No. 1295-C重刻禪宗頌古聯珠通集序
Preface to the Re-engraved Collection of Chan/Zen Hymns and Ancient Cases
佛祖葛藤。水浸不爛。火燒不壞。枝聯蔓衍。流布無窮。禪宗頌古聯珠通集者。魯菴會公集成。鋟梓行世久矣。近以他故其板散落人間。洪武己巳夏。余慮其亡失。託道友收贖。庋藏於大慈山之幻居。實六月二十八日也。明日舊置板處。火作風烈。燎及千數百家。吁斯亦異矣。然佛祖葛藤。其果靈驗如此耶。抑神物護持而致然耶。敬捐衣資命工補完。用廣流通永延慧命。因書其得板所由之異。庸識歲月云。
The tangled vine of the Buddha ancestors cannot be rotted by water nor destroyed by fire. Its branches intertwine and spread endlessly, flowing without cease. The *Compendium of Linked Verses from the Chan School’s Eulogies on Old Cases* was compiled by Master Hui of Lu’an. It was carved for block printing and has circulated widely for a long time. Recently, due to other circumstances, the printing blocks were scattered among people.
In the summer of the year *Jisi* (1389) under the Hongwu reign, I worried they might be lost, so I asked a Dharma friend to redeem them. They were stored at the Phantom Dwelling (Huān Jū) of Daci Mountain on the twenty-eighth day of the sixth lunar month.
The next day, a fire broke out where the blocks had originally been stored. Fanned by a strong wind, it spread to thousands of homes. Alas! How strange this is! Was the tangled vine of the Buddha ancestors truly so efficacious? Or was it due to the protection of spiritual forces? Reverently, I donated the cost of my robes and ordered artisans to restore the blocks, extending their circulation to perpetuate the life of wisdom. Therefore, I record the extraordinary circumstances of how these blocks were recovered, marking this year and month.
洪武壬申春二月中天竺住山沙門 淨戒 識
In the spring of the year 1392, during the second lunar month, the monk Jingjie, abbot of the Zhongtianzhu Monastery, wrote this.