出三藏記集卷第一
Collection of Records on the Translated Tripitaka, Volume 1
釋僧祐撰
Compiled by Shi Sengyou
出三藏記集序
Collection of Records on the Translation of the Tripitaka
夫真諦玄凝法性虛寂。而開物導俗非言莫津。是以不二默詶。會於義空之門。一音振辯。應乎群有之境。自我師能仁之出世也。鹿苑唱其初言。金河究其後說。契經以誘小學。方典以勸大心。妙輪區別十二惟部法聚總要八萬其門。至善逝晦跡。而應真結藏。始則四鋡集經。中則五部分戒。大寶斯在含識資焉。然道由人弘。法待緣顯。有道無人。雖文存而莫悟。有法無緣。雖並世而弗聞。聞法資乎時來。悟道藉於機至。機至然後理感。時來然後化通矣。昔周代覺興而靈津致隔。漢世像教而妙典方流。法待緣顯信有徵矣。至漢末安高宣譯轉明。魏初康會注述漸暢。道由人弘於茲驗矣。自晉氏中興三藏彌廣。外域勝賓稠疊以總。至中原慧士煒曄而秀生。提什舉其宏綱。安遠振其奧領。渭濱務逍遙之集。廬岳結般若之臺。像法得人於斯為盛。原夫經出西域。運流東方。提挈萬里翻傳胡漢。國音各殊。故文有同異。前後重來。故題有新舊。而後之學者鮮克研覈。遂乃書寫繼踵而不知經出之歲。誦說比肩而莫測傳法之人。授之受道亦已闕矣。夫一時聖集。猶五事證經。況千載交譯。寧可昧其人世哉。昔安法師以鴻才淵鑒。爰撰經錄。訂正聞見炳然區分。自茲以來妙典間出。皆是大乘寶海時競講習。而年代人名。莫有銓貫。歲月逾邁。本源將沒。後生疑惑奚所取明。祐以庸淺豫憑法門。翹仰玄風。誓弘大化。每至昏曉諷持秋夏講說。未甞不心馳菴園影躍靈鷲。於是牽課羸志㳂波討源。綴其所聞。名曰出三藏記集。一撰緣記。二銓名錄。三總經序。四述列傳。緣記撰則原始之本克昭。名錄銓則年代之目不墜。經序總則勝集之時足徵。列傳述則伊人之風可見。並鑽析內經研鏡外籍。參以前識。驗以舊聞。若人代有據則表為司南。聲傳未詳則文歸蓋闕。秉牘凝翰志存信史。三復九思事取實錄。有證者既標。則無源者自顯。庶行潦無雜於醇乳。燕石不亂於楚玉。但井識管窺多慚博練。如有未備請寄明哲。
The profound truth is serene, the nature of reality is empty and still. Yet to open minds and guide the multitude, words are the essential ferry. Therefore, the non-dual silent response meets at the gate of meaning's emptiness; a single voice's resonant discourse responds within the realm of manifold existence.
Since our teacher, the Able One, appeared in the world, the Deer Park proclaimed his initial words, and the Hiranyavati River concluded his final teachings. The sutras were to guide those of lesser learning; the vaipulya scriptures to encourage the great-hearted. The wondrous wheel was divided into twelve sections; the Dharma collection's essence gathered into eighty thousand gates. When the Well-Gone One vanished from sight, the arhats compiled the treasury: first, the four Āgamas assembled the sutras; later, the five divisions established the precepts. This great treasure remains, relied upon by sentient beings.
Yet, the Way is propagated by people; the Dharma awaits conditions to be revealed. If there is a Way but no people, though the texts exist, none awaken. If there is Dharma but no conditions, though present in the age, it remains unheard. Hearing the Dharma depends on the time arriving; awakening to the Way relies on the moment arriving. When the moment arrives, then principle is felt; when the time comes, then the teaching spreads.
In the past, during the Zhou dynasty, awakening arose, yet the spiritual ford was blocked. In the Han era, the image-teaching arrived, and the wondrous scriptures began to flow. That the Dharma awaits conditions to be revealed is indeed evidenced. By the end of the Han, Ān Shigao's translations made it gradually clear; in the early Wei, Kang Senghui's commentaries and writings made it progressively fluent. That the Way is propagated by people is verified here.
Since the Jin dynasty's restoration, the Three Baskets have greatly expanded. Eminent guests from foreign lands arrived in succession, gathering in numbers; wise scholars of the central plains flourished brilliantly, their talents emerging. Kumārajīva raised the great guiding principles; Dao'an and Huiyuan stirred the profound essentials. At the Wei riverbank, gatherings for carefree discussion were pursued; on Mount Lu, platforms for the Prajñāpāramitā were established. The Dharma's flourishing in this age was due to such people.
Considering that the scriptures emerged from the Western Regions and flowed eastward, carried over ten thousand miles, translated and transmitted between foreign tongues and Chinese, each country's sounds differed, so the texts had similarities and variations. Successive waves of translators came, so the titles had new and old forms. Yet later students rarely investigated thoroughly. Thus, copying followed copying without knowing the scripture's year of origin; reciting matched reciting without discerning the Dharma's transmitter. For receiving and transmitting the path, this was already a deficiency.
When the sagely assembly gathered at one time, they still verified the sutras through five criteria. How much more for translations spanning a thousand years—can we be ignorant of their people and times?
In the past, the Dharma Master Dao'an, with his vast talent and deep discernment, compiled a catalog of scriptures, correcting what was heard and seen, making distinctions brilliantly clear. Since then, wondrous texts have appeared intermittently, all being treasures of the Great Vehicle's ocean, eagerly studied and lectured upon in their time. Yet their dates and persons' names lacked systematic connection. As years passed, the original sources were about to be lost. Later generations, in doubt, had nothing from which to gain clarity.
I, Sengyou, with my mediocre shallowness, yet relying upon the Dharma gate, looked up with admiration to the profound wind, vowing to propagate the great transformation. Whenever, at dawn and dusk, I recited and upheld, in autumn and summer lectured and explained, my heart never failed to race toward the Jeta Grove, my shadow leap toward Vulture Peak. Therefore, I urged my feeble resolve, following the waves to trace the source, stringing together what I had heard, naming it *A Collection of Records on the Emanation of the Tripiṭaka*.
First, compiling records of origins. Second, elucidating a catalog of titles. Third, collecting prefaces to scriptures. Fourth, recounting biographies.
When records of origins are compiled, the root beginnings can be made clear. When a catalog of titles is elucidated, the chronological list does not fall away. When prefaces to scriptures are collected, the times of their glorious assemblies provide sufficient evidence. When biographies are recounted, the character and conduct of those people become visible.
In all this, I delve into and analyze internal classics, research and reflect on external records, compare with earlier knowledge, verify with old accounts. If a person and era have evidence, I present it as a guiding compass. If the transmission of details is unclear, the text returns to acknowledging the lack. Holding the tablet, concentrating the brush, my intent resides in trustworthy history. Repeating thrice, reflecting ninefold, matters are taken for factual record. What has evidence is already marked; then what lacks a source reveals itself by default.
May the puddle's water not be mixed with pure milk; may the Yan stone not be confused with Chu jade. Yet my view is but from a well, my glimpse through a tube; I am much ashamed of lacking broad learning. If there is anything not yet完备, I entrust it to the wise and discerning.