獻花巖志序
Preface to the Record of Xianhua Cliff
距都城南三十里有崇丘茂林曰獻花巖者唐融法師觀心處也與祖堂天閼綺錯而居登臨之美為一方最嘉靖中內翰石亭陳公遊而樂之攬筆為志流播於時去之二十載余讀書其地問之巖僧已無知者意嘗念之萬曆壬寅閒步西園沈君生予示公墨本手蹟若新同遊者相𮨇愕眙得未曾有於是歐陽惟玉請校刻之而属余為序夫公以雄詞奧學領袖玉堂其進於朝也掌 帝制潤國猷卓爾以冠羣哲其遊於斯也暢天機栖顥氣翛然而遺萬物風華文采照耀林壑凡有識者疇不慕之矧是志也軼謝客之山居同楊衒之寺記使禪誦者知托遊矚者忘㱕固僧寮之名蹟舊都之勝事也傳其可後是歲秋仲余与公孫延之吳肅卿陳藎卿惟玉兄弟惟禮惟功葉循甫七人憩茲精藍迨於信宿下上巖谷消搖亭館陟高岡俯長江羣峰積翠以廻合楓葉流丹而映彂莫不懷昔賢之高蹈撫遺編而太息乃相与剔蘚捫蘿摩挲碑版取巖中賦詠裒而錄之并系卷末嗟乎內翰作之惟玉述之一則品題山川宗廟之琳瑯一則激揚材美東南之竹箭後有攷者其在斯言
Thirty li south of the capital city lies a place of lofty hills and dense forests called the Flower-Offering Cliff, where Tang-dynasty Master Rong once practiced contemplation. The site sits interwoven with the ancestral hall and Tianque, and its scenic beauty is unrivaled in the region. During the Jiajing era, Academician Chen Shiting of the Hanlin Academy visited and delighted in the view, composing a record with his brush that spread widely at the time. Twenty years later, when I came here to study, I asked the monks of the cliff about it, yet none knew of it anymore, which weighed on my mind. In the Renyin year of the Wanli era, while strolling through the Western Garden, Master Shen Shengyu showed me a hand-copied version of his original work—the brushstrokes as fresh as new. Those of us gathered together marveled at what we had never seen before. Thereupon Ouyang Weiyu requested to have it collated and engraved, and asked me to write a preface.
Now, Master Chen, with his brilliant prose and profound scholarship, led the Hanlin Academy; when he advanced in court, he drafted imperial edicts and enriched state counsels, standing tall among the finest minds. When he roamed this place, he gave free rein to his natural genius, dwelling in pure vitality, and with transcendent ease left all worldly matters behind. His elegant style and literary brilliance illuminated the forests and ravines—who among the discerning would not admire him? How much more so this record, which surpasses Xie Lingyun's "Mountain Dwelling" and parallels Yang Xuanzhi's "Temple Records." It enables meditators to find focus and sightseers to forget their return—truly a renowned trace of monastic heritage and a splendid chapter in the old capital's history. Its transmission must not be delayed.
In mid-autumn of that year, together with his grandson Chen Yanzhi, Wu Suqing, Chen Jinqing, Weiyu and his brothers Weili and Weigong, and Ye Xunfu—seven of us in all—we rested at this jewel of a monastery, lingering for two full days. We roamed the cliffs above and below, strolled leisurely through the pavilions and halls, climbed the high ridges, and gazed down at the long river. The verdant peaks wove together in layered emerald, while maple leaves blazed in crimson radiance. We could not help but recall the lofty seclusion of past sages, sighing deeply over the surviving manuscripts. Then we together scraped away moss and grasped vines, rubbing the stone inscriptions, gathering the poems composed at the cliff and compiling them, appending them to the end of the volume.
Alas! The academician created it, and Weiyu transmitted it—one lent elegant praise to the landscape like fine jade in the ancestral temple, the other championed talent like the finest bamboo arrows of the southeast. Should future generations seek to understand this place, perhaps it will be through these very words.
癸卯夏京兆焦竑弱矦書
獻花巖志...
鄞 陳 沂魯南著
"Ning Chen Yi Lu Nan"
廬陵歐陽廕惟玉校