辯正論 3.82

3.82

Emperor Yang of the Sui (taboo name Guang) succeeded to the martial achievements [of his father] and grandly inherited the great enterprise. His ultimate virtue shed light upon millions of people, and his spiritual transformation permeated the populace. From regions that divine the wind and watch the rain, they scaled mountains to request the calendar; from lands of intertwined trees and shifting sands, they sailed the seas to present treasures. Externally he mastered the nine philosophical schools, and internally he exhausted the Tripiṭaka, penetrating the wondrous principle of suchness (tathatā) and exhausting the profound source of creation. Embodying things, he surpassed predecessors, and expressing sentiments, he topped antiquity. Constantly lamenting that the chariot of Lake Ding was distant and impossible to pursue, and that the soul at Changling was remote and eternal, he thereupon vigorously initiated pure karma and erected fields of merit. In the first year of Daye, he built West Chanding Temple on behalf of Emperor Wen, entirely modeling it on the magnificent grandeur and fully adhering to the grand pattern. He raised the Terrace of Wish-Fulfillment and laid out the Chambers of Spiritual Powers. The halls of benevolence reached the Milky Way, and the sacred pillars towered into the sky. Jeweled trees stood in eight rows, and harmonious bells rang at the four corners. In towering three-storied galleries hung self-sounding bells; spreading thousand-petaled lotuses bore up flight-arrived seats. Its loftiness surpassed the palace of Langya; its majesty outdid the court of Lu Gong. It exhausted all worldly rarities and possessed every cultural artifact. Furthermore, he built Longsheng Temple in Gaoyang, whose stele text was composed by Yu Shinan, Gentleman of the Palace Library. There, the fragrant pavilions stood solemnly overlooking from afar, and the flower terraces sat facing each other in twilight. The golden moon rose at night, lingering beside the jade-adorned tiles; the Jade Cord constellation shone at dawn, glittering among the pearl nettings. Serene emptiness brightened the curtains of the rooms, and winds and clouds arose at the porches and windows. With sacred niches, dhyāna chambers, and image-settings of the Conjured City, and with gushing pagodas and jeweled terraces, it carried the representation of divine transformations to the utmost. Furthermore, he held an unobstructed great assembly at the bodhimanda and ordained one hundred and twenty laymen and laywomen. On behalf of Emperor Wen, he respectfully made one seated gilded-bronze image of Śākya, measuring seven feet two inches including the halo and pedestal. Before it was gilded and adorned, its uṣṇīṣa congealed into dark turquoise and its body shone with purple gold, emitting a great radiance that illuminated the halls and chambers. Since this moved and resonated with auspicious portents, he ordered the prefectures and commanderies to make copies of it. He also built Hongshan Temple in Bingzhou, and along Mount Long carved a seated image of Amitābha one hundred and thirty feet high. In Yangzhou he built Huidi Bodhimanda, and in the capital he built Qingchan Temple, Riyan Temple, and Xiangtai Temple. Furthermore, he converted nine palaces into nine temples, and at both Tailings and Zhuangling he built a temple at each. After pacifying Chen, in Yangzhou he restored and mended old sūtras and copied new copies, totaling 612 collections of the Tripiṭaka, 29,173 works, and 903,580 fascicles. He restored 101,000 old images and cast or carved 3,850 new images. The monks and nuns he ordained numbered 16,200.