宋高僧傳 2.53

2.53

The Heavenly Empress (Wu Zetian) brightly promoted the sun of the Buddha and revered the Mahāyāna. Because the old scripture of the Avataṃsaka was incomplete in its assemblies, and having heard from afar that Khotan possessed this Sanskrit original, she dispatched envoys to seek it out and invite a translator. Śikṣānanda arrived at the imperial palace together with the scripture manuscripts. In the first year of the Zhengsheng era, an yiwei year [695 CE], translation began at Dabiankong Temple in the Great Palace of the Eastern Capital. The Empress personally attended the Dharma seat, illuminated it by composing a preface, and wielded the divine brush herself to title the opening chapter. Śramaṇa Bodhiruci and Śramaṇa Yijing of southern India jointly recited the Sanskrit text; subsequently it was entrusted to Śramaṇa Fuli, Fazang, and others, who translated it into eighty fascicles at Foshouji Temple. In the second year of the Shengli era [699 CE], the work was completed. Coming to the gengzi year of Jiushi [700 CE], when the imperial carriage visited Sanyang Palace in Yingchuan, an edict ordered Śikṣānanda to translate the Da cheng ru lengqie jing (Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra), for which the Empress again composed a preface. Furthermore, he translated sūtras such as the Wenshu shouji jing (Mañjuśrī-vyākaraṇa-sūtra) at Qingchan Temple in the capital and Foshouji Temple in the Eastern Capital, producing a total of nineteen works from first to last. Śramaṇa Bolun, Xuangui, and others acted as scribes; Śramaṇa Fuli and others polished the style; Śramaṇa Fabao, Hengjing, and others verified the meaning; and Palace Cadet Jia Yingfu supervised the undertaking.