No. 1607-C自敘分燈錄緣起
如來正法眼藏首傳大迦葉，乃至二十八傳菩提達磨遙觀震旦有大乘根器，遂泛海而來。磨傳惠可，可傳僧粲，粲傳道信，信傳弘忍，忍傳惠能，能傳懷讓、行思。兩派兒孫，五燈輝映，若臨濟，若雲門，若溈仰，若曹洞，若法眼，或孤峯頂上盤結草菴，或十字街頭解開布袋，明鏡當臺，胡漢自現，寶劒在手，殺活臨時。青州衫，乾屎橛，擬議便乖；擊石火，閃電光，轉盻即失。至矣！盡矣！無得而上焉？然考當時法道盛行，有主化者，必有分化者。主化者，如上所述，具載傳燈；分化者，則有如維摩詰、龐道玄、張無盡、宋景濂輩，秘大現小，帶水拖泥，不壞假名而談實相，斯亦悲願弘廣，混俗利生之遐軌已！余故略採內典，既成《佛祖綱目》四十一卷，復輯居士中師承有據及應化再來者七十二人，為《分燈錄》二卷。分燈者，乃余結集時夢見舍利弗尊者之所標也！儻謂是書非無盡燈，亦非非無盡燈，而欲揭之以光照來茲乎。雪竇有云：「三十三人入虎穴」，予亦云：「七十二人出龍窟」。即今書在這裡，還識龍麼？透網金鱗休云滯水，無處有月波澄，有處無風浪起。參！
The Tathagata's True Dharma Eye Treasury was first transmitted to Mahakasyapa, passing down through twenty-eight generations until Bodhidharma, gazing from afar, saw that the land of China possessed the capacity for the Great Vehicle, and thus crossed the sea to come. Dharma transmitted to Huike, Huike transmitted to Sengcan, Sengcan transmitted to Daoxin, Daoxin transmitted to Hongren, Hongren transmitted to Huineng, Huineng transmitted to Huairang and Xingsi. The descendants of these two lineages shone like five lamps, such as the Linji, Yunmen, Guiyang, Caodong, and Fayan schools. Some dwelled in grass huts atop solitary peaks, while others untied their cloth sacks at the crossroads. When the bright mirror is placed on the stand, the foreigner and the Han appear of themselves; when the precious sword is in hand, killing and sparing happen in the moment. The blue robe, the dried turd—to deliberate is to miss it. The spark struck from stone, the flash of lightning—in the blink of an eye, it is gone. Perfect! Ultimate! Can there be anything beyond this?
Yet, examining that time when the Dharma flourished, wherever there were those who propagated the teaching, there were also those who disseminated it. The propagators, as described above, are fully recorded in the *Transmission of the Lamp*. The disseminators, however, include figures like Vimalakirti, Pang Daoxuan, Zhang Wujin, and Song Jinglian. They concealed the great while revealing the small, trailing water and dragging mud, speaking of true reality without destroying conventional names. This too is the far-reaching path of vast compassionate vows, mingling with the world to benefit beings!
Therefore, I have briefly drawn from the Buddhist canon, first completing the forty-one volumes of *The Guiding Outline of Buddhas and Patriarchs*, and then compiling records of seventy-two lay practitioners who had verifiable teacher-student connections or were recognized as manifestations—two volumes titled *The Record of the Divided Lamp*. "Divided Lamp" is the designation given by the Venerable Shariputra in a dream I had while compiling this work! If one says this book is not the inexhaustible lamp, it is also not *not* the inexhaustible lamp. Yet, does it intend to lift it up to illuminate those to come? Xue Dou said, "Thirty-three entered the tiger's den." I also say, "Seventy-two emerged from the dragon's cave." Now the book is here—do you still recognize the dragon? The golden carp that has pierced the net, do not say it lingers in the water. Where there is no place, the moon's waves are clear; where there is a place, wind and waves arise. Investigate!
崇禎辛未陽生日 雲間朱時恩 謹序