廣弘明集 3.8

3.8

梁典云。江淹位登金紫。初淹年六歲。能屬文為詩。最長有遠識愛奇尚。年二十以五經授宋諸王。待以客禮。初年十三而孤貧。採薪養母以孝聞。及梁朝六遷侍中。夢郭璞索五色筆淹與之。自是為文不工。人謂其才盡。然以不得志故也。有集十卷。深信天竺緣果之文。余檢其行事與傳同焉。綴述佛理。不多錄其別篇。知明賢之雅志耳。

The Liang dian states: "Jiang Yan reached the rank of gold seal and purple ribbon. When Yan was six years old, he was able to compose essays and poems; as he grew up, he possessed farsighted understanding and had a fondness for the rare and remarkable. At the age of twenty, he taught the Five Classics to the various princes of the Song dynasty, who treated him with the courtesies of a guest. When he was thirteen, he was orphaned and poor; gathering firewood to support his mother, he became famed for his filial piety. In the Liang dynasty, after six promotions, he became Palace Attendant. He dreamt that Guo Pu asked to take back the five-coloured brush, and Yan gave it to him; from then on, his compositions were no longer skilled, and people said his talent was exhausted. Yet this was because he did not fulfill his ambitions. He had a collection of ten fascicles. He had deep faith in the Indian scriptures on causes and effects." I have examined his deeds, and they are consistent with his biography. I compiled his discourses on Buddhist principles, but have not recorded many of his other writings, wishing only to make known the elegant aspirations of this wise and worthy man.