辯正論 3.21

3.21

右陳世五主。合三十四年。寺有一千二百三十二所。國家新寺一十七所。百官造者六十八所。郭內大寺三百餘所。輿地圖云。都下舊有七百餘寺。屬侯景作亂。焚燒蕩盡。有陳大統國。及細民備皆修造。連甍接棟櫛比皇居。表塔相望星羅治下。書經造像不可紀言。無遮大會供僧布施。放生宥罪。弘宣十善汲引四民。難得稱矣。僧尼三萬二千人。譯經三人十有一部。此五代君。篤美玄宗廣弘佛事。立寺造像招集名僧。晉世祖來蘇家給。晉中宗富有江表。皇明丕丞寶運。孝武光啟德風。宋高祖殷憂稍移天步猶阻。二年塗鯁四戰兵勞。百慮暢於胸中。萬機總於襟內。不倦檀那之業。常持護法之心。崇重大乘瞻仰螺髻。諷誦龍宮弘聖不疲。清音無輟。宋太祖運茲日用布此天下太平。每興解網之仁。思反結繩之政。齊高祖洞真假之玄妙。盡儒墨之菁華。聿修上善光隆下武。梁高祖邁有德之前蹤。躡淨名之聖軌。紐地維之既裂。振天網之云頹。未明求衣坐以待旦。自強不息敦緝彝倫。至於鷲峯奧典雞園密義。二諦五乘之旨。三藏九部之文。赤髭之所未詳。青目由來不釋。並得。文無重覽義弗再思。鄙周孔之俗謨。譏老莊之名理。能令先儒解體。足使時彥伏膺。罕入戶庭孰窺牆隩。獨開聖覽逈發天情。大智閑閑外齋八則。小心翼翼內斂四儀。臨赤縣而溢慈悲。寄玄扈以孚弘誓。澤周有頂道被無垠。靈應嘉祥兆符先見。寬仁德孝史備後書。顯護之所不傳。聶支之所未錄。並編之金簡。藏諸寶印。覆以珠帳。擎以玉床。蓮花之臺妙於四柱。師子之座起于九級。非直軟草之賓。書皮代紙。亦見眾香之客。灑血淹塵。梁記云。武帝在位四十九年。每以庭蔭早傾常懷感思恒加。歎曰。雖有四海之尊。無以得申罔極。故留心釋典。以八部般若十方諸佛之母。能除罪障善滌煩勞。故採眾經躬述注解。法輪相繼齋講不絕。藉茲勝福望展孝心。頻代二皇捨身以祈冥祐。每捨身時地為震動。於鍾山起愛敬寺。青溪起智度寺。捨舊茅居為光宅寺。至普通八年。更造同泰寺。殿臺華綺房廊彩飾。陵雲九級麗魏永寧。又於宮內立至敬殿。景陽臺起七廟室。月中再設淨饌。每及宗廟蒸嘗。未曾不流咽涕泗。預從左右澘欷交懷。雖億兆務殷而卷不輟手。披閱內外以夜達晨。著通史書苑及經律異相。三教義類五典文言。數千餘卷。至於流恩獄市多行慈恕。其有罪不可原者。改容久之。然後下筆。察姦聽訟。明若通神。自非享宴不許音樂。後宮侍御皆無羅綺。內殿寢處衣衾率素。布被莞席草履葛巾。天監年來口味備斷。日唯一食。食止菜蔬。蜀獻芋蒻。訝其香美似肉。因復出勅禁之。自古帝王莫能爾者（信不可思議之君父也）。

The above concerns the five rulers of the Chen dynasty, spanning a total of thirty-four years. There were 1,232 monasteries: 17 newly built by the state, 68 built by the civil and military officials, and over 300 large monasteries within the city walls. The Yudi tu (Atlas of the Earth) states: "Originally, there were over seven hundred monasteries in the capital. When Hou Jing stirred up rebellion, they were completely burned and destroyed. When the Chen unified the realm, everyone from the state down to the common people rebuilt them. Continuous roofs and adjoining beams stood as dense as comb teeth beside the imperial palace; stupas faced one another, spread like stars beneath the seat of government." The copying of scriptures and making of images cannot be fully recorded. Great assemblies without impediment were held to make offerings to monks and give alms; living beings were released and crimes pardoned; they widely proclaimed the ten virtuous deeds and guided the four classes of people, so much so that it is hard to express in words. There were 32,000 monks and nuns. Three people translated scriptures in eleven collections. These monarchs of the five dynasties devotedly praised the profound lineage and broadly propagated Buddhist deeds, founding monasteries, making images, and gathering famous monks. Shizu of the Jin brought relief and made families well-provided; Zhongzong of the Jin possessed the lands south of the Yangzi. The august brilliance greatly succeeded the treasured mandate, and Emperor Xiaowu gloriously opened the virtuous breeze. Under Gaozu of the Song, deep worries gradually passed, yet the heavenly course remained fraught with difficulty; in the second year, choked with thorns and troubled by warfare on four fronts, a hundred cares flowed within his chest and myriad state affairs were grasped within his heart. Yet he never wearied of the works of a dānapati and always held the resolve to protect the Dharma, revering the Mahāyāna, looking up toward the śikha, intoning at the dragon palace, propagating the sages without tiring, his clear voice ceaseless. Taizu of the Song operated this daily use to spread this great peace throughout the world; he always raised the benevolence of loosening the net and longed to return to the governance of knotted cords. Gaozu of the Qi penetrated the profound marvels of the ultimate and conventional, exhausting the essence of the Ru and Mohists; he diligently cultivated the highest goodness and gloriously continued the military exploits of his predecessors. Gaozu of the Liang surpassed the past traces of virtuous men and trod the sacred path of Vimalakīrti. He knit together the cords of Earth after they had torn and raised up the net of Heaven when it collapsed. Before dawn he sought his clothes and sat waiting for daybreak; strengthening himself without rest, he earnestly ordered the constant norms. As for the profound canons of Vulture Peak and the secret meanings of the Deer Park, the principles of the two truths and the five vehicles, and the texts of the three baskets and nine divisions—what the Red-Beard [Kumārajīva] had not clarified and what Blue-Eyes [Piṅgala] had never explained—he completely attained, never needing to read a text twice or contemplate a meaning again. Despising the mundane plans of Zhou and Confucius, and scoffing at the philosophical principles of Laozi and Zhuangzi, he could make past Ru collapse in confusion and was enough to make the talents of his day submit in awe. Few could enter his hall—who could glimpse the recess of his walls? Alone, he opened the sacred view, his heavenly nature profoundly emerging. His great wisdom was at ease, externally observing the eight rules; his extreme circumspection was reverent, internally maintaining the four deportments. Overseeing the Red County [of China], loving-kindness and compassion overflowed; dwelling by the Xuanhu, he confirmed his vast vows. His grace reached the peak of existence; his Way covered the limitless. Spiritual responses and auspicious omens were seen in advance through portents; his broad benevolence, virtue, and filial piety are fully recorded in later histories. What was not transmitted by Xianhu and what was unrecorded by Niezhi are all compiled upon golden tablets, stored under precious seals, covered with pearl canopies, and supported on jade platforms. His lotus pedestal was more wondrous than four pillars; his lion throne arose upon nine tiers. Not only did visitors upon the soft grass write upon bark in place of paper, but one could also see guests of Gandhamādana sprinkling blood to lay the dust. The Liang ji (Record of the Liang) says: Emperor Wu was on the throne for forty-nine years. Ever mourning the early loss of his parents' shelter, he constantly harbored sorrowful thoughts, often sighing, "Though I hold the honor of the four seas, I have no way to repay their boundless grace." Therefore, he set his mind upon Buddhist scriptures, considering the Prajñā in eight divisions to be the mother of the Buddhas of the ten directions, capable of eliminating sin and karmic obstacles and skillfully cleansing defilements and toil. Thus, gathering various sūtras, he personally composed commentaries; the wheel of the Dharma turned uninterruptedly, and vegetarian banquets and lectures were ceaseless. Relying upon these superior blessings, he hoped to display his filial heart. Repeatedly on behalf of his two imperial parents he renounced his person to pray for unseen aid; every time he renounced his person, the earth shook. On Mount Zhong he founded Aijing Monastery; at Qingxi he founded Zhidu Monastery; he gave up his old thatched residence to make Guangzhai Monastery. In the eighth year of the Putong era, he further built Tongtai Monastery, with palatial halls ornate and corridors decorated in vibrant colors, its nine-tiered tower rising to the clouds as splendid as the Yongning Monastery of the Wei. Furthermore, he erected the Zhijing Hall within the palace and built chambers for the seven ancestral temples at Jingyang Terrace. Twice a month, pure meals were offered. Whenever it came to the seasonal sacrifices of the ancestral temple, he never failed to shed copious tears, and the attendants around him wept with joined sorrow. Though the affairs of myriad millions were pressing, the scrolls never left his hands; reading inner and outer texts, he continued from night until dawn. He authored the Tongshi (Comprehensive History), the Shuyuan (Garden of Calligraphy), and the Jinglü yixiang (Extraordinary Aspects of Sūtras and Vinayas), as well as categories of the meanings of the three teachings and the literary texts of the Five Classics, amounting to several thousand fascicles. As for extending grace to the prisons and markets, he broadly practiced mercy and forbearance. If there were offenders who could not be pardoned, his countenance would change for a long time before he set down his brush. Investigating villainy and hearing lawsuits, his brilliance was like that of a spirit. Unless at banquets, he did not permit music. The palace attendants wore no silk or damask; his bedding in the inner bedchambers was entirely plain—cloth quilts, rush mats, straw sandals, and pueraria caps. From the Tianjian era onward, all flavors were cut off: he took only one meal a day, and his food was limited to vegetables. When Sichuan presented konjac, he was surprised by its fragrance and deliciousness resembling meat, and thereupon issued an imperial edict forbidding it. Among emperors and kings since antiquity, none could match him. (He was truly an inconceivable lord and father!)