宋高僧傳 15.17

15.17

釋如淨，不詳何許人也。甫參法位，當納戒律，明練毘尼，砥礪名節。時恒講勗，徒侶雲屯。辭筆偕長，博達儒典。先是關中行智首律師《四分律疏》，魏郡法礪律師著《疏》別行。爾時關輔河北，各競宗派，微似參、辰。隋末唐初，道宣律師以首《大疏》為本，造《刪補律鈔》三卷，稍為會要，行事逗機。貞觀已來，三輔、江淮、岷蜀多傳唱之。次奘三藏弟子懷素者，先習《鈔》宗，後委棄宣、礪之學，於咸亨年中別述《開四分律記》，後號「新章」歟。至代宗大曆中，新章舊疏，互相長短。十三年，勅集三宗律匠，重定二家隆殺，時淨推為宗主，語在〈圓照傳〉。至建中二年，奏二疏並行，淨之力也。蓋以國相元公載篤重素公，崇其律教，乃命淨為新疏主作傳焉。

Shi Rujing: it is unknown where he was from. Just after attaining the rank of the Dharma, when he undertook the vows of the vinaya, he mastered the vinaya and tempered his reputation and integrity. He lectured and exhorted constantly, and his followers gathered like clouds. He excelled in both literary phrasing and brushwork, and was broadly versed in the Confucian classics. Prior to this, Vinaya Master Zhishou's Fourfold Vinaya Commentary circulated in Guanzhong, while Vinaya Master Fali of Weijun composed a Commentary that circulated separately. At that time, the capital region and Hebei each rivaled for their lineages, slightly resembling the stars Shen and Chen. In the late Sui and early Tang, Vinaya Master Daoxuan used Zhishou's Great Commentary as a basis to compose the three-volume Edition and Supplement to the Vinaya Commentary, which served as a concise summary suited to practice and responsive to capacity. Since the Zhenguan era, it had been widely recited and transmitted across the three capital commanderies, the Jiang and Huai rivers, and Min and Shu. Later, Tripiṭaka Master [Xuan]zang's disciple Huaisu, who had earlier practiced the Commentary tradition, subsequently discarded the learning of Daoxuan and Fali, and in the Xianheng era independently composed the Record of the Fourfold Vinaya, later known as the "New Chapter." By the Dali era of Emperor Daizong, the New Chapter and the Old Commentary had mutual merits and demerits. In the thirteenth year, an imperial edict summoned vinaya masters of the three traditions to re-determine the relative weight of the two schools; at that time Rujing was elevated as lineage head, an account of which is found in the "Biography of Yuanzhao." In the second year of Jianzhong, a memorial was submitted allowing both commentaries to circulate side by side, which was achieved through Rujing's efforts. Because Chief Minister Lord Yuan Zai deeply esteemed Master Huaisu and exalted his vinaya teachings, he commanded Rujing to write a biography for the master of the New Commentary.