續高僧傳 12.23

12.23

釋童真。姓李氏。遠祖隴西寓居河東之蒲坂焉。少厭生死希心常住。投曇延法師。為其師範。綜掇玄儒英猷秀舉。受具已後歸宗律句晚涉經論。通明大小尤善涅槃。議其詞理。恒處延興敷化不絕。聽徒千數各標令望。詳真高譽繼迹於師。開皇十二年。勅召於大興善對翻梵本。十六年。別詔以為涅槃眾主。披解文義允愜眾心。而性度方正善御大眾。不友非類唯德是欽。仁壽元年。下勅率土之內普建靈塔。前後諸州一百一十一所。皆送舍利。打剎勸課繕搆精妙。真以德王當時。下勅令住雍州創置靈塔遂送舍利於終南山仙遊寺。即古傳云。秦穆公女名弄玉。習仙昇雲之所也。初真以十月內從京至寺路逢雨雪。飛奔滂注掩漬人物。唯舍利輿上獨不霑潤。同共異之。寺居𧘂谷日夕風振。自靈骨初臨迄于藏瘞。怗然恬靜。燈耀山谷。兼以陰雲四塞雨雪俱零。冀得清霽見日。有符程限。真乃手執熏爐興發大願。恰至下期。冬日垂照。時正在午。道俗同慶。及安覆訖還復雲合。大眾共歎真心冥感之所至也。大業元年營大禪定下勅召真為道場主。辭讓累載不免登之。存撫上下有聲僧網。又以涅槃本務。常事弘獎。言令之設。多附斯文。大業九年。因疾卒于寺住。春秋七十有一。真抱操懷亮。朋附高流廝下之徒。性非傾徙。寺既初立宰輔交參。隆重居懷未始迎送。情概天表卒難變節。當正臨食眾將四百。大堂正梁忽然爆裂聲駭震霆。一眾驚散咸言摧破。徒跣而出者非一。唯真端坐依常執匙而食。容氣不改若無所聞。兼以偏悲貧病。撤衣拯濟躬事扶視。時所共嘉。剛柔兼美焉。

Śramaṇa Tongzhen, surnamed Li, had remote ancestors from Longxi and resided in Puban of Hedong. In his youth, loathing birth and death and aspiring to the permanent abode, he turned to Master Tanyan as his exemplar. Synthesizing the abstruse and the Confucian, his talent and distinction were outstanding. After receiving the full precepts, he returned to the fundamentals of Vinaya phrasing; later he engaged with scriptures and treatises, comprehending both the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna, and was especially skilled in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. Commenting on its wording and principles, he constantly resided at Yanxing Temple, disseminating teachings without cease. His students numbered in the thousands, each marked by fine reputations. Tongzhen's high fame followed in the footsteps of his teacher. In the twelfth year of Kaihuang, he was summoned by imperial order to Da Xingshan Temple to collate and translate Indic manuscripts. In the sixteenth year, a special edict appointed him Head of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Assembly; his analysis of the textual meaning fully satisfied the assembly's hearts. His nature and deportment were upright, and he was skilled at directing the great assembly; he did not befriend improper sorts and revered only virtue. In the first year of Renshou, an edict was issued to universally build sacred pagodas throughout the realm; sequentially, one hundred and eleven sites across various prefectures all sent relics, erecting mast-poles, encouraging contributions, and building exquisitely. Because Tongzhen's virtue was prominent at the time, an edict ordered him to reside in Yongzhou to initiate the erection of a sacred pagoda, whereupon he escorted relics to Xianyou Temple on Zhongnan Mountain. This is the place which, according to ancient lore, Nongyu, the daughter of Duke Mu of Qin, practiced immortality and ascended into the clouds. Initially, when Tongzhen went from the capital to the temple in the tenth month, he encountered rain and snow on the road, pouring down violently and soaking people and belongings; only the relic carriage remained completely dry, which everyone regarded as extraordinary. The temple was situated in a deep valley, where day and night the wind howled. From the time the sacred bones first arrived until they were buried, all was serene and quiet, and lamps illuminated the mountain valley. Moreover, dark clouds covered all four quarters and rain and snow fell together. Hoping for a clear sky to see the sun, so as to match the appointed deadline, Tongzhen held a censer in hand and made a great vow. Precisely when the time for deposition arrived, the winter sun shone down, exactly at noon. Clergy and layfolk rejoiced together. Once the interment was completed, the clouds gathered again. The great assembly all marvelled at how far the unseen resonance of his sincere heart had reached. In the first year of Daye, when the Great Chanding Temple was established, an edict summoned Tongzhen to be the Director of the Bodhimaṇḍa. Though he declined for several years, he could not avoid taking the post. Caring for superiors and inferiors, he gained renown within the monastic order. Furthermore, taking the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra as his core endeavor, he constantly promoted and praised it, and his instructions and regulations mostly followed its text. In the ninth year of Daye, he passed away from illness at his temple quarters, at the age of seventy-one. Tongzhen maintained integrity and cherished clarity; among high-ranking companions and low-ranking menials, his disposition never wavered. When the temple was newly established, high officials frequented it; though he held them in high regard, he never went out to welcome or see them off. His lofty character transcended worldly standards and was difficult to sway. Once, while dining with an assembly of nearly four hundred, the main crossbeam of the grand hall suddenly split open with a noise terrifying as thunder. The entire assembly scattered in fright, all crying out that the hall was collapsing; many ran out barefoot. Only Tongzhen sat upright as usual, holding his spoon and eating, his countenance unchanged as if he had heard nothing. In addition, he felt special pity for the poor and sick, removing his own clothing to relieve them and personally attending to them. He was universally praised at the time, combining both firmness and gentleness.