傳法正宗記 1.3

1.3

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.