宋高僧傳 15.12

15.12

釋義宣者，晉陵人也。宿植利根，翛然出俗，不煩師訓，砥礪厥心。納法後，孜孜律科，時無虛度。玄儒旁綜，長在篇章，卒問捷給。而稟延陵恭讓之風，雅得毘尼之體。初揚州法慎傳於舊章，淮甸之間，推為碩匠。天寶初，宣斂衽摳衣，諮詢彌久，輩流率服。慎且歎賞曰：「可畏乎！」宣講終南《事鈔》，請業于周律師之庭，考覈尤精，乃著《折中記》六卷以解之。蓋慊融濟、㠋、勝諸師有所紕謬故也。使是非各盡其分，人免據宗而阿比，從此立稱耳。毘陵多出名士僧，有三宣，慧、德、義是歟。時於江都習業，與會稽曇一、閩川懷一、慶雲靈一同門為朋也。晉陵既有三宣，慎門復出三一焉。江表資為美談。宣天寶末盛行化導，罔究其終。

Shi Yixuan was a native of Jinling. Having planted sharp faculties in past lives, he detachedly left the mundane world; without troubling his teachers' instructions, he disciplined his own mind. After receiving the precepts, he was untiring in the study of the vinaya, never letting time pass in vain. Broadly integrating Daoist metaphysics and Confucianism, he was accomplished in poetry and prose, answering unexpected queries with prompt eloquence. Furthermore, he possessed the modest and deferential manner of Yanling, truly grasping the essence of the vinaya. Earlier, Fashen of Yangzhou had transmitted the ancient models, and was esteemed throughout the Huai region as an eminent master. In the early Tianbao era, Xuan tidied his garments and gathered his robes to inquire of him over a long period, and his peers all submitted to him in admiration. Fashen praised him with admiration, saying, 'He is truly awe-inspiring!' Xuan lectured on the *Record of Affairs* (Shichao) of Mount Zhongnan and sought instruction in the courtyard of Vinaya Master Zhou; examining and verifying it with extraordinary precision, he composed the six-fascicle *Record of Compromise* (Zhezhong ji) to explain it. This was because he was dissatisfied with the errors made by masters such as Rongji, Yan, and Sheng. He allowed right and wrong to each be fully apportioned, enabling people to avoid relying blindly on their own schools and taking sides; from this, it gained its title. Piling produced many monks of renowned scholar status, among whom were the 'Three Xuans': Huixuan, Dexuan, and Yixuan. At that time, when studying in Jiangdu, he was friends and fellow disciples with Tanyi of Kuaiji, Huaiyi of Minchuan, and Lingyi of Qingyun. Since Jinling had the 'Three Xuans', Fashen's school likewise produced the 'Three Yis'. The region south of the Yangtze cherished this as a fine topic of conversation. At the end of the Tianbao era, Xuan's transformative guidance flourished widely, and his end was not known.