宋高僧傳 6.18

6.18

The śramaṇa Zhizang, surnamed Pi, was of Western Indian descent. His grandfather had served China, his clan holding official ranks for generations, and later lodged in Luling. In his youth, Zang entered a monastery, and upon beholding the grandeur of the installed images, he disdained the worldly to seek the truth. He paid careful attention to each of the three trainings, yet was most refined and sharp in the Vinaya Piṭaka. In the third year of Dali, he traveled through Yuzhang and consequently registered his name at Tiangong Temple. The assembly earnestly besought him to ascend the ordination platform and administer the upasampadā. At that time, people looked up to his fierce prowess and called him the 'Vinaya Tiger.' Each time he ascended the Dharma seat to propagate the vinaya, the hall was packed and the seats fully occupied; those who listened and received his teaching were never satiated. He distinguished names and principles, and analyzed subtle sayings, so that even interlocking rings could be unraveled. During the Zhenyuan era, he encountered Chan Master Daji and profoundly clarified the mind-essence. When he traveled to Kuaiji, he built a small hut at the summit of Mount Hangu to rest in dhyāna. There he authored the Wondrous Meanings of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. He preached and expounded without cease, and students took refuge in him. In the second month of the fourteenth year of Yuanhe, he passed away without illness at the age of seventy-nine. After his cremation, round, pure śarīra were gathered, and a stupa was erected on the northern peak of the cloister. As for Mount Hangu, it is a dialectal error of Yue; properly it should be said 'Hangwu' (boat-cove), meaning that the crossing of the Zhe River anciently used boat-rafts (hang), and on reaching the bank the boats were stowed away, hence it is called 'wu'.