宋高僧傳 6.28

6.28

Shi Chengen was a person whose origins are unknown. From the time he first set his will on learning, he sought masters far and wide; whenever he took his place in a lecture hall, he invariably exhausted the avenues of doctrinal meaning. He would often instruct his disciples, saying: 'To love learning is near to wisdom; to practice with vigor is near to benevolence. Once benevolence and wisdom are somewhat achieved, they have different names but the same reality; advancing toward the bodhisattva stages is like a pellet rolling down a steep slope.' Chengen delighted in seeing others study and never forgot to lecture and guide. Toward the end of the Tianbao era, when the Guanzhong region was thrown into turmoil, he took refuge in Guzang. While drifting as a traveler, he sighed that though that land bordered closely on the territory of the Qiang and barbarian tribes, they held the study of scriptures and treatises in highest esteem. Chengen transformed the community within and urged them toward success; deeply imbued with the Chinese ethos, they all entered the treasury of doctrinal meaning. From then on, he re-authored the Commentary on the Treatise on the Hundred Dharmas along with a subcommentary, which circulated in the western regions. In this commentary, he took Ci'en as his patriarch and the master of Lufu as his authority; by and large it was identical, with few divergent views, and after his demise his disciples disseminated it. In the third month of the fourth year of the Xiantong era, the monk Faxin of Xiliang, who had deeply studied this path, received the approval of the Military Commissioner of the circuit, Zhang Yichao, to memorialize and present Chengen's writings. An imperial edict commanded the Grand Worthies of the three learnings of the Two Streets to examine and determine whether they were truly fit for circulation and use. The imperial decree approved it, and the monk was granted a purple robe and appointed a Grand Worthy of that circuit.