出三藏記集 4.3

4.3

I, Sengyou, have collected the various scriptures in full and widely perused the various catalogs. In newly compiling those whose translators have been lost, the fascicles and works are still numerous; titles and actual contents are jumbled together, making them exceptionally difficult to appraise and categorize. In some cases, a single text has several names; in others, a single name applies to several texts. Some have added wandering characters at will, causing differences due to excessive verbiage; others have taken only half a title, creating divergence through abridgment of the text. As for copyist errors, they cause confusion worse than tangled silk. Therefore, we know that rectifying names is truly an urgent matter here! For this reason, having collated and verified them across years, they have subsequently been determined. Those of two fascicles and above total twenty-six works; although they lack the names of their translators, they are all complete scriptures. Those of one fascicle and below, more than five hundred works, are generally extracts from the various scriptures, complete scriptures being scarce among them. Observing what has been extracted, they mostly come from the four Āgamas, the Ṣaṭpāramitā, the Yogācārabhūmi, the Mahāsaṃnipāta, the Udāna, the Damamūkanidāna, as well as the Avadāna and the Jātaka; they sever chapters, cut out verses, and extract brief summaries of the meaning, arbitrarily assigning titles and turning them into scrolls. This has gone so far that the titles are superficial and unrefined, and the names are contrary to the reality. Although intended to enlighten students, they actually clutter the orthodox scriptures; their errors and blunders are indeed a grave warning. Now I have completely noted their original scriptures below each entry. Once the extracts have been distinguished, the complete works will naturally become clear, allowing one to follow the ripples to search out the source and retrieve the original translations. Examining this catalog, many great scriptures have lost their sources. Considering their arrival, did they drop from heaven or spring up from the earth? They probably arrived during the Han and Wei eras, and with the passage of years the records were lost; or perhaps they were rendered into text when the Fan was translated in Qin and Liang, and then reached here; or they were recently produced during the Jin and Song and were not investigated thoroughly through neglect. The absence of translators likely stems from this! In tracing the course and transmission of the great Dharma through changing generations, among the various catalogs compiled and annotated across six dynasties, only Master Shi Dao'an’s is to be seen; hence it is not surprising that these lack a source. The twelve divisions of scriptures are medicines applied according to the disease; that the transmission of the Dharma has fallen into obscurity is truly lamentable. This is why I have exerted myself in searching and inquiring, toiling over this compilation. Yet my meager learning and limited knowledge leave much incomplete; may enlightened and wise great beings graciously mend its omissions. Words are prized above jade discs—how much more so the gift of the Dharma!