大唐內典錄 5.15.3

5.15.3

[In the sixth year of Tianping] they banded together to travel west, a journey of seven years there and back. In all they obtained two hundred and sixty Sanskrit scriptures. On their return to the Göktürks, they heard that the Zhou had destroyed Qi and had simultaneously destroyed the Buddhadharma. They could neither advance having nowhere to return, nor could they retreat. Lingering in that country, they then encountered Zhide. It was like the thirsty finding drink or the blind meeting light. Thereupon they together investigated and perused the newly obtained scriptures, requesting that titles be translated and checked against the old catalogues. Time and again they noticed how skilful and proficient he was, far surpassing earlier figures. In their hearts, Senglü and the others secretly congratulated themselves, feeling that to have obtained such treasures and met such a master meant their journey had not been in vain. Together they burned incense and made a mutual vow to translate and propagate them. When the Great Sui received the abdication, the Buddhadharma immediately flourished. Sengzhou and others, bearing the scriptures, arrived in advance to meet the opportune moment, arriving in the final month of winter in the first year of Kaihuang. An imperial decree was issued committing them to the appropriate office to seek out persons to have them translated. Jñānagupta finally succeeded in entering the country only in the fourth year. Everywhere Xingshan Si was preparing for propagation. In the fifth year, an imperial decree directly commanded Jñānagupta, together with the Brāhmaṇa monk Jñānagupta, Area Commander-in-chief Gao Gong, his son Chief Area Commander Tiannu, Heren, and the Brāhmaṇa Viśuddha, six persons in total of the ordained and the laity, ordering them to translate ancient Sanskrit books, astronomical treatises, and the like in the Palace Secretariat and Chancellery. At that time, in Guangji Si, Yaśas alone translated scriptures. In the seventh year, a separate decree was issued to Jñānagupta, having him concurrently translate scriptures, travelling back and forth between the two places. By the twelfth year, the translation of the books was completed, yielding over two hundred scrolls in all, which were presented to the emperor. By then, Yaśas had already passed away. An imperial decree was then given for Jñānagupta to take sole charge of translation, and the doctrinal assembly was moved to Da Xingshan Si. The Brāhmaṇa monk Dharmagupta was further summoned, and Gao Tiannu, Gao Heren, and their brothers were dispatched to translate together. Moreover, ten Great Virtues among the monks were added: Sengxiu, Facan, Fajing, Huizang, Hongzun, Huiyuan, Fajuan, Senghui, Mingmu, Tanqian, and others, to oversee the process from beginning to end and determine the purports.

Those fourteen works, including the Fo benxing ji jing, in seventy-six scrolls, were all translated by Jñānagupta himself in other places before the eleventh year, with prefaces composed by the monk Yancong.

Those seventeen works, including the Faju [tuoluoni jing], in eighty-nine scrolls, have been produced since the twelfth year inside the meditation hall of Da Xingshan Si, assisted by the monk Dharmagupta, Gao Tiannu, and his brothers. The monks Mingmu and Yancong repeatedly collated them against the Sanskrit manuscripts, re-checking and refining the wording and meaning. Besides these, there are over ninety works still extant, which will be appended to the catalogue as their translation is successively completed.

I respectfully reflect that when the Tathāgata spoke with his golden mouth, different classes of beings each received understanding, like the sun and moon illuminating the heavens. Kāśyapa and Ānanda personally received the Sanskrit sounds, compiling them and setting them down on leather leaves and birch bark, like torches brightening the night. From the Later Han to the present, the customs of our country have differed widely; the translations and their propagation have been recorded in the written language, resembling a firefly's lantern lighting a room. It is hoped that the spark of flint will succeed the great sun, passing light through shadows, and that the moisture of the Dharma's flow will moisten sentient beings with dew, praying it will never cease. If we speak of true and false, roots and branches, can they be compared within the same age?

Wusuoyou pusa jing, 4 scrolls
Huguo pusa jing, 2 scrolls
Fo huayan ru rulai busiyi jingjie jing, 2 scrolls
Dayun qingyu jing
Dongfang zuisheng dengwang rulai jing
Dacheng sanju chanhui jing

The above six sūtras in eleven scrolls were also successively produced at Xingshan Si by the two masters Jñānagupta and Dharmagupta. Their titles were missing in Fei Changfang's catalogue, but having now searched them out among the sūtras currently admitted to the canon, they are appended to this sequence.

Zengyi shu, 40 scrolls (briefly compiling all the numerical Dharmas from sūtras and śāstras, from one to ten, to a hundred, up to ten million, resembling a forest of numbers)
Foxing lun, 2 scrolls
Zhongjing lu

The above three works in a total of forty-three scrolls were composed by the monk Shi Fashang of former Dingguo Si in Xiangzhou. Shang's mountain of precepts was lofty and towering, and his ocean of wisdom was profound and deep. His virtue could serve as a model for men; his majesty could solemnize all beings. Thus throughout the Wei and Qi dynasties, he successively served as Controller and Chief Controller. The monks and nuns under his administration numbered nearly three million, and Shang governed their order for nearly forty years. During the reign of Emperor Wenxuan, the Buddhist teachings were grandly propagated; Shang bore the responsibility overall and brought them all into harmony. Expounding and promoting internally and externally, both monastics and laity were thoroughly satisfied. If not this pillar of stone, who could be such a roof-beam? His admirable conduct having become manifest, his lofty fame reached far abroad, leading the Grand Chancellor of Goguryeo, King Gaode, to deeply cherish right faith, revere the Mahāyāna, and wish to extend the Buddhist customs to his sea-encircled realm. Yet not understanding the origin and details of the teachings or the years, generations, and dynasties from west to east, he compiled a list of questions from his state and dispatched the monk Uiyeon to sail to Ye to clarify what had not yet been heard. The questions said in brief:

'Since Śākyamuni Buddha entered nirvāṇa, how many years have passed until now? Furthermore, how many years did it pass through in India before reaching the land of Han? Under which emperor did it first arrive, and what was the reign title? Moreover, between the Qi and Chen states, whose Buddhadharma came first? From then until now, how many years and emperors have elapsed? We pray you will note them in full. Regarding the various treatises such as the Daśabhūmika, the [Mahā]prajñā[pāramitopadeśa], the Bodhisattvabhūmi, and the Vajracchedikā-prajñāpāramitā, who originally composed them? What were the causes and auspicious omens for the composition of these treatises? Are there biographies and records? We respectfully record these inquiries, praying that you deign to resolve our doubts.'

Shang replied: 'The Buddha was born in the twenty-fourth year of King Zhao of the Ji-Zhou dynasty, the jia-yin year. At nineteen he left home, and at thirty he attained the Way, which fell in the twenty-fourth year of King Mu, the gui-wei year. King Mu heard that a transformed man had appeared in the west, and immediately went westward and never returned; this serves as proof. He was in the world for forty-nine years. From his parinirvāṇa to the present, the seventh year of Wuping of the Qi dynasty, the bing-shen year, it has been 1,465 years. In the tenth year of the Yongping era of Emperor Ming of the Later Han, the scriptures and Dharma first arrived. Transmitted successively through the Wei and Jin down to the present, it was during the Chiwu era of Sun Quan that Kang Senghui went to Wu and began to propagate the teachings. The Bodhisattvabhūmi was received in its original manuscript by the monk Asaṅga from Maitreya Bodhisattva; during the Long'an era of Emperor An of the Jin, Dharmakṣema translated it for Juqu Mengxun, King of Hexi. The Mahāyāna treatise (Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa) was composed by Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva; in the Long'an era of the Jin, Kumārajīva reached Chang'an and translated it for Yao Xing. The Daśabhūmivyākhyāna and the Vajracchedikā-śāstra were both composed by Asaṅga's younger brother Vasubandhu; in the time of Emperor Xuanwu of the Later Wei, the Tripiṭaka master Bodhiruci first translated them.'

Shang's reply addressed the origins and details extensively; now I have briefly cited the essentials to show agreements and differences. As for the plain patched robe Shang wore, and his single bowl and three robes, he accumulated nothing beyond them. Using all the offerings and secular wealth he received, he built a mountain temple named Heshui. At the highest summit of the mountain, he erected a Maitreya Hall, constantly vowing to be reborn there to gaze upon Maitreya, and provided the four requisites of support to one hundred and fifty monks. When the Qi destroyed the Dharma and submerged it, this mountain temple was not destroyed. Shang secretly hid among the laity, practising his studies as usual. He constantly prayed that in his remaining years he might see the Three Jewels, and once again make a prostration to the Benevolent Tathāgata. His practice being devoted and his sincerity deeply penetrating, his heart firm as a rock, he lived to witness the Kaihuang era. The Sovereign ascended like a dragon, and the sun of the Buddha shone again. Shang's wish was fulfilled, and though infirm with illness, he