弘贊法華傳 3.5

3.5

Shi Jizang's secular surname was An, originally. An was a person of Parthia (Anxi). His ancestors fled a blood feud and relocated to the South Sea, subsequently settling between Jiaozhou and Guangzhou. Later they moved to Jinling, where Zang was born. When he was a child, his father brought him to see Paramārtha and requested a name for him, whereupon he was named Jizang. His father took Zang to hear Dharma Master Daolang of Huang Temple lecture; as he heard it, he comprehended it, with an innate understanding as if from nature. At the age of seven, he went to Lang to go forth from the household life. Exploring profound paths, his hidden understanding renewed daily. Whatever he inquired about and received, he wondrously mastered its ultimate purport. In debate and refutation, what he marked out uniquely surpassed his peers. His elocution was abundant and facile, grand, expansive, and full of marvels. By the age of nineteen, he stood before the assembly to review and expound the teachings, the sharpness of his eloquence wandering free; in responding to the eminent talents of the age, he was more than equal to the task. His reputation rose in the city of Yang, bringing glory to the assembly of scholars. After receiving the full precepts, his fame grew even higher. In the closing years of the Kaihuang reign, Emperor Yang, while prince of the Jin fief, established four bodhimaṇḍas, which were supplied by state officials. Because Zang's reputation for understanding was distinguished by achievement, he was summoned to enter Huiri, where the ritual offerings were abundant and lavish, with exceptional honors surpassing his peers. The prince also established Riyan Temple in the capital and issued a special order inviting Zang to dwell there. However, the capital delighted in and esteemed the profound importance of the Lotus Sūtra; he thus took advantage of this inclination to unfold and analyze it. Later, in the opening years of the Daye reign, he copied two thousand copies of the Lotus Sūtra. As the Sui era drew to a close, he made twenty-five statues [of the Buddha], vacated his room to enshrine them, and resided in a humble chamber himself. Morning and evening continuously, he exhausted his sincerity in paying homage and repenting. He also separately installed an image of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva with hangings arranged as before, facing it in person to sit in meditation and contemplate the principle of true reality, maintaining this for successive years without slacking to the end. As Zang's vitality gradually declined, illnesses multiplied. The Emperor bestowed fine medicines, and palace envoys followed one after another. His posthumous memorial was earnest, entrusting the Great Dharma [to the Emperor]. When dawn arrived, he called for hot water to bathe, put on new, clean robes, and had his attendant burn incense and chant the Buddha's name. Zang sat cross-legged in solemn contemplation, appearing joyful. As the noon meal approached, he suddenly transformed. His age was seventy-five, in the fifth month of the sixth year of the Wude reign. His dying instructions were to expose his corpse to the elements, yet his complexion grew even more fresh and fair. An imperial decree offered condolences and funeral gifts, ordering that a stone niche be found in the Southern Mountains to inter him. In all, he lectured on the Lotus Sūtra more than three hundred times, and he also composed profound commentaries that circulated widely in the world. When his final day approached, he wrote the Treatise on Not Fearing Death (Si bu bu lun); having dropped his brush, he passed away.