續高僧傳 13.26

13.26

Śramaṇa Tancang. His secular surname was Yang, and he was a native of Huayin in Hongnong. His family was an eminent clan through generations, and from an early age his pure mind aimed afar. When he was fifteen years old, a diviner declared that his life would be short. Grieved by this, his parents immediately arranged a marriage for him. Since this was contrary to his original inclinations and he feared being pressured, he fled into the mountains and marshes. Thinking only of who might deliver him, he walked to the distant wilderness. Having never traveled there in his youth, he did not know where to turn, and so he simply called upon Avalokiteśvara. After a long while, he met a dark-complexioned man driving two oxen, and asked him where he had come from and whether he could find lodging. The man said to Tancang, "Go westward; there is a monastery not far ahead, which you will soon reach." Soon he heard the sound of a bell and suddenly saw a Buddhist monastery. There he requested the shaving of his hair, thus fulfilling his original wish. He was then sent out the gate and walked about a hundred paces. Looking back, he saw nothing; only after a long time did dawn break. He then hastened west to Longshang, making the pursuit of the Dharma his task. Later he returned to the capital, where he circumambulated the path and received the precepts at Jingshan Monastery. When hearing various sūtras and vinayas, if any meaning remained obscure to him, he went again to the region east of the mountains. The masters on the other shore competed to detain him for disputations; his fame regarding the Bodhisattvabhūmi and the Daśabhūmika spread everywhere. Thus he gradually traveled east to the seacoast and south to the reaches of the Huai River; in his extensive listening and studies, he had no peer. Upon returning to the capital, he resided at Guangming Monastery, where his novel elucidations gained renown in the capital. After Empress Xian passed away, he was summoned to enter [Dachanding Monastery]. His disposition was generous and magnanimous, his deportment dignified and mature. Thus monastics and laypeople alike revered him, appointing him as a guiding leader who constantly undertook the duties of receiving guests. His fine manners at receptions and his transcendent talent in discourse were evident in his time. When the Great Tang ruled the world, Huichang Monastery was built, and he was summoned to serve as its prior. He showed extraordinary skill in comforting and welcoming the young and old. During the translation of scriptures in the Zhenguan era, he was summoned to serve as a certifier of meaning. At the time, because Tancang had a commanding presence, far-reaching aura, and pure, solemn deportment, it was thought he could serve as abbot of Xingshan Monastery. Tancang, holding deep yielding courtesy to make way for the worthy, recommended Dharmabhāṇaka Run of Huagan Monastery in Lantian; following his words, Run was appointed to the post. When the Crown Prince fell ill, Tancang was summoned into the palace to confer the bodhisattva precepts, and the next day the prince recovered. An imperial decree bestowed several hundred bolts of silk, as well as sets of monastic robes. Three thousand people were ordained, and Puguang Monastery was founded. Soon after, another imperial decree asked: "Can one receive the precepts from afar?" Tancang replied: "The Bodhisattvabhūmi states: 'If there is no preceptor, one may generate a great vow and obtain the bodhisattva precepts.'" He then presented the treatise text, and the emperor issued a decree ordering Tancang to read the words of repentance aloud. When the Empress showed signs of illness, he was invited into the palace once more. He had long suffered from an ailment in his waist and legs, so an imperial decree ordered him carried in a sedan chair to the bedchamber to administer the precepts. The offerings bestowed were exceedingly numerous, all dedicated to acts of merit. On the eighteenth day of the third month in the ninth year of the Zhenguan era, he died at Huichang Monastery at the age of sixty-nine. His death grieved both palaces, and condolences and posthumous gifts followed one after another. An imperial decree ordered him buried at Yan Village west of the suburbs, where a stupa was erected and his portrait painted. Yu Zhining, Supervisor of the Household to the Crown Prince and Duke of Liyang, composed the stele inscription, which can be seen at the site of the stupa.