出三藏記集 13.14

13.14

支謙。字恭明。一名越。大月支人也。祖父法度。以漢靈帝世。率國人數百歸化。拜率善中郎將。越年七歲。騎竹馬戲於隣家。為狗所嚙。脛骨傷碎。隣人欲殺狗取肝傅瘡。越曰。天生此物為人守吠。若不往君舍狗終不見嚙。此則失在於我。不關於狗若殺之得差。尚不可為。況於我無益。而空招大罪。且畜生無知。豈可理責。由是村人數十家感其言。悉不復殺生。十歲學書。同時學者皆伏其聰敏。十三學胡書。備通六國語。初桓靈世。支謙譯出法典。有支亮紀明資學於讖。謙又受業於亮博覽經籍莫不究練。世間藝術多所綜習。其為人細長黑瘦。眼多白而精黃。時人為之語曰。支郎眼中黃。形體雖細是智囊。其本奉大法精練經旨。獻帝之末。漢室大亂。與鄉人數十共奔於吳初發日唯有一被。有一客隨之。大寒無被。越呼客共眠。夜將半。客奪其被而去。明旦同侶問被所在。越曰。昨夜為客所奪。同侶咸曰。何不相告。答曰。我若告發卿等必以劫罪罪之。豈宜以一被而殺一人乎。遠近聞者莫不歎服。後吳主孫權聞其博學有才慧。即召見之因問經中深隱之義。應機釋難無疑不析。權大悅。拜為博士。使輔導東宮。甚加寵秩。越以大教雖行而經多胡文莫有解者。既善華戎之語。乃收集眾本。譯為漢言。從黃武元年。至建興中。所出維摩詰大般泥洹法句瑞應本起等二十七經曲得聖義辭旨文雅。又依無量壽中本起經製讚菩薩連句。梵唄三契。注了本生死經。皆行於世。後太子登位。遂隱於穹隘山。不交世務。從竺法蘭道人。更練五戒。凡所遊從皆沙門而已。後卒於山中。春秋六十。吳主孫亮。與眾僧書曰。支恭明不救所疾。其業履冲素始終可高。為之惻愴不能已已。其為時所惜如此。

Zhi Qian, styled Gongming, also named Yue, was a man of the Greater Yuezhi. His grandfather, Fadu, during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han, led several hundred people of his state to submit and become naturalised [in China], being appointed General of the Palace Gentlemen Who Leads to Goodness. When Yue was seven years old, he was riding a bamboo horse and playing at a neighbour's house when he was bitten by a dog, and his shin-bone was shattered. The neighbour wished to kill the dog and take its liver to apply to the wound. Yue said, 'Heaven gave birth to this creature to guard and bark for humans. If I had not gone to your house, the dog would never have bitten me. The fault lies with me and does not concern the dog. Even if killing it could heal me, it still ought not to be done; how much less so when it brings me no benefit and merely incurs a great sin! Moreover, a beast is without understanding—how can one hold it to reason?' Because of this, several tens of households in the village were moved by his words and entirely ceased killing living beings. At the age of ten he studied writing, and all his fellow scholars were won over by his intelligence and acumen. At thirteen he studied Hu script, becoming fully conversant with the languages of six countries. Earlier, during the Huan and Ling eras, Zhi Qian translated canonical texts. There was Zhi Liang, styled Jiming, who studied under [Lokakṣema]; Qian in turn received instruction from Liang, reading widely in canonical books, mastering all of them thoroughly, and also becoming broadly versed in worldly arts and sciences. In physical appearance he was tall, slender, dark and thin, with the whites of his eyes predominant and yellow pupils. The people of the time had a saying about him: 'The young gentleman Zhi has yellow in his eyes; though his body is slender, he is a bag of wisdom.' He originally revered the Great Teaching and deeply mastered the import of the scriptures. At the end of Emperor Xian's reign, the Han house fell into great disorder, and together with several tens of his townsfolk he fled to Wu. On the day they first set out, he had only one quilt. There was a traveller following them who had no quilt in the bitter cold. Yue called the traveller to sleep with him. When it was nearly midnight, the traveller seized his quilt and left. The next morning, his companions asked where the quilt was. Yue said, 'Last night it was taken by the traveller.' The companions all said, 'Why did you not tell us?' He replied, 'If I had reported it, you gentlemen would certainly have punished him for the crime of robbery. How could it be fitting to kill a man for the sake of a single quilt?' Those near and far who heard of this all sighed in admiration and respect. Later, Sun Quan, the ruler of Wu, heard of his broad learning, talent, and wisdom, and immediately summoned him for an audience, inquiring into the deep and hidden meanings of the scriptures. [Qian] resolved difficulties according to the occasion, leaving no doubt unanalysed. Quan was delighted and appointed him Erudite (boshi), having him guide and instruct the Heir Apparent in the Eastern Palace, bestowing on him great favour and rank. Yue considered that although the Great Teaching was circulating, the scriptures were mostly in Hu texts and no one understood them. Since he was skilled in both Chinese and barbarian tongues, he collected various originals and translated them into the Han language. From the first year of Huangwu (222 CE) to the Jianxing era (252–253 CE), he translated twenty-seven scriptures, including the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, the Mahāparinirvāṇa, the Dharmapada, and the Ruiying benqi [jing]; he captured the holy meaning in full detail, and his style and meaning were literary and refined. Furthermore, based on the Wuliangshou [jing] and the Zhongbenqi jing, he composed continuous-verse praises of the bodhisattva, three cantos of Fan hymns (fanbai), and annotated the Liaoben shengsi jing, all of which circulated in the world. Later, when the Crown Prince ascended the throne, he retired into seclusion in Qiongcai Mountain and did not engage in worldly affairs. He took the five precepts afresh under the cleric Zhu Falan, and all those with whom he associated were only śramaṇas. Later he died in the mountains at the age of sixty. Sun Liang, the ruler of Wu, wrote a letter to the assembly of monks, saying, 'Zhi Gongming could not be saved from his illness. His deeds and conduct were simple and pure, lofty from beginning to end. I am grieved by this and cannot cease.' Such was the sorrow felt for him by his contemporaries.