宋高僧傳 25.51

25.51

入道之要，三慧為門。若取聞持，勿過讀誦者矣。何耶？始惟據本，本立則道生。次則捨詮，詮留則月失，比為指天邊之桂影，而還認馬上之鞭鞘。如此滯拘，去道彌遠。然則機有新發，跡或乍移，須令廣覽多聞。復次，背文高唱，在乎品位，先號法師。故經云：「受持、讀、誦、解說、書寫，如法修行。」是也。

The essentials for entering the Way have the three wisdoms as their gate. If one considers hearing and retaining, none surpass intoning and reciting. Why is this? At first, one merely relies on the root; when the root is established, the Way arises. Next, one discards the expression; if one clings to the expression, one loses sight of the moon—this is likened to pointing at the cassia shadow in the sky, while [the other] mistakes it for the whip handle on horseback. To be tied and restricted like this is to depart ever further from the Way. However, when capacities are newly developed and traces perhaps suddenly shift, one must let them broadly view and hear much. Furthermore, chanting aloud by heart concerns ranks and stations, and such a one was anciently titled a Dharma master. Thus the sūtra says: 'Accepting and upholding, reading, intoning, explaining, copying, and practicing in accordance with the Dharma'—this is it.