弘贊法華傳 2

English (machine translation) 2

Language: English

2.3

Fourteen persons in total for authentic and spurious translations of sūtras (ten authentic, four spurious); two persons for translations of treatises.

[Cao] Wei: Śramaṇa Zhengwuwei from a foreign kingdom (Lotus Samādhi Sūtra, 6 fascicles; one edition adds the character "Zheng" [Correct]).
Jin: Śramaṇa Zhu Fahu from Dunhuang (True Lotus Sūtra, 10 fascicles; also separately issued the Universal Gateway Chapter and the Guanshiyin Sūtra).
Eastern Jin: Śramaṇa Hezhi from the Western Regions (Universal Gateway Chapter Sūtra).
Eastern Jin: Śramaṇa Zhi Daogen (Vaipulya Lotus Sūtra, 5 fascicles).
Illegitimate Qin: Śramaṇa Tongshou [Kumārajīva] from India (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, 1 text, 7 fascicles).
Song: Śramaṇa Zhiyan of Yingzhou (Lotus Samādhi Sūtra, 1 fascicle).
Song: Jingsheng, younger brother of the King of Hexi of Northern Liang (Avalokiteśvara Sūtra).
Qi: Śramaṇa Faxian of Shanglin Temple (Devadatta Chapter of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra).
Sui: Śramaṇa Dezhi from the Western Regions (reiterative verses of the Universal Gateway Chapter of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra).
Tang: Śramaṇa Fami from the Western Regions (five pages added to the Medicinal Herbs Chapter of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, along with different mantras).

2.5

Qi: Xiao Ziliang, King of Jingling (Excerpts from the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, Excerpts from the Lotus Bhaiṣajyarāja Sūtra).
Liang: Daughter of Erudite of the National University Jiang Mi (Lotus Sūtra, 1 fascicle).

2.6

The above two items are not authentic sūtras.

2.7

Lost-translator sūtra in the two old catalogues (Sūtra on the Auspicious Light of the Lotus and the Bodhisattva Manifesting His Lifespan).
Spurious sūtras noted by Fei Changfang of the Sui (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra on the Measure of Heaven and Earth, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra on Anomalies of Heaven and Earth).

2.8

The above two items are suspected or spurious.

2.9

Later Wei: Śramaṇa Daoxi from the Western Regions (Commentary on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, 2 fascicles).
Later Wei: Śramaṇa Baoyi from Central India (Commentary on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, 1 fascicle).

2.10

Lotus Samādhi Sūtra, 6 fascicles (one edition adds the character "Zheng" [Correct]).

2.11

Concerning the above: Translated in the seventh month of the first year of the Ganlu reign during the era of the Duke of Gaoguixiang of the Wei in Jiaozhou by the foreign śramaṇa Zhi Jiangliangjie, rendered in the language of Wei as Zhengwuwei ("Correct Fearlessness"). Śramaṇa Daoxin took it down in writing. There is no other extensive biography; the sūtra catalogues state as much.

2.12

True Lotus Sūtra, 10 fascicles

2.13

Concerning the above: By Śramaṇa Zhu Tanmolaicha (Zhu Dharmarakṣa), rendered here as Fahu. His ancestors were Yuezhi people, originally surnamed Zhi, who resided for generations in Dunhuang Commandery. At the age of eight, he left home to become a monk, serving the foreign śramaṇa Zhu Gaozuo as his master. He recited ten thousand words of sūtras daily, mastering them as soon as his eyes passed over them. By natural disposition he was pure and admirable, his conduct refined and austere. With earnest resolve and a love of learning, he traveled ten thousand li in search of masters. Thus, he was broadly versed in the Six Classics and immersed his mind in the seven categories of books. Although the affairs, praise, and blame of the mundane world surrounded him, they never weighed upon his heart. At that time, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Jin, although monasteries and images were revered in the capital, the profound store of Vaipulya texts remained beyond the Congling Mountains. Hu then sighed with indignation and stirred his resolve, determined to broadly propagate the Great Way. He subsequently accompanied his master to the Western Regions, traveling through various kingdoms. The foreign languages were of thirty-six kinds, and their scripts were just as varied; Hu studied them all thoroughly, comprehensively mastering their glosses, pronunciations, meanings, and orthography, being deficient in none. Thereupon, he brought back a great number of Sanskrit texts and returned to the central lands of China. From Dunhuang to Chang'an, he transmitted and translated along the way, writing them in the Jin language. The works he translated, including the Bhadrakalpika-sūtra and the True Lotus Sūtra, numbered one hundred and sixty-five texts. In diligent pursuit of his task, he took the propagation of the Way as his sole calling, translating and copying throughout his entire life without ever complaining of weariness. That the sūtras and teachings were widely circulated in China was due to Hu's efforts. On the tenth day of the eighth month in the seventh year of the Taikang reign of the Western Jin, Hu held the Sanskrit manuscript in his hands and orally produced the twenty-seven chapters of the aforementioned sūtra. The upāsakas Nie Chengyuan, Zhang Shiming, and Zhang Zhonggai jointly took it down in writing, finishing on the second day of the ninth month. The Indian śramaṇa Zhu Li and the layman Bo Yuanxin from Kucha jointly proofread it. On the sixth day of the second month in the first year of the Yuanjia reign, it was reviewed again. Furthermore, in the first year of the Yuankang reign, Sun Bohu, Yu Shiya, and others of Chang'an finished copying it onto white silk on the fifteenth day of the fourth month. Hu later established a monastery outside the Qingmen Gate of Chang'an, practicing the Way with diligent energy. Thereupon, his virtuous transformation spread far and wide, and his renown covered the four directions. Several thousand monks took him as their honored master. At the age of seventy-eight, he evacuated with his disciples and went east down to Mianchi, where he contracted an illness and died.

2.14

Universal Gateway Chapter Sūtra; Guanshiyin Sūtra

2.15

The above two sūtras were also separately extracted by Śramaṇa Fahu.

2.16

Universal Gateway Chapter Sūtra

2.17

Concerning the above: Translated by Śramaṇa Qiduomi from the Western Regions during the Eastern Jin, rendered as Hezhi in Jin. It is largely the same as the translation by Fahu, with minor differences.

2.18

Vaipulya Lotus Sūtra, 5 fascicles

2.19

Concerning the above: Translated by Śramaṇa Zhi Daogen in the first year of the Xiankang reign of Emperor Cheng of the Eastern Jin.

2.20

Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, 1 text, 7 fascicles

2.21

The above [work was translated by] the śramaṇa Kumārajīva, who was called Tongshou ('Youth-Lifespan') [in Chinese]. He was a man of India. His family had served for generations as prime ministers of their realm. Jīva's grandfather, Datta, was held in high esteem throughout the realm. His father, Kumārāyana, possessed noble virtues; relinquishing the ministerial position, he left the householder life and crossed east of the Congling Mountains. The king of Kucha, hearing that he had renounced worldly glory, revered and admired him greatly, went out into the suburbs in person to welcome him, and requested him to be the State Preceptor. The king's younger sister was just twenty years of age, endowed with sharp wit and clear understanding; furthermore, her body had red moles [signifying] that she was destined to give birth to a wise child. Proposals of marriage came from various realms, but she refused them all. Once she saw Āyana, however, her heart was set upon him, and she compelled him to take her as his wife. Soon after, she became pregnant with Jīva. While Jīva was in the womb, his mother's comprehension of wisdom doubled beyond the ordinary. Hearing that there were many eminent and virtuous masters as well as monks who had attained the Way at the great monastery of Tsio-li, she, together with noble ladies of the royal clan and nuns of virtuous conduct, provided offerings day after day, requesting assemblies to listen to the Dharma. Jīva's mother suddenly became spontaneously proficient in the Indian tongue; her phrasing in raising difficult queries invariably plumbed the most profound depths, and all the assembly marveled at her. An arhat named Dharmaghoṣa said, 'She must be carrying a wise child,' citing for them the evidence of Śāriputra in the womb. After Jīva was born, she forgot the speech she had spoken before. Not long after, Jīva's mother wished to leave the household life; applying herself with unflagging diligence, she attained the first fruit [of stream-entry]. When Jīva was seven years old, he also left the household life together with her. Receiving sūtras from his master, he recited a thousand verses each day; each verse consisting of thirty-two syllables, making thirty-two thousand words in total. Once he had recited the Abhidharma, his master instructed him in its meaning, and he immediately grasped it on his own. Thereupon he traveled widely among various masters, extensively studying the scriptural teachings; hearing something but once, he could receive it and exhaust all its corners and recesses. He also perused all the scriptures and books of non-Buddhist traditions. Later, Jīva's mother said to him, 'The profound teachings of the Universal and Equal (Vaipulya) should be extensively propagated in the land of China; that they be transmitted and brought forth to the east depends entirely on your effort.' Soon after, he bade farewell to his mother. In the first month of the thirteenth year of the Jianyuan reign of Fu Jian, the Grand Astrologer memorialized, saying, 'A star has appeared in the division of the foreign realms; there must be a person of great virtue and wisdom entering to court in China.' Jian said, 'We have heard that in the Western Regions there is Kumārajīva,' and immediately sent an envoy to seek him; but before he arrived, Jian died. By the ninth month of the third year of the Hongshi reign of Yao Xing of the Later Qin, his dignified presence arrived here. In the twelfth month of that year, he had an audience with Xing. Xing treated him with the courtesies due to a State Preceptor and showed him exceptional favor. When they engaged in discussions of understanding, they would linger for the entire day; penetrating subtleties and fathoming the ultimate, they forgot fatigue throughout the year. Ever since the Great Dharma was brought east, beginning under Emperor Ming of the Han and progressing through the Wei and Jin dynasties, sūtras and treatises had gradually increased in number; however, those translated by Zhi Qian and Dharmarakṣa mostly adhered to literal phrases or the method of matching meanings (geyi). From his youth Xing had revered the Three Jewels and was eager to sponsor lectures and gatherings. Once Jīva arrived, he invited him into the Ximing Pavilion and the Xiaoyao Garden to translate various sūtras. Since Jīva had memorized most of them and fathomed them thoroughly, and had moreover become proficient in the Chinese language, his phonetic renderings and translations flowed smoothly. Upon examining the older sūtras, he found that their meanings were mostly flawed and improper, which was entirely due to earlier translators losing the underlying import and not matching the Sanskrit originals. Thereupon, Xing directed more than eight hundred śramaṇas—including Senglüe, Sengqian, Faqin, Daoliu, Daoheng, Daobiao, Sengrui, and Sengzhao—to receive and verify Jīva's intent. In the summer of the eighth year of the Hongshi reign, at the Great Monastery of Chang'an, he further assembled more than two thousand śramaṇas versed in the study of doctrinal meaning from the four quarters to translate this sūtra. Furthermore, Master Huirui's 'Essay Clarifying Doubts' (Yuyi lun) states, 'The authentic text of the Lotus Sūtra shed radiance from deep within the earth in the great kingdom of Khotan, welled up into empty space, and thereby came to circulate here.' Yao Chong, Colonel Director of Retainers, General of the Left, and Marquis of Ancheng, whose subtle resonance resonated with the profound gate and whose mind resided beyond the mundane world, focused his sincerity upon this scripture and sponsored its copying, so that it circulates down to the present day. There was also the bhikṣuṇī Beidu, an unfathomable person. While in Pengcheng, hearing that Jīva was in Chang'an, she sighed and said, 'It has been more than three hundred years since this boy and I playfully parted. Our fragrant reunion is not yet appointed; I can only await our meeting in a future life.' A few days before Jīva's demise, he felt that his four great elements were unharmonized. Thereupon he uttered three rounds of divine dhāraṇīs from his mouth and instructed his foreign disciples to recite them in order to save himself. Before their efforts could take effect, he felt his condition turning increasingly critical. Thereupon, struggling against his illness, he bade farewell to the assembly of monks, saying, 'We have met through the Dharma, yet I have by no means fully expressed my heart. Facing a future life, my sorrow is beyond words! Thinking myself foolish and unenlightened, I have improperly filled the role of translator. If what I have transmitted is free of error, may my tongue not be scorched or rot after my body is burned!' On the twentieth day of the eighth month of the eleventh year of the illegitimate Qin's Hongshi reign, he passed away in Chang'an. This year was the fifth year of the Yixi reign of the Jin. In the Xiaoyao Garden, in accordance with the foreign customs, they cremated his corpse with fire. The firewood was consumed and his form shattered, but his tongue alone was not reduced to ashes.

2.22

Samādhi of the Lotus Sūtra (Fahua sanmei jing), in one fascicle.

2.23

The above [was translated by] the śramaṇa Zhiyan, who penetrated the Dharma. He was a man of Western Liangzhou. Having left the household life at the age of twenty, he immediately became renowned for his diligent application. Clad in patched robes, he sat in peaceful meditation and lived on a vegetarian diet all his life. Always desiring to serve renowned masters widely and to search extensively for sūtras and teachings, he traveled through the Western Regions, advancing as far as Jibin (Kashmir), where he entered the Mātandhara monastery and studied the methods of dhyāna under the bhikṣu Buddhasena. Gradually steeped in it for three years, his achievement exceeded that of ten years. Buddhasena, seeing that his meditative thoughts were well ordered, held him in especially high regard as an exceptional vessel. When the monastics and laity there heard of him, they sighed and said, 'In the land of Qin there is indeed a śramaṇa who seeks the Way!' Only then did they cease to look down on the people of Qin and respectfully received people from afar. At that time there was the bhikṣu Buddhabhadra, who was also a master of meditation in that country. Zhiyan then invited him to return east, wishing to transmit the Dharma to the central lands. Buddhabhadra commended his earnest sincerity and traveled east together with him. Thereupon, traversing dangerous sands, they arrived in Guanzhong. He constantly followed Buddhabhadra, staying at the Great Monastery of Chang'an. Soon after, Buddhabhadra was wrongfully expelled by the Qin monks, and Zhiyan also parted ways, resting at a monastery east of the mountains, where he sat in meditation, recited sūtras, and vigorously pursued his cultivation. In the thirteenth year of the Yixi reign, Emperor Wu of the Song campaigned west against Chang'an; having achieved victory and turned his banners home, his route took him east of the mountains. At that time, Wang Hui, Duke of Shixing, accompanied the imperial retinue sightseeing the mountains and rivers, and arrived at Zhiyan's monastery. He saw three monks residing together, each seated upon a corded meditation-chair, their meditative contemplation serene and clear. Long after Hui had arrived, they did not notice him. He then snapped his fingers; the three opened their eyes, but shortly after closed them again without speaking to him. Hui's heart was astonished by their extraordinary manner. Inquiring among the elders, all said, 'These three monks live in seclusion to fulfill their aspirations; they are Dharma masters of lofty purity.' Hui immediately reported this to Emperor Wu of the Song and invited them to return to the capital, but none were willing to go. After he repeatedly urged them with heartfelt earnestness, the other two urged Zhiyan to accompany him. Hui's disposition toward the Way had always been devout, and he served him with great attentiveness. Upon returning to the capital, Zhiyan stayed at Shixing Monastery. Zhiyan was quiet and aloof by nature, with an aspiration to avoid noisy worldly dust. Hui thereupon built another monastery for him on the border of the eastern suburbs, which was the Zhiyuan Monastery. As for the various sūtras Zhiyan had obtained earlier upon returning from the Western Regions, he had not yet had the opportunity to translate and transcribe them; arriving at the fourth year of the Yuanjia reign, he translated the aforementioned sūtra together with the śramaṇa Baoyun. Zhiyan was pure, plain, and of few desires; what he received he immediately gave away. Having traveled widely from his youth, he had no attachments. By nature he was modest and retiring, never putting himself forward; therefore, although he had many admirable deeds, the world could not transmit them all. Formerly, before Zhiyan left the household life, he had once received the five precepts and committed a violation. Later, when he entered the Way and received full ordination, he constantly doubted whether he had truly obtained the precepts and was perpetually apprehensive about it. Though he practiced meditation and contemplation for many years, he could not resolve this within himself. He then took to the sea again, returning once more to India to consult various luminaries. Meeting an arhat bhikṣu, he inquired of the matter in full. The arhat could not decide, so he entered samādhi on Zhiyan's behalf, ascended to Tuṣita Palace, and submitted the inquiry to Maitreya. Maitreya replied, 'He has obtained the precepts.' Zhiyan leaped with great joy. Thereupon he returned on foot; arriving at Jibin, he passed away without illness at the age of seventy-eight. According to the custom of that country, the cremation of ordinary people and noble beings took place in separate locations. Although Zhiyan's observance of the precepts was lofty and clear, his true realization had not yet been verified. When they first moved the corpse toward the cemetery of ordinary monks, the corpse became heavy and could not be lifted; when they redirected it toward the cemetery of the noble beings, it became light and drifted along of itself. Zhiyan's disciples Zhiyu and Zhiyuan deliberately came from the west to report this auspicious sign, and both returned to the foreign country. Judged by this, Zhiyan was truly a person who had attained the Way.

2.24

Avalokiteśvara Sūtra (Guanshiyin jing).

2.25

The above [was translated in] the reign of Emperor Xiaowu of the Song by the Marquis of Anyang, Jingsheng, cousin of Juqu Mengxun, King of Hexi of the Northern Liang. Meeting the end of the Liang's fortunes, it was destroyed by the Yuan Wei. Jingsheng fled into concealment and rushed south to Jiankang, concealing his aspirations for the rest of his life and avoiding human affairs. He constantly wandered and stayed at stūpas and monasteries, conducting his entire life as a lay practitioner. Severing ties with wife and children, he was indifferent to worldly glory and gain, freely associating with companions of the Dharma and propagating the correct teaching. For this reason, both monastics and laity held him in high esteem. He translated the aforementioned sūtra.

2.26

The 'Devadatta Chapter' of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra (Miaofa lianhua jing Tipodaduo pin).

2.27

The above [was obtained by] the śramaṇa Faxian, whose lay surname was Xu, a native of Yanshui in Xihai. He earlier followed his maternal uncle to Liangzhou, where he left the household life. In the sixteenth year of the Yuanjia reign, he went down to the capital and stayed at the Upper Dinglin Monastery. He transmitted and propagated the sūtras and vinaya; his aspirations and endeavors were steadfast and vigorous, and he was skilled at enduring hardships, with all sorts of schemes for repairing monasteries. Having earlier heard that the venerable Fayong had journeyed west and witnessed all manner of spiritual wonders, he vowed to forget his own body and go to view the sacred traces. In the third year of the Yuanhui reign of the Song, he set out from Jinling, traveled west through Ba and Shu, took the road via Henan, and passed through Rouran. Arriving at Khotan, he wished to cross the Congling Mountains, but the plank roads were cut off; thereupon he turned back from Khotan, having obtained this previous chapter, and then returned. The dangers and obstacles along his journey are fully recorded in a separate account. During the Yongming reign of Emperor Wu of the Qi, Xian met the foreign Tripiṭaka master Dharmamati, whose name was translated as Fayun ('Dharma Meaning') in Qi; at the Waguan Monastery in Yangzhou, it was translated. Xian was at that time the leader of the saṃgha. He died at the end of the Jianwu reign at the age of seventy-five.

2.28

Verses of Repeated Recitation in the Universal Gate Chapter of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra (Miaofa lianhua jing Pumenpin chongsong ji).

2.29

The above: Śramaṇa Jñānagupta, translated in the Sui as Dezhi, was a native of the kingdom of Gandhāra in northern India, which in Sui translation is called the Kingdom of Fragrant Conduct. Gupta was the youngest of five brothers. Having planted roots of virtue in past lives, he early developed the resolve for the way. While still a young child, he wished to leave the household. His parents deeply recognized his capacity and did not go against his request. In his home country there was a monastery named Dalin (Mahāvana); he then went to take refuge there and thus obtained ordination and deliverance. From the time Gupta left the household, he was filial, respectful, dedicated, and sincere. Receiving instruction over accumulated years, he gained a comprehensive understanding of the essential teachings. At the age of twenty-seven, he accompanied his master to propagate the Dharma. In the beginning of the Wucheng era of Emperor Ming of the Northern Zhou, he arrived at Chang'an and stayed at Caotang Monastery. Master and disciple traveled to transform beings, already fulfilling their original wish in coming. He mounted the pure altar once again and received the full precepts anew. It happened that Yuwen Xian, Prince of Qiao, was stationed to garrison Shu, and he again invited him to travel together. There for three years he served as Monastic Overseer of Penzhou. At Longyuan Monastery, he translated the above verses, with the śramaṇa Yuanming acting as scribe. When the fortunes of the Jiande era deteriorated, the semblance teaching was not propagated, and the five assemblies were overnight reduced to the eyes of the common folk. Emperor Wu treated him with courtesy, issuing an edict summoning him to the imperial capital, conferring high ranks and stipends upon him, and forcing him to adopt the robes of a Confucian scholar. Gupta maintained his integrity resoundingly, facing death without fear. Pitying his unbending virtue, the Emperor took compassion on him and released him to return [home]. His route took him through Ganzhou and northward through the Turks, where he was detained by the Turks. In the fifth year of the Kaihuang era, Śramaṇa Danyan and more than thirty others from Daxingshan Monastery, being themselves engaged in translation and finding the pronunciations and meanings discordant, learned that Gupta was in the north and submitted a memorial requesting an imperial edict to summon him back. The Emperor readily consented and sent envoys to invite and seek him out. Gupta's hopes of returning west had already been cut off; stranded for ten years, he deeply longed in this enlightened age to meet again with the Three Jewels. Suddenly receiving this distant quest, joy and aspiration mingled together, and he immediately accompanied the emissaries to enter the state. At that time, Emperor Wen was on an imperial progress to Luoyang, and he had audience with him there. The Son of Heaven was greatly pleased, repeatedly bestowing gifts and inquiries. Before returning to the imperial capital, the Emperor promptly decreed that translations be expounded; together with the śramaṇas Sengxiu, Facan, and others, he further translated various sūtras. Prince Teng of the Sui revered his precept-observing model and honored him as his master. Because of an involvement in worldly affairs, he was banished to Dongyue; while in Oumin, the renown of his way became renowned again, rescuing both bodies and minds and bringing immense benefit. In the twentieth year of the Kaihuang era, he passed away at the age of seventy-eight.

2.30

Medicinal Herbs Chapter of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, with five additional sheets, and the various dhāraṇīs also differing.

2.31

The above: Śramaṇa Dharmagupta, translated in the Sui as Fami, was a native of the kingdom of Laṭa in southern India. He was of the kṣatriya caste, with the clan name Vyāghra, which means 'Tiger Clan'. He had four younger brothers and was the eldest son. His parents were deeply attached to him and would not allow him to leave the household. However, because of his earnest love for the Dharma gate and deep desire to renounce the secular world, at the age of twenty-three he went to central India and only then was able to shave his hair. After Gupta received the full precepts, he spent another three years studying under a master. What his master had attained, he glimpsed in broad outline. Thereupon, he traveled through various Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna countries and monastic establishments, hearing and seeing twice as much. Later, hearing that the Three Jewels were flourishing in the great realm of Cīna (China), he and his companions were of one mind, setting their sights on coming here. Having reached Yiwu, he stayed there for one year. Meeting with troubles, they took refuge in the southwest; the road was purely gravel and desert, lacking both water and grass. The companions looked at one another, having nowhere to preserve their lives. They then temporarily placed the sūtras and treatises they were carrying beside the road and crossed mountains in search of water, hoping thereby to survive. The search having failed, their exhaustion and distress increased all the more. He single-mindedly recited the Avalokiteśvara dhāraṇī, and night rain suddenly fell, bringing complete joy to body and mind. Soon they returned to the original road, but looking around in all directions, everything was vast and indistinct; they had lost their way. Hesitating whether to advance or retreat, they simply let themselves move forward, and finally reached Guazhou, only then realizing that they had taken a roundabout northern route. Gupta had long admired the great empire, trudging over land for accumulated years; of the companions who initially made the pact, some had stayed behind and some had died. Looking at his solitary shadow as he reached this place, in the stillness he reflected on it, with grief and joy intermingling. Soon he received an imperial decree inviting him into the capital city, where he was accommodated in a celebrated monastery and provided for abundantly; this was in the tenth month, winter, of the tenth year of the Kaihuang era. Not long after his arrival, he gained a fair understanding of the Chinese language. Furthermore, receiving a special imperial decree commanding him to engage in translating sūtras, he resided at Xingshan Monastery, where he held the originals and translated them, producing many accurate and sound renderings. The Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna treatises he recited were all profound and essential; when it came to expounding and explaining them, he broadly propagated their subtle purports, repeatedly resolving longstanding doubts for scholars of this land. When Emperor Yang established his capital at the eastern capital, his veneration was deep and generous; as for the Buddha-Dharma, he exalted it still more. He then issued a decree to establish a translation bureau inside the Shanglin Park on the southern bank of the Luo River, seeking out and promoting the eminent and outstanding so as to permanently safeguard the transmission of the Dharma. He immediately issued a decree summoning Gupta and various scholars, all of whom assembled there. Together with Śramaṇa Yancong, he supplemented and translated the aforementioned chapter. In the second year of the Wude era, he passed away by the banks of the Luo River.

2.32

Excerpts from the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra; Excerpts from the Lotus Bhaiṣajyarāja Sūtra.

2.33

The above: Xiao Ziliang, Prince of Jingling and Duke Wenxuan, who served as Minister of Education under the Southern Qi, revered the Śākya school and deeply penetrated the ultimate teaching. He annotated sūtras and treatises and excerpted their phrasing and doctrines, barring heterodox paths to open the correct ford, and propagating the One Vehicle while exalting the seven assemblies. The world called him an ocean of the brush, and his contemporaries styled him a mountain of wisdom. Sometimes he communicated through dreams with the Solitary Honoured One, being given the fine posthumous title of Heavenly King; at other times he expounded and transmitted sūtras and chants, passing down eminent regulations of marvelous measure. His virtues are difficult to recount in detail, so we readily pass over them here. He excerpted the aforementioned sūtras to keep them by his side.

2.34

Lotus Sūtra, in one scroll.

2.35

The above: The daughter of Jiang Mi, Erudite of the National University under the Liang, left the household at an early age, taking the name Sengfa. At the age of eight or nine, she would sometimes sit quietly with closed eyes and recite the aforementioned sūtra from memory. Monastics and laypeople in Yangzhou all called it a divine bestowal. Fei Changfang said: Examining this against the sūtras and treatises, the principle is as clear as day: it came from habituation in past lives and had nothing to do with divine bestowal. Moreover, relying on secular classics, the Son of Heaven has said: 'Those who are born with knowledge are sages; those who learn and know it are the next.' This narrowly discusses the present life, being ignorant of past existences. Were it not so, how could one discern between internal and external worthies and sages, or the depth and shallowness of past and present? Thus the Gaoseng zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Monks) states: Shi Tandi's lay surname was Kang. His ancestors were people of Kangju (Sogdiana). During the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han, they relocated and submitted to China. During the turmoil at the end of Emperor Xian's reign, they moved to settle in Wuxing. Di's father, Bang, once served as Attendant Officer in Jizhou. His mother, Lady Huang, was taking a daytime nap when she dreamed of a monk calling her 'Mother' and leaving in her care a chowry and an iron-inlaid paperweight. When Lady Huang awoke from sleep, she saw both objects completely present, and privately found it uncanny. Consequently she became pregnant and gave birth to Di. When Di was five years old, his mother brought out the chowry and other objects to tease and show him. Di said, 'These were given by the King of Qin.' His mother said, 'Where did you put them?' He replied, 'I do not remember.' At the age of ten he left the household; in his study he followed no master, his awakening arising naturally from heaven. This was precisely such a matter. Later, following his father to Fandeng, he happened to meet Daoren Sengtuo of Guanzhong and suddenly called out, 'Tuo!' Tuo said, 'Why does a child call a senior scholar by his name?' Di said, 'The Venerable One was originally Di's novice. Once, when gathering vegetables for the monastic assembly, you were injured by a wild boar; I involuntarily cried out. Why have you forgotten it now?' In truth, Sengtuo had been a disciple of Dharma Master Hongjue, and while gathering vegetables for the monks he had been injured by a wild boar. Tuo did not recall this at first; he then visited Di's father, who fully recounted the origin of Di's birth and showed Tuo the paperweight and chowry. Tuo then had an awakening and wept, saying: 'You are indeed Tuo's former master, Dharma Master Hongjue! You once lectured on the Lotus Sūtra for Yao Chang, with this poor monk serving as chief interlocutor (dujiang). Yao Chang presented my master with two objects, which have now ended up here.' Calculating backwards to when Hongjue cast off his life, it was precisely the day the objects were left in care. Remembering again the matter of gathering vegetables, he grieved and lamented all the more. Di later traveled and studied both internal and external texts, retaining everything that passed before his eyes. In his later years he entered the monastery on Mount Huqiu in Wu, lecturing on the Liji, Yijing, and Chunqiu seven times each, and on the Lotus, Larger Prajñā, and Vimalakīrti fifteen times each. He was also skilled in literary composition, with a collection of six scrolls that circulated widely in the world. He died at the age of over sixty, in the late Yuanjia era of the Song. Fei Changfang said: As for Dharma Master Hongjue's disciple Sengtuo, master and disciple guided others, their names carrying weight throughout the two Qin dynasties. What limit could there be to their implements and three robes? Yet he held in his mind the cherishing and safeguarding solely of the paperweight and chowry, so that when his consciousness transferred and took rebirth, these two objects could accompany him together. If even the material forms outside the mind could follow him, how much more so with the mental dharmas of cognition and understanding: how could he not remember them? Therefore, a polished mirror turns ever brighter, and a whetted blade becomes ever sharper. Droplets gather to form an ocean, and accumulated dust forms a mountain. Practiced life after life, it increases all the more; studied birth after birth, it broadens all the further. It is close to the moon in its early crescent, finally reaching round fullness on the fifteenth. Casting off human form and receiving human form again was merely a matter of the very next birth; to remember without forgetting, how could that be divine power? Closing the eyes and contemplating in quietness is simply the emotional weakness of a woman; reciting in unbroken continuity, how could it not be the recitation from a previous life? To speak of divine bestowal: how could one be so blind and ignorant of the way of wisdom?

2.36

Fahua guangrui pusa xianshou jing (Lotus Light-Auspice Bodhisattva Manifesting Lifespan Sūtra).

2.37

The above: Appears in two ancient and old catalogues, which state that the translator's name is lost.

2.38

Miaofa lianhua duliang tiandi jing (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra on Measuring Heaven and Earth).

2.39

Miaofa lianhua tiandi bianyi jing (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra on the Anomalies of Heaven and Earth).

2.40

The above two sūtras: Noted as spurious in the Sanbao lu (Record of the Three Jewels) by Fei Changfang of the Sui.

2.41

Treatise on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, in two scrolls.

2.42

The above: Śramaṇa Bodhiruci of the Western Regions, translated in the Wei as Daoxi, was a native of northern India. Comprehensively versed in the Tripiṭaka and wonderfully penetrating dhāraṇī, his resolve was set on propagating the Dharma and widely extending its visibility and audition. He thereupon traveled by night through narrow passes, arriving from afar west of the Congling (Pamir) Mountains. In the beginning of the Yongping era of the Northern Wei, he came to travel in the eastern Xia (China). Emperor Xuanwu issued an edict extending an invitation and慰勞, providing abundantly for his needs, accommodating him in the great Yongning Monastery, and furnishing the four requisites to seven hundred Indian monks. The Emperor decreed that Bodhiruci serve as the chief master of translation. He translated the above treatise, with Śramaṇa Tanlin acting as scribe. In Bodhiruci's chamber, Sanskrit manuscripts of sūtras and treatises numbered perhaps ten thousand cases; the newly translated texts and rough scribal drafts filled an entire room. Yet in intellectual understanding he was matched with Ratnamati, while in spiritual awakening and quick intelligence he was thoroughly proficient in regional languages and also skilled in dhāraṇī arts, having no equal. Once he sat by a well-curb; the washing pitcher was empty inside, and his disciples had not yet arrived, so there was no one to draw water. Bodhiruci then held a willow branch, casually waved it into the well, and secretly recited a dhāraṇī; after merely a few recitations, the spring water welled upward until it reached the well-curb. He immediately scooped it with his bowl and used it for washing. The surrounding monks all witnessed it, none able to fathom his miraculous power. Bodhiruci said: 'This is merely an art commonly practiced in foreign lands; this land does not practice it, so you consider it holy.'

2.43

Treatise on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, in one scroll.

2.44

The above: The Central Indian monk Ratnamati (rendered in Wei as Baoyi) possessed rich and vast [erudition], thoroughly mastering both principle and phenomena. He could recite one hundred million verses, each verse consisting of thirty-two syllables. He was especially lucid in the methods of meditation, and his intention was to travel and transform beings. In the fifth year of Zhengshi, he first reached Luoyi. Together with Bodhiruci, he translated in the inner palace of Luoyang. Thereafter, each of the two virtues transmitted their own master's tradition and did not consult one another. Because the propagation of the Dharma was flourishing, the Emperor, wishing to abbreviate the convoluted complexities, decreed that they translate separately in different locations. When the translations were finished, they were collated; between them were omissions, and they differed from each other. That which Ratnamati translated was transcribed by the Palace Attendant Cui Guang. Ratnamati was later invited by the Heavenly Emperor (Śakra) to lecture on the Avataṃsaka. On the Dharma seat, he suddenly passed away. The lecture precentor and other monks also died at the same time. Throughout the realm of Wei, all who heard or saw this marveled with admiration.

2.45

Accounts in Praise of the Lotus Sūtra, Fascicle Two

Linked texts (1)

弘贊法華傳 — Classical Chinese