大宋僧史略 1.52

1.52

Zhu Shixing was a man of Yingchuan. His resolve and conduct were upright; from his youth he cherished far-reaching awakening and detached himself from worldly dust. After leaving home, he dedicated himself exclusively to the scriptures, constantly lecturing on the Daoxing bore. He always lamented that the translations did not exhaust the principles. Thus, in the fifth year of the Ganlu era of Wei, he departed from Chang'an, crossed the shifting sands, and arrived in Khotan, where he obtained an authentic Sanskrit manuscript in ninety chapters. In that country, there were many Hīnayāna scholars, who slandered him to the king, saying: "The śramaṇa from the land of Han wishes to confuse the true Dharma with Brahmanical texts. Why do you not forbid it? Blinding and deafening the land of Han will be the king's fault." The king thereupon would not permit him to carry the scripture eastward. Shixing therefore requested that it be burned as a test. At that time, wood was piled before the palace; after his vow, it was cast into the fire, but the scripture was not damaged. Only then did the king place his faith in him. Shixing sent the scripture back to the country, and Zhu Shulan and Wuluocha (Mokṣala) translated it as the Fangguang bore. Dharma Master Sengrui said: "Shixing lectured on the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā (or Aṣṭasāhasrikā / Xiaopin) in Luoyang, but often encountered points that did not make sense; he travelled far beyond the shifting sands to seek the Dapin, which was brought back and rendered into the Jin language." This was it. During the Cao Wei, Shixing lectured on the Daoxing jing; this was the beginning of monks lecturing.