廣弘明集 3.8

3.8

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.