鐔津文集 19.4

19.4

Formerly, in the Avataṃsaka assembly, the Bodhisattva Bhadramukha answered the Great Being Mañjuśrī in verse, praising how bodhisattvas can manifest similarity to the mundane world, saying: "Refined thoughts and profound talent make them kings among writers; / In song, dance, discourse, and preaching, they are delighted in by the multitude." Truly, writing is capable of illuminating the Way and aiding living beings! How could this be so only today? From ancient times, in other worlds, and in the eras of past Buddhas, it has never been otherwise. When I was young, I travelled to the monasteries of the four directions in search of teachers and friends, devoted to the Way and dedicated to learning, having the ambition of ancient eminent monks of transcendent virtue who sought masters ten thousand li away. Among the dense crowds, I silently spurred on my inner resolve, like a grand general bearing the intent to establish a state, advancing against a hostile realm, fighting as he marches, with no leisure to eat or rest. Hearing of the noble writings, outstanding conduct, transcendent Way, and far-reaching vision of Chan Master Mingjiao of Dongshan, whenever I obtained any of his writings or paintings, I never failed to copy, record, and secretly treasure them. Then, at Mount Lingyin in Qiantang, I obtained the stone inscription of the Master’s record of conduct composed by Chen Lingju of Jiahe. At the end it stated that what the Master wrote from the Dingzu tu onward was called the Zhiping ji, and there was also the Jiayou ji, totalling over six hundred thousand words, which his nephew, the śramaṇa Facheng, was able to preserve and treasure to inspire trust in later generations. Later, I heard that apart from the Chuanfa zhengzong ji and Fujiao pian which had already entered the canon, the remainder of his expanded collection was treasured in various monks' quarters on Mount Wu in Gusu. I repeatedly sent people to visit the monks' dwellings on that mountain to inquire extensively, but it was completely quiet and no one knew their whereabouts. It was often because the entrusted individuals were not the right persons and failed to protect and store them, so meddlesome people secretly moved them elsewhere. In the beginning of the Daguan era, while staying in the Cihang Chamber of Changlu in Yizhen, among the great assembly I met a monk from Hunan, the Venerable Jingchun. One day he entered my chamber and cast a large collection onto the mat, saying: "This is the complete collection of Old Song; I have kept it secret for a long time. Hearing of your eager yearning for his remaining writings, I wish to present it to you." When I received it, I was both surprised and joyful, thinking: could Heaven have aided me and bestowed this upon me? It was as if I had obtained the most precious treasure. From Huangji and Zhongyong onward, there were over fifty treatises in total, as well as letters, petitions, prefaces, records, debates, accounts, inscriptions, eulogies, the Wulin shan zhi, and various miscellaneous writings, amounting to some one hundred and sixty thousand words, all of which I had formerly heard of by name but had not yet seen. Although the literary style contained some errors, I collated, selected, polished, and arranged them, and it almost became a collection that could be read. I wished further for a better edition to collate in more detail, but had no way of obtaining one. Later I met Zhou Gefei when he went out to govern Qianzhou; on his return I obtained his Fei Han writings in thirty essays of over thirty thousand words, but due to wartime fires they were lost, and so I was unable to complete the collection. Recently I again obtained an edition from Venerable Lan'yan of Dongxi in Yuxi. Comparing it with another edition I had previously obtained on Mount Kuang, the text also had many gaps and errors. I therefore used the flow of Han Yu's prose to correct it. However, many of the Master’s writings failed to be transmitted and were scattered. For instance, the detailed record of the conduct of Dharma Master Ciyun of Tianzhu, the stele inscriptions of the two masters Xian and Qin of Changshui, the account of the relics from his practice of the Way, the stele of Practitioner Xian of Mount Kuang, and the preface to the Dingzu tu were all stone inscriptions I obtained myself and made rubbings to transmit. Now, taking together the Chuanfa zhengzong ji and Dingzu tu that entered the canon, along with this present collection of writings, they barely amount to over three hundred thousand words; the rest have vanished without trace. As Lingju recorded over six hundred thousand words, half of them are now lost. Alas, how lamentable! Now I place the record of conduct composed by Lingju at the head of the volume, valuing the fact that it shows the Master's lineage, succession to the patriarchs, traces of his public life and retirement, his extraordinary integrity, great conduct, high talent, supreme virtue, and world-surpassing spirit. I then take the upper, middle, and lower parts of the Fujiao pian as the first three fascicles, because the writings composed by the Master were intended to harmonize Confucianism and Buddhism to guide scholar-officials, reflect the original nature and recognize the mind, exhaust principle and see one’s nature, and silence the sounds of envy, slander, right, and wrong. Furthermore, I append the Zhendi wusheng lun after the Tanjing zan within the Fujiao pian to show that the Master’s intent lay in widely praising the supreme, wondrous, profound, and vast Way of our Buddha, the Great Sage, which does not abide in written words or spoken language; the meaning of what is called the special transmission outside the teachings can almost be seen in these works. Therefore, at the end of his eulogy, he says: "Manifesting that the Dharma is not words, / The lineage of the utmost man values silent transmission." He also says: "The sage is like spring, flourishing and bringing forth; / The utmost man is like autumn, clear and bringing to completion." This means ultimately returning to quietude and silence. Therefore, the Zhendi wusheng lun concludes: "The awareness of ordinary beings and sages is merely the shadow of the ultimate truth, the clinging of the deluded mind." Now, if students who aspire to that which lies beyond words examine these two discourses, how could they not be somewhat alerted within? Because previous woodblocks of the Fujiao ji had been recarved repeatedly, although it was widely circulated in the world, omissions and errors in meaning numbered around sixty places. I have now collated and corrected all of them against the scriptures; readers may consult old editions to read them, and the discrepancies will become evident. Now, from Lun yuan downward to the eulogies, I have condensed them into twelve fascicles, which, following the preceding, makes fifteen fascicles; this is what was formerly entitled Jiayou ji. His Fei Han writings were formerly divided into thirty chapters; I have now condensed them into three fascicles, which, following the preceding, makes eighteen fascicles. I also obtained ancient-style and regulated verses, as well as matching poems from mountain excursions, totalling one hundred and twenty-four poems, which I divided into two fascicles, making twenty fascicles in all. I entitled it the Tanjin wenji to show that he did not forget his roots. However, the Master once said of himself: "In human life in the world, leisure comes first." Because he found joy in leisure itself, although the poems he composed were not overly lush or ornate, their style was lofty, archaic, refined, and serene; when expressing his intent and voicing his feelings, they had a spirit that surpassed the world and soared above the clouds, from which the man himself can also be imagined. Observing the Master's letter to Yue Gonghui, he himself said: "My intent lies in the Yuanjiao, and my conduct abides in the Xiaolun." When I carefully examine his writings, his achievement lay in the Yuanjiao and Fei Han; his conduct lay in the letter on monks (that is, "monks are...") and the Xiaolun; his virtue lay in emulating Master Huiyuan, as seen in his inscription for his portrait hall; his Way lay in the Tanjing zan and the Zhendi wusheng lun; and his writings' lofty superiority and matchless excellence, surpassing both ancient and modern times, are seen in the Wulin shan zhi. Therefore, in his postface he stated that, due to the scenic excellence of the local customs, mountains, and rivers, he wished to pour out his literary talent to capture their vistas; thus he composed the Wulin shan zhi. Yet to find those in the world who understand his words and discern his tone—is it not difficult to find such persons? From the time the Master carried his books to petition the Emperor and the Prime Minister downward, whenever he had an audience, he presented only the Zhengzong ji and Fujiao pian; as for Duke Wenzhong, he specially presented him with the newly composed Wulin shan zhi. Alas! Duke Wenzhong said that literary writings are like fine gold and beautiful jade, having a fixed price in the market, not something that people can arbitrarily devalue or praise with their tongues. In his poem "Re-reading the Cuolai Collection," he wrote: / "Wait for the flames of their slander to be extinguished, / And this radiance will hang suspended. / In a person’s lifetime, / Long or short, it does not reach a hundred years. / The boundless lies after it, / Ten thousand generations lie before it. / How much more does a long life gain? / A short life is hardly to be pitied. / Only that which cannot decay— / Reputation, writing, and conduct—remains so. / Slander and false accusations need no dispute; / They too cease within a hundred years. / For those who come after a hundred years, / Hatred and love will have no connection; / Only then will public opinion emerge, / And beauty and ugliness will naturally be seen." / Therefore, during the Qingli era, the Master first made his Way resound throughout the realm through his writing. Yet at that time, among those who strictly upheld Confucianism and were bound to doctrine, the barbs of right and wrong and the flames of slander and abuse flared up in confusion; yet the Master ultimately brought forth and manifested this Way, composing lofty writings and supreme treatises, which dispersed them like riding the wind, reducing them to nothing. Thus, among later students, those who hear of his style, dedicate themselves to his Way, and behold his writings are like those emerging from darkness looking up at the North Star and gazing at the radiant Milky Way. Yet these are merely instances of the Master’s statecraft writings broadly promoting and assisting the Way and teachings of our Tathāgata, the Supreme Sage, as he engaged with the human world. As for what he personally practiced, accumulated, and maintained, it was as luminous as the lustre of pearls and the color of jade, or the essence of the sun and the radiance of the moon, which are insufficient to match his gentle richness, lofty purity, and clear brightness. Therefore, Lingju wrote in his record of conduct: "That which the Master attained for himself and took joy in within was not involved in these matters." Although he encountered difficulties in protecting the Dharma, what is called the lustre of pearls, the color of jade, the essence of the sun, and the radiance of the moon—though the world saw them suffer the hazards of smoke, clouds, water, fire, burning, drowning, obscuration, and eclipse—their brightness and essence remained inherently luminous. Therefore, after the Master carried his writings westward to present them to the Emperor and the matter was accomplished, he was about to return eastward to the mountain forests; Chan Master Dajue Lian composed the "Song of the White Clouds" to see off the Master's departure, saying: / "The white clouds come into the human world, / Unstained by the color of flying dust. / From afar they glitter with the sun’s brightness; / How boundless are their myriad manifestations and emotions! / Alas for the youths who wear light furs and ride fat horses, / Comparing themselves to wings that drape the sky! / Journeying to the south indeed requires the proper moment; / They must wait for the six-month wind to depart. / How could they know the misty colors / Follow no mind, drifting wherever they please? / How vast the vault of heaven! / Rolling out and curling up, they leave no trace." / Thus, from this, the Master’s demeanor, voice, countenance, and manner of taking office and retiring can definitely be seen! Written on the day after the Double Ninth Festival in the fourth year, jiayin, of the Shaoxing era, in the north veranda of the thatched hut in the eastern outskirts of Yuxi.