大宋僧史略 2.4

2.4

When the Buddha's Dharma is practiced, regulations are laid down according to the times. If an matter accords with the binding rules of the vinaya, it should be judged according to the vinaya. If it can be settled by supplementary rules, one must follow the supplementary rules. Thus, the Buddha rebuked the monks, saying that by cleverly evading his rules they created various offenses; hence he permitted the simultaneous establishment of regional vinaya rules, and after the nirvāṇa, the establishment of teachings for the future, so that whatever is not encompassed by the vinaya codes or recorded in the skandhakas can be resolved by analogy. For this reason, outside of the skandhakas and aggregates, there are separate monastic regulations. Nowadays, when monks live in a monastery or reside in a cloister, they always assemble the community to establish articles, regulating their actions so that they do not incur faults or errors. In the Jin, Dharma Master Dao'an grieved that the monastic precepts were not yet complete and lamented that the proper deportment was largely lacking; therefore he remedied the deficiencies, dammed up the flow, and established three models to institute regulations, inspiring faith for his era: first, offering of incense, determining seating, and ascending the seat to lecture; second, the six periods of worship and repentance; third, rituals such as the poṣadha (uposatha). For those who exceeded these rules, separate prohibitions were established. Dao'an's disciple Fayu was lecturing and converting people in Jingzhou, and at that time a student drank alcohol; Fayu punished him but did not expel him. Dao'an heard of this in Xiangyang, wrapped up a small cane, and sent it to Fayu. Fayu understood his teacher's intent, assembled the community to instruct them, ordered the duty monk to strike him twenty times with the cane, and sealed the cane to send it back. Therefore Xi Zuochi wrote in a letter to Xie An: 'Dao'an is capable of disciplining his assembly, and the above three models are enthusiastically observed throughout the realm.' Furthermore, Zhi Dun established the ceremonial models for gatherings of the monastic assembly; Huiyuan established the regulations for the Dharma society; and down to Vinaya Master Daoxuan, he established the protocol for striking the bell, the rules for dividing the requisites of the five assemblies of disciples, the rules for insignia and vestments, and the rules of veneration. These all appeared successively in accordance with the times and alongside the doctrine. In breaking new ground and opening the wilderness, Dao'an was the initiator of monastic regulations. When Emperor Xuanwu, the Ancestral Exemplar of the Later Wei, ascended the throne, he issued an edict saying: 'Since monastics and laity are distinct, their laws are also different. The Daoist and Buddhist teachings are manifest through mutual clarity, and their prohibitions and encouragements each have their appropriate spheres. For monks who commit murder or offenses above that, they shall be judged according to the secular statutes. All other offenses shall be handed over to the Zhaoxuan Office, to be decided according to the inner vinaya and monastic regulations.' (The Emperor newly compiled these during the Jingming reign period.) At that time, the Wei and Liang were on peaceful terms, and the dignitaries often sent people along with envoys to trade; only Cui Xian (courtesy name Jilun) sent requests for Buddhist scriptures. The founding emperor of the Liang had them copied and sent to the hostel along with banners, flowers, and hymns. Xian once ordered the śramaṇa Mingzang to compose a treatise on Buddhism and signed his own name to it; such was his love for the Buddha's Dharma. Prior to this, monks and nuns had become unruly; Xian memorialized to institute regulations and appointed Śramaṇa Fashang as Zhaoxuan Chief to restrain them. In addition, Prince Wenxuan of the Southern Qi composed a one-fascicle Monastic Regulation. Furthermore, when the founding emperor of the Liang built Guangzhai Temple, he decreed Fayun to be the vihārasvāmin and instituted monastic regulations to serve as a future model. Looking at the Northern Wei and the Southern dynasties, the laity instituted monastic regulations, yet all were gentle and concise, neither excessive nor harmful. Through the loose net of the law, wicked men bore holes and slipped through, yet they did not fall into capital punishment—how could that be permissible? As for one who is a monk, if he does not yet practice, merely being able to avoid the penal statutes makes him an untrammeled gentleman of the highest order.