續高僧傳 6.34

6.34

Shi Sengqiao, whose lay surname was Hua, was a native of Dongqian in Wuxing. He left home and resided at Longguang Temple. Hearing Sengmin explain that the doctrines established by earlier masters contained various agreements and differences, he forgot sleep and rest, his mind set on receiving the instruction. Listening further to Min's swift, agile debate, he clapped his hands, sighed repeatedly, and wished to keep pace with him. In the Longchang reign era, Dharma assemblies grew scarce. Thereupon, together with monks of the same temple—Sengzheng, Baoyuan, Huiji, and Huishao—he invited Min to move his residence. From dawn to dusk and through the night, they single-mindedly consulted and sought guidance. A cloth quilt protected against winter, a single rush mat cushioned the body; thin gruel kept them alive, and eating wild greens satisfied hunger. Yet they never changed their integrity on account of poverty and cold; only exerting themselves diligently, the days seemed not enough. Delving into the profound and subtle, their comprehension of principle was deep and clear. Within three or four years, they mastered the scriptures and treatises. Later, when Min returned to Zhuangyan, Huisheng of Longguang asked him, 'The younger ones who accompanied each other have all become accomplished vessels. May I hear of their relative merits?' Min said, 'Master Qiao is refined, pure, and detached; walking in the present, he applies antiquity. Rolling out and folding up textual meanings, he roams at ease within doctrinal teachings. Hooking the profound and reaching the distant, he is skilled in collating and comparing texts. Pure and modest, he has not yet lectured, and none can compete to precede him; he is indeed one upon whom the bequeathed Dharma rests! Master Zheng is precise and diligent, with an orderly and broad synthesis of sūtras and treatises; those of the same vocation value his disposition. Master Yuan is not without divine brilliance, yet his temperament is impetuous and extreme, frequently violating propriety and measure. For a long time he followed heterodox assemblies, and there is no way to measure his extent. Master Ji's spiritual intellect is clear and deliberate; he has long had merit in the scriptures, but his mastery of treatises is not yet ripe, only because his body is frail and cannot endure bitter toil. Still, his grasp of doctrinal principles suffices to clarify the Dao, and his aspirational conduct suffices to inspire the vulgar. Master Shao's nature is harmonious and reasonable, earnestly possessing aspirational conduct; being poor and burdened with encumbrances, his studies could not be constant. Had he no impediments, there would be no worry of his failing to become a fine vessel.' After Qiao completed his studies, he did not cultivate secular affairs nor attach himself to fame. Closing his gate and remaining in quietude, no mixed visitors sat in his quarters. Purifying his thoughts and subtly awakening, he attained it on his own. At the age of thirty-six, he died at the beginning of the Tianjian era. Sheng was originally from Xiangzhou; learned and versed in scriptures, he frequently mounted the Dharma seat. From his youth he upheld lofty conduct, admiring the ways of [Dao]an and [Hui]tai; wearing tattered clothes and eating vegetarian food, he never altered his ways to the end of his life. He had a handsome demeanor and was skilled in cursive and clerical script. Zheng resided in Xiangyang and had not yet visited Xiazhou; his religious transformation was widely practiced. Ji was a native of Panyu; before returning south of the ranges, his virtue covered the region of Nanyue, and the style of his textual exposition spread far and wide. All of them died during the Tianjian era.