續高僧傳 30.24

30.24

Śramaṇa Huichang was a native of Jingzhao. Due to his skill in Indic cantillation, he resided at Riyan Monastery. He was especially capable of retreating modulations and soaring, fluttering sounds, drawing out long, surging, pure streams that never ran dry. Yet his voice issued from within his throat without his lips moving; even when someone stood beside him to examine him, they could not discern it. Unless one had prior knowledge of him, only then would one understand his technique. At that time, Emperor Wen of the Sui revived the Dharma, and Emperor Yang made it doubly magnificent; the four seas converged like spokes at the hub upon the imperial house. When it came to Indic cantillation and hymnic guiding, each valued their own lineage; but when they heard a single chant from Chang, they would immediately prick up their ears, offering their hearts and losing their composure, as if they were starving or thirsty. All said: 'If there is such Indic chanting, how could anyone with a mind who hears it fail to become good?' Although the assembly emulated his style and occasionally caught glimpses of its spirit, when it came to its deployment, variation, and modulation, none could equal him. In his later years, he entered the Eastern Capital. When the rebel Xiaogan caused chaos, the overall responsibility for the fasting and cantillation was unanimously entrusted to Chang. After the rebellion was pacified, he returned to the Guanzhong region. At that time, a pretender emperor declared: 'The rebels established merits; all those whose words touched on affairs of state may be arrested.' Thereupon a search was conducted, and Chang was firmly handed over. While marching through Shachui, a fleeing rebel detained him, saying: 'If you go, you will surely be executed. You can stop here.' Chang said: 'A debt long incurred must ultimately be paid off.' He proceeded to the Eastern Capital, and it happened just as said. He was then over forty years old. At that time, Daoying and Shenshuang of Xingshan Monastery in the capital were also renowned for their Indic cantillation. Daoying's throat and larynx were grand and robust, and his words were heroic and far-reaching. When a great assembly gathered, numbering more than ten thousand, his vocal modulation was sharp and elevated, soaring far above the crowd. The great hall of Xingshan had a foundation covering ten mu; its latticed door panels were so tall and heavy that they could not be easily shaken. Yet when Ying led the assembly in circumambulation passing by the windows and doors, the deafening volume struck them so that they all vibrated. Shenshuang's performance of Indic cantillation was even more skilled in drawn-out passages, his soaring modulations flowing continuously inside and out, adapting to the occasion with ease and delighting the hearts of the assembly. During the Zhenguan era, in the administrative seat of Yuzhou at Zhaoji Monastery, there was Dhyāna Master Tanbao; he abstained from grains to refine his physical form, and his moral conduct was spotless. He was about sixty years old. He regularly lectured on Avalokiteśvara, guiding scholars and commoners, and his vocal modulation was exceptionally prominent and distinct from ordinary men. The monastery had a stupa foundation; on quiet nights he would ascend it to offer praise and worship, and the reverberations would soar across thirty li. Among all who heard it from far and wide, there was none who was not astonished and reverent.