宋高僧傳 4.31

4.31

釋義忠，姓尹氏，潞府襄垣人也。年始九歲，宿殖之性，志願出家，得淄州沼闍梨為師，若鳳巢中之生鵷雛也。少秉奇操，慧解不倫。沼授與《大涅槃經》，時十三歲矣。相次誦徹四十卷，眾皆驚駭，號「空門奇童」也。二十登戒，學《四分律》，義理淹通。旁習《十二門論》二本，即當講演。沼師知是千里之駿，學恐失時，聞長安基師新造疏章，門生填委，聲振天下。乃師、資相將，同就基之講肆，未極五年，又通二經五論，則《法華》、《無垢稱》及《百法》、《因明》、《俱舍》、《成唯識》、《唯識道》等也。由茲開獎，弟子繁多，講樹別茂於枝條，義門旁開於關竅，乃著《成唯識論纂要》、《成唯識論鈔》三十卷、《法華經鈔》二十卷、《無垢稱經鈔》二十卷。《百法論疏》最為要當，移解「二無我」歸後，是以掩慈恩之繁，于今盛行勿過忠本。所謂列群玉，貫眾花，玉裝瓊樹之林，花綴蜀機之錦。輩流首伏，聲彩悠颺。況基師正照於太陽，忠也旁䘖於龍燭，四方美譽，千里歸心者，不可勝算矣。傳持靡怠，僅五十餘年，計講諸教七十許遍。至年七十二，忽起懷土之心，歸于昭義，示同初夏誦戒行道。每一坐時，面向西北，仰視兜率天宮，冥心內院，願捨壽時得見天主，永離凡濁，終得轉依。一日，晨興澡洗訖，整肅容儀，望空禮拜，如有哀告之狀。少頃，結加趺坐，囑付流通教法之意畢，忽異香滿室，彩雲垂空。忠合掌仰視曰：「穢弱比丘，何煩大聖躬來引接？」言盡而化。鄉人道俗建塔供養，全身不壞，至今河東鄉里高岡存焉。

Shi Yizhong's surname was Yin, and he was a native of Xiangyuan in Lu Prefecture. When he was only nine years old, because of his predispositions cultivated in past lives, he resolved to become a monk. He took Master Zhao of Zizhou as his teacher, like a young phoenix chick born in a phoenix nest. From youth he maintained extraordinary conduct, and his insightful understanding was peerless. Master Zhao taught him the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra when he was thirteen years old. He recited all forty rolls consecutively; the assembly was astonished and called him the "Miraculous Child of the Emptiness Gate." At twenty he took the precepts, studied the Four-Part Vinaya, and thoroughly mastered its principles. Concurrently he studied two versions of the Twelve Gate Treatise, and was immediately able to lecture on them. Master Zhao knew he was a thousand-li steed, and fearing his study might miss its opportune time, he heard that Master Ji of Chang'an had newly composed commentaries and treatises, students were filling his gates, and his renown shook the empire. Master and disciple thus went together to Ji's lecture hall. In less than five years, he had mastered two sūtras and five treatises, namely the Lotus, the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, and the Hundred Dharmas, Hetuvidyā, Kośa, Cheng weishi lun, and Weishi dao. Henceforth he opened his teaching, his disciples multiplied, his lecture tree branched out with distinct luxuriance, and the portals of doctrine opened lateral apertures. He then authored the Essentials of the Cheng weishi lun, the Commentary on the Cheng weishi lun in thirty rolls, the Commentary on the Lotus Sūtra in twenty rolls, and the Commentary on the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-sūtra in twenty rolls. His Commentary on the Hundred Dharmas Treatise was the most essential and appropriate; he moved the explanation of the "two kinds of selflessness" to the end, thereby surpassing the verbosity of Cien [Ji]. To this day, nothing in circulation surpasses Zhong's version. It was indeed a display of jade arrays and strung flowers, jades adorning a forest of jeweled trees, flowers embellishing the brocades of Shu looms. His peers submitted to him, and his fame resonated far and wide. While Master Ji shone directly like the sun, Zhong held the dragon candle alongside; his fair reputation spread in all directions, and those whose hearts turned to him from a thousand li away were beyond count. He transmitted and maintained [the teachings] without indolence for more than fifty years, lecturing on the various teachings an estimated seventy-odd times. When he reached seventy-two, he suddenly longed for his native land and returned to Zhaoyi, where, as in early summer, he recited the precepts and practiced the Way. Every time he sat, he faced northwest and looked up at Tuṣita Heaven, focusing his mind on the inner court, wishing that when shedding his lifespan he might see the Lord of Heaven, forever leave behind worldly defilements, and ultimately achieve the transformation of the basis. One day, after rising in the morning and bathing, he adjusted his robes and bearing, bowed toward the sky, and seemed to offer a mournful prayer. Shortly thereafter, he sat in the lotus posture, and having finished entrusting the propagation of the teachings, an extraordinary fragrance suddenly filled the room, and colorful clouds hung in the sky. Zhong joined his palms, looked up, and said, "How could a defiled and weak monk trouble the Great Sage to come in person to guide and receive him?" With these words, he passed away. Locals, monastics and laity alike, built a stūpa to make offerings to him; his whole body remained undecayed, and it still exists today on a high hill in his native village of Hedong.