續高僧傳 18.16.3

18.16.3

住此寺中受王供養。 左僕射高頴。 右衛將軍虞慶則。 右僕射蘇威。 光祿王端等。 朝務之暇。 執卷承旨。 四門博士國子助教劉子平。 孔門俊乂。 屈膝飡奉。 魏郡道士仇岳。 洞曉莊老。 文皇欽重。 入京造展共談玄理。 遷既為帝王挹敬侯伯邀延。 抗行之徒是非紛起。 或謂滯於榮寵者。 乃著亡是非論以示諸己。 其詞曰。 夫自是非彼。 美己惡人。 物莫不然。 以皆然故舉世紜紜無自正者也。 斯由未達是非之患。 乃致於此。 言至患者有十不可。 一是非無主。 二自性不定。 三彼我俱有。 四更互為因。 五迭不相及。 六隱顯有無。 七性自相違。 八執者偏著。 九是非差別。 十無是無非。 初明無適主者。 此云我是。 彼云我是。 彼此競取。 乃令是非無定從。 彼云此非。 此云彼非。 彼此競興。 遂使非無適趣。 或者必欲以是自歸以非屬彼者。 此有何理而可然耶。 理不然故強為之者莫不致敗耳。 物豈知其然哉。 文多不委。 十三年。 帝幸岐州。 遷時隨彼。 乃勅蜀王布圍南山。 行春蒐之事也。 王逐一獸入故窯中。 既失蹤迹。 但見滿窯破落佛像。 王遂罷獵。 具以事聞。 遷因奏曰。 比經周代毀道。 靈塔聖儀填委溝壑者多。 蒙陛下興建已得修營。 至於碎身遺影尚遍原野。 貧道觸目增慟。 有心無事。 帝聞惘然曰。 弟子庸朽垂拱巖廊。 乃使尊儀冒犯霜露。 如師所說。 朕之咎也。 又下詔曰云云。 諸有破故佛像。 仰所在官司。 精加檢括。 運送隨近寺內。 率土蒼生口施一文。 委州縣官人檢校莊飾。 故一化嚴麗遷寔有功。 十四年。 柴燎岱宗。 遷又上諸廢山寺并無貫逃僧。 請並安堵。 帝又許焉。 尋勅率土之內。 但有山寺一僧已上皆聽給額。 私度附貫。 遷又其功焉。 又勅河南王。 為泰岳神通道場檀越。 即舊朗公寺也。 齊主為神寶檀越舊靜默寺也。 華陽王為寶山檀越。 舊靈巖寺也。 又委遷簡齊魯名僧來住京輦。 其為世重誠無以加。 文帝昔在龍潛。 有天竺沙門。 以一顆舍利授之云。 此大覺遺身也。 檀越當盛興顯。 則來福無疆。 言訖莫知所之。 後龍飛之後。 迫以萬機未遑興盛。 仁壽元年。 追惟昔言將欲建立。 乃出本所舍利。 與遷交手數之。 雖各專意。 而前後不能定數。 帝問所由。 遷曰。 如來法身過於數量。 今此舍利即法身遺質。 以事量之。 誠恐徒設耳。 帝意悟。 即請大德三十人安置寶塔為三十道。 建軌制度一准育王。 帝以遷為蜀王門師。 王鎮梁益。 意欲令往蜀塔檢校為功。 宰輔咸以劍道危懸塗徑盤折。 高年宿齒難冒艱阻。 更改奏之。 乃令詣岐州鳳泉寺起塔。 晨夕祥瑞。 以沃帝心。 將造石函。 於寺東北二十里許。 忽見文石四段光潤如玉大小平正。 取為重函。 其內自變作雙樹之形。 高三尺餘。 異色相宣。 或有鳥獸龍象之狀。 花葉旋轉之形。 以事上聞。 帝大悅。 二年春。 下勅於五十餘州分布起廟。 具感祥瑞如別傳敘之。 四年又下勅於三十州造廟。 遂使宇內大州一百餘所皆起靈塔勸物崇善。 遷寔有功。 及獻后云崩。 於京邑西南置禪定寺。 架塔七層駭臨雲際。 殿堂高竦房宇重深。 周閭等宮闕。 林圃如天苑。 舉國崇盛莫有高者。 仍下勅曰。 自稠師滅後禪門不開。 雖戒慧乃弘而行儀攸闕。 今所立寺既名禪定。 望嗣前塵。 宜於海內召名德禪師百二十人各二侍者並委遷禪師搜揚。 有司具禮。 即以遷為寺主。 既恩勅爰降。 不免臨之。 綏撫法眾接悟賢明。 皆會素心振聲帝世。 時大興善有像放光。 道俗同見。 以事聞上。 勅問遷曰。 宮中尊像並是靈儀。 比來修敬光何不見。 遷曰。 但有佛像皆放光明。 感機既別有見不見。 帝曰。 朕有何罪生不遇耶。

[Tanqian] dwelt in this monastery and received offerings from the Emperor. Left Administration Vice Director Gao Jiong, Right Guard General Yu Qingze, Right Administration Vice Director Su Wei, Guanglu official Wang Duan, and others, in their leisure time away from court duties, held scrolls and received his instruction. Four Gates Erudite and National University Assistant Instructor Liu Ziping, a talent of the Confucian school, knelt on his knees and respectfully partook [of his teachings]. The Weijun Daoist Chou Yue, who thoroughly understood Zhuangzi and Laozi and was deeply revered by Emperor Wen, entered the capital to visit [Tanqian] and discuss profound principles together.
Since Qian was respected by emperors and kings and invited by nobles and lords, those of rival conduct raised continuous disputes over right and wrong. Some claimed he was attached to glory and imperial favor. He thereupon composed the *Treatise on the Elimination of Right and Wrong* (Wang shifei lun) to admonish himself. His words said:
“Affirming oneself and negating another, praising oneself and disparaging others—no being is not so. Because all are so, the whole world is in confusion, and none rectifies himself. This stems from failing to comprehend the harm of right and wrong, which leads to this state. Speaking of its greatest harm, there are ten impossibilities:
First, right and wrong have no definite master.
Second, their own nature is not fixed.
Third, both the other and oneself possess them.
Fourth, they alternately serve as causes for each other.
Fifth, in turn, they do not reach each other.
Sixth, concealment and manifestation, existence and nonexistence.
Seventh, their natures intrinsically contradict each other.
Eighth, those who cling are biased and attached.
Ninth, the differentiation of right and wrong.
Tenth, there is neither right nor wrong.
First, explaining that there is no definite master: this one says ‘I am right,’ and that one says ‘I am right.’ Both sides vie to claim it, which causes right and wrong to lack any fixed standard. That one says ‘this is wrong,’ and this one says ‘that is wrong.’ Both sides vie to raise this, thereby causing wrong to have no definite destination. If someone insists on attributing right to oneself and wrong to the other, what principle could justify this? Because principle does not allow it, anyone who forces it will inevitably meet with failure. How could beings understand that it is so?”
The text is extensive and is not detailed here.
In the thirteenth year [of Kaihuang], the Emperor visited Qi Prefecture, and Qian accompanied him at that time. [The Emperor] then ordered the Prince of Shu to deploy a hunting cordon at the Southern Mountains to conduct the spring hunt. The Prince chased a beast into an old kiln. After losing its trail, he saw only that the kiln was full of broken and dilapidated Buddha statues. The Prince thereupon ended the hunt and reported the matter fully [to the Emperor].
Qian took this opportunity to submit a memorial: “Recently, during the suppression of the Dharma under the Zhou dynasty, many numinous stūpas and sacred images were dumped into ditches and ravines. Benefiting from Your Majesty's restoration, many have already been repaired. Yet fragments of bodies and remaining forms still cover the plains and fields. Wherever this poor monk looks, my grief increases; my heart is willing, but I lack the means.”
The Emperor was distressed upon hearing this, and said: “This disciple is crude and decayed, ruling from the palace halls, yet has allowed the revered images to be exposed to frost and dew. As the Master has stated, it is indeed Our fault.”
He then issued an edict stating: “... [ellipsis in original]. All broken and old Buddha statues are to be carefully sought out by the local officials, and transported to nearby monasteries. Let all subjects under heaven donate one coin per head, and instruct the prefectural and county officials to supervise their repair and adornment.” Thus, in the adornment and beautification of the whole realm, Qian truly played an instrumental role.
In the fourteenth year, [the Emperor] offered sacrifices at Mount Tai. Qian again submitted a memorial concerning all abandoned mountain monasteries and unregistered fugitive monks, requesting that they all be settled in peace. The Emperor granted this as well. Soon an edict was issued throughout the realm that wherever there was a mountain monastery with one monk or more, it was permitted to grant an official name plaque, and secretly ordained monks were to be registered. Qian was also instrumental in this.
An edict was also issued ordering the Prince of Henan to act as the dānapati of the Shentong Bodhimanda on Mount Tai, which was the former Langgong Monastery; the Ruler of Qi to act as the dānapati of Shenbao [Monastery], the former Jingmo Monastery; and the Prince of Huayang to act as the dānapati of Baoshan [Monastery], the former Lingyan Monastery. Furthermore, Qian was entrusted with selecting eminent monks from Qi and Lu to reside in the capital. The esteem in which he was held by the world truly could not be surpassed.
When Emperor Wen had previously been in hiding before ascending the throne, an Indian śramaṇa gave him a single śarīra, saying: “This is the remnant body of the Great Awakened One. If the dānapati vigorously promotes and displays it, your future blessings will be boundless.” Having spoken, it was not known where he went. After [the Emperor] ascended the throne, pressed by myriad state affairs, he had not yet had the leisure to promote it.
In the first year of Renshou, recalling the former words and wishing to establish [stūpas], he brought out the original śarīra and counted them together with Qian by passing them hand to hand. Although each was concentrated, the count varied before and after and could not be determined. The Emperor asked the reason. Qian said: “The Tathāgata’s Dharmakāya transcends numbers and measures. Now this śarīra is the material remnant of the Dharmakāya. If one attempts to measure it with worldly calculation, I truly fear it is in vain.” The Emperor understood. He then invited thirty bhadantas to enshrine the precious stūpas in thirty circuits, following the regulations and institutions entirely modeled on King Aśoka.
The Emperor regarded Qian as the spiritual mentor to the Prince of Shu. The Prince was garrisoned in Liang and Yi, and [the Emperor] intended to send [Qian] to the Shu stūpa to oversee the work. The chief ministers all considered that the Sword Pass road was perilously suspended and the route twisted and winding; someone of advanced age and seniority should not brave such hardships and obstacles. They presented an altered memorial, and an order was instead given for him to go to Fengquan Monastery in Qi Prefecture to raise a stūpa. Morning and evening, auspicious omens appeared, comforting the Emperor’s heart.
When they were about to construct a stone reliquary casket, about twenty li northeast of the monastery, four pieces of patterned stone were suddenly discovered, luminous as jade, flat, and regular in size. They were taken to make the outer reliquary casket. Inside it, the shape of twin trees naturally transformed and appeared, more than three feet high, displaying various colors, or exhibiting the shapes of birds, beasts, dragons, and elephants, and the forms of swirling flowers and leaves. When this matter was reported to the throne, the Emperor was overjoyed.
In the spring of the second year, an edict was issued to distribute and construct shrines in more than fifty prefectures, with all their auspicious omens recorded in a separate biography. In the fourth year, another edict was issued to build shrines in thirty prefectures. Consequently, numinous stūpas were raised in more than one hundred large prefectures across the realm, exhorting beings to venerate good. Qian truly played an instrumental role.
When Empress Xian passed away, Chanding Monastery was founded southwest of the capital. A seven-story stūpa was erected, towering into the clouds; the halls were lofty and elevated, and the rooms deep and layered. The surrounding walls equaled the imperial palaces, and the groves and gardens resembled celestial parks. Throughout the country's revered structures, none was higher. An edict was issued saying:
“Since Master [Seng]chou passed away, the gate of dhyāna has not been opened. Although precepts and wisdom have flourished, proper conduct has been lacking. The monastery now established is named Chanding; hoping to continue the former legacy, one hundred and twenty eminent dhyāna masters throughout the realm, each with two attendants, should be summoned, with Dhyāna Master Qian entrusted to search out and promote them. Let the authorities prepare the rituals.”
Qian was promptly appointed the abbot of the monastery. Since the gracious imperial decree had arrived, he could not avoid undertaking it. He pacified the assembly of the Dharma and received and enlightened the wise and virtuous; all met with his original intention, raising his reputation in the imperial era.
At that time, an image at Daxingshan [Monastery] emitted light, seen by both monastics and laity. The matter was reported to the throne. An edict questioned Qian, saying: “The revered images in the palace are all numinous forms. Although we have recently cultivated respect, why has no light been seen?”
Qian said: “Wherever there are Buddha images, they all emit light. Since the capacities of beings to receive resonance differ, there are those who see and those who do not.”
The Emperor said: “What sin do We possess that in Our lifetime We have not encountered it?”