宋高僧傳 7.42

7.42

釋繼倫，姓曹氏，晉陽人也。弱齒而壯，其志勇，其心決，求出家。本師授《法華經》，日念三紙，時驚宿習。慧察過人，登戒之後，至年二十一，學通《法華經》義理幽賾，《唯識》、《因明》二論，一覽能講。由是著述，其鈔至今河東盛行。三講恒一百五十餘徒，從其道訓。又撰《法華鈔》三卷。其為人也，慈忍成性，戒範堅強，人望之而心服。以劉氏據有并汾，酷重其道，署號法寶，錄右街僧事，寬猛相參，無敢違拒。以偽漢己巳歲冬十月示疾，心祈口述願生知足天。終後頂熱半日方冷，則開寶二年也。享年五十一。闍維畢，淘獲舍利，遠近分取供養焉。

Shi Jilun's surname was Cao, and he was a native of Jinyang. In his youth, he had a vigorous spirit; his resolve was brave and his determination firm to seek pravrajyā. His root master taught him the Lotus Sūtra, and he recited three sheets daily, astonishing others with his habits from past lives. His wisdom and discernment surpassed ordinary men. After receiving the precepts, by the age of twenty-one, he had penetrated the profound and hidden doctrines of the Lotus Sūtra, and could expound the two treatises of Yogācāra and Hetuvidyā after a single reading. He subsequently composed works, and his commentaries circulate widely east of the Yellow River to this day. His three daily lectures consistently drew more than one hundred and fifty disciples who followed his guidance. He also composed three fascicles of the Lotus Commentary (*Fahua chao*). In character, compassion and forbearance were second nature to him, and his discipline and standards were unyielding, winning the deep respect of all who beheld him. Because the Liu family held power over Bing and Fen, they held his teachings in profound esteem, granting him the title Fabao and appointing him to manage monastic affairs as Rectifier of the Right Street; he balanced leniency with firmness, and none dared oppose him. In the winter, the tenth month of the yisi year under the illegitimate Han regime, he manifested illness, praying mentally and stating aloud his vow to be reborn in the Heaven of Contentment (Tuṣita). After his death, the crown of his head remained warm for half a day before cooling; this was in the second year of the Kaibao reign. He lived to the age of fifty-one. After the cremation was completed, they sifted out and obtained śarīra, which were distributed among devotees from far and near for veneration.