宋高僧傳 6.20

6.20

釋神清，字靈庾，俗姓章氏，綿州昌明人也。生于大安山下，昆季相次三人出俗，皆有名望，清居乎仲。處胎之際，母頓惡葷羶。及為兒，雖隨戲弄，遇像禮足，逢僧稽顙。年十三，受學於綿州開元寺辯智法師。于時勅條嚴峻，出家者限念經千紙，方許落髮。清即誦《法華》、《維摩》、《楞伽》、《佛頂》等經，有同再理。時故相喬琳為綿郡太守，驚其幼俊，躬而降禮請削染焉，則大曆中也。至年十七，聽習粗通，即講《法華》一經。歲滿，慧義寺依如律師受具戒。夏習尸羅，依學新疏。尋達大宗，乃詣上都。後以優文贍學，入內應奉。暮年鍾其荼蓼，歸慧義寺，講導著述，略無閑日。以元和年中終于本寺峯頂，遷神于白門蘭若，即郪城北郭外也。清平昔好為著述，喜作編聯，蓋巨富其才，亦鑿深于學。三教俱曉，該玄鑒極，彝倫咸敘，萬人之敵也。受業弟子黑白四方，計一千餘人。前後撰成《法華玄箋》十卷、《釋氏年誌》三十卷、《新律疏要訣》十卷——亦謂《清鈔》、《二眾初學儀》一卷、《有宗七十五法疏》一卷——亦名《法源記》。此蓋解小乘所計五位：色、心、心所、不相應、無為等法，體性業用，一皆詳括，故云「法源」也。《識心論》、《澄觀論》、《俱舍義鈔》數卷，《北山參玄語錄》十卷，都計百餘軸，並行於代。就中《語錄》博該三教，最為南北鴻儒、名僧、高士之所披翫焉。寺居郪城之北，長平山陰，故云「北山」，統三教玄旨，實而為錄，故云《參玄》也。觀清之述作，少分明二權一實之經旨，大分明小乘律論之深奧焉。清貌古且奇，皙白而光瑩。相國崔龜從時從事東川，序真讚云：「與奘三藏道顏同，攝物異，時一體耳。」門人數多，其出倫者義將也。獨明《俱舍》，兼善《起信》，海內學人望風而至。開成中北山俱舍宗不泯者，清之餘素乎。東川涌潭僧正顏公著碑，本寺講律臨壇光肇，別附《語錄》，略記清言行矣。

Śramaṇa Shenqing, courtesy name Lingyu, had the secular surname Zhang and was a native of Changming in Mianzhou. He was born at the foot of Mount Da'an; of his brothers, three successive sons left secular life, all gaining renown, and Shenqing was the second. While he was in the womb, his mother suddenly developed an aversion to meat and strong-smelling foods. When he became a child, though he joined in play, whenever he encountered an image he would bow at its feet, and whenever he met a monk he would touch his head to the ground. At the age of thirteen, he studied under Dharma Master Bianzhi at Kaiyuan Temple in Mianzhou. At that time the imperial regulations were strict: those who wished to leave secular life had to recite a thousand sheets of scriptures before they were permitted to shave their hair. Shenqing thereupon recited scriptures such as the Lotus Sūtra, the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa, the Laṅkāvatāra, and the Uṣṇīṣavijayā, as smoothly as if reviewing them. At that time the former chief minister Qiao Lin was the prefect of Mian Commandery; astonished by his youthful brilliance, he personally condescended with courtesy to request his tonsure and dyeing of robes, which was during the Dali era. By the age of seventeen, with a rough understanding from his listening and study, he immediately lectured on the single scripture of the Lotus Sūtra. When he reached the requisite age, he received the upasampadā under Vinaya Master Yiru at Huiyi Temple. During the summer he studied the śīla, following and learning the new commentary. Soon mastering the great tenets, he went to the capital. Later, by virtue of his superior prose and abundant erudition, he entered the inner palace to serve on call. In his twilight years, struck by the sorrow of bereavement, he returned to Huiyi Temple, where he lectured, guided, and wrote without a single day of leisure. In the Yuanhe era, he passed away at the peak of his home temple, and his spirit was relocated to the Baimen Hermitage, which is outside the northern outer wall of Qicheng. Shenqing had always been fond of writing and delighted in compiling works, for his talent was vast and rich, and his learning deeply honed. Understanding all three teachings, he encompassed the profound and scrutinized the utmost, setting the moral relations in proper order; he was a match for ten thousand men. His disciples in black and white from the four quarters numbered more than a thousand. Over time, he composed the Fahua xuanjian in ten fascicles, the Shishi nianzhi in thirty fascicles, the Xin lüshu yaojue in ten fascicles—also called the Qingchao—the Erzong chuxue yi in one fascicle, and the Youzong qishiwu fa shu in one fascicle—also called the Fayuan ji. This latter work explains the five categories posited by the Hīnayāna: forms, mind, mental concomitants, non-concurrent formations, and unconditioned phenomena; their essences, natures, karmic activities, and functions are all comprehensively detailed, hence it is called 'The Source of Phenomena'. He also composed the Shixin lun, the Chengguan lun, the Jushe yichao in several fascicles, and the Beishan canxuan yulu in ten fascicles, totaling over a hundred scrolls in all, which circulated widely in his day. Among them, the Yulu broadly embraced the three teachings, and was the work most unrolled and savored by great scholars, famous monks, and eminent literati of both north and south. Because his temple lay north of Qicheng, on the northern slope of Mount Changping, he was called 'Beishan' (Northern Mountain); because it unified the profound purports of the three teachings and recorded them authentically, it was called Canxuan (Investigating the Profound). Looking at Shenqing's writings, in small part they clarify the scriptural purport of the two provisionals and the one real, while in large part they clarify the deep obscurities of the Hīnayāna vinaya and treatises. Shenqing's appearance was archaic and extraordinary, fair-complexioned and lustrous. Chief Minister Cui Guicong, who was then serving in Dongchuan, wrote in a preface to his portrait praise: 'His Daoist countenance was identical to that of Tripiṭaka Master Xuanzang, yet their manner of gathering beings was different; at that moment they were one and the same.' His disciples were numerous, and the one who stood out above his peers was Yijiang. He was singularly enlightened in the Abhidharmakośa and adept in the Awakening of Faith as well; scholars from across the realm came like wind at his repute. That the Beishan Kośa school did not perish in the Kaicheng era was surely due to Shenqing's lasting influence. Saṅgha Director Lord Yan of Yongtan in Dongchuan wrote his stele, and Guangzhao, who lectured on the vinaya and presided over the altar at his home temple, separately appended a Yulu to briefly record Shenqing's words and deeds.