大唐內典錄 4.4

4.4

佛經創云。信為道原功德之母。智是出世解脫之基。無信不可以登輕舟。無智不可以斷深惑。故生死大海浩汗無涯。非夫六舟無以超越。是以智士信六度為超生之本。故登舟而大濟。斯道顯然。唯智能克。自教開中土三被誅除。晚移南服五代弘闡。以事據量。則文明之朝。信智不言而自顯。武猛之國。仁慧不可以開疆。可不然乎。可不然乎。然則晉宋兩朝斯文卓越。揚扇釋道宗猷可觀。今略敘之。用顯陳迹。宋世錄者。劉裕字德輿。彭城都鄉人。初生之辰神光照室。形長七尺六寸。受東晉禪稱宋。仍都建康。至第三主元嘉年中。有上事者云。比寺塔修飾過興。樂福之徒奢競日甚。文帝以問何侍中曰。范泰及謝靈運皆稱。六經本是濟俗。性靈真要。會以佛經為指南。此賢達正言實誠有讜。若使率土之濱皆純此化。則朕垂拱坐致太平。尚之對曰。中朝以遠難復盡知。渡江已來。王導周顗。宰輔之冠蓋。王蒙謝尚。人倫之羽儀。郄超王謐等。或號絕群。或稱獨步。略述數十人靡非英俊。清信之士無乏於時。慧遠法師云。釋氏之化無施不可。臣謂此說有契理奧。何者。百家之鄉十人持五戒。則十人淳謹。千室之邑百人修十善。則百人和睦。傳此風教已遍寰區。編戶億千則仁人百萬。夫能行一善則去一惡。去一惡則息一刑。一刑息於家。萬刑息於國。則陛下之言坐致大平是也。故佛圖澄入鄴。石虎殺戮減半。澠池寶塔放光。符健椎鋸用息。蒙遜反噬無親。虐如豺虎。末節改悟遂成善人。法建道人力兼萬夫。幾亂河渭面縛甘死。以赴師厄。此豈非是內化之被哉。時吏部郎羊玄保在坐。進曰。臣竊恐秦趙論強兵之術。孫吳盡吞併之計。將無取於此也。帝曰。此非戰國之具。良如卿言。尚之曰。夫禮隱逸則戰士怠。貴仁德則兵氣衰。若以孫吳為心。志在吞噬。亦無取於堯舜之道。豈唯釋教而已哉。帝大悅曰。釋門有卿。亦猶孔氏之有季路。所謂惡言不入於耳。帝使中書陸澄撰續法論。百有餘卷。贊述佛理。有弘裕焉。准此而談。可謂至矣。法由人顯。佛囑帝王。自是宋朝釋教隆盛。名僧智士欝若稻麻。寶剎金輪森如竹葦。相承八主五十九年。其諸譯人華戎道俗二十有四人。合出修多羅毘尼戒本羯磨優波提舍阿毘曇論傳錄等。凡二百一十部。四百九十六卷。結為宋代建康錄云。

The Buddhist scriptures state from the outset: Faith is the source of the Way and the mother of merits; wisdom is the foundation for leaving the world and attaining liberation. Without faith, one cannot board the light skiff; without wisdom, one cannot sever deep delusion. Therefore, the vast ocean of birth and death is boundless and without shore; without the vessel of the Six [Pāramitās], there is no way to cross it. For this reason, wise men have faith that the Six Pāramitās are the basis for transcending rebirth; hence they board the vessel and achieve great deliverance. This Way is clearly manifest, and can only be attained through wisdom. Since the teaching began in the Central Land, it has suffered destruction three times. Later it moved to the southern regions and was propagated throughout the Five Dynasties. Weighing the facts, in enlightened dynasties, faith and wisdom become evident of themselves without need for words; whereas in bellicose states, benevolence and wisdom cannot expand boundaries. How could it be otherwise? How could it be otherwise? Thus, under the two dynasties of the Jin and the Song, this culture flourished exceptionally; the dissemination of the Buddhist Path and its ancestral principles were splendid to behold. Now I shall briefly recount it to manifest these past events. Regarding the catalogue of the Song era: Liu Yu, whose style name was Deyu, was a man of Duxiang in Pengcheng. On the day of his birth, a miraculous light illuminated the room. In stature he was seven feet six inches tall. He accepted the abdication of the Eastern Jin and styled his dynasty the Song, continuing to make Jiankang his capital. By the Yuanjia reign era of the third sovereign [Emperor Wen], a memorialist stated: 'Recently, the building and decorating of temples and pagodas have become excessively rampant; those who covet merit grow more extravagant and competitive day by day.' Emperor Wen questioned Palace Attendant He [Shangzhi], saying: 'Fan Tai and Xie Lingyun both assert that the Six Classics were originally meant to save the mundane world, but for the true essentials of nature and spirit, one must take the Buddhist scriptures as a compass. These words of upright wisdom from worthy and eminent men are truly fitting. If all the lands within our borders were purely transformed by this teaching, I could fold my robes, let my hands hang down, and attain Great Peace while sitting.' Shangzhi replied: 'The Central Court is far in the past and difficult to know fully. Since crossing the Yangtze, there have been Wang Dao and Zhou Yi, the crowning leaders among chancellors; Wang Meng and Xie Shang, models for human conduct; and Xi Chao, Wang Mi, and their peers, who were either praised as peerless or hailed as unmatched. A brief list of several dozen men reveals not a single one who was not an elite talent. Laymen of pure faith have never been lacking in this age. Dharma Master Huiyuan said: "There is nowhere that the Śākya clan's transformation cannot be applied." Your servant considers these words to accord with the profound principle. Why? If in a village of a hundred households, ten people observe the five precepts, then ten people will be honest and cautious. If in a town of a thousand families, a hundred people cultivate the ten virtues, then a hundred people will live in harmony. When this moral teaching spreads throughout the realm, among hundreds of millions of registered households there will be millions of benevolent people. For every good deed one can perform, one evil is removed; when one evil is removed, one punishment is halted. When one punishment is halted in a family, ten thousand punishments are halted in the state. Thus, what Your Majesty said about attaining Great Peace while sitting is indeed true! Hence, when Fotudeng entered Ye, Shi Hu's slaughter was cut in half; when the precious pagoda at Mianchi radiated light, Fu Jian's mallets and saws were put to rest. Juqu Mengxun turned on his own kin without affection and was as cruel as a jackal or tiger, yet in his final years he awakened and transformed into a good man. The monk Fajian had strength equal to ten thousand men; on the verge of causing chaos along the Yellow and Wei Rivers, he willingly submitted to death with his hands bound behind his back to avert disaster for his master. How could this not be the influence of internal transformation?' At that time, Yang Xuanbao, Gentleman of the Ministry of Personnel, was seated nearby and stepped forward to say: 'Your servant humbly fears that when Qin and Zhao discussed the arts of military strength, and Sunzi and Wu Qi exhausted schemes of conquest, they would have found no use for this.' The emperor said: 'These are not tools for the Warring States; it is truly as you say.' Shangzhi said: 'Honouring hermits makes warriors lax; esteeming benevolence and virtue makes military morale decline. If one takes Sunzi and Wu Qi as one's model, with one's mind set on swallowing and devouring others, one would also find no use for the Way of Yao and Shun—how could it be only the Buddhist teaching?' The emperor was greatly pleased and said: 'Having you in the Buddhist sangha is like Confucius having Jilu: evil words do not enter his ears.' The emperor ordered Lu Cheng, Palace Drafter, to compile the Xu fa lun in over a hundred fascicles to praise and expound Buddhist principles with abundant breadth. Judging from this, it may indeed be called supreme. The Dharma is manifested through people; the Buddha entrusted it to emperors and kings. From this point on, the Buddhist teaching flourished in the Song dynasty. Renowned monks and wise scholars were as thick as rice and hemp; precious monasteries and golden wheels were as dense as bamboo and reeds. Successively passed through eight rulers over fifty-nine years, the translators—consisting of Chinese, foreigners, clerics, and laity—numbered twenty-four people in total. Together, they produced sūtras, vinayas, prātimokṣa codes, karmavācanās, upadeśas, abhidharma treatises, biographies, records, and so forth, totalling 210 works in 496 fascicles, which are compiled as the Song Dynasty Jiankang Catalogue.