大宋僧史略 1.44

1.44

How could Mahāprajāpatī's initial circumstances have been easy? Apan's leaving the secular world was also truly rare. At first they merely received the three refuges, and the two assemblies were not yet fully present. According to the Chart of the Five Phases, from the dingmao year of the Yongping era of the Han down to the jiaxu year of the Yuanjia era of the Song, 367 years intervened before nuns obtained the full precepts. Furthermore, the Biography of the Masters and Disciples of the Sarvāstivāda says: 'In the spring of the eleventh year of the Yuanjia era of the Song, the nun Devasārā and ten others from the Kingdom of the Lion (Sri Lanka), upon the altar at the Nanlin Monastery in Jiankang, conducted the ritual for receiving the precepts in the presence of the two assemblies for the nuns Huiguo, Jingyin, and others of the Jingfu Monastery, ordaining more than three hundred people in twelve days.' Huiguo was the first in this land for a nun to receive the precepts from both assemblies. We know that Apan and others only received the three refuges. Furthermore, in the Xiankang era of the Jin, the nun Jingjian received the precepts from only one assembly; this too was incomplete. In the Jianwu era, various nuns north of the Yangtze went to monks' monasteries to receive the precepts, continuing without interruption through successive dynasties. Recently, due to an edict of Emperor Taizu, nuns were not permitted to go among monks to receive the precepts; since then, nuns have returned to obtaining the fundamental precepts from only one assembly, and their precept status is ultimately incomplete. Now our sage sovereign is brilliant and makes clear judgments; those who protect the Dharma should memorialize and request to continue practicing according to the old ways, avoiding the rapid demise of the Dharma.