續古今譯經圖紀 1.19

1.19

The monk Śikṣā-Yijing was a native of Qizhou whose secular surname was Zhang and whose courtesy name was Wenming. In his tender childhood years, he renounced worldly honor and shed his hair. Thereupon he consulted eminent masters everywhere and explored the vast store of texts, becoming thoroughly versed in both inner and outer learning, and fully knowledgeable of past and present. At the age of fifteen, he set his resolve to travel to the Western Regions, admiring the noble conduct of Faxian and aspiring to the exalted example of Xuanzang. In addition, diligent without wasting a moment, he never let a scroll leave his hands. At the age of twenty he received the full precepts, becoming all the more ardent and steadfast. In the second year of Xianheng (671), at the age of thirty-seven, his long-cherished wish was at last fulfilled, and he went to Guangzhou. At first, ten fellow aspirants made a mutual pact, but when it came time to board the ship, the others all withdrew. Only Yijing's steadfast resolve burned all the brighter, and so he traveled alone. Braving every hardship, he gradually reached India. Wherever he went, he gained a thorough mastery of the language; whenever he met kings and ministers, all received him with great deference. He climbed both Vulture Peak and Kukkuṭapāda Mountain in person, and extensively toured the Jetavana and the Deer Park. He rested at Nālandā and paid homage to the Bodhi Tree, studying both the Mahāyāna and the Hīnayāna under eminent masters everywhere. Once his undertakings were complete, he returned to his native land. In all, he had traversed more than thirty countries, coming and going in search of the Way for over twenty years. In the midsummer of the first year of Zhengsheng under Empress Wu, a yihai year (695), he returned to the Heluo region, bringing back nearly four hundred works of Sanskrit sūtras, vinayas, and śāstras, totaling five hundred thousand verses, one authentic depiction of the Vajrāsana, and three hundred grains of relics. Revering the Dharma and honoring the person, Empress Wu personally welcomed him outside the Shangdong Gate. The monastic community of Luoyang prepared banners and pennants, accompanied by drums and music leading the way. An imperial decree ordered that he be housed at Foshouji Monastery and that the Sanskrit texts he had brought be translated. At first he collaborated with the Tripiṭaka master of Khotan in translating the Avataṃsaka-sūtra; after the Jiushi era (700), he began his own translations. From the first year of Jiushi, a gengzi year (700), to the third year of Chang'an, a guimao year (703), at Fuxian Monastery in the Eastern Capital and Ximing Monastery in the Western Capital, he translated the Jin guangming zuishengwang jing (Suvarṇaprabhāsottamarāja-sūtra) in ten fascicles; the Nengduan jingang boreboluomiduo jing (Vajracchedikā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra) in one fascicle; the Ruding buding yin jing (Niyatāniyatagatimudrāvatāra-sūtra) in one fascicle; the Mile xiasheng chengfo jing (Maitreyavyākaraṇa) in one fascicle; the Manshushili pusa zhouzang zhong yizi zhouwang jing in one fascicle; the Zhuangyanwang tuoluoni zhou jing in one fascicle; the Shanye jing (Bhadrakārātrī-sūtra) in one fascicle; the Dacheng liuzhuan zhuyou jing (Bhavasaṅkrānti-sūtra) in one fascicle; the Miaosewang yinyuan jing in one fascicle; the Wuchang jing (Anityatā-sūtra) in one fascicle; the Ba wuxia youxia jing in one fascicle; the Changzhao fanzhi qingwen jing in one fascicle; the Genben shuoyiqieyoubu pinaiye (Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya) in fifty fascicles; the Genben sapuoduobu lüshe (Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinayasaṃgraha) in twenty fascicles; the Genben shuoyiqieyoubu nidana mudejia (Mūlasarvāstivāda-nidānamātṛkā) in ten fascicles; the Genben shuoyiqieyoubu baiyi jiemo (Mūlasarvāstivāda-śatakarma) in ten fascicles; the Zhangzhong lun (Hastavāla-prakaraṇa) in one fascicle; the Quyin jiashe lun (Prajñaptihetusaṃgraha) in one fascicle; the Liumen jiaoshou xiding lun (Ṣaṇmukhī-dhāraṇī-vyākhyāna) in one fascicle; and the Longshu pusa quanjie wang song (Suhṛllekha of Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna) in one fascicle, which were transcribed and presented to the palace.