大宋僧史略 3.8

3.8

古之所貴名與器焉。賜人服章。極則朱紫。綠皂黃綬乃為降次。故曰加紫綬。必得金章。令僧但受其紫而不金也（方袍非綬）尋諸史。僧衣赤黃黑青等色。不聞朱紫。案唐書。則天朝有僧法朗等。重譯大雲經。陳符命言。則天是彌勒下生為閻浮提主。唐氏合微。故由之革命稱周（新大雲經曰。終後生彌勒宮。不言則天是彌勒）法朗薛懷義九人並封縣公。賜物有差。皆賜紫袈裟銀龜帒。其大雲經頒於天下寺。各藏一本。令高座講說。賜紫自此始也。觀新唐書言。大雲是偽經則非也。此經晉朝已譯舊本便云女王。于時豈有天后耶。蓋因重譯故。有厚誣加。以挾薛懷義。在其間致招譏誚也。則天之後中宗朝。以胡僧慧範修寺之功封縣公。不行紫服。睿宗時亦無聞焉。玄宗友愛頗至。以寧王疾遣中使尚藥。馳騖旁午唯僧崇憲醫效。帝悅賜緋袍魚袋（賜緋魚袋唯憲一人）又開元二十年九月中。波斯王遣大德僧及烈至唐（及烈僧名）勅賜紫袈裟一副帛五十匹。遣還本國。天寶末。沙門道平住金城縣寺。遇祿山逆亂。玄宗幸蜀。肅宗過寺。平懇勸論兵靈武。收復長安。肅宗遂以兵屬之。用為左金吾大將軍。至臨皐遇賊大戰。累次立功。後還乞為僧。勅配崇福興慶兩寺。賜紫衣入內。奏對為常。代宗永泰年中。章敬寺僧崇慧與道士角術。告勝中官鞏庭玉。宣賜紫衣一副（除魚袋也）次鎮國寺梵僧紀陀。年六百歲。臨終遣弟子。奉衣鉢上皇帝。勅賜紫衣焉。德宗歸心釋氏。詔法師端甫。入內殿與儒道論義。賜紫方袍。順宗憲宗穆宗文宗武宗皆行此賜（尋僧名。未見耳）。東觀奏記曰。大中中。大安國寺釋修會能詩。嘗應制。才思清拔。一日聞帝乞紫衣。帝曰。不於汝吝耶。觀若相有缺然。故未賜也。及賜歸寺。暴疾而卒。大中四年六月二十二日降誕節。內殿禪大德並賜紫。追福院主宗茝亦賜紫。次有沙州巡禮僧悟真至京。及大德玄暢句當藏經。各賜紫。又法乾寺都撿挍僧從暕賜紫。帝幸莊嚴寺禮佛牙。靈慧律師賜紫。崇福寺叡川賜紫。懿宗咸通四年。有西涼府僧法信。進百法論疏抄。勘實賜紫。十一年十一月十四日延慶節。兩街僧道赴內。於麟德殿講論。可孚賜紫。又日本國僧圓載住西明寺。辭迴本國。賜紫遣還。十二年延慶節。內殿講論。左街清韻思禮雲卿等五人。右街幼章慧暉清遠等四人。並賜紫（尋街分。各賜紫衣。自咸通始也）僖宗昭宗賜諸道所薦僧紫衣極多不錄。梁祖乾化元年十一月。有迴紇入朝僧凝盧宜李思宜延籛等。各賜紫還蕃。又潭州僧法思。桂州僧歸真。面乞賜紫。莊宗喜賜僧紫衣。晉漢周皆爾。今大宋唯誕節賜也。其或內道場僧已著紫。又賜紫羅衣三事。謂之重賜。若偏霸諸國。賜與亦同。偽蜀時。雲南國遣內供奉崇聖寺主。賜紫銀鉢。僧充通好使焉。後蠻士有上者賜金鉢。猶中國賜銀魚也。倭國則賜僧傳燈法師之號。高麗賜僧紫衣。則以金銀鉤施於紉上。甄別高下也。

In antiquity, what was prized were titles and emblems. When conferring robes and insignia on people, the highest were vermilion and purple; green, black, and yellow ribbons were secondary. Therefore it is said: when purple ribbons were added, gold insignia had to be obtained. Now monks receive only the purple and not the gold (for the square robe is not a sash ribbon). Searching the various histories, monks' robes were of red, yellow, black, green, and other colors, but vermilion and purple are not heard of. According to the Tang History, during the reign of Zetian there were the monk Falang and others who retranslated the Great Cloud Sūtra and presented portents saying that Zetian was Maitreya descended to be born as the ruler of Jambudvīpa, and that the Tang house had declined, wherefore by this means the dynastic revolution took place and she claimed the Zhou (the new Great Cloud Sūtra says that after death she would be born in Maitreya's palace, not that Zetian was Maitreya). Falang, Xue Huaiyi, and nine others were all enfeoffed as commandery dukes, and gifts were bestowed with distinctions; all were granted purple kāṣāyas and silver tortoise pouches. The Great Cloud Sūtra was promulgated to monasteries throughout the realm, each storing one copy and ordering high seats to lecture on it. The bestowal of purple began from this. In looking at the New Tang History's claim that the Great Cloud is an apocryphal sūtra, that is incorrect. This sūtra had already been translated in the Jin dynasty, and the old text already spoke of a female king; how could the Heavenly Empress have existed at that time? It was merely because of the retranslation that grand falsehoods were added, and with Xue Huaiyi wedged in their midst, it gave rise to ridicule. After Zetian, in the reign of Emperor Zhongzong, on account of the barbarian monk Huifan's merit in repairing a monastery, he was enfeoffed as a commandery duke, but the purple robe was not applied. In the time of Emperor Ruizong, nothing is heard of it either. Emperor Xuanzong's fraternal love was consummate; because the Prince of Ning was ill, he dispatched inner palace emissaries and royal physicians who raced continuously back and forth, but only the monk Chongxian achieved medical success. The Emperor was pleased and granted him a crimson robe and fish tally pouch (Chongxian was the only person granted crimson and a fish pouch). Furthermore, in the ninth month of the twentieth year of Kaiyuan, the king of Persia dispatched the great-virtue monk Jilie to the Tang (Jilie was the monk's name); an imperial decree granted him a set of purple kāṣāyas and fifty bolts of silk, and sent him back to his home country. At the end of Tianbao, the śramaṇa Daoping resided at a monastery in Jincheng County; when the rebellion of An Lushan broke out, Xuanzong fled to Shu, and Suzong passed by the monastery. Daoping earnestly urged him to raise troops at Lingwu to recover Chang'an. Suzong thereupon entrusted him with troops and appointed him General of the Left Jinwu Guard. Reaching Lingao, he encountered the rebels and engaged in great battle, repeatedly achieving military merit. Later he begged to return to being a monk; an imperial decree assigned him to the Chongfu and Xingqing monasteries, granted him purple robes, and admitted him to the palace, where giving imperial audience became ordinary. During the Yongtai era of Emperor Daizong, the monk Chonghui of Zhangjing Monastery contested arts with Daoist priests; having reported victory, the inner official Gong Tingyu announced the grant of a set of purple robes (without the fish pouch). Next, the Indian monk Jituo of Zhenguo Monastery was six hundred years old; when approaching death, he sent a disciple to present his robe and bowl to the Emperor, and an imperial decree granted him purple robes. Emperor Dezong devoted his mind to the Śākya clan; he summoned the Dharma master Duanfu into the inner palace to debate doctrines with Confucians and Daoists, and bestowed a purple square robe. Shunzong, Xianzong, Muzong, Wenzong, and Wuzong all carried out such bestowals (in searching for the monks' names, they have simply not yet been found). The Dongguan zouji states: During the Dazhong era, the monk Xiuhui of Da'anguo Monastery was skilled at poetry and once composed on imperial command; his talent and thoughts were lofty and refined. One day, the Emperor heard him beg for a purple robe. The Emperor said: 'Am I begrudging it to you? Looking at your appearance, something is lacking; therefore it has not been given.' When it was granted and he returned to the monastery, he suddenly fell ill and died. On the imperial birthday festival of the twenty-second day of the sixth month of the fourth year of Dazhong, the meditation great-virtues of the inner palace were all granted purple, and Zongzhi, the director of the Zhuifu Courtyard, was also granted purple. Next, the pilgrimage monk Wuzhen from Shazhou arrived at the capital, and the great-virtue Xuanchang managed the Tripiṭaka; each was granted purple. Furthermore, Congjian, the supervisor of Faqian Monastery, was granted purple. When the Emperor visited Zhuangyan Monastery to venerate the Buddha's tooth relic, Vinaya Master Linghui was granted purple, as was Ruichuan of Chongfu Monastery. In the fourth year of the Xiantong reign of Emperor Yizong, the monk Faxin of Xiliang Prefecture submitted a commentary and notes on the Hundred Dharmas Treatise; upon verification of its worth, he was granted purple. On the Yanqing Festival on the fourteenth day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year, monks and Daoists of the Two Streets entered the palace and debated in the Linde Hall; Kefu was granted purple. Also, the Japanese monk Ensai, residing at Ximing Monastery, took leave to return to his homeland, and was granted purple and sent back. On the Yanqing Festival of the twelfth year, when debates were held in the inner palace, Qingyun, Sili, Yunqing, and two others of the Left Street, and Youzhang, Huihui, Qingyuan, and one other of the Right Street, four men in all, were granted purple (the practice of granting purple robes to each of the street divisions began from Xiantong). Under Xizong and Zhaozong, the purple robes granted to monks recommended by various circuits were extremely numerous and are not recorded. In the eleventh month of the first year of Qianhua under Emperor Taizu of the Liang, the Uighur monks Ningluyi, Lisiyi, Yanjian, and others came to court, and each was granted purple and returned to their territory. Furthermore, the monk Fasi of Tanzhou and Guizhen of Guizhou personally requested and were granted purple. Emperor Zhuangzong delighted in granting purple robes to monks; so it was under the Jin, Han, and Zhou. Now, under our Great Song, they are granted only on imperial birthday festivals. In cases where inner practice center monks are already wearing purple, they are further granted three items of purple silk robes, which is called a double bestowal. As for the various hegemon states, their bestowals were likewise similar. During the illegitimate Shu dynasty, the Kingdom of Yunnan dispatched the court attendant and prior of Chongsheng Monastery, a monk bestowed with purple and a silver bowl, to serve as an envoy of good relations. Later, barbarian officials of high rank were granted golden bowls, just as the Central Plains granted silver fish tallies. The country of Wa [Japan] bestows on monks the title of Dharma Master of the Transmitted Lamp. Goryeo bestows purple robes on monks, placing gold or silver hooks on the cords to distinguish rank.