大唐內典錄 4.12

4.12

The propagation of the sacred teaching flourished with the successive dynasties, among which none surpassed the Liang founder in greatness. His taboo name was Yan and his courtesy name was Shuda, a native of Lanling. Inheriting the mandate from the Qi, he likewise set his capital at Jiankang. Upon ascending the throne, his thought was to liberate beings, sharing the same realization as Equal Enlightenment. Ruling with hands folded and robes draped, he greatly promoted the scriptural teachings, widely inviting those versed in antiquity and broadly gathering the remaining texts. Fanning the pure breeze, he benefited both the Dharma and the laity. His ancestors had successively revered Laozi, but upon ascending the imperial throne, he issued an edict to abolish this, exclusively taking the Buddhist doctrine to enlighten beings and accomplish undertakings. In the seventh year of Tianjian, considering that the periods of the Saddharma and the Semblance Dharma were fading and faith was gradually waning, and that the Tripiṭaka was so vast that few could master it completely, the emperor decreed that the monk Sengmin and others compile the *Jinglü yixiang*, grouped by categories, in a total of fifty fascicles. Crown Prince Gang compiled the *Fabao lianbi* in more than two hundred fascicles. Other miscellaneous compilations were indeed numerous. He further decreed that the monk Sengshao compile the *Hualin fodian zhongjing mulu* in four fascicles. The emperor examined it thoroughly and found it was not comprehensive or detailed enough. He further decreed that the monk Baochang recompile the scriptural catalogue, thereby clarifying the presence or absence of translations and verifying the authenticity of scriptures, in a total of seventeen categories, which was quite detailed. Throughout the two Liang dynasties, there were seven emperors over eighty-seven years, fifty years at Jinling and the remainder at Jiangling. There were twenty-one translators among both the clergy and laity; the sūtras, vinayas, biographies, and records produced amounted to ninety works, totaling 780 fascicles, constituting the Record of the Two Liang Dynasties.