大唐貞元續開元釋教錄 2.6.8

2.6.8

greatly lacking the depths of specialist learning. We never expected that imperial grace would deign to notice us and test our unsubstantial words. When we received the command, we were dazed and beside ourselves; when we held our brushes, we were timid and at a loss what to set down. Grinding lead and tin is difficult to work into fine craftsmanship; knocking on the void brings forth nothing. We humbly relied on the sage-composed preface to the translated sūtra, in which [His Majesty] combed through the texts to reveal subtleties, picked through the Sanskrit words to fathom the profound, expounded the marvelous tenets of the Mahāyāna, and broadened the true lineage of liberation—brilliant as jade tokens, radiant as the sun and moon. It was through this that the ignorance of Zhitong and the others was temporarily dispelled, and their errors were quietly cleared away, enabling us to receive imperial favor and compose the commentary's meanings. However, with our weak strength being easily exhausted and our inferior intelligence hard pressed to be comprehensive, we merely peered through a tube—how could we fathom what is vast and great? We were also like one who scoops with a gourd—unable to survey the distant shore. Far from repaying the favor of favored treatment, we have instead incurred the guilt of being crude and clumsy. Zhitong and the others are truly fearful, truly terrified, deserving of death, deserving of death! We respectfully present this along with our memorial. Zhitong and the others humbly consider that the doctrinal passages are vast and extensive, and we fear wearying the imperial attention; the sūtra and commentary intertwine, confounding beginners. Venturing to follow past precedents to prepare the complete text, we respectfully composed one fascicle each of the Commentary's Principles and Examples, Oral Instructions, and Catalogue, which we present herewith along with the twenty-fascicle commentary, with redoubled trembling. The śramaṇa Zhitong and others, truly fearful and terrified, twice cautious and dreading, respectfully state.
On the eighth day of the ninth month of the fifth year of Zhenyuan, the śramaṇa Zhitong and others of Zhangjing Temple, who were ordered to compose the commentary, submitted this memorial; co-author śramaṇa Dao'an.
At that time, when the commentary was submitted to the palace and His Majesty perused the memorial, the monks gazed toward the imperial court in anxious trepidation. On the sixteenth day, heavenly favor descended like dew, bestowing gifts of patterned silk. An imperial edict was proclaimed, stating: "An imperial order of ninety bolts of silk shall be bestowed upon the monks Zhitong and the others of Zhangjing Temple who composed the commentary. They should collect it upon arrival. Composing the commentary lately has been laborious. As the autumn turns cold, I respectfully inquire: are the masters all peaceful and well?" Proclaimed on the sixteenth day of the ninth month of the fifth year of Zhenyuan by Dou Wenchang, Specially Promoted, Grand General of the Left Gate Guards.
On that day, having received the gifts and thoughtful solicitations, trembling with gratitude and ashamed of themselves, they composed a memorial offering thanks, taking the opportunity to request, following the precedent, the establishment of a cloister and the selection of monks, in the eternal hope of transmitting the lamp and dedicating the merit to the sacred emperor's longevity. The text read:
The śramaṇa Zhitong and others state: Humbly receiving today the announcement by the Commissioner of Merit and Virtue of the Left Street, Dou Wenchang, that the sacred grace has bestowed ninety bolts of silk upon Zhitong and the others, Zhitong and the others, holding them on bended knees with shame and trepidation, look up in reverence with fear and trembling. Reflecting on our shallowness, extraordinary gifts have fallen from high heaven; how could such minor merits bear patterned silks from the royal treasury? Zhitong and the others are truly fearful and terrified, truly cautious and dreading. We humbly reflect that Your Imperial Majesty, as the parent of the people, possesses the same vision and knowledge as the Buddha, dedicated to propagating the utmost transformation and fully aligning with the Great Way. You thus venerate the Gate of Non-duality to assist the principle of non-action. You have had the sūtra translated and distributed, and further ordered the composition of a commentary to illuminate it, holding high the torch of wisdom to enlighten the ignorant and relying on the ship of compassion for safe passage. This may be called illuminating the path of awakening and guiding people across the river of delusion. All within the world ought to be deeply grateful. How would Zhitong and the others dare not reverently comply with the sage designs and brightly manifest the essentials of the Dharma? Fortunately receiving imperial favor to comment on that new sūtra, we hope above to assist the imperial order and eternally transmit the seal of the Buddha. We cannot bear the peak of our joy and exultation! Humbly we consider: the propagation of the sacred teachings requires broad benefit; now that the commentary's meaning is complete, it also requires dissemination. Following the precedent of the śramaṇa Chaowu of Liquan Temple, who translated the sūtra and created a commentary, establishing a cloister to transmit the sūtra, we humbly gaze upon the heavenly compassion, hoping that you permit one cloister in one temple to serve as the Mahāyāna Adhyardhaśatikā Sūtra Cloister, and beg for an inscribed plaque to be granted. Furthermore, we ask to select seven monks of moral conduct to jointly cultivate recitation and expounding, replacing any vacancies, in order to protect boundless blessings to assist the imperial longevity above, and to deliver all the deluded below with the teachings of established words. Respectfully transmitted through the Commissioner of Merit and Virtue of the Left Street, Dou Wenchang, we present this memorial offering thanks and submitting our petition for consideration. The śramaṇa Zhitong and others, truly fearful and terrified, twice cautious and dreading, respectfully state.
Submitted on the sixteenth day of the ninth month of the fifth year of Zhenyuan by the śramaṇa Zhitong and others of Zhangjing Temple, who were ordered to compose the commentary.
The treatise states: Since the sun of the Buddha moved west and the wheel of Dharma turned east, those who sacrificed their lives for the Dharma and translated it are extraordinarily exalted. Next to them are those who comprehend its meanings, delving into the depths to reach the distant, exploring subtleties to search out the hidden. Now [Liang]ben, Zhen[ji], and [Ru]jing are such men. In former eras Liangben, Zhenji, and Rujing translated sūtras with renown echoing high in the imperial capital; now [Liang]xiu and [Chao]wu transmit translations while foreign lands admire their demeanor. All of them authored commentaries to disseminate them, their diction elegant and beautiful; their nature and appearances are both marvelous, and their fragrance will endure for a thousand ages. How could we have imagined that the white and black mice would take their toll, and they would already pass away? Master Zhitong, externally versed in the nine schools and internally penetrating the eight treasuries, separately received an imperial decree to assist and praise the new sūtra. His meanings are like interlocking rings, his writing like strung jade. He probed the hidden, analyzed principles, and thought deeply with refined precision; he may truly be called a person born once every five hundred years.