大唐內典錄 2.12

2.12

The flow of the teachings gradually progressed eastward. Although they were heard of under the Han and Wei, when it came to the propagation of their meaning, it truly opened up during the Jin. Moreover, although the Jin was not [initially] literary, literary talent was actually abundant; hence the translation and transmission ultimately became prominent through people. Therefore, the ritual, music, and official attire were first fully established under the Jin dynasty, and the source of faith and ocean of wisdom subsequently flourished from this point. Could it be otherwise? As for this Western Jin catalogue: Sima Yan, courtesy name Anshi, was a native of Wen in Henei. He was the Grand General, Palace Attendant, Overseer of the Imperial Secretariat, and Chancellor of State under Wei, and the Crown Prince of Sima Zhao, King of Jin. When Zhao died, Yan succeeded him as King. Emperor Yuan [of Wei] knew that the heavenly mandate was destined for another, and ordered Grand Tutor Zheng Chong to present the imperial seal and abdicate the throne. Yan folded his robes and accepted the abdication; this was Emperor Wu. The dynasty was named Jin, with capitals at Luoyang and Chang'an, which were the old Eastern and Western Capitals. Emperor Wu of Jin was at the helm of state for fifteen years. Arriving at the Xianning era, he commanded Sima Zhou to pacify Wu and capture [Sun] Hao, creating him the Marquis of Submission to the Mandate. From the twenty-fourth year of Yong'an of the Later Han until the Taikang era of Jin, at the beginning of the gengzi year, the Nine Provinces were thus reunited into one realm. Furthermore, in the beginning of the Huangwu era of Wu, Lu Ji said: 'From now on, after another sixty years, all under Heaven will have vehicles with the same axle-width and writing in the same script.' When the time arrived, it turned out precisely as Ji had spoken: Shu was pacified and Wu was destroyed, nearing sixty years. Twenty years later, arriving at the beginning of the Yongning era of Emperor Hui, the way of governance decayed, and rival warlords stood like mountain peaks. The Prince of Zhao (Sima Lun) initiated subversion, hatched treason, and usurped the throne at court; Zhang Gui followed in his wake, refusing to act as a vassal and unilaterally ruling the Liang territory. Inside and outside, turmoil boiled over, gradually leading to stairs of disorder. Liu Yuan thus [seized] Pingyang; Li Xiong on account of this [held] Jingluo (Sichuan). Emperor Huai was covered in dust at Hangu Pass; Emperor Min was driven into exile at Chang'an. As the Way relies upon times to flourish, yet both capitals were shaken and shattered, and the Dharma is manifested through people, yet fell during the wandering of the two sovereigns, the myriad folk collapsed and scattered, with no place to anchor their devotion and faith; the hundred officials abandoned their duties, and the sons of Śākya had none to rely on. At that time, there were the śramaṇas Dharmarakṣa (Zhu Fahu), Qiangliang Louzhi, and others, who forgot their own bodies to benefit living beings and vowed to broadly propagate [the teaching]. Without fearing hardship, they made the propagation of the Dharma their prime duty. During the Jin era, Dharmarakṣa produced the greatest number of sūtras, and the broad protection of the net of Dharma arose because of him. Then Faqin, Mokṣala (Luoxi), Nie Chengyuan and his son, Zhu Falan, and others successively translated and transmitted texts. Therefore, over the course of fifty years, there were thirteen men of China and the Western Regions, monastic and lay. Together with the aforementioned various sūtras, vinaya texts, etc., of lost translator attribution, they total four hundred and fifty-one works in seven hundred and seventeen fascicles, assembled as the dynastic catalogue of the Western Jin covering two capitals, four sovereigns, and fifty-two years.