大宋僧史略 2.10

2.10

Regarding the origins of chanting praises: according to the *Daśādhyāya-vinaya*, Koṭikarṇa (that is, Yier) produced sounds in three cadences to praise the Buddha; he was skilled in chanting and easy to understand. In the *Āgamas*, Sanhavarṇa was skilled in melodious recitation, causing the elephants and horses of King Bimbisāra to stop walking. In this land, Kang Senghui transmitted the praises and chants for the Parinirvāṇa, and Zhi Qian composed Sanskrit chants in linked verses. Furthermore, the bodhisattva Dharmaśrī was skilled in the *Abhidharmahṛdaya*; he composed an additional 205 verses as essential explanations, entitling it the *Hṛdaya* ["Heart"]. The sound of his chanting was modeled on heavenly music; as if a marvelous pipe sounded on its own, it set the model for all things, finding an expression in whatever it touched. Each hum and chant depicted the walking of birds and beasts; each melody and trill resembled the emotions of creatures. When feelings shift with their categories, sounds follow the nine transformations to become song; when breath harmonizes with proportions, the five notes accord with the pitch-pipes and rise together. When applied to metal and stone instruments, the hundred beasts dance; when played on wind and strings, humans and spirits are moved alike. This is the ultimate convergence of the marvel of sounds. Cao Zhi of the Wei once roamed Fish Mountain and was moved by the sounds; he transposed their bends and turns to match the melodies of the monks' chanting. Xiao Ziliang, Prince of Jingling under the Southern Qi, examined the nuances of verses and cadences in the sūtras, tuning the musical airs to exhaust their subtlety, and wrote one fascicle of *Verses for Chanting Sanskrit Chants*. In addition, Bai Faqiao was exceptionally skilled in Sanskrit chants. Such persons in the *Gaoseng zhuan* are quite numerous and are not fully recorded here. During the Jianping era of Shi Le of the Later Zhao (330–332), a spirit descended to the hall of Anyi and recited sūtra melodies, which ceased only after seven days; monks transcribed them to make Sanskrit chants. Someone might ask: "What is the benefit of the sound of Sanskrit chants?" I reply: "First, it is the Dharma-joy of the Buddha's path. Although these melodies and rhythms are sorrowful, they are not distressing; though joyful, they are not licentious. Because they hit the golden mean, they serve as Dharma-joy. Second, all the gods, ghosts, and spirits are delighted upon hearing them. Third, it is the constant practice of all Buddhas; throughout the lands of the ten directions, who does not take joy in this?"