No. 1504-A集南山禮讚序
No. 1504-A: Preface to Collected Nanshan Liturgical Praise
餘杭沙門釋 元照 述
Written by Buddhist Monk Yuan Zhao of Yuhang
吾祖聖師。盛績懿業備載于李邕行狀．嚴原本碑．大宋高僧傳。後賢多採為讚頌。每至齋忌廣列供養。歌而詠之以申哀慕之素。其來久矣。昔孤山法師首事秉筆。葢酬兜率擇梧律師之請。其次霅谿法師患其事儀尚闕音韻。有所未便。繼有作焉。天台真悟律師兼而用之。以謂歌之不足。乃復操染。用擬三日。次第間行。於是三本傳世。可謂金璧爭輝蘭菊擅美。後世雖有作者。而才識辭翰不足以亞焉。故所不錄矣。然據諸傳錄考校是非。或辭理未安。或軌儀有闕。竝為加改。且使後學無惑於兩岐焉。甞試思之。佛化東傳。四依弘闡者頗眾。雖行業著聞。或一文一讚足以稱之。獨吾祖雖讚詠者殆至數家。卒未能盡其美。有以見道高德遠。功深行密。非常情思議所及矣。同宗學者尚不能稟訓脩身。想德追遠耶。
My ancestral holy teacher—his great achievements and virtuous deeds are fully recorded in Li Yong's epitaph, the original *Yanyuan Record*, and the *Great Song Dynasty Biographies of Eminent Monks*. Later scholars often extracted them for hymns of praise. Every fasting day and memorial anniversary, extensive offerings are laid out, songs are sung to express the sorrow and longing for him. This tradition has continued for a long time.
In the past, Master Gushan first took up the brush, at the request of Master Zewu of the Tusita tradition. Later, Master Zhaxi found that its ritual procedures still lacked rhyme and musicality, making it somewhat inconvenient, so he made a continuation. Master Zhenwu of the Tiantai tradition made combined use of both, feeling that songs alone were insufficient. He then added his own compositions, arranged in three days' sequence, performing them one after another. Thus, three versions were passed down through the ages—like gold and jade competing in radiance, or orchids and chrysanthemums each excelling in beauty. Although later generations produced works, their talent, knowledge, and literary skill were not enough to match these, so they were not recorded.
However, based on the various records and biographies, I examined and corrected what was right and wrong. Where the phrasing or reasoning was unclear, or the ritual forms were lacking, I revised them all, so that later students would not be confused by two diverging paths.
Let me consider this: since the Buddha's teachings spread east, there have been many commentaries and expositions. Although their deeds were renowned, a single text or hymn sufficiently honored them. Only for my ancestral teacher have there been nearly multiple authors of hymns, yet they still fail to fully capture his excellence. This shows how lofty his Way, how profound his virtue, how deep his practice, and how subtle his deeds—beyond the reach of ordinary feeling or reasoning! Even fellow practitioners of the same tradition cannot yet learn from his teachings to cultivate themselves—how then can they hope to contemplate his virtue and trace his distant legacy?
元符三年祖忌日序No. 1504
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南山祖師禮讚文
Master Nanshan Patriarch's Praise
孤山沙門釋 智圓 述