinnabar and blue. Thus the myriad forms stand arrayed, and the establishment of words cannot be ceased. When the Great Liang possessed the realm, its majesty extended over the Red County and its merit aided the living populace. The Sovereign's transformation models the Nine Categories, his spirit roams the Eightfold Path; he wears the Dharma bridge upon his head and embraces sweet dew in his breast. I privately consider that the vast writings of external scriptures are spread across tablets and books; of the nine ranks and six arts, not an inch is omitted, yet the pure conduct of śramaṇas alone lacked records. The profound school's agile virtue had its fame cut off through antiquity; holding sighs and long longing, there was no end to this over long years. Vinaya Master Shi Sengyou's mind of the Way was firm and solid, his lofty conduct exalted and remote; his writings and collections invigorated the broad essentials. Baochang, lacking talent, took part in the rank of the two groups; in the days remaining from worship and chanting, I gathered what had been omitted.' The text is broad and not recorded here. Initially, because his beriberi broke out continuously, he went east for medical treatment; after he left, an imperial decree pursued him, and because of this he incurred guilt and was banished to Yuezhou. Soon it was ordered that he be judged according to the Vinaya by Dharma regulations. The Controller of the Saṅgha Huichao acted willfully contrary to the imperial will and banished him to Guangzhou, requiring him first to perform repentance throughout all the Great Saṅgha monasteries of the capital before being banished beyond the ridges to be forever abandoned in the desolate wilderness. This caused his compilation work to have many gaps: by day he bowed in repentance, and by night he synthesized and recorded; moreover, official and private pressure pressed upon him with no leisure during the day, so within his categories and streams, the literary wording declined. On the day he was about to depart, it was finally memorialized to the throne, and an imperial decree halted the banishment, ordering him to remain for translation work. Yet this history of the saṅgha was just about to be finalized, correcting former prolixities and further pruning them. Therefore, in the author's preface after his biography, he says: 'How dare I call myself the Dong Hu of the saṅgha? I only hope to have no crooked pen.' However, what Baochang compiled had its literary form exceeding its substance; later people relied upon it, conjecturing and using it. Thus its essentials were frequently commended and ranked by the times. His end is unknown. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 1.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.1.11) - [Next: 1.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.1.13) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060~en-mt.1.12) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.1.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.1.12) · Pramāṇa