開元釋教錄 8.6.9

8.6.9

"[I can] write a preface for the Master, but I cannot compose a stele [inscription]; you should know this."

In the spring of the twenty-second year of Zhenguan, [the Emperor] visited the Yuhua Palace. In the sixth month, an imperial edict summoned the Dharma Master to proceed to the palace, where he was granted an audience in the Yuhua Hall. The Emperor asked what sūtras and śāstras he had translated recently. He replied, "I have recently finished translating the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra in one hundred fascicles in total."

The Emperor said, "This śāstra is immensely grand. Which sage expounded it, and what doctrine does it clarify?"

He replied, "The śāstra was expounded by the Bodhisattva Maitreya; it clarifies the meaning of the seventeen stages (bhūmi)."

[The Emperor] asked again, "What are the seventeen stages called?"

Xuanzang outlined its main points and presented the essential teachings. The Emperor was deeply delighted and dispatched an envoy to the capital to retrieve the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra. The Emperor perused it closely himself, and seeing that its wording and meaning were vast and profound—unlike anything he had ever heard before—he sighed and said to his attendant ministers, "When I look upon the Buddhist scriptures, it is like gazing at the sky or looking out over the sea, impossible to fathom their height and depth. The Dharma Master was able to obtain such profound teachings in foreign realms! Lately, because state and military affairs have been pressed and heavy, I have not had the leisure to examine the Buddhist teachings in detail. But now looking at them, their doctrinal source is vast and boundless, with no shore or limit to be known. Comparing the Ruists, Daoists, and the nine schools of thought to it is like comparing a shallow pond to the immense ocean! Yet worldly people claim that the three teachings reach the same culmination—this is absurd talk."

Thereupon, he ordered the relevant authorities to select scribes from the Palace Library to copy the newly translated sūtras and śāstras into nine sets, distributing them to nine major prefectures—including Yongzhou, Luozhou, Yanzhou, Xiangzhou, Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Liangzhou, and Yizhou—for circulation from one to another, so that the people throughout the land might together receive these principles never heard before.

The Emperor had previously promised to write a preface for the new scriptures, but because affairs of state were so pressing, he had not yet had the leisure to attend to it. At this point, the Dharma Master petitioned him again, and only then did the Emperor put brush to paper, completing it in a short while. It was titled "Preface to the Holy Teachings of the Tripiṭaka of the Great Tang" (Da Tang Sanzang Shengjiao Xu). He copied it out in his own divine handwriting and decreed that it be placed at the head of all the scriptures. The Emperor took his seat in the Qingfu Hall, with the hundred officials in attendance. He ordered the Dharma Master to be seated and commanded Shangguan Yi, Academician of the Hongwen Institute, to read out the preface he had composed before the gathered officials. Like glowing clouds radiating and brocade unfurling, it reached the ultimate refinement of praise. When the Heavenly Emperor (Gaozong), then in the Eastern Palace [as Crown Prince], respectfully beheld the imperial text, he also composed the "Account of the Holy Teachings of the Tripiṭaka" (Sanzang Shengji). From then on, [Xuanzang] frequently entered the inner palace to be consulted on abstruse points; translation proceeded without interruption, never missing the right occasion for the Dharma.

The Emperor also read the Bodhisattvapiṭaka-sūtra presented by the Dharma Master, praised it, and thereupon instructed the Eastern Palace to compose an afterword for it. In the autumn, the seventh month, when the summer retreat ended, an imperial order bestowed [upon Xuanzang] a cloud-patched kaṣāya robe, exquisite beyond anything past or present. An edict was also issued for all monasteries throughout the realm to ordain five men each, while the Hongfu Monastery was to ordain fifty men. That the lineage of sages was thus sustained was entirely due to the power of Xuanzang's upright words.

In the winter, the tenth month, [Xuanzang] accompanied the imperial cortege back to the capital. An edict instructed the authorities to build a separate compound to the west of the Ziwei Hall at the northern palace gate, named the Hongfa Academy (Hongfa Yuan), and ordered Xuanzang to reside there. By day, the Emperor detained him in conversation; by night, he returned to the academy to translate scriptures. He further translated the Asvabhāva-Mahāyānasaṃgraha-bhāṣya, the Vasubandhu-Mahāyānasaṃgraha-bhāṣya, the Pratītyasamutpāda-sūtra, and the Śata-dharma-vidyā-dvāra-śāstra.

On behalf of the late Empress Wende, the Crown Prince founded the Ci'en Monastery in the Jinchang ward and ordained three hundred monks. He constructed a separate translation court and ordered the Dharma Master to move there to carry out translation. [Xuanzang] was also put in charge of the monastery's administrative duties and granted fifteen newly ordained disciples; the former location at Hongfu was still provided ten men. The heir apparent personally visited and composed poems in his honor and praise.

In the twenty-third year, in the fourth month of summer, the imperial cortege visited the Cuiwei Palace, and [Xuanzang] was ordered to accompany them. Once there, outside of official business, [the Emperor] only conversed on the profound and discussed the Dao, asking about karmic retribution and the traces and deeds left behind by past sages in the Western Regions. Xuanzang replied to all by citing scriptural instructions. Deeply convinced, the Emperor repeatedly rolled up his sleeves and sighed, saying, "I met the Master too late to broadly promote Buddhist activities!"

When Gaozong succeeded to the throne, he held [Xuanzang] in his customary high esteem. He summoned him to court, treated him with great favor, and accorded him etiquette far surpassing ordinary rules. In the second year of Yonghui, [Xuanzang] requested to build a tower for Sanskrit scriptures; upon receiving an imperial donation of materials, it was soon completed. He was again summoned into the inner palace to translate śāstras such as the Abhidharma-jñānaprasthāna in the Xiuwen Hall. Imperial letters written in feibai ("flying white") calligraphy were bestowed upon him, expressing solicitude and granting generous provisions.

In the first month of the first year of Xianqing, a grand vegetarian feast was held for the Crown Prince at the Ci'en Monastery. The court officials all gathered. Xue Yuanchao, Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate (Huangmen Shilang), and Li Yifu, Vice Director of the Secretariat (Zhongshu Shilang), said, "The translation of scriptures is the greatest of Buddhist affairs. We wonder by what virtue it might be made more illustrious?"

Xuanzang said, "Your question is something I have long kept in mind. Although the position of translating scriptures rests with monks, its glory and prestige ultimately depend upon court dignitaries. For example, when Dharmanandin translated scriptures under the Fu Qin, Zhao Wenye, Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate, held the brush. When Kumārajīva translated scriptures under the Yao Qin, the ruler of Qin and Yao Song, Marquis of Ancheng, recorded the translations. When Bodhiruci translated scriptures under the Yuan Wei, Emperor Xuanwu and Cui Guang, Attendant-in-Ordinary, recorded the text. So it was under the Qi, Liang, Zhou, and Sui as well. At the beginning of the Zhenguan era under the Great Tang, when Prabhākaramitra translated, an edict appointed Fang Xuanling, Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs; Li Xiaogong, King of Zhaojun; Du Zhenglun, Supervisor of the Household of the Crown Prince; and Xiao Jing, Chief Minister of the Court of the National Granaries, to inspect and verify the texts. Today we have none of these; it is not enough to make the work illustrious and enduring. If you gentlemen could submit a request, this fine result could be attained."

The two dignitaries agreed to submit a memorial. Soon an imperial decree was issued: "The literary style and meaning of the translations at Ci'en must be refined. Yu Zhining, Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs; Lai Ji, Director of the Secretariat; Xu Jingzong, Minister of the Ministry of Rites; Xue Yuanchao, Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate; and Li Yifu, Vice Director of the Secretariat, should inspect them from time to time. Wherever the phrasing is not apt, they should polish it according to the situation. If scholars are needed, two or three men may be summoned as appropriate."

In the eleventh month of winter, the Empress was in difficult labor; taking refuge in the Three Jewels, [the imperial household] requested the bestowal of divine protection. The Dharma Master petitioned, saying, "Her Majesty's sacred person will surely be safe and peaceful without distress. Furthermore, the child she is carrying is a boy. After safe delivery, may it be permitted that he enter monastic life." This received imperial consent. On the first day of that month, the Empress donated a cloud-patched kaṣāya robe, far superior to the previous one, along with more than a hundred seasonal garments and ornaments. On the fifth day, an edict was issued informing the Dharma Master: "The Empress's difficult childbirth has concluded. [The newborn is] dignified and extraordinary; a spiritual radiance filled the courtyard, illuminating the sky from the courtyard. We are overjoyed beyond measure, and both within and outside [the palace] people dance for joy. We shall certainly not go back on what was promised; we pray the Dharma Master will protect and care for him." Thereupon he was named Prince Foguang ("Radiance of the Buddha"). He immediately received the Three Refuges and was vested in the kaṣāya robe. On the fifth day of the twelfth month, marking the full month [after birth], an edict ordained seven men on behalf of Prince Foguang, and the Dharma Master was invited to shave the Prince's head. Prince Foguang was indeed the auspicious childhood name of Emperor Zhongzong, Emperor Xiaohe. Upon first ascending the imperial throne, he decreed on the Dharma Master's behalf that a Foguang Monastery be established in each of the two capitals and men be ordained to dwell there. The Foguang Monastery in the Eastern Capital was none other than the Dharma Master's former residence. Furthermore, a painted portrait [of Xuanzang] was brought out from the inner palace, mounted upon a jeweled carriage, and escorted into the Translation Hall of the Ci'en Monastery; the Dharma Master was posthumously granted the title "Great Master of Complete Enlightenment" (Da Bianjue).

In the second month of spring in the second year of Xianqing, the imperial carriage traveled to the Luoyang Palace. The Dharma Master and Prince Foguang set out ahead of the imperial cortege. Together with five translation monks and one attending disciple each, all their provisions were provided by the government. Upon arrival, they were lodged in the Jicui Palace and summoned into the Liri Hall of the Great Inner Palace, where he translated such texts as the Ālambanaparīkṣā. In the fourth month of summer, the imperial carriage went to the Mingde Palace to escape the summer heat; the Dharma Master also accompanied them and was lodged in the Feihua Hall, where he translated texts such as the Mahāvibhāṣā. In the fifth month, an edict ordered the Dharma [Master]...