北山錄 4.2.5

4.2.5

[how can one] know their superiority or inferiority, their strength or weakness?) Now why do [people] alone not rely upon their likeness? (Note: "Xi" means "why." The Zang clan knew superiority and inferiority from the omens of the Cai tortoise; why not know their teacher's instruction by their simplicity or brilliance?) The masters of literary compositions—Qu [Yuan], Song [Yu], Yang [Xiong], and [Sima Xiang]ma—successively took one another as their ancestral models, yet strayed into confusion (Note: Qu Ping, Song Yu, Yang Ziyun, and [Sima] Changqing were all scholars who followed ancestral models in writing compositions); though wishing to whip [their horses] fast, it was difficult to match their pace. Therefore, virtue, conduct, words, and deeds differ across ancient and modern ages; they are indeed uneven (Note: "uneven appearance") and have gradually declined (Note: "appearance of gradual succession"). Now, carving an extraordinary unworked gem into a fine vessel is the skill of a good artisan; constructing resilient timber into a great hall is the strength of a wise builder; transmitting a specialized lineage to perfect virtue is the instruction of a benevolent teacher. Hence, birds may select their trees, fish may select their springs, ministers may select their lords, and disciples may select their teachers. Now, one who cannot be a minister yet seeks to be able to be a lord, who cannot be a son yet seeks to be able to be a father, or who cannot be a disciple yet seeks to be able to be a teacher—this is difficult indeed! (Note: It is fine to gauge oneself and evaluate affairs.) Thus, conducting oneself lies in applying reciprocity to oneself. Yet father and son are a natural kinship; there are those who do not resemble each other (Note: The way of father and son is innate nature; like Yu and Gun, they did not resemble each other); ruler and minister are the constitution of the state, hence there are those who resemble and those who do not (Note: Shun's Eight Prudent Ones and Eight Harmonious Ones were resembling; the Four Calamities were non-resembling); teacher and pupil are an association based on principle—how could there be any who do not resemble each other? For instance, Shun fathered Jun, and King Wen fathered King Wu: father and son resembling or not resembling (Note: Shun was a great sage, yet he fathered Shangjun who was unworthy; this was father and son not resembling. King Wen was a sage, and he fathered King Wu who was also a sage; this was father and son resembling). Tingjian was a minister to Yu [Shun], Feilian was a minister to Zhou, Huandou was a minister to Yao, and Longfeng was a minister to Jie: ruler and minister resembling or not resembling (Note: Tingjian was Gaoyao; he resembled Yu Shun. Feilian resembled Zhou. Huandou and Yao, and Longfeng and Jie, were cases of ruler and minister not resembling). In the school of Zhongni [Confucius], Yan [Hui] and Min [Ziqian] esteemed benevolence and righteousness; at the gate of Guigu, Su [Qin] and Zhang [Yi] esteemed cunning and deception; they fully resembled [their masters]! (Note: Su Qin and Zhang Yi both studied under Guiguzi, learning the arts of the vertical and horizontal alliances and opening and closing.) Hence, in the school of Zhongni, even a three-foot-tall boy would be ashamed to speak of hegemony. In the past, Master Shi's [Dao'an's] practice of the Way prevailed to the right of the pass (Guanxi); Lushan's transformation covered the left of the river (Jiangzuo). Fatai was upright and straightforward in the Jin dynasty (Note: Fatai traveled together with Dao'an. Dao'an went to Xiangyang; Fatai went to Jingzhou, where Huan Wen welcomed him. He was eight feet tall, with an impressive bearing. He debated with Dharma Master Daoheng and defeated him. He revitalized Waguan Monastery; Wang Xun and Xie An frequently paid him homage); Daosheng was resolute in the Song years (Note: Refers to his definitive assertion during the Song dynasty that all sentient beings can attain Buddhahood). How they resembled [their predecessors]! Looking throughout the past, who could ever reach great renown without proceeding from the chamber of morality and virtue? (Note: Yang Xiong said: "A teacher is a person's model and pattern. Without modeling and patterning, one cannot be a teacher.") The *Book of Rites* says: "A good singer makes others continue his song; a good teacher makes others continue his aspiration." Therefore, one who cannot succeed the sages of the Śākya clan, but can succeed the noble men of the Śākya clan—how could this not be due to the way of the teacher? Now, from [Fotudeng]cheng to [Dao]an, from [Dao]an to [Hui]yuan, from [Hui]yuan to Tanshun, and from [Tan]shun to Senghui, there were five generations in all; their worth was valued above emperors and kings, their influence moved the four quarters, and their deeds are recorded in the historical annals (Note: The *Book of Documents* says: "The four quarters are moved by your wind; this is solely your excellence"). In some cases, they established virtue (Note: Refers to practitioners of dhyāna contemplation); in some cases, they established merit (Note: Translating and propagating); in some cases, they established words (Note: Lecturing and writing)—they were men of the world! [Kang] Senghui and Zhi Dun were men of the world, but after the single Hui and the single Dun, scarcely anything was heard. Yet among those whose lineages lasted for successive generations, some were like green emerging from blue, or ice coming from water; they were merely the worthies of a single region, and did not become worthies of the entire world. Therefore, one who is a disciple worries that his teacher will not equal Dao'an or Huiyuan; one who is a teacher also worries that his disciples will not reach the level of Dao'an or Huiyuan. Now, when the bells and drums are struck in the palace, their sound is heard outside; when the celestial bodies hang in the heavens, their light flows down below; when the zither and lute are played, it is hard to conceal them from those who understand the tone; when ice and snow carry the carriage, can the remaining tracks be hidden? (Note: The above are metaphors for good deeds hidden within, whose luster manifests outside, inevitably leaving traces.) Like those virtuous deeds held within one's person, their speech and silence were trusted by the era (Note: Having stored virtue within, even without speaking people naturally place trust, like peaches and plums that naturally form a path below them). Though high cliffs have already turned into valleys and the pines and cypresses have rotted away, their illustrious splendor cannot be obscured; how melodiously it fills the ears! (Note: "Melodiously" refers to fine reputation.) In the years of Cao and Ma (Note: The Wei and Jin dynasties), scriptures and treatises were at their inception, and their origins and currents were mingled and turbid (Note: When the teachings first arrived, like turbid water mingling and flowing, they were not yet widespread). Those who proclaimed them merely embraced the general meaning and savored the mysterious import; as for analyzing technical terms and characteristics, they had nothing to rely upon (Note: "Wang" means none; "you" means place/basis. The doctrinal texts had many omissions). Was this not because the propagation of the voice of teaching was not yet complete? When Master [Dao]an first saw the translations of the various minor treatises, he danced and chanted in celebration, thinking he was fortunate to have seen the complete Tripiṭaka, yet unaware that it was merely field ditches compared to the vast ocean (Note: Field ditches and canals are metaphors for what was seen; the vast ocean is a metaphor for what had not yet been seen). Although persons of superior capacity may utilize subtle words to awaken to the import, those of middling capacity in truth did not gain much. When Buddhavarman of the Northern Liang translated the *Abhidharma-vibhāṣā* (Note: Translated here as Juekai [Armor of Awakening]. A Westerner. Commissioned by Mengxun's son Maochu to translate it in Guzang, in one hundred fascicles), scholars drew from its waves, which were as boundless as if without shores. Buddhayasas of the Later Qin was skilled in the *Mahāvibhāṣā*; at that time he was called the "Red Beard" (Note: Translated here as Jueming [Clarity of Awakening]. A native of Jibin, of the Brahmin caste. At age thirteen he followed his teacher and daily recited thirty thousand words, memorizing millions of words of Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna scriptures. His disposition was austere and aloof, so he was not well received by the assembly of monks. Kumārajīva treated him with great esteem in Kashgar. From Kucha he went to Chang'an, translating the *Daśabhūmika-sūtra*, *Mahāvibhāṣā*, etc. Yao Shuang doubted his memorization and had him recite a Qiang register of medicinal prescriptions consisting of about fifty thousand words; after two days of recitation, when tested against the text, not a single word was mistaken). Vimalākṣa was skilled in the *Daśabhāṇavāra-vinaya*; at that time he was called the "Blue-Eyed" (Note: Translated here as Wugouyan [Stainless Eye]. A native of Jibin, who maintained strict discipline in the Vinaya Piṭaka. He met Kumārajīva, who honored him as his teacher).