開元釋教錄 8.6.8

8.6.8

statues: a carved sandalwood Buddha statue, two feet nine inches high including halo and pedestal, modeled on the image of the Tathāgata descending the jeweled staircase from the heavenly palace in Kapiśā; a silver Buddha statue, four feet high including halo and pedestal, modeled on the image of [the Buddha] preaching the Lotus and other sūtras on Gṛdhrakūṭa in Magadha; a golden Buddha statue, three feet five inches high including halo and pedestal, modeled on the shadow left behind upon subduing the toxic dragon in Nagarahāra; a carved sandalwood Buddha statue, one foot three inches high including halo and pedestal, modeled on the image of [the Buddha] going about the city converting [beings] in Vaiśālī; two hundred and twenty-four works of Mahāyāna sūtras; one hundred and ninety-two works of Mahāyāna śāstras; fourteen works of sūtras, vinaya, and śāstras of the Sthaviranikāya; fifteen works of sūtras, vinaya, and śāstras of the Mahāsāṃghika; fifteen works of sūtras, vinaya, and śāstras of the Saṃmitīya; twenty-two works of sūtras, vinaya, and śāstras of the Mahīśāsaka; seventeen works of sūtras, vinaya, and śāstras of the Kāśyapīya; forty-two works of sūtras, vinaya, and śāstras of the Dharmaguptaka; sixty-seven works of sūtras, vinaya, and śāstras of the Sarvāstivāda; thirty-six works of treatises on logic (hetuvidyā); and thirteen works of treatises on grammar (śabdavidyā). In total, there were five hundred and twenty bundles comprising six hundred and fifty-seven works. All were loaded onto great elephants to return to the imperial capital. Earlier, when Xuanzang had already crossed the Pamir Mountains (Congling), he first dispatched an attendant carrying a memorial to disclose and make clean his departure against the country's laws. An imperial decree was issued warmly inquiring after him and ordering an early audience. When he reached Khotan (Yutian), because the elephant died and the carried scriptures and statues could not be transported, he submitted another memorial requesting aid. Soon a separate imperial decree was issued ordering the King of Khotan to provide him with mounts and pack animals. Having received the strict decree, camels and horses were transported in succession until they reached Shazhou. He also received a separate decree calculating his travel expenses to remunerate him, but he declined it all and returned it. From then on, he rode official relays of some twenty carriages, and on the twenty-fourth day of the first month in the nineteenth year of Zhenguan, he arrived at the western suburbs of the capital. Clergy and laity rushed and thronged thither, several hundreds of thousands of people, as if encountering the descent of Maitreya into the world. As they were about to enter the capital, the crowd was so tumultuous and pressed so densely forward that they could not advance, so they stayed at an official lodge. Through the night, guards kept watch and cordoned off [the area], stationing themselves alongside the road. From the southwest of the old city to the Duting Relay Station on Zhuque Street in the capital, over twenty li, the lined-up crowd bowed and paid reverence, unable to turn around. At that time, the imperial cortege had traveled to Luoyang. Xuanzang then left the scriptures and images behind and sent them to Hongfu Temple. The saṃgha of the capital vied in arranging banners and canopies to assist in conveying and adorning them. The clamor of the fourfold assembly was double that of his first arrival. At this time, auspicious clouds were further moved to appear north of the sun, round like a parasol, intermingling red and white directly above the statues. Radiating wheel-shaped rays of light, they were not encircling the sun. Everyone together sighed in admiration from noon until late afternoon; only when the statues entered Hongfu Temple did it begin to subside. This caused the four classes of people in the capital to suspend their occupations for five days, and the seven assemblies to pay refuge and respect. At this juncture, the reverence was supreme, rarely equaled throughout history. [Xuanzang] had an audience with the Emperor at the palace in Luoyang, being received in the Yiluan Hall. He was granted special consolations and directly beheld the heavenly countenance. Conversing on the ultimate and the conventional, nothing ran contrary to the Emperor's intent. From morning until evening, unaware of the passing of time, it lasted until the night drums sounded. The Emperor was occupied with military affairs to punish the crimes in the region east of the Liao River; on the following morning he was to depart, and he issued a decree commanding [Xuanzang] to accompany him. [Xuanzang] firmly declined on grounds of illness, and [the Emperor] did not overrule his request. Prior to this, three monks from the Bodhi Temple in Central India had first arrived delivering scriptures. An imperial decree had ordered a general invitation to host a vegetarian feast in the capital and furthermore to translate the *Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra* and others at Hongfu Temple. Before long, news of Xuanzang's arrival came again, so an imperial order was given to suspend [the translation] for the time being, waiting until he arrived before translating. Having met at the Luoyang palace and deeply fulfilled expectations, Xuanzang immediately set forth [the plan for] translation and the recruitment of worthy and brilliant [scholars]. The Emperor said: 'Master, you are proficient in both Chinese and Sanskrit, and articulate in language and principle. I fear that simply promoting those of meager talents would ultimately do a disservice to the sacred scriptures.' Xuanzang said: 'In the past, during the translations of the two Qin dynasties, there were three thousand disciples. Although they translated and transmitted, they still feared that later generations would lack knowledge and hold doubts contrary to faith. If we do not recruit and select [talents] to uphold the profound standards together, how could I, with my narrow abilities, presumptuously take charge of the court's commission?' Repeatedly and firmly requesting it, he was granted permission. The Emperor said: 'Since your departure, Venerable Master, I have built Hongfu Temple in the Western Capital on behalf of the late Empress Dowager Mu. You may proceed there to translate. The required personnel, scribes, and manual laborers may all be discussed with Fang Xuanling, making sure they are provided abundantly.' Having received the imperial command, he returned to the capital. Thereupon, eleven Great Virtues who certify meaning, who thoroughly understood the sūtras and śāstras of the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna and were esteemed by their peers, were summoned and arrived: Śramaṇa Lingrun and Śramaṇa Wenbei of Hongfu Temple in the capital; Śramaṇa Huigui of Luohan Temple; Śramaṇa Mingyan of Shiji Temple; Śramaṇa Faxiang of Baochang Temple; Śramaṇa Puxian of Jingfa Temple; Śramaṇa Shenfang of Fahai Temple; Śramaṇa Daoshen of Fajang Temple in Kuozhou; Śramaṇa Xuanzhong of Yanjue Temple in Bianzhou; Śramaṇa Shentai of Pujiu Temple in Puzhou; and Śramaṇa Jingming of Zhenxiang Temple in Mianzhou. Nine Great Virtues who polish the text arrived: Śramaṇa Qixuan of Puguang Temple in the capital; Śramaṇa Mingjun of Hongfu Temple; Śramaṇa Bianji of Huichang Temple; Śramaṇa Daoxuan of Fengde Temple on Mount Zhongnan; Śramaṇa Jingmai of Fuju Temple in Jianzhou; Śramaṇa Xingyou of Pujiu Temple in Puzhou; Śramaṇa Daozhuo of Qiyan Temple; Śramaṇa Huili of Zhaoren Temple in Binzhou; and Śramaṇa Xuanze of Tiangong Temple in Luozhou. One Great Virtue of orthography arrived: Śramaṇa Xuanying of Da Zongchi Temple in the capital. One Great Virtue who verifies Sanskrit language and Sanskrit texts arrived: Śramaṇa Xuanmo of Da Xingshan Temple in the capital. In the fifth month of that year, they first took up the palm leaves and expounded the Sanskrit texts. They initially translated the *Bodhisattvapiṭaka Sūtra*, with Śramaṇa Daoxuan taking the brush and editing the phrasing and meaning. In addition, on the side they translated the *Buddhabhūmi-sūtra*, *Ṣaṇmukha-dhāraṇī-sūtra*, and *Prakaraṇāryavācā-śāstra*. In the spring of the twentieth year, the first month, they also translated the *Mahāyānābhidharma-samuccaya-vyākhyā*, followed by the *Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra*. The Dharma Master refined the treatise repeatedly; whenever he had slight spare moments, he also produced the *Xiyu ji* (Records of the Western Regions) in twelve fascicles, with Śramaṇa Bianji personally receiving contemporary events and compiling them in sequence. In the scriptural teachings translated since earlier eras, they first transcribed the original text backward from the Sanskrit, next reversed it to conform to local custom, and only then did the scribes adjust the phrasing; through additions and deletions in the middle, much of the Golden Words was lost. The translations produced now were entirely guided by Xuanzang's intention: his mind made independent judgments, and his speech formed polished prose; the stylists simply transcribed it and it was ready to be read and relished. At that time, the Emperor's cortege returned to the Western Capital. Xuanzang then presented the newly translated scriptures and treatises along with the *Datang Xiyu ji*, submitting a memorial requesting a title and preface. In a handwritten decree in reply, [the Emperor] said in brief: 'My learning is shallow and my mind is clumsy; I am still bewildered regarding mundane things, how much more so regarding the profound subtlety of the Buddhist teachings—how could I fathom them? Asking me to provide a title for the scriptures is not something I am familiar with; as for the newly compiled *Xiyu ji*, I shall read it myself.' Only after [Xuanzang] submitted memorials repeatedly two and three times was permission granted. [The Emperor] then said to the Consort-in-law Commandant Gao Lüxing: 'You previously asked me to compose a stele for your father. Now my energy and strength are not what they used to be; I wish to perform merit for the Dharma