傳法正宗記 1.5

1.5

臣今有杭州靈隱寺僧契嵩。經臣陳狀。稱禪門傳法祖宗未甚分明。教門淺學各執傳記。古今多有諍競。因討論大藏經論。備得禪門祖宗所出本末。因刪繁撮要。撰成傳法正宗記一十二卷。并畫祖圖一面。以正傳記謬誤。兼舊著輔教編印本一部三冊。上陛下書一封。並不干求恩澤。乞臣繳進。臣於釋教粗曾留心。觀其筆削著述。固非臆說。頗亦精微。陛下萬機之暇深得法樂。願賜聖覽。如有可採。乞降付中書看詳。特與編入大藏目錄。取進止。

Your subject now has the monk Qisong of Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou presenting a petition to your subject, stating that the ancestral lineage transmitting the Dharma in the Chan gate is not yet clearly distinct, and that shallow scholars of the doctrinal gates cling to their respective records, giving rise to much contention past and present. Consequently, he investigated the sūtras and treatises of the Tripiṭaka and obtained a full account of the origins and developments of the Chan lineage's patriarchs. He thereupon excised redundancies and extracted the essentials, composing the Chuanfa zhengzong ji in twelve fascicles, together with a painted ancestral chart in one scroll, to rectify the errors of past records; alongside this, he includes one set in three volumes of the printed edition of his previously composed Fujiao bian and a sealed memorial to Your Majesty, seeking no imperial favors whatsoever, and begging your subject to forward them. Your subject has paid rough attention to the Buddhist teaching; observing his editorial revisions and literary compositions, they are certainly not arbitrary opinions, but rather quite refined and subtle. In the leisure moments amidst Your Majesty's myriad affairs, you deeply attain the joy of the Dharma; I pray that you grant them an imperial glance. If there is anything worthy of adoption, I beg that they be sent down to the Secretariat for examination, so that they may be specially cataloged into the Tripiṭaka; awaiting imperial determination.