[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [傳法正宗記](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078) › 1.3 # 傳法正宗記 1.3 傳法正宗記 1.3 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078.1.3) 十二月日。杭州靈隱永安蘭若傳法沙門賜紫臣僧契嵩。謹昧死上書。皇帝陛下。臣聞。事天者必因於山。事地者必因於澤。然其所因高深。則其所事者易至也。若陛下之崇高深明。則與夫山澤相萬矣。適人有從事其道者。舍陛下而不即求之。雖其渠渠終身絕世。烏能得其志耶。抑又聞佛經曰。我法悉已付囑乎國王大臣者。此正謂佛教損益弛張。在陛下之明聖矣。如此則佛之徒。以其法欲有所云為。豈宜不賴陛下而自棄于草莽乎。臣忝佛之徒。實欲扶持其法。今者起巖穴。不遠千里。抱其書而趨闕下。願幸陛下。大賜以成就其志也。臣嘗謂。能仁氏之垂教。必以禪為其宗。而佛為其祖。祖者乃其教之大範。宗者乃其教之大統。大統不明。則天下學佛者。不得一其所詣。大範不正。則不得質其所證。夫古今三學輩。競以其所學相勝者。蓋宗不明祖不正。而為其患矣。然非其祖宗素不明不正也。特後世為書者之誤傳耳。又後世之學佛者。不能盡考經論而校正之。乃有束教者不信佛之微旨在乎言外。語禪者不諒佛之能詮遺乎教內（始草書。即云佛之所詮概見乎教內。及寫奏時廼改曰。佛之能詮遺乎教內。意謂。佛之善巧詮發此法之語。存乎教部之內。為學徒以始草者傳出遂與奏本有異然此二說其義皆可用。他本或云。所詮概見乎教內者。蓋兩出之也）雖一圓顱方服之屬。而紛然自相是非。如此者古今何嘗稍息臣不自知量。平生竊欲推一其宗祖與天下學佛輩息諍釋疑。使百世而知其學有所統也。山中嘗力探大藏。或經或傳。校驗其所謂禪宗者。推正其所謂佛祖者。其所見之書果謬。雖古書必斥之。其所見之書果詳。雖古書必取之。又其所出佛祖年世事迹之差訛者。若傳燈錄之類。皆以眾家傳記與累代長曆。校之修之。編成其書。垂十餘萬言。命曰傳法正宗記。其排布狀畫佛祖相承之像。則曰傳法正宗定祖圖。其推會祖宗之本末者。則曰傳法正宗論。總十有二卷。又以吳縑繪畫。其所謂定祖圖者一面。在臣愚淺。自謂吾佛垂教僅二千年。其教被中國殆乎千歲。禪宗傳于諸夏。僅五百年。而乃宗乃祖其事迹本末。於此稍詳。可傳以補先聖教法萬分之一耳適當陛下。以至道慈德治天下。天地萬物和平安裕。而佛老之教。得以毘贊大化。陛下又垂神禪悅彌入其道妙。雖古之帝王百代未有如陛下窮理盡性之如此也。是亦佛氏之徒。際會遭遇陛下萬世之一時也。臣所以拳拳懇懇不避其僭越冒犯之誅。輒以其書與圖偕上進。欲幸陛下垂于大藏與經律皆傳。臣螻蟻之生已及遲暮。於世固無所待。其區區但欲教法不微不昧而流播無窮。人得資之而務道為善。臣雖死之日猶生之年也。非敢僥倖。欲忝陛下雨露之渥澤耳。其所證據明文。皆出乎大經大論。最詳於所謂傳法正宗論與其定祖圖者。儻陛下。天地垂察。使其得與大賜。願如景德傳燈錄玉英集例。詔降傳法院。編錄入藏。即臣死生之大幸耳。抑亦天下教門之大幸也。如陛下睿斷。允臣所請。乞以其書十有二卷者。特降中書。施行其傳法正宗記與其定祖圖。兼臣舊著輔教編印本者一部三冊。其書亦推會二教聖人之道。同乎善世利人矣。謹隨書上進。干瀆冕旒。臣不任激切屏營之至。誠惶誠恐謹言。 > On the \[…\] day of the twelfth month, your subject, the monk Qisong, Dharma-transmitting śramaṇa of Yong'an Hermitage at Lingyin in Hangzhou, recipient of the purple robe, bowing his head in mortal fear, submits this memorial to Your Imperial Majesty: Your subject has heard that those who serve Heaven must rely on mountains, and those who serve Earth must rely on marshes; because that which they rely upon is lofty and profound, that which they serve is easily reached. As for Your Majesty's loftiness, profundity, and brightness, they surpass the mountains and marshes ten-thousandfold. If one engaged in their Dao were to bypass Your Majesty without seeking it directly, even if he worked with utmost diligence his whole life cut off from the world, how could he attain his aspiration? Moreover, he has heard that the Buddhist scriptures say: "My Dharma has been entirely entrusted to the kings and great ministers." This refers precisely to the fact that the waxing and waning, loosening and tightening of the Buddhist teaching rest upon Your Majesty's brilliant sagacity. If so, when followers of the Buddha wish to do or say something with respect to his Dharma, how could it be right not to depend on Your Majesty and instead abandon themselves to the grass and weeds? Unworthy though your subject is as a follower of the Buddha, he truly wishes to support and uphold this Dharma. Now, rising from his mountain caves and not considering a thousand li too far, he holds his writings and rushes to the imperial palace steps, hoping that Your Majesty, in your great benevolence, might grant success to his aspiration. Your subject has often maintained that Śākyamuni's bequeathing of the teaching necessarily took Chan as its lineage and the Buddha as its patriarch. The patriarch is the great model of his teaching; the lineage is the great tradition of his teaching. If the great tradition is not clarified, then students of the Buddha throughout the realm cannot unify the destination to which they attain; if the great model is not rectified, they cannot verify that which they realize. That those of the three trainings past and present vie to overcome one another through their respective learnings has indeed arisen as a calamity because the lineage is not clarified and the patriarchs are not rectified. Yet it is not that the patriarchs and lineage were inherently unclear or unrectified; it is merely that later authors transmitted them erroneously. Furthermore, later students of Buddhism could not thoroughly examine the sūtras and treatises to collate and correct them. Thus, there are those constrained by doctrinal teachings who do not believe that the Buddha's subtle intent lies beyond words, and those speaking of Chan who do not understand that the Buddha's expressive teachings were bequeathed within the doctrinal canon. (When first drafting the text, it said that that which the Buddha expresses is largely seen within the doctrinal teachings. When copying it for submission to the throne, it was changed to say that the Buddha's expressive teachings were bequeathed within the doctrinal teachings, meaning that the Buddha's words skillfully expressing this Dharma are preserved within the doctrinal division. Because students circulated the first draft, it came to differ from the submitted manuscript; nevertheless, both explanations are viable in meaning. Other editions may say that that which is expressed is largely seen within the doctrinal teachings, as both versions were produced.) Although all belong to the same tonsured and squared-robed fellowship, they engage in tumultuous mutual disputes. How has such a state of affairs ever ceased past and present? Not knowing his own limitations, your subject has secretly wished all his life to deduce and unify this lineage and its patriarchs, to end disputes and resolve doubts for students of Buddhism throughout the realm, so that a hundred generations will know that their learning has a single tradition. In the mountains, he formerly devoted his energies to probing the Tripiṭaka, both sūtras and biographies, verifying what is termed the Chan school and deducing and rectifying who are called the Buddhist patriarchs. If a text he saw was truly erroneous, even if an ancient book, he certainly rejected it; if a text he saw was truly detailed, even if an ancient book, he certainly adopted it. Furthermore, where errors occurred in the dates and deeds of the Buddhist patriarchs—such as in works like the Chuandeng lu—he collated and edited them using the biographies of numerous masters and the continuous chronologies across successive eras, compiling them into a book of nearly a hundred thousand words entitled Chuanfa zhengzong ji. That which arranges and depicts the successive likenesses of the Buddhist patriarchs is called the Chuanfa zhengzong dingzu tu. That which deduces and harmonizes the origins and developments of the patriarchs and lineage is called the Chuanfa zhengzong lun. Altogether there are twelve fascicles. In addition, painted upon Wu silk is one scroll of the so-called Dingzu tu. In your subject's shallow and foolish opinion, he considers that barely two thousand years have passed since our Buddha bequeathed his teaching, and that his teaching has covered China for almost a thousand years, while the transmission of the Chan school in the Central Lands has been only five hundred years. Now the deeds, origins, and developments of these lineages and patriarchs are somewhat detailed herein, and can be transmitted to supplement one ten-thousandth of the former sage's teachings. It happens that Your Majesty governs the realm with the ultimate Dao and compassionate virtue: heaven, earth, and all things are harmonious, peaceful, and abundant, and the teachings of the Buddha and Laozi are able to assist in the great transformation. Your Majesty also directs your thoughts to dhyāna joy, penetrating deeply into the wonders of the Dao; indeed, among ancient rulers across a hundred generations, none has ever plumbed principles and exhausted natures to such an extent as Your Majesty. This is also a once-in-ten-thousand-generations encounter for the disciples of the Buddha under Your Majesty. This is why your subject, with utter sincerity and devotion, without avoiding the punishment for presumption and offense, has submitted this text together with the chart, hoping that Your Majesty might deign to place it in the Tripiṭaka to be transmitted alongside the sūtras and vinayas. Your subject's ant-like life has already reached its dusk; in this world, he indeed has nothing left to anticipate. His modest desire is only that the Dharma teachings might not become faint or obscured, but flow and spread without end, so that people may rely upon them to devote themselves to the Dao and practice goodness. Even on the day of your subject's death, it would be as though he were still alive. He does not dare seek fortuitous fortune, but only hopes to share in the rich moisture of Your Majesty's rain and dew. The textual evidence cited is all drawn from the great sūtras and treatises, and is most detailed in the so-called Chuanfa zhengzong lun and its Dingzu tu. If Your Majesty, through your heaven-and-earth-like benevolence, deigns to inspect them and grant a great favor, your subject hopes that, following the precedent of the Jingde chuandeng lu and the Yuying ji, an edict will be issued to the Institute for the Transmission of the Dharma to catalog and enter them into the Tripiṭaka. This would be the greatest fortune in your subject's life and death, as well as the greatest fortune for the doctrinal gates of the entire realm. If Your Majesty, by your sage judgment, grants your subject's petition, I beg that the twelve fascicles of this book be specially dispatched to the Secretariat to implement the Chuanfa zhengzong ji and its Dingzu tu, together with one set in three volumes of the printed edition of your subject's previously composed Fujiao bian. That work also deduces and harmonizes the ways of the sages of the two teachings, showing them to be identical in improving the world and benefiting mankind. With reverence, I submit them along with this memorial, braving the imperial presence. Overwhelmed by anxiety and earnest urgency, in sincere awe and trembling, I respectfully submit this. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078.1.2) - [Next: 1.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078.1.4) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078~en-mt.1.3) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078.1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078.1.3) · Pramāṇa