北山錄 4.2.2

4.2.2

其始譯正法華。 既定詁訓命康那律講授。 諷誦者翕然為美。 至羅什世重譯為妙法蓮華。 而護所譯稍潛其耀（羅什弘始年於逍遙園重譯。 於世盛行正法華稍歇。 今在藏內）蓋覩大輅者。 不以椎輪為貴也（文選云。 椎輪為大輅之始。 大輅寧有於椎輪之質。 增氷為積水所成。 積水增微於曾氷之凜。 椎輪古棧車也。 大輅玉輅也。 得華忘樸之義）護門法乘（竺法乘。 依法護為沙彌。 幼而神悟玄鑒過人。 有詐投護。 急求錢二十萬。 護未苔。 乘年十三在師側。 即語云。 和尚已相許前人。 果非求財者。 將觀護之道德也）才慧俊拔。 孫綽方諸王濬沖。 以皆少有機悟之鑒也（王戎。 字濬沖。 太源人。 渾之子。 與阮籍友少之二十歲。 相得如時輩。 每至某家輒之戎室。 謂其父曰。 濬中清尚非鄉倫也。 與鄉語不如阿戎矣）竺法雅（河間人。 擬正有庶少善外學。 長達佛經。 才思俊贍。 時賢企慕。 兼善著述）康法朗（中山人。 善戒節西遊諸國還）以經中義類擬議儒書。 為生解之例。 謂之格義以訓門學。 甞與道安法汏講談諸經。 皆妙盡其要。 朗門人令韶每入定。 數日不起。 朗終刻木為像。 如事生之禮。 帛法祖風神之秀也。 於王導則以簡率於下望之則莊敬以為王公風道斯言卞令軌度格物故也（帛遠。 字法祖。 本姓萬。 河內人。 才思俊徹敏朗絕倫。 日誦萬言。 值晉亂將遁隴右。 秦州刺史張輔重之。 欲令反服不從遂殺之。 蕃漢追悼。 孫綽道賢論方之稽康也）祖弟法祚。 德行沖允。 實祖之季也（祚亦有少譽被博士徵不就。 二十五出家。 洞明佛理梁州刺史張光。 以祚兄不肯反服輔殺之。 光又逼之祚。 亦堅志不從。 亦為光所害）帛高座卓朗之傑也（帛尸梨蜜多羅。 吉交。 國人時呼為高座。 以其善說法故。 本國王之子讓位出家。 於東晉譯藥師等經）王導謂之曰。 外國有君一人而已。 尸梨蜜笑曰。 若使貧道只如檀越為今日。 豈得遊歷至此（晉咸康中卒。 春秋八十餘。 葬石子岡。 岡在吳後起寺焉）支遁常遣人就竺潛買剡𡵙山側沃洲小嶺（支遁。 字道林。 姓關氏。 陳留人。 幼有神俊聰明秀徹。 王濛甚重之。 後於沃州小嶺立寺。 晚出山陰講維摩經。 許詢為都講也）潛曰。 欲來輒給。 豈聞巢許買山而隱（竺潛。 字法深。 姓王。 晉大將軍敦之弟。 事忠州劉元真為師。 元真有才譽。 後隱剡山當世追蹤問道者也）遁後與高麗道人書曰。 上座竺法深。 忠州劉公之弟子。 體性貞峙。 道俗綸綜。 往在京邑。 維持法網。 內外具瞻。 弘道之匠也。 頃以道業靖濟不耐塵俗。 考室山澤。 修德就閑。 今在縣之𡵙山。 率合同遊。 論道說義。 高棲浩然。 遐邇有。 詠孫綽以潛比劉伯倫。 謂曠大之體同焉。 時𡵙山竺法友從深受阿毘曇（一百卷）一宿便誦。 深曰。 經目則誦見稱昔人。 若能仁更興大晉者。 必取汝為五百之一人矣（法友年二十四。 便能講說。 後立剡縣城南臺寺焉）晉成世康僧淵．康法暢．支敏度俱過江（僧淵。 本西國人。 生長安為僧。 常乞食自資。 德逾暢度。 與殷浩對問內外典籍。 浩詞屈不能對）暢常執麾尾行。 每值名賓。 輒清談盡日。 庾元規曰。 此麈尾何以常在。 暢曰。 廉者不求。 貪者不與。 故常在耳。 著人物始義論（支畝度著譯經錄。 今行於世）支遁初至京。 王濛器重之。 謂人曰。 精微之功不減輔嗣。 殷融與衛玠交時。 謂其神情俊徹後進莫有繼之者。 及見遁歎息以為重見若人（若人如此人謂珍也）遁每講善標宗會。 而章句或有所遺。 時為宗文者所陋。 謝安聞之曰。 此乃九方堙相馬。 略其玄黃而取其駿逸（莊子云。 九方堙善相者。 淮南子。 秦穆公召伯樂使求馬。 三月而反曰。

When he first translated the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra (Zheng fahua jing), once the glosses and commentary were settled, he instructed Kang Nalu to lecture on it. Those who chanted and recited it unanimously praised its excellence. When it came to the time of Kumārajīva, it was retranslated as the Lotus Sutra (Miaofa lianhua jing), and the translation of Dharmarakṣa gradually paled in its brilliance (Kumārajīva retranslated it during the Hongshi era in the Xiaoyao Garden; it circulated widely in the world, and the Zheng fahua jing gradually fell out of use, though it is still extant in the canon today). This was because those who behold a grand carriage do not value a solid-wheeled cart (The Wenxuan says: "The solid-wheeled cart was the beginning of the grand carriage, yet how could the grand carriage retain the rustic quality of a solid-wheeled cart? Accumulated ice is formed from gathered water, yet gathered water falls far short of the chill of accumulated ice." A solid-wheeled cart is an ancient unembellished wagon; a grand carriage is a jade carriage. This expresses the idea of gaining the flower and forgetting the simple wood). Fancheng of Dharmarakṣa's school (Zhu Fancheng became a śrāmaṇera under Dharmarakṣa; from childhood his spiritual awakening and profound discernment surpassed that of others. Someone fraudulently came to Dharmarakṣa urgently begging for two hundred thousand coins; Dharmarakṣa had not yet answered when Fancheng, aged thirteen and standing by his master's side, immediately said, "The Upādhyāya has already granted it to you." The man was indeed not seeking wealth, but had come to observe Dharmarakṣa's virtue and character) possessed outstanding talent and wisdom. Sun Chuo compared him to Wang Junchong, because both had keen discernment and comprehension at a tender age (Wang Rong, whose courtesy name was Junchong, was a native of Taiyuan and the son of Wang Hun. He was friends with Ruan Ji, though twenty years his junior, and they got along like contemporaries; whenever Ruan came to his house, he would go to Rong's room and say to his father, "Junchong's pure eminence is not matched by his fellow villagers; speaking with you is not as good as speaking with A-Rong"). Zhu Faya (a native of Hejian, who had high aspirations; as a youth he was well-versed in secular learning, and as he grew up he mastered Buddhist scriptures; his talent and thought were outstanding and abundant, admired by the worthy of the time, and he was also skilled at writing) and Kang Falang (a native of Zhongshan, proficient in moral discipline, who returned after traveling west through various kingdoms) compared the categories of meaning in the scriptures to Confucian books to establish examples for generating understanding; they called this "matching meanings" (geyi) to instruct disciples. They once discussed various scriptures with Dao'an and Fa-tai, thoroughly capturing the subtleties of their essentials in every case. Falang's disciple Lingshao would, whenever he entered samādhi, not rise for several days; when Lang died, he carved a wooden statue of him and served it with the rites due to the living. Bo Fazu had an outstanding elegance of spirit. Towards Wang Dao he showed simplicity and unpretentiousness, yet looked up to from below, he possessed a solemn dignity, displaying the noble demeanor of princes and dukes; Bian Ling [Hu] said this was because of his adherence to rules and standards in sizing up things (Bo Yuan, whose courtesy name was Fazu, had the original surname of Wan and was a native of Henei; his talent and intellect were sharp, penetrating, perceptive, and peerless, and he could recite ten thousand words a day; during the turmoil of the Jin dynasty he intended to flee west of Long, but Zhang Fu, Regional Inspector of Qinzhou, held him in high esteem and wanted him to return to lay life; when he refused, Fu killed him; both foreigners and Han mourned him; Sun Chuo's Daoxian lun compared him to Ji Kang). Fazu's younger brother Fazuo possessed modest and genuine virtue, truly matching his elder brother (Fazuo also enjoyed an early reputation and was summoned to be an Erudite, but did not accept; at age twenty-five he left home, thoroughly illuminating Buddhist principles; Zhang Guang, Regional Inspector of Liangzhou, killed him because, when his elder brother refused to revert to lay life and was killed by Zhang Fu, Guang also coerced Fazuo, who remained steadfast in his will and would not comply, so he too was harmed by Guang). Bo the High Seat was a preeminent figure of remarkable brilliance (Bo Śrīmitra, who was of Jiaozhi; his countrymen at the time called him "the High Seat" because he was skilled at preaching the Dharma; he was originally the prince of his country, who relinquished the throne to leave the household, and translated scriptures such as the Bhaiṣajyaguru-sūtra during the Eastern Jin). Wang Dao said to him, "In foreign lands, there is only you as a remarkable gentleman." Śrīmitra smiled and said, "If this poor monk were merely like you, the patron, today, how could I have traveled here?" (He died during the Xiankang era of the Jin at the age of over eighty, and was buried at Shizigang; the mound was in Wu, where a temple was later built). Zhi Dun often sent someone to Zhu Qian to purchase the small ridge of Wozhou beside Mount Shan (Zhi Dun, whose courtesy name was Daolin and whose surname was Guan, was a native of Chenliu; in his youth he possessed extraordinary brilliance and penetrating intelligence; Wang Meng valued him greatly; later he established a monastery at the small ridge of Wozhou, and in his later years went to Shanyin to lecture on the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, with Xu Xun serving as lead respondent). Qian said, "If you wish to come, I will simply give it to you; when has one ever heard of Chao [Fu] or Xu [You] buying a mountain to become recluses?" (Zhu Qian, whose courtesy name was Fashen and whose surname was Wang, was the younger brother of Dun, General-in-Chief of the Jin; he served Liu Yuanzhen of Zhongzhou as his master; Yuanzhen possessed talent and reputation; Qian later retired to Mount Shan, where contemporaries followed in his footsteps to inquire about the Way). Dun later wrote in a letter to a Korean monk: "The Senior Monk Zhu Fashen, disciple of Master Liu of Zhongzhou, is upright and towering in nature, weaving together the sacred and secular realms. Formerly in the capital, he maintained the net of the Dharma, and was revered by both those within and without [the fold], a master who propagated the Way. Recently, considering that his cultivation of the Way was tranquil and accomplished, and unable to endure worldly dust, he built a dwelling among mountains and marshes to cultivate virtue and retire to leisure. Now at Mount Shan in this county, he gathers companions to roam together, discussing the Way and discoursing on its meanings, perching loftily in vast detachment, celebrated far and wide." Sun Chuo compared Qian to Liu Bolun [Liu Ling], considering their grand and spacious nature to be identical. At that time, Zhu Fayou of Mount Shan received the Abhidharma (in one hundred fascicles) from him; after only one night he could recite it. Shen said, "Reciting something after once laying eyes on it was praised in men of old. If the Capable Benevolent One (Śākyamuni) were to arise again in the Great Jin, he would surely take you as one of the Five Hundred!" (Fayou, at the age of twenty-four, was already capable of lecturing; he later established the Nantai Temple south of the city of Shan County). During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Jin, Kang Sengyuan, Kang Fachang, and Zhi Mindu all crossed the Yangtze River (Sengyuan was originally from the Western Regions and was born in Chang'an, where he became a monk; he always sustained himself by begging for food, and his virtue exceeded that of Chang and Du; he held debates with Yin Hao on the inner and outer scriptures, and Hao was at a loss for words, unable to reply). Chang always carried a chowry while traveling; whenever he met famous guests, they would engage in pure talk for the entire day. Yu Yuangui [Yu Liang] asked, "Why is this chowry always in your possession?" Chang said, "The upright do not seek it, and the greedy are not given it; hence it is always in my possession." He wrote the Treatise on the Original Meaning of Figures and Things (Zhi Mindu composed the Catalog of Translated Scriptures, which currently circulates in the world). When Zhi Dun first arrived in the capital, Wang Meng held him in great esteem and said to others, "His subtle and profound achievement is no less than that of Fu Si (Wang Bi)." When Yin Rong associated with Wei Jie, he considered that Jie's spirit and intelligence were so extraordinarily sharp that none among the younger generation could succeed him; but upon seeing Dun, he sighed and considered that he had seen such a person once again (such a person refers to someone of this caliber, meaning Wei Jie). In his lectures, Dun was always good at presenting the overarching principles, while occasionally leaving out phrases and clauses; at the time, those who adhered strictly to literal phrasing looked down on him. Xie An heard of this and said, "This is Jiufang Gao appraising horses—overlooking the black and yellow, and seizing upon the swift and free" (Zhuangzi says Jiufang Yin was a master appraiser; the Huainanzi says Duke Mu of Qin summoned Bo Le to seek a horse; after three months he returned and said:).