宋高僧傳 17.47

17.47

九重所以成深嚴，七札其能捍憂患。高墉峻壘，加校尉而守之；犀革兕皮，介將軍而戰者。君既安所，臣亦建功。猶釋門之外侮忽來，得法將之中權斯敵，使其大道喪而重復，玄綱絕而又張。「我有仲由，惡言不入」——外禦其侮，不可暫亡也。嗟乎！真教東傳，累更年紀，受其艱否，屈指可尋！法繫有為，四相以之遷貿；明雖無損，一輪以之蝕侵。桓楚無端効莽，得時而變法；德輿伊始欺孤，餘力而責僧。賴遠公之致書，因朝達之抗疏，只成暴政，空鯁人情。元魏懷邪，周邕尚辯，曇始乃呈其詭迹，道安盛奮其辭鋒。是待秦坑，能逃漢律，始、安二德，疑其住壽應真，出沒其形，扶危拯溺者矣！秀也鍾其厄運，憤此反常，上牋若攻壘之先登，為法偶犯顏而不死。復禮答權文學難詞，蔚成解判。惠立斥呂奉御《圖注》，免橫窺𨵦。兩面俱通，玄嶷造乎《甄正》。一場賈勇，法明定其《化胡》。答孔老於李華，名儒懾伏。挫是非於韋氏，辯勢酋強。邕也掩徐，獨記於天台。儼也令李，成書於《復性》。其或角史華之術，因躡刀梯。諫德宗之非，乃停沙汰。申答而驚李㴾，作謠而占衡山，《破邪》之論可宗，《鑑燈》之頌歸我。

The ninefold gate is how a palace is made deep and awe-inspiring; the seven layers of armor are how one fends off hardship and disaster. To high walls and precipitous ramparts, one adds colonels to defend them; clad in rhinoceros hide and wild ox skin, generals don their cuirasses to fight. When the sovereign is at peace in his seat, the ministers have also established merit. This is like how, when foreign insults suddenly strike the gate of Śākya, finding Dharma generals of intermediate authority allows one to match the foe, causing the Great Way, once perished, to be restored, and the Mysterious Net, once severed, to be drawn taut again. Confucius said, 'Since I have had Zhongyou, no ill words have entered my ears'—defending against external insults is something that cannot be neglected for even a moment. Alas! Since the true teaching spread east, several centuries have passed; its encounters with difficulties and adversities can be counted upon one's fingers! Conditioned phenomena are subject to change; the four phases govern their mutations and shifts. Though its brightness is essentially unimpaired, the sun's orb may suffer an eclipse. Huan Xuan arbitrarily imitated Wang Mang, altering laws upon seizing power; Huan Xuan, at the beginning of his rule, bullied the orphaned emperor and expended his remaining might to censure the monks. Thanks to Master Huiyuan’s dispatching of letters and the courtiers’ lodging of remonstrances, this only became a tyrannical policy and merely obstructed popular sentiment. The Northern Wei harbored malice, and Zhou Yong was still able to debate; Tanshi displayed his marvelous traces, and Dao'an vigorously unleashed his keen eloquence. Like facing the pits of Qin yet being able to escape the laws of Han, the two worthy monks, Tanshi and Dao'an, make one suspect they were arhats abiding long in the world, appearing and disappearing in form to sustain the endangered and rescue the drowning! Dao Xiu met with this calamity, felt indignation at this perversion, and submitted a memorial like an advance soldier scaling the ramparts first; for the sake of the Dharma, he braved imperial wrath but chanced to survive. Fuli answered the challenging questions of Scholar Quan, which blossomed into decisive expositions. Huili rebuked Director Lü’s *Tu zhu* (Illustrated Commentary), preventing clandestine assaults. Proficient on both fronts, Xuanyi composed the *Zhenzheng lun* (Treatise on Discerning the Orthodox). Summoning courage on that single battlefield, Faming established the commentary to refute the *Huahu jing*. Answering questions on Confucius and Laozi posed by Li Hua, he subdued renowned Ruists. Settling the rights and wrongs with Master Wei, his debating acumen was dominant. Yong overshadowed Xu, exclusively recorded on Mount Tiantai. Yan instructed Li, completing the book *Fuxing shu* (On Returning to One's Nature). Some matched the arts of Shi Hua by stepping onto the ladder of knives. Others admonished Emperor Dezong of his errors, thus halting the purge of monks. Shen answered and startled Li Ao; composing a ditty, one divined the fortunes of Mount Heng. The treatise of *Poxie* (Destroying Heterodoxy) is worthy of veneration, and the praises of the *Jiandeng* (Reflecting Lamp) belong to us.