續古今譯經圖紀 1.15

1.15

The monk Śikṣānanda (translated into Tang [Chinese] as Xuexi [“Joy in Learning”]) was a native of Khotan. Magnanimous and vast in the capacity of his wisdom, he had a heart devoted to benefiting beings. He was skilled in both the Mahāyāna and the Hīnayāna, and was also well versed in the treatises of non-Buddhist traditions. Empress Wu illuminated and exalted the sun of the Buddha, showing deep reverence for the Mahāyāna. Because the older translations of the Huayan jing were incomplete in their assemblies and venues, and she had heard from afar that Khotan possessed this Sanskrit original, she dispatched envoys to invite it and seek a translator. Śikṣānanda arrived at Luoyang together with the sūtra. In the first year of Zhengsheng under Empress Wu, a yizhai year (695), in the Biankong Monastery within the Great Palace of the Eastern Capital, he translated the Dafangguang fo huayan jing (Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra) in eighty fascicles. Empress Wu personally graced the Dharma throne, penned the radiant preface, and applied her own imperial brush to inscribe the titles and chapters. The South Indian monk Bodhiruci and the monk Yijing jointly recited the Sanskrit original, after which it was entrusted to the monks Fuli, Fazang, and others to translate at the Foshouji Monastery, completing the work in the second year of Shengli, a jihai year (699). Furthermore, in the first year of Jiushi, a gengzi year (700), inside Sanyang Palace, he translated the Dacheng ru lengqie jing (Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra) in seven fascicles. In addition, at Qingchan Monastery in the Western Capital and Shouji Monastery in the Eastern Capital, he translated the Wenshushili shouji jing (Mañjuśrīvyākaraṇa-sūtra) in three fascicles; the Dafangguang ru rulai zhide busiyi jing in one fascicle; the Dafangguang rulai busiyi jingjie jing in one fascicle; the Dafangguang puxian suoshuo jing in one fascicle; the Guanshiyin pusa mimizang shenzhou jing in one fascicle; the Miaobi yinzhuang tuoluoni jing in one fascicle; the Baiqian yin tuoluoni jing in one fascicle; the Jiu mianran egui tuoluoni shenzhou jing in one fascicle; the Youshao fotā gongde jing in one fascicle; the Dacheng sifa jing in one fascicle (bearing the same title as that translated by Tripiṭaka Master Rizhao, but completely different in text and meaning); the Shishanye dao jing in one fascicle; the Dacheng qixin lun (Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith) in two fascicles; the Mohe bore suixin jing in one fascicle; the Dafangguang busheng bumie jing in one fascicle; the Dafangguang rulai nan siyi jingjie jing in one fascicle; the Liggou jingguang tuoluoni jing (Vimalanirbhāsa-dhāraṇī-sūtra) in one fascicle; and the Pusa chusheng sifa jing in one fascicle. Altogether there were nineteen works in 107 fascicles. The monks Bolun, Xuangui, and others served as scribes; the monk Fuli and others served as text editors; the monks Fabao, Hongjing, and others served as certifiers of meaning; and the Heir Apparent's Secretary of the Household Jia Yingfu oversaw the translation.