宋高僧傳 15.36

15.36

釋真乘，姓沈氏，德清人也。厥父玄望孝廉舉調兗州司馬。母氏妊乘，有神光異氣之祥。識者言「沈氏必大其閥閱」。暨誕生也瓌偉，長與宗族諸子雜處，若群草中之琪樹焉。總丱之後，司馬以文學喻之，令修官業，且愀然如有不得已之色。居處翫戲，則以佛像班布。父觀其宿習，果請出家。屬顏魯公許試經得度，時已暗誦五百紙。比令口諷，一無差跌，大見褒異。落髮配住八聖道寺，得戒後，於通玄寺常進師所綜習毘尼。進公見其俊邁也，誡同門曰：「乘雖少齡，不可以伯仲齒之。」後西上京師雲華寺，學《法華》、天台《疏義》，大著聲望。又章信寺眾僧辟其講發，醉千日者一聽而自醒，迷終身者暫聞而永悟，經宗律柄，兼講無虧，籍甚緇行，炟赫京邑。貞元十一年，功德使梁大夫以德宗亟幸安國寺，奏乘移隷，以備應對，充供奉大德數焉。時本師無滯亦以道業，實蒙恩渥，奏舉乘為國祈福。無滯忽夢乘捧一白蓮華南去。無何，乘果疾，乞歸田閭，勅允。既還鄉里，本郡守李公錡、田公敦、浙東率薛公戒，或踵門而勸登法座，或馳簡而延蒞戒壇。乘迫以法緣，悉所勉強，以是八為律學座主，四為臨壇正員。凡訓授度人，或巾屨結緣，一無所受。遊五臺山，禮文殊聖容，所見瑞相，不可勝言。後在護國寺禮《佛名經》一百周。懺法之餘，撰《法華經解疏記》十卷。以元和十五年冬十月示疾而終于本寺。乘精于律法，長於演說。以長慶二年十月十三日焚身于韶村西隅，遵遺命也。萬年縣尉王甄為碑述德焉。

Shi Zhencheng, surnamed Shen, was a native of Deqing. His father, Xuanwang, was nominated as a Filial and Incorrupt candidate and appointed Vice Magistrate of Yanzhou. When his mother was pregnant with Cheng, there were auspicious omens of divine light and extraordinary vapors. Discerning observers said, "The Shen family will surely enhance its eminent lineage." When he was born, he was remarkably imposing. As he grew up among the children of his clan, he stood out like a precious jade tree among common grasses. After he reached childhood, the Vice Magistrate instructed him in literary studies, directing him to pursue an official career, yet Zhencheng showed a sorrowful expression as though doing so against his will. In his daily play, he would arrange Buddha images in rows. His father observed his past inclinations and in the end requested that he leave secular life. It happened that Duke Yan of Lu permitted ordinands to take the scripture examination for ordination; at that time Zhencheng had already memorized five hundred sheets. When ordered to recite them aloud, he made not a single error and was greatly praised as extraordinary. His hair was shaved, and he was assigned to reside at Bashengdao Temple. After receiving the precepts, he studied the vinaya comprehensively under Master Changjin at Tongxuan Temple. Master Jin, seeing his outstanding preeminence, admonished his fellow disciples, saying, "Although Cheng is young, you must not rank him merely by seniority." Later, he went west up to Yunhua Temple in the capital, where he studied the Lotus Sūtra and the Tiantai commentaries, gaining immense renown. Moreover, the monks of Zhangxin Temple invited him to lecture and expound: those who had been drunk for a thousand days sobered up upon hearing him once, and those deluded their entire lives attained everlasting awakening upon listening for a brief moment. He lectured concurrently on doctrinal principles and the fundamentals of the vinaya without defect, his fame flourishing in monastic circles and blazing brightly through the capital. In the eleventh year of the Zhenyuan era, Liang, the Commissioner of Good Works, noted that Emperor Dezong frequently visited Anguo Temple, so he memorialized to have Cheng reassigned there to handle court responses and be included among the imperial attendent bhadantas. At that time, his original teacher Wuzhi had also received imperial favor for his religious practice, and he memorialized recommending Cheng to pray for blessings for the state. Wuzhi suddenly dreamed that Cheng departed for the south holding a single white lotus blossom. Before long, Cheng indeed fell ill and petitioned to return to his home village, which was granted by imperial decree. After returning to his hometown, the local prefect Li Qi, Prefect Tian Dun, and military leader of Zhedong Xue Jie either came in person to encourage him to ascend the Dharma seat, or dispatched letters inviting him to preside over the ordination platform. Constrained by Dharma ties, Cheng obliged in all these matters; consequently, he served eight times as master of the vinaya lecture seat and four times as a primary officiant of the ordination platform. Whenever he instructed and delivered people, or when people sought to establish a karmic bond by offering sashes and shoes, he accepted nothing at all. He made a pilgrimage to Mount Wutai to venerate the sacred likeness of Mañjuśrī; the auspicious signs he witnessed were too numerous to recount. Later, at Huguo Temple, he performed the repentance liturgy of the Scripture of the Buddha's Names for one hundred cycles. In the intervals of these repentance practices, he composed the Ten Scrolls of Notes on the Commentary and Exegesis of the Lotus Sūtra. In the tenth month, during the winter of the fifteenth year of the Yuanhe era, he manifested illness and passed away at his own temple. Cheng was refined in vinaya rules and excelled at expounding the teachings. On the thirteenth day of the tenth month in the second year of the Changqing era, his body was cremated at the western corner of Shao Village, in accordance with his testamentary instructions. Wang Zhen, the Defender of Wannian County, composed an inscription recounting his virtues.