釋氏要覽 1.241

1.241

善見律云。有善男子。欲求出家。未得衣鉢。欲依寺中住者名。畔頭波羅沙（未見譯語）今詳。若此方行者也。經中。多呼修行人。為行者。行是所修二種行也。者即五蘊假者。是能修行之人也。凡十六歲已上。應呼行者。謂男生八歲毀齒。十六陽氣全。以其有意樂信忍。修淨梵行故。自晉時已有此人。如東林遠大師下有辟蛇行者。

The Samantapāsādikā states: 'There is a good son who seeks to leave home, but has not yet obtained robe and bowl, and wishes to stay residing in the monastery, named a paṇḍupalāsa' (the translation has not yet been seen). Examining it now, this resembles a postulant (xingzhe) in our land. In the sūtras, practitioners are often called xingzhe. Xing ('practice') refers to the two kinds of practices that are cultivated. Zhe ('one who') is the provisional person of the five aggregates; it is the person who is able to cultivate practice. Generally, anyone sixteen years or older should be called a postulant (xingzhe). This is because a male sheds his baby teeth at age eight, and at sixteen his yang qi is complete, as he has the inclination, faith, and patience to cultivate pure celibacy (brahmacarya). Since the Jin dynasty there have already been such persons, such as the Snake-Repelling Postulant under Master Yuan of Donglin.