出三藏記集 1.3

1.3

Now, the ultimate truth is profound and still, and the dharmatā is empty and serene. Yet to open beings [to the Dharma] and guide the conventional, nothing serves as a ford except speech. Therefore, non-duality is answered in silence, converging at the gate of empty meaning; a single sound shakes forth eloquence, responding to the realm of manifold beings. Ever since our teacher Śākyamuni appeared in the world, he proclaimed his first words at Mṛgadāva and completed his final teachings at the Golden River. Sūtras were used to entice beginners of minor capacity, and square-equal scriptures were employed to encourage broad minds. The wondrous wheel distinguishes twelve divisions; the aggregate of teachings sums its essentials in eighty thousand gates. When the Sugata concealed his traces, arhats compiled the canon. At first, the four Āgamas gathered the sūtras; halfway through, the five divisions partitioned the vinaya. The great treasure being thus present, sentient beings relied upon it. Yet the Way is magnified through humans, and the Dharma awaits conditions to be revealed. If there is the Way without the [right] persons, even though the texts exist, none will awaken; if there is the Dharma without [favourable] conditions, even though living in the same age, none will hear it. Hearing the Dharma relies upon the arrival of the time; awakening to the Way depends upon the ripening of capacity. Only when capacity ripens does the truth respond; only when the time arrives does transformation circulate. Long ago in the Zhou dynasty, the Awakened One arose, yet the spiritual ford was barred far away. In the Han era, the semblance teaching [came], and the wondrous scriptures only then began to flow: that the Dharma awaits conditions to be revealed is indeed verified! By the end of the Han, An Shigao proclaimed and translated, making it increasingly clear; in the early Wei, Kang Senghui commented and explained, making it gradually unhindered: that the Way is magnified through humans is verified herein! From the restoration of the Jin, the tripiṭaka broadened ever more. Distinguished guests from external lands arrived in dense succession; wise scholars of the Central Plains shone brightly and arose as luminaries. Kumārajīva raised its grand outlines, and Dao'an and Huiyuan stirred its profound principles. On the banks of the Wei, the assembly of Xiaoyao was vigorously conducted; on Mount Lu, the terrace of prajñā was established. That the semblance Dharma found its people was at its peak here! Originally, scriptures emerged from the Western Regions and circulated to the East. Borne across ten thousand li, they were translated between Hu and Han. Because the regional pronunciations were distinct, the texts had agreements and differences; because they arrived repeatedly before and after, the titles had old and new versions. Yet later scholars could seldom investigate and scrutinize them. Consequently, they copied texts continuously in succession without knowing the years when the scriptures were issued, and chanted and preached side by side without discerning the persons who transmitted the Dharma. In transmitting and receiving the Way, there was already an omission. Now, even for a single holy assembly [under the Buddha], five matters are still used to verify the sūtra; how much more so for a thousand years of intersecting translations—could one remain ignorant of the persons and eras? In the past, Master Shi Dao'an, endowed with vast talent and profound insight, thereupon compiled a catalogue of sūtras, correcting what he heard and saw into clear divisions. Since then, wondrous scriptures have appeared at intervals, all being the treasure-sea of the Great Vehicle, constantly studied and lectured upon in mutual emulation. Yet for their dates and names of persons, none has systematized and linked them. As years and months pass, their original sources are on the brink of being lost; where will future generations turn to clarify their doubts? Sengyou, shallow and ordinary, has prematurely relied upon the Dharma gate, revering the profound teaching and vowing to magnify the great transformation. Whenever morning or evening arrives, I recite and uphold; in autumn and summer, I lecture and explain. Never has my mind not galloped to the Āmrapālī Grove, or my shadow leapt at the Vulture Peak! Thereupon, urging on my feeble intent, following the waves to investigate the source, I have sewn together what I have heard and named it the Chu sanzang jiji. First, the Record of Circumstances is compiled; second, the Catalogue of Titles is arranged; third, the Prefaces to the Sūtras are collected; fourth, the Biographies are recounted. When the Record of Circumstances is compiled, the original foundation is made clearly manifest; when the Catalogue of Titles is arranged, the list of chronological eras does not fall into oblivion; when the Prefaces to the Sūtras are collected, the occasions of excellent assemblies are sufficiently attested; when the Biographies are recounted, the character of those figures can be observed. I have also drilled into and analyzed the inner scriptures, and scrutinized and reflected upon external records, consulting previous knowledge and verifying with old reports. If the persons and eras are grounded in evidence, they are indicated as the guide; if rumors and reports are not yet clear, the text notes an omission. Holding the tablets and poising the brush, my resolve rests on reliable history; reconsidering thrice and pondering nine times, I take matters from truthful records. Once what has evidence is marked, that which lacks a source reveals itself. I hope that puddles will not mix with pure milk, and stones of Yan will not be confused with the jade of Chu. Yet with my shallow well-view and pipe-peep, I am deeply ashamed before the vastly learned; if anything is incomplete, I entrust it to the bright and wise.