北山錄 3.2.7

3.2.7

"I wish that Your Excellency would not pay him respect." [Huan Xuan] replied, "How could there be any reason for that? Zhongkan was merely a dead man." Once he met [Huiyuan], however, he completely reversed his former agreement. (Here *su* means previously. Originally he said he would not pay respects, but upon seeing him he paid respects at once.) When he came out of the mountain, he said to his attendants, "He is truly [a person] the likes of whom I have never seen in my life!" Later, when [Huan] Xuan wished to purge the saṅgha, he instructed his subordinates, saying, "Mount Lu is the dwelling of moral virtue; it is not subject to screening and dismissal." (*Jian* means examination.) Initially, when Emperor Cheng was young, Yu Bing assisted in governing. (Emperor Cheng of the Jin dynasty, personal name Yan, was the eldest son of Emperor Ming. Empress Dowager Yu held court as regent, and Zu Yue, Su Jun, and the Yu clan monopolized power.) He considered that śramaṇas ought to pay homage to the ruler. He Chong, Wang Mi, and others raised objections, and agreement and disagreement remained unsettled. Later, when Huan Xuan was in Gushu (Gushu is Dangtu county; formerly the Song ruler changed it to Taiping prefecture), he wished to make them pay full homage, and inquired about it [to Huiyuan]. [Hui]yuan sent a letter in reply and composed the five-chapter *Treatise on Śramaṇas Not Paying Homage to Rulers* to block perverse debates. (The letter and the treatise are both preserved in the *Hongming ji*.) Emperor An was coerced by Huan Xuan into abdication and sent away to Nanjun. (Emperor An, personal name Dezong, was the son of Emperor Xiaowu. With Wang Daozi, Prince of Kuaiji, as Grand Tutor regent, Wang Gong, Inspector of Yanzhou, rebelled alongside Huan Xuan, relocating the Emperor to Xunyang. Xuan then usurped the throne for two years until Liu Yu executed him.) When Xuan died, the imperial carriage recovered the old capital. He Wuji stepped forward and advised [Huiyuan] to welcome [the Emperor]. (Wuji was Palace Attendant.) [Hui]yuan pleaded illness and did not go. An imperial edict of grace extended comforting inquiries, to which [Hui]yuan responded with a letter of thanks; the Emperor expressed regret that they had not met. [Hui]chi went to Jingluo [in Shu], and the people of Jingluo admired his reputation and flocked to him. (Huichi entered Shu and resided at the Houyan Cloister in Yizheng county.) Daofu, the son of Qiao Zong of the counterfeit Shu, was an exceedingly cruel and rebellious general; when leading troops on a campaign, he returned to Pizhong. (Pi county, presumably Fading Temple.) When the monks of the temple saw men and horses covered in blood from afar, they all fled (fearing the soldiers). [Hui]chi remained before the door washing his hands, his countenance serene and unperturbed. When [Dao]fu arrived, [Huichi] merely snapped his fingers and strained water without stopping. Sweating profusely, [Dao]fu went out and told his generals and officers, "The Master is indeed different from the ordinary crowd!" The noble person says: When the Jin lost the Central Plains and was confined to the southern river country, the gentry, fleeing the turmoil of the Five Barbarians (the Five Barbarians were Liu Yuanhai of Former Zhao, Shi Le of Later Zhao, the Tuoba clan of Later Wei, the Fu clan of Former Qin, and the Yao clan of Later Qin), all migrated to the south. The state took northern expeditions as its strategy and valued boldness and courage; this caused eminent worthies, both monastic and lay, to set their minds beyond worldly affairs, soaring like cranes and singing like luan birds, viewing the ritual vessels and official ribbons and caps as if cast aside. (*Zhai* means dwelling; *shi* means worldly matters. Cultured and lofty figures, beholding the decline of the world, lodged their minds beyond worldly things, giving free rein to the sentiments of the luan and crane, hiding beside forests and springs, without looking back at rites and music.) Now, the writings and memorials of [Fotudeng], Dao'an, [Zhi]lin, and [Hui]yuan were profound in expression and tone, well-ordered, and imbued with righteousness. (*Lun* means principle.) Although they propagated a spirit beyond worldly forms, they mostly possessed strategies for statecraft. Therefore, their first words and foundational deeds were inevitably trusted and revered by the world. When Lü Guang entered Kucha and captured Kumārajīva, he rode upon his head and made him ride backwards on a camel, yet [Kumārajīva] showed no sign of resentment. Guang thereupon uniquely recognized his extraordinary caliber and dared not treat him with insolent familiarity. (Fu Jian ordered Lü Guang to lead troops to conquer Kucha and seek Kumārajīva. Having captured him, he did not treat him with much respect; he forced upon him the daughter of the King of Kucha, and made him ride a ferocious horse and a bucking camel. Kumārajīva showed no expression of anger. When returning, he advised Guang to move camp, and indeed heavy rain and flooding occurred; from this point, Guang treated him with exceptional deference.) When [Lü Guang] turned his banners back to Liang, he heard of Qin's defeat; thereupon he arrogantly occupied the region and changed the laws and script. (Lü Guang returned from conquering Kucha with more than twenty thousand camels, ten thousand fine horses, and over a thousand precious treasures; upon reaching Guzang, he heard that Fu Jian was already defeated. He styled himself Inspector of Liangzhou, and later usurped the throne under the name of Later Liang, reigning for fourteen years in all.) Yao Xing ordered his generals to chastise Liang and seek Kumārajīva. Once Liang fell, they brought him to Guanzhong. From all directions, students gathered in great numbers in Qin. [Yao Xing] sought to continue his lineage and forced women upon him. (Yao Xing admired his brilliance and forced palace courtesans upon him to obtain his seed.) Those of pure conduct were ashamed even to hear of this affair. Now, the tortoise of Song was divinely spiritual, yet lost its shell; the man of Chu made a discerning judgment, yet brought about the amputation of his feet. (Lord Yuan of Song dreamt of a man with disheveled hair who told him, "I am an envoy of the Clear River, and the fisherman Yuqie has caught me." Lord Yuan summoned him and asked, and indeed he had caught a tortoise; they then hollowed it out to divine seventy-two drillings without missing. Also, Bian He found a stone on Mount Jing; discerning that it contained jade, he presented it to the King of Chu. The king did not recognize it and had both his feet amputated; only upon the third presentation was it recognized. These all suffered carving or amputation on account of spiritual intelligence; just so Kumārajīva's discipline was defiled on account of his brilliant mind. *Jie* means shell.) Is this not a case where wisdom meets its match and strength finds its limit? Therefore, when one continually damages things in seeking to benefit them, who would not be perplexed? Emperor Xiaowen of the Wei issued an edict seeking Kumārajīva. (Emperor Xiaowen, personal name Hongxian, was the eldest son of Emperor Wendi. At five years of age, he received his father's abdication, moved the capital to Luoyang, and changed the imperial surname to Yuan. He reigned for twenty-nine years; benevolent and filial, he was fond of Huang-Lao and especially proficient in Buddhist teachings.) Later, having obtained [his writings/lineage], he bestowed official patronage. Although according to our teaching this involved a great deviation and fall (*jue* means improper), the principle of the *Spring and Autumn Annals* states that merit enduring ten generations may also be pardoned. (The *Spring and Autumn Annals* holds that one who has merit may have crimes of ten generations pardoned.) Earlier, when Kumārajīva was in the Western Regions, he met a holy man who told him, "Take care not to go to the Eastern lands, for there will be great adversity there." Kumārajīva nevertheless came without looking back. Is this not a case where a loyal minister dies for the state's plan, a righteous friend dies for noble principle, and a benevolent person dies to achieve benevolence? What was there to look back upon? (He intended to propagate the great teaching, and could not cling stubbornly to small details to maintain the Dharma gates; that today we receive the flourishment of his teachings is all due to Kumārajīva's efforts.) Therefore, when Kumārajīva died, his heart and tongue were not consumed by the cremation fire. When Sengdao was ten years old, he received the *Guanyin Sūtra* from his teacher. He asked, "How many fascicles does this sūtra have?" His teacher, wishing to test him, said, "There is only one fascicle." Sengdao said, "At the beginning it says, 'At that time, Akṣayamati…', therefore I know that there must already have been events before that." His teacher marveled at him. Living in poverty without means, he gathered firewood to study at night. When his training was complete, Yao Xing revered his virtue, entered the temple to pay respects, and shared a carriage with him to return to the palace. Emperor Wu of the Song delighted in his worthiness and founded the Dongshan Temple for him in Shouchun. (Emperor Wu of the Song, Liu Yu, took over Later Qin and returned with Sengdao to Jinling.) In the late Xiaowu era of the Jin (during the Eastern Jin, when the emperor sat upon the throne and deeply revered the Buddha's Dharma, and Fu Jian's troops arrived only to be defeated by Xie Xuan), Tanshi went to Liaodong, becoming the first to guide and convert Goguryeo.