出三藏記集 2.2

2.2

法寶所被遠矣。夫神理本寂。感而後通。緣應中夏始自漢代。昔劉向校書已見佛經。故知成帝之前法典久至矣。逮孝明感夢張騫遠使。西於月支寫經四十二章。韜藏蘭臺帝王所印。於是妙像麗於城闉。金剎曜乎京洛。慧教發揮震照區寓矣。竊尋兩漢之季世構亂離。西京蕩覆墳典皆散。東都播遷載籍多亡。子政所覩其文雖沒。而顯宗所寫厥篇猶存。東流初法於斯有徵。祐檢閱三藏訪覈遺源。古經現在。莫先於四十二章。傳譯所始。靡踰張騫之使。洎章和以降經出蓋闕。良由梵文雖至緣運或殊。有譯乃傳無譯則隱。苟非其人道不虛行也。邇及桓靈經來稍廣。安清朔佛之儔。支讖嚴調之屬。飛譯轉梵萬里一契。離文合義炳煥相接矣。法輪屆心莫或條敘。爰自安公始述名錄銓品譯才標列歲月。妙典可徵實賴伊人。敢以末學響附前規。率其管見接為新錄。兼廣訪別目括正異同。追討支舉以備錄體。發源有漢迄于大梁。運歷六代歲漸五百。梵文證經四百有十九部。華戎傳譯八十有五人。魚貫名第略為備矣。或同是一經而先後異出。新舊舛駁卷數參差。皆別立章條使無疑亂。至於律藏。初啟則詳書本源。審覈人代列于上錄。若經存譯亡則編于下卷。將使傳法之緣有孚。聞道之心無惑。敬貽來世庶在不墜焉。

Far-reaching indeed is the cover of the Dharma jewel! The spiritual principle is fundamentally quiescent; it connects only when there is a response. The resonance with China began in the Han dynasty. Formerly, when Liu Xiang collated the books, he had already seen Buddhist scriptures; thus we know that the canonical texts had arrived long before the reign of Emperor Cheng. Coming down to Emperor Xiaoming's inspiring dream, Zhang Qian was dispatched on an embassy to distant lands; in the west, in the realm of the Yuezhi, he transcribed the Sūtra in Forty-Two Sections. It was encased and stored in the Orchid Terrace, stamped with the seal of the sovereign. Thereupon, wondrous images graced the city gates, and golden spires shone over the capital of Luoyang; the teachings of wisdom unfolded, shining brightly throughout the realm.
Examining the final years of the two Han dynasties, the world suffered turmoil and disruption: the Western Capital was overthrown and the ancient classics were scattered; the Eastern Capital was relocated and historical records were largely lost. Although the texts seen by Zizheng [Liu Xiang] have vanished, the chapters transcribed under Xianzong [Emperor Ming] still survive. That the Dharma first flowed to the East is evidenced here.
I, Sengyou, have inspected and reviewed the Tripiṭaka and investigated its lingering origins. Among the ancient sūtras extant today, none precedes the Sūtra in Forty-Two Sections; as for the inception of translation, none exceeds the embassy of Zhang Qian. From the Zhanghe reign era onwards, the emergence of sūtras was quite deficient. This was truly because, although Fan texts arrived, opportunities and circumstances differed: where there was translation they were transmitted; where there was none they remained hidden. Indeed, without the right person, the Way does not walk in vain.
Approaching the reigns of Huan and Ling, the arrival of sūtras gradually broadened: the cohort of An Qing [An Shigao] and Shuo Fo [Zhu Shuofo], the company of Zhi Chen [Lokakṣema] and Yan Diao—they fluently translated and rendered the Fan texts, their minds harmonising across ten thousand li; parsing the text to match the meaning, their brilliant achievements succeeded one another.
Yet though the wheel of the Dharma had reached people's hearts, no one had arranged and catalogued them. It began with Master Dao'an, who first composed a title catalogue, appraising the talents of translators and recording the years and months. That the wondrous scriptures can be verified is truly reliant upon that man! Daring as a late scholar to echo and follow his previous precedent, I have drawn upon my own limited view to continue it as a new catalogue, also broadly consulting separate catalogues, examining and correcting discrepancies, and pursuing branches and origins so as to make the cataloguing form complete.
Originating with the Han and coming down to the Great Liang, traversing six dynasties over the course of nearly five hundred years: sūtras verified by Fan texts number four hundred and nineteen works; those who transmitted and translated them, whether Chinese or barbarian, number eighty-five persons. Arranged in sequence by name and order, it is now roughly complete. In cases where what is identically one sūtra was produced at different times, with contradictions between new and old and discrepancies in fascicle counts, separate sections and items have been established to prevent confusion and doubt. As for the Vinaya-piṭaka, at its initial opening, its original source is recorded in detail, and the persons and dynasties are carefully verified and listed in the upper catalogue. If a sūtra is preserved but the translation [details] are lost, it is compiled in the lower fascicles. This shall ensure that the causes of the Dharma's transmission command trust, and that the minds of those who hear the Way harbour no doubt. Reverently bequeathed to future generations, may it not fall into decay!