折疑論 1.3

1.3

法師。名子成。字彥美。號妙明。京兆霸陵人也。少時為儒。壯而從釋。其性愛書史喜翰墨。樂遊學好著述。每與賢士大夫詩詞唱和。一聯一句落在叢席。人多傳之。如鸚鵡詩云。學得人言字字明。便能巧語為通情。不知身在樊籠裏。猶向堂前弄舌輕。晝寢云。夢魂不管擎書手。一帙南華墮枕邊。閑遊云。家家明月誰無分。處處青山我有緣。水心亭云。綠芰青荷香滿池。環亭冷浸碧瑠璃。高軒矮榻無纖暑。臥看清波浴鷺鷥。其長篇短偈。例皆如此。尤能洞明本宗佛法。予昔嘗與縣大夫張昂。請註心經。五日而成。萬二千言。辭理精當。不為不多得。又嘗綴述本色法事文集。僅二百首。語句雄麗。旨意渾成。同袍得之。囊畜不出。抑為艱得。無意多傳。頃以兵火之亂。匿跡山林。嘗與來客問難詰折。事盡終始。遂錄成軸。名曰折疑論。首之以序問。終之以會名。凡二十篇。言簡而理當。文約而義豐。涵詠六經。略備諸子。每一篇之中。其引類證斷決折疑。理甚明白。若非具三昧辯才。其孰能致於此乎。予與妙明為不請友。其有年矣。大凡著作不我之慳。故於敘引母俟召而云。時辛卯中秋八日書。

The Dharma Master was named Zicheng, styled Yanmei, and took the appellation Miaoming. He was a man of Baling in Jingzhao. In his youth he was a Confucian, and upon reaching adulthood he followed the Buddhist path. By nature he loved books and histories and delighted in brush and ink; he enjoyed itinerant study and was fond of composing writings. Whenever he exchanged poems in harmony with worthy scholars and high officials, if a single couplet or line fell among the monastic community, people frequently circulated it. For example, his poem 'The Parrot' says: 'Learning human speech, every word is distinct; / Thus it can speak clever words to convey emotion. / Unaware that its body remains inside the cage, / It still wags its tongue lightly before the hall.' His poem 'Daytime Nap' says: 'The dreaming soul pays no heed to the hand holding the book; / A scroll of Nanhua falls beside the pillow.' His poem 'Leisurely Stroll' says: 'To each and every house the bright moon shines—who is without a share? / In place after place, the green mountains and I share an affinity.' His poem 'Pavilion in the Heart of the Water' says: 'Green water chestnuts and blue lotus blossoms fill the pond with fragrance; / Circling the pavilion, the cold water steeps like blue lapis lazuli. / High veranda and low couch are free of the slightest summer heat; / Reclining, I watch the clear ripples where egrets bathe.' His long pieces and short verses are all like this. He was especially able to clearly comprehend the Buddhadharma of his own school. In former days, I, together with the county magistrate Zhang Ang, once requested him to write a commentary on the Heart Sūtra. It was completed in five days, comprising twelve thousand words; its phrasing and reasoning were precise and apt, an achievement seldom matched. He also once compiled a collection of liturgical and ceremonial writings in the monastic style, consisting of barely two hundred pieces. The language was grand and magnificent, and the purports were thoroughly mature. When his fellow companions obtained them, they kept them tucked away in their pouches and would not take them out; this was also because they were hard to come by, and they had no thought of widely circulating them. Recently, on account of the turmoil of military strife, he concealed his traces in the mountain forests. He once engaged in inquiry, debate, and interrogation with visiting guests, following matters through from beginning to end, and then recorded them into a scroll, titling it Treatise on Resolving Doubts. It begins with 'Preface and Inquiries' and concludes with 'Synthesis of Designations', totaling twenty sections. The words are concise yet the reasoning is sound; the text is brief yet the meaning is rich. It immerses itself in the Six Classics and broadly incorporates the various masters. Within each section, when it adduces categories for evidence and makes decisive resolutions to resolve doubts, the reasoning is exceedingly perspicuous. Were it not for one possessing the pratibhāna of samādhi, who could attain this? Miaoming and I have been unsolicited friends for many years. In general, with his writings he was never begrudging toward me; therefore, for this preface, I did not wait to be summoned before writing. Written on the eighth day of the mid-autumn month in the year xinmao [1351].