宋高僧傳 7.24

7.24

Shi Kezhi, surnamed Ma, was a native of Gaoqiu on Mount Dafang in Fanyang. When he had just reached the age of twelve, he possessed an extraordinary desire to leave the worldly life, relying on Vinaya Master Fazhen of Minzhong Temple. At the age of fifteen, having become a novice, he took leave of his master and went to Zhending to study the sūtras and treatises. At that time, Master of Dharma Renchu was lecturing on the Hetuvidyā-śāstra at Da Huayan Temple; Zhi grasped the text and took it to heart three times, penetrating its profound meaning with spiritual insight, so that the assembly acclaimed his exceptional talent. There was a senior elder, the Upādhyāya Vimalakīrti, who was an extraordinary figure in the Buddhist order; he asked Master Chu, "Among your outstanding disciples, who is foremost?" Chu replied, "There is a novice from Youzhou who reviews the old to know the new and applies himself with indefatigable vigor." He thereupon requested to meet him and questioned him on Śankarasvāmin's inference; Zhi responded flexibly to each difficulty, his words unyielding. Vimalakīrti said, "A youth is to be held in awe; as the sūtra says, though small, he cannot be underestimated." He then did his utmost to invite Zhi to lecture at Hengyang, and monastics and laypeople alike admired him. When he reached the age of nineteen, he went to Mount Wutai to seek the precepts; during the preparatory practices prior to receiving them, he was moved by Mañjuśrī's miraculous light illuminating his body. Afterward, he returned to pay respects to his parents and master, and expounded the Dharma at the temple. At twenty-three, he went to Bingbu to study the Lotus Sūtra and the Śata-dharma-śāstra. During the Jingfu reign era, he arrived at Hechi, where he was invited to lecture on Hetuvidyā. Later, he converted disciples at Da Zhuangyan Temple in Chang'an for several years. In the third year of Qianning, he presented poetry, and Emperor Zhaozong bestowed on him a purple kāṣāya and had him respond to imperial command in the inner palace. Liu Rengong, the local military commissioner of the circuit who occupied the northern gateway and controlled the frontier tribes and the Han, heard of Zhi's fame and sent a letter summoning him back to his native place. His father and master passed away in succession, but his mother was still living; Zhi held his bowl and begged for food to provide her with delicacies. He recited the Qinglong Commentary for three years; when he had completely mastered the text, a giant python suddenly appeared in his room, raising its head and looking around as though trying to announce something. At that time, a monk in the same cloister, Juxiao, who was an erudite monk, said, "A snake's eyes do not blink, but do these not move? Could it be a dragon?" Zhi burned incense and prayed to it, saying, "This poor monk recites the Qinglong Commentary and manages meals to support my mother; if you dragon-spirits truly care, I hope to meet a dānapati." A few days later, a son of the Yan military family said, "The Zhisheng Situ invites you to receive offerings." At that time, Emperor Zhuangzong had sent troops out through Feihu to besiege them; over the course of years, all grains became exorbitantly expensive, yet Zhi was completely relieved of worry and fear. Before long, Yan fell, and Liu and his son were taken captive to Jinyang; Zhi fled the chaos to Zhongshan, where the military governor Wang Chuzhi, who had long admired his reputation, invited him to reside at Kaiyuan Temple and provided him with monthly stipends. Zhi authored Dun-jian jiaoyi chao (Commentary on the Doctrinal Meanings of Sudden and Gradual Teachings) in one roll, which is currently in circulation. In the third year of Tiancheng, a wuzi year, the imperial army conducted a punitive expedition, and Dingzhou fell. The commissioner of pacification Wang Yanxiu received a letter from Feng Dao, King of Ying, instructing him to seek out Zhi. After finding him, he sent him to the capital of Luoyang by carriage and horse; the Henan governor, Prince of Qin Congrong, treated him with generous courtesy and memorialized to confer on him the title of Grand Master, naming him Wenzhi (Literary Wisdom). He served as abbot at the Pure Land Cloister of Changshou Temple. On the twenty-second day of the first month of the first year of Yingshun, a jiawu year, he suddenly fell slightly ill, summoned his disciples and said, "Aid me in rebirth!" Reciting the name of Amitābha Buddha, he passed away in an instant. His secular age was seventy-five, and his monastic age was fifty-six. On the second day of the intercalary first month, he was cremated, and his relic bones were gathered. On the eighth day of the fourth month of the second year of Qingtai, a stupa was erected at the southeast corner of Guanghua Temple on Mount Longmen. Zhi's presence was sharp and towering, and his monastic discipline was extraordinarily lofty; the Hundred Schools, philosophers, and histories left no trace unread by his eyes. In addition to his erudition, his particular forte was regulated poetry in the modern style. His poem Presented to the Elder of Fanchuan was widely recited. When he was in Dingzhou, Zhongshan and Taiyuan were mutually suspicious, and the regional lords annexed one another; Prince Wang had just wished to renew relations and bring peace to the people, and so ordered a vegetarian feast for the monks at Qingyun Temple. It happened that someone presented a white magpie, and the prince said, "Let the poet-guest from Yan try to compose a verse on this theme." Zhi composed it on the spot, its final lines reading: / "I know not who understands its chattering words; / It surely must report great peace before the prince." / The prince was delighted. The poet Li Dong, whose spirit was eccentrically refined, took Jia Langxian as his model; during the Jingfu era, he met Zhi in Hechi and presented Zhi with three poems. At that time, the grand councilors Lord Sun Wo, Lord Zhao Feng, and Lord Ma Yisun, as well as Academician Dou Mengzheng, Vice Minister Fu Meng, and Vice Minister Li Xiang, all matched rhymes and harmonized with him like Xun and Chi flutes in accord. Earlier, after finishing his lectures in Chang'an, Zhi travelled to the Xiaoyao Garden on Mount Zhongnan, the site where Dharma Master Shi of the Yao Qin had translated the scriptures; with the passing of long eras, it had become covered in dense weeds. Zhi said, "As a son of Śākya, how can I bear not to revive it?" He memorialized Emperor Zhaozong requesting its reconstruction; the emperor granted permission and restored its old name plaque of "Caotang Temple." Later, he invited Zen Elder Jingxiu of Fanchuan to gather disciples and discuss the mystery. When he was in Luoyang, outside of lecturing he constantly recited the Diamond Sūtra beyond count. In the past, he had frequently resided at Mount Zhongnan and Mount Kongtong, and thus produced Sanshan ji (Three Mountains Collection), containing three hundred and fifty poems, which circulated widely at the time. His disciples Xiuwen, Xiuzhi, and Xiuxing captured a glimpse of their master's Way.