續高僧傳 8.25

8.25

Śramaṇa Huishan entered the monastic life in his youth and excelled in the *Abhidharma-hṛdaya-śāstra* of Dharmaśrī. He lived at Qixuan Monastery in the capital of Yangdu. Whenever he engaged in questioning and debating on the principles of the doctrine, the entire assembly was struck with awe. During the disorder at the end of the Liang, he fled from danger to Jiangling. In the final years of the Chengsheng era, he was taken captive into the Qin territory and resided at Chonghua Monastery in Chang'an. The excellence of his doctrinal learning was recognized by the Grand Preceptor of Zhou, who arranged special offerings to support him as he expounded and guided others until his old age. He passed away in Chang'an during the Tianhe era at the age of sixty. Shan observed that the *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa* frequently cites the Small Vehicle to mutually verify and establish principles; he therefore followed the sequence of the text to expound the subtle meanings in separate parts, like the stars and moon helping to brighten the sun, or like scattered, variegated blossoms falling in profusion. For this reason, he composed this work and titled it *Treatise of Scattered Blossoms* (*Sanhua lun*). Its preface states in brief: "In the nature of composition, conciseness of expression combined with abundance of principle is valued. I am quite familiar with diverse works, and the reason I now treat matters in fine detail stems precisely from this approach. Few are thoroughly practiced in it; hence, wherever principle is touched upon I am earnest, and wherever text is encountered I make it as clear as pointing to the palm of one's hand. Those who examine it closely will, I trust, perceive this here." The text is long and cannot be cited in full.