宋高僧傳 15.21

15.21

釋志鴻，俗姓錢氏，湖州長城下若人。本名儼，志鴻字也。少出俗于石門鄉寺，則梁靜林也。削染受具訖，往茂苑，親道恒師盛集，研覈精微。時曇清、省躬，互相切磋，卒成洪緒。然慊先德釋南山《鈔》商略不均，否臧無准，捕蟬忘後，補袞不完。囊括大慈、靈㠋已下四十餘師記鈔之玄，勒成二十卷，號《搜玄錄》。大曆中，《華嚴疏》主澄觀披尋，乃為序冠于首。然其解判不無所長，其如科節繁碎，是其短也。春秋一百有八歲，勅署為長壽大師焉。近世止行其字而已。今雙林累遭兵革，加以水潦，碑碣失蹤，閟於言行也。吁！其儼公氏族本生必與南山宣律師相同，亦為美事矣。

Shi Zhihong's secular surname was Qian, and he was a native of Xiaruo in Changcheng, Huzhou. His original name was Yan, and Zhihong was his courtesy name. In his youth he left household life at a township temple in Shimen, which was the Jinglin Temple of the Liang dynasty. After having his hair shaved and receiving the upasampadā, he went to Maoyuan to attend the grand assembly of Master Daocheng, meticulously investigating subtle points. At that time, Tanqing and Shenggong polished their studies alongside him, ultimately completing a great legacy. However, he felt dissatisfied that past virtuous masters, when commenting on Nanshan's Commentary, made uneven assessments, having no fixed standard for praise and blame, catching the cicada while forgetting what was behind, or mending the ceremonial robe incompletely. He encapsulated the profundities of the notes and commentaries of over forty masters, beginning with Daci and Ling'e, compiling them into twenty volumes titled the Record of Searching the Profound. During the Dali era, Chengguan, the author of the Commentary on the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, perused it and placed a preface at its beginning. Although his explanations and analyses were not without merits, his overly intricate divisions of headings were his shortcoming. He lived to the age of one hundred and eight, and was granted by imperial decree the title Grand Master Changshou. In recent times, only his courtesy name has circulated. Now Shuanglin Temple has repeatedly suffered warfare and flood, so the stele inscriptions have been lost, concealing his words and deeds. Alas! Master Yan's ancestry and birth must have been identical to those of Vinaya Master [Dao]xuan of Nanshan, which is also an admirable thing.