出三藏記集 13.14

13.14

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.