[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) › [廣弘明集](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103) › 24.48 # 廣弘明集 24.48 廣弘明集 24.48 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [24.48](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.24.48) 弟子孤子曼頴頓首和南。一日蒙示所撰高僧傳并使其掎摭。力尋始竟但見偉才。紙弊墨渝迄未能罷。若乃至法既被名德已興。年幾五百時經六代。自摩騰法蘭發軫西域。安侯支讖荷錫東都。雖跡標出沒行實深淺。咸作舟梁大為利益。固宜油素傳美。鉛槧定辭昭示後昆揄揚往秀。而道安羅什間表秦書。佛澄道進雜聞趙冊。晉史見拾復恨局當時。宋典所好頗因其會。兼且抗出君台之記。糅在元亮之說。感應或所商攉幽明不無梗概。汎顯傍文未足光闡。間有諸傳又非隱括。景興偶採居山之人。僧寶偏綴遊方之士。法濟唯張高逸之例。法安止命志節之科。康泓專紀單開。王季但稱高座。僧瑜卓爾獨載。玄暢超然孤錄。唯釋法進所造王巾有著。意存該綜可擅一家。然進名博而未廣。巾體立而不就。梁來作者亦有病諸。僧祐成簡。既同法濟之責。王季染毫。復獲景興之誚。其唱公纂集最實近之。求其鄙意梗概頗見法師此製始所謂不刊之鴻筆。綿亘古今包括內外。屬辭比事不文不質。謂繁難省云約豈加。以高為名。既使弗逮者恥。開例成廣。足使有善者勸向之。二三諸子前後撰述。豈得約長量短同年共日而語之哉。信文徒竟無一言可豫。市肆空設千金之賞。方入簉龍函上登麟閣。出內瓊笈卷舒玉笥。弟子雖實不敏。少嘗好學。頃日尫餘觸途多昧。且獲披來帙斯文在斯。鑽仰弗暇討論。何所誠非。子通見元則之論良愧。處道知休奕之書徒深。謝安慕竺曠風流。殷皓憚支遁才俊耳。不見旬日窮情已勞。扶力此白以代訴盡。弟子孤子王曼頴頓首和南。 > Your disciple, the orphan Manying, bows his head and makes prostration. The other day I was honored by your showing me the Biographies of Eminent Monks (Gaoseng zhuan) that you compiled, asking me to criticize and select from it. Applying all my efforts to examine it to the end, I saw only extraordinary talent. Though the paper became frayed and the ink faded, I could not lay it down until I was finished. Now, when the supreme Dharma spread and renowned virtues arose, nearly five hundred years have passed, through six dynasties. From the time Mātaṅga and Dharmaratna set their carriages in motion from the Western Regions, and the Marquis An \[Shigao\] and Lokakṣema bore their staves to the Eastern Capital, though their traces appeared and disappeared, and their practices were deep or shallow, they all served as boats and bridges, creating immense benefit. It was truly fitting that silk should transmit their beauty and writing tablets establish the phrasing, brightly displaying them to later generations and praising the past luminaries. Yet Dao'an and Kumārajīva only appeared intermittently in the records of Qin; Fotudeng and Daojin were recorded sporadically in the documents of Zhao. What was culled by the Jin histories is regrettably confined to that contemporary period, while what the Song records favored largely depended on chance circumstances. Moreover, \[some\] stood out as the accounts of Juntai, or were mixed into the tales of Yuanliang; responses and resonances might have been selectively gathered, and the hidden and manifest were not without outlines, yet displaying them broadly in marginal texts was insufficient to glorify and propagate them. While other biographies appeared intermittently, they lacked overall coherence: Jingxing merely collected mountain recluses; Sengbao only stitched together itinerant mendicants; Faji set forth solely instances of lofty reclusion; Fa'an designated merely the category of moral resolution; Kang Hong strictly chronicled Dan Kai; Wang Ji praised only the High Seat; Sengyu remarkably recorded \[one person\] alone; and Xuanzhang transcended \[others\] in an isolated account. Only the work by Shi Fajin and the writing of Wang Jin had the intention of comprehensive synthesis, capable of establishing an independent tradition. Yet Fajin's reputation was broad though his coverage was not comprehensive, and Wang Jin's framework was established but never brought to completion. Authors who emerged in the Liang dynasty also suffered from these defects: Sengyou's finished slips shared the fault of Faji, and Wang Ji's dipped brush incurred once more the critique made against Jingxing. As for the compilation of Master Chang, it came closest \[to the ideal\]. Seeking my humble assessment, the outline is clearly visible: your compilation, Dharma Master, is truly what may be called an indelible masterpiece! Spanning past and present, encompassing both inner and outer teachings, it arrays words and collates facts, neither overly ornate nor crude. If one calls it extensive, it is difficult to abridge; if one calls it concise, what could possibly be added? By using 'Eminent' in the title, it causes those who fall short to feel shame; by expanding categories to form a broad scope, it is sufficient to encourage the virtuous to aspire toward it. How could the previous writings of those two or three gentlemen be spoken of in the same breath, comparing length and breadth on the same day? Truly, the crowd of literati could not add a single word to it; the marketplace set out a thousand pieces of gold in vain. It is fit to be placed among the dragon-inscribed cases and ascend to the Unicorn Pavilion, to be drawn from and placed into the jasper satchels, and rolled and unrolled within jade baskets. Although your disciple is truly undiscerning, I loved learning in my youth. Lately, being frail and feeble, I find myself benighted at every turn. Yet obtaining the unfurling of your incoming volumes, truly 'culture resides here!' Lost in admiration, I had no leisure to debate it; what could I possibly criticize? Truly, it is not unlike Zitong feeling shame upon reading the treatises of Yuanze, or Chudao's admiration deepening when knowing the writings of Xiuyi; it is merely Xie An admiring the elegance of Zhu Kuang, or Yin Hao standing in awe of the talent of Zhi Dun. Having not seen you for ten days, my yearning heart has grown weary; mustering my strength I write this letter to express my thoughts to the utmost. Your disciple, the orphan Wang Manying, bows his head and makes prostration. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 24.47](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.24.47) - [Next: 24.49](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.24.49) - [Up: 24](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.24) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103~en-mt.24.48) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [高僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2059.14.281) — 慧皎, Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.24.48](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.24.48) · Pramāṇa