折疑論 1.3

1.3

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].