---
title: "祖堂集 · 石頭和尚"
description: "祖堂集由五代南唐时期静、筠二禅师编撰，是中国现存最早的禅宗灯录体史书。全书二十卷，收录自释迦牟尼至唐末五代共二百余位禅宗祖师的事迹、机缘语录和传法谱系，尤详于青原、南岳二系。该书成于景德传灯录之前，保存了大量早期禅宗史料，语言质朴，具有极高的文献价值与思想深度，是研究禅宗源流、思想及唐宋口语的重要经典，被誉为禅宗史的奠基之作。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmcxgslfi05iilc04ncw3cepk"
---

## 祖堂集卷第四

> The Patriarchal Hall Collection, Volume 4

○石頭和尚嗣吉州思和尚，在南嶽。師諱希遷，姓陳，端州高要人也。在孕之時，母絕羶穢。及誕之夕，滿室光明。父母怪異，詢乎巫祝。巫祝曰：「斯吉祥之徵也。」風骨端秀，方頤大耳，專靜不雜，異乎凡童。及年甫齠齔，將詣佛寺，見尊像。母氏令禮，禮已曰：「斯佛也。」師禮訖，瞻望久之，曰：「此蓋人也，形儀手足與人奚異？苟此是佛，余當作焉。」時道俗咸異斯言。親黨之內多尚淫祀，率皆宰犢以祈福祐。童子輒往林社毀其祀具，奪牛而還，歲盈數十，悉巡之于寺。自是親族益修淨業。時六祖正揚真教，師世業鄰接新州，遂往禮覲。六祖一見忻然，再三撫頂而謂之曰：「子當紹吾真法矣！」與之置饌，勸令出家。於是落髮離俗。開元十六年具戒於羅浮山。略探律部，見得失紛然，乃曰：「自性清淨，謂之戒體。諸佛無作，何有生也？」自爾不拘小節，不尚文字，因讀肇公《涅槃無名論》云：「覽萬像以成己者，其唯聖人乎？」乃歎曰：「聖人無己，靡所不己；法身無量，誰云自他？圓鏡虛鑒於其間，萬像體玄而自現。境智真一，孰為去來？至哉斯語也！」尚於山舍假寐如夢，見吾身與六祖同乘一龜，游泳深池之內，覺而詳曰：「龜是靈智也；池，性海也。吾與師同乘靈智，遊於性海久矣。」

> The story of the meditation master Shitou, who succeeded Master Si of Jizhou, is set on the Southern Peak. The master's name was Xiqian, his family name Chen, from Gaoyao in Duanzhou. While his mother was pregnant with him, she abstained from meat and strong-smelling foods. On the night he was born, the entire room was filled with light. His parents found this strange and consulted a shaman. The shaman said: "This is a sign of great fortune." He had a refined bone structure, a square jaw, and large ears. He was calm, focused, and pure, unlike ordinary children. When he was about seven or eight, he was taken to a Buddhist temple and saw a statue of the Buddha. His mother asked him to pay respects, and after he had bowed, she said: "This is the Buddha." After the master paid his respects, he gazed at the statue for a long time, then said: "This is just a person. How are his form, features, hands, and feet different from ours? If this is the Buddha, then I should become one too." At that time, both monks and laypeople were astonished by his words. Among his relatives, many practiced sacrificial worship, slaughtering calves to pray for blessings. The boy would go to the forest shrines, destroy their sacrificial vessels, take the calves, and return. Over the years, he rescued several dozen this way, all of which he sent to temples. From then on, his family became increasingly devoted to pure practices. At that time, the Sixth Patriarch was spreading the true teaching. Since the master's family home was near Xinzhou, he went to pay respects to the Patriarch. When the Sixth Patriarch saw him, he was overjoyed, touched his head repeatedly, and said: "You will inherit my true Dharma!" He prepared a meal for him and encouraged him to become a monk. Thus, he shaved his head and left the secular life. In the sixteenth year of the Kaiyuan era (728 CE), he received full ordination at Mount Luofu. He briefly explored the Vinaya (monastic rules) but saw much conflict and contradiction there. He said: "The self-nature is originally pure—this is the essence of the precepts. The Buddhas are beyond conditioned acts. What is there to attain?" From that point on, he did not cling to minor rules nor favor scholarly texts. One day he read Sengzhao's \*Treatise on the Unnameable Nirvana\*, which said: "Who but a sage can see all things as himself?" He sighed and exclaimed: "The sage has no self, yet there is nothing that is not himself. The Dharma-body is limitless—who can speak of self and other? The perfect mirror reflects all things with empty clarity; all phenomena, being truly empty, appear on their own. The realm and wisdom are one—what comes and goes? Profound are these words!" One day, resting in his mountain hut, he dreamed that he and the Sixth Patriarch were riding together on a turtle, swimming in a deep pond. When he woke, he reflected: "The turtle is the perfect wisdom; the pond is the ocean of true nature. The Master and I have long been riding wisdom together, swimming in the ocean of true nature."

六祖遷化時，師問：「百年後某甲依什摩人？」六祖曰：「尋思去。」六祖遷化後，便去清涼山靖居行思和尚處，禮拜侍立，和尚便問：「從什摩處來？」對曰：「從曹溪來。」和尚拈起和痒子曰：「彼中還有這個也無？」對曰：「非但彼中，西天亦無。」和尚曰：「你應到西天也無？」對曰：「若到即有也。」和尚曰：「未在，更道。」對曰：「和尚也須道取一半，為什摩獨考專甲？」和尚曰：「不辭向你道，恐已後無人承當。」和尚又問：「你到曹溪得個什摩物來？」對曰：「未到曹溪，亦不曾失。」師卻問和尚：「在曹溪時還識和尚不？」思曰：「你只今識吾不？」對曰：「識又爭能識得？」又問：「和尚自從嶺南出後，在此間多少時？」思曰：「我亦不知汝早晚離曹溪。」對曰：「某甲不從曹溪來。」思曰：「我也知你來處。」對曰：「和尚幸是大人，莫造次。」思和尚見師異於常人，便安排於西俠，日夕只在和尚身邊。其師形貌端正，足人是非，直得到和尚耳裏。和尚得消息，向師曰：「汝正時是。」師便應喏。第二日，粥鼓鳴了，在西俠裏坐，伸手取粥。廚下僧見其缽盂，尋來。元來其師取和尚粥，眾人知是其人安排。凡夫不識聖人，謗和尚，又毀師。闔院一齊上來，於和尚前收過。思和尚向師曰：「從今已後，第一不得行此事。你若行此事，是你正眼埋卻也不難。」師受戒後，思和尚問：「你已是受戒了也，還聽律也無？」對曰：「不用聽律。」思曰：「還念戒也無？」對曰：「亦不用念戒。」思曰：「你去讓和尚處達書得否？」對曰：「得。」思曰：「速去速來。你若遲晚些子，不見吾。你若不見吾，不得床下大斧。」師便去到南嶽讓和尚處。書猶未達，先禮拜問：「不慕諸聖不重己靈時如何？」讓和尚曰：「子問太高生，向後人成闡提去。」師對曰：「寧可永劫沉淪，終不求諸聖出離。」師機既不投，書亦不達，便歸師處。思和尚問：「彼中有信不？」師對曰：「彼中無信。」思曰：「有迴報也無？」對曰：「信既不通，書亦不達。」師卻問：「專甲去時，和尚有言，教速來床下收取大斧。今已來也，便請大斧。」思和尚良久，師作禮而退。斯之要旨，豈劣器之能持？乃佛佛俓燭心燈，祖祖玄傳法印。大師既投針而久親於丈室，臨歧而迥承方外之機，則能事將備，道可行矣。思和尚曰：「吾之法門，先聖展轉遞相囑授，莫令斷絕。祖師預記於汝，汝當保持，善自好去。」非久之間，思和尚遷化。師著麻一切了，於天寶初方屆衡嶽。遍探岑壑，遂頓息於南臺。

> When the Sixth Patriarch was about to pass away, the Master asked him, "After your hundred years, whom should I rely on?" The Sixth Patriarch said, "Go and seek." After the Sixth Patriarch had passed away, the Master went to Qingliang Mountain to see the monk Xingsi at Jingju. He paid his respects and stood in attendance. The monk asked him, "Where have you come from?" The Master replied, "I have come from Caoxi." The monk picked up a back-scratcher and said, "Is there such a thing over there?" The Master replied, "Not only over there—even in the Western Heaven, there is none." The monk said, "Have you been to the Western Heaven?" The Master replied, "If I had been, I would have found it." The monk said, "Not yet—say more." The Master replied, "You, Master, should also say a portion—why do you probe me alone?" The monk said, "I do not refuse to tell you, but I fear that in the future there will be no one to take it up." The monk then asked, "When you arrived at Caoxi, what did you obtain?" The Master replied, "Before I arrived at Caoxi, I had not lost anything either." The Master then asked the monk, "When you were at Caoxi, did you recognize the Patriarch?" Xingsi said, "Do you recognize me right now?" The Master replied, "Even if I recognize, how can I truly recognize?" He then asked, "Master, since you came out from Lingnan, how long have you been here?" Xingsi said, "I also do not know when you left Caoxi." The Master replied, "I did not come from Caoxi." Xingsi said, "I also know where you have come from." The Master replied, "Master, you are indeed a great person—please do not be hasty." The monk Xingsi saw that the Master was extraordinary and arranged for him to stay in the western wing, where he remained by the monk's side day and night. The Master had a handsome appearance and was prone to stirring up gossip, and word of it reached the monk's ears. When the monk received this news, he said to the Master, "At the right time, you are right." The Master immediately responded in assent. The next day, when the meal drum sounded, the Master sat in the western wing and reached out to take some porridge. The monk in the kitchen saw his bowl and came to look. It turned out that the Master had taken the monk's porridge, and everyone knew it was the Master's doing. Ordinary people, unable to recognize a sage, slandered the monk and also maligned the Master. The whole assembly came together and, in front of the monk, acknowledged their fault. The monk Xingsi said to the Master, "From now on, you must not do such a thing. If you do, it would not be difficult to bury your true eye." After the Master had received the precepts, the monk Xingsi asked him, "You have already received the precepts—do you still listen to the Vinaya?" The Master replied, "There is no need to listen to the Vinaya." Xingsi said, "Do you still recite the precepts?" The Master replied, "There is no need to recite the precepts either." Xingsi said, "Can you go to the Venerable Rang and deliver a letter?" The Master replied, "I can." Xingsi said, "Go quickly and return quickly. If you are a little late, you will not see me. If you do not see me, you will not get the great axe from under the bed." The Master then went to the Venerable Rang at Nanyue. Before delivering the letter, he first paid his respects and asked, "What about one who neither yearns for the sages nor cherishes his own spirit?" The Venerable Rang said, "Your question is too lofty, son—in the future, people will become icchantikas." The Master replied, "I would rather sink in samsara for countless eons than ever seek liberation from the sages." Since the Master's intent did not align, the letter was not delivered, and he returned to his own teacher. The monk Xingsi asked, "Was there any news from there?" The Master replied, "There was no news from there." Xingsi said, "Was there any reply?" The Master replied, "Since no news could be conveyed, the letter was not delivered." The Master then asked, "When I left, Master, you told me to return quickly and take the great axe from under the bed. Now that I have come, I beg you for the great axe." The monk Xingsi remained silent for a long while, and the Master bowed and withdrew. Such a vital meaning—how could an inferior vessel hold it? It was the direct transmission of the lamp of mind from Buddha to Buddha, and the mysterious seal handed down from Patriarch to Patriarch. The Great Master, having pierced the needle and long stayed close in the abbot's room, at the crossroads received the opportunity beyond conventions—so his task was nearly complete, and the Path could be carried forward. The monk Xingsi said, "My school—the former sages have passed it down, conferring it from one to another, and we must not let it be cut off. The Patriarch foretold of you. You should preserve it and go well." Not long afterward, the monk Xingsi passed away. The Master, having completed all mourning in hemp garments, finally arrived at Hengyue at the beginning of the Tianbao era. He explored the peaks and valleys thoroughly, and at last came to rest at Nantai.

寺東有石如臺，乃庵其上，時人號石頭和尚焉。此臺則梁海禪師得道之臺也。師初至南臺，師僧去看，轉來向讓和尚說：「昨來到和尚處問佛法、輕忽底後生來東石頭上坐。」讓曰：「實也無？」對曰：「實也。」讓便喚侍者曰：「你去東邊子細看，石頭上坐底僧，若是昨來底後生，便喚他。若有應，你便道：『石上憉悙子，堪移此處栽。』」侍者持此偈舉似師。師答曰：「任你哭聲哀，終不過山來。」侍者卻來舉似讓和尚。和尚云：「這阿師！他後子孫噤卻天下人口去。」又教侍者問法。侍者去彼問：「如何是解脫？」師曰：「阿誰縛汝？」「如何是淨土？」師曰：「阿誰垢汝？」「如何是涅般？」師曰：「誰將生死與汝？」侍者卻來舉似和尚。和尚便合掌頂戴。此時有堅固禪師、懶、讓三人為世宗匠，僉曰：「彼石頭上有真師子吼。」師喚主事具陳前事。主事曰：「乞師有事處分。」和尚領眾去東邊見石頭。石頭又強為不得，起來迎接，相看一切了，讓和尚與石頭起院成持也。僧問：「如何是祖師西來意？」師曰：「問取露柱去。」僧曰：「不會。」師曰：「我更不會。」大顛問：「古人道『道有道，無二謗』，請師除。」師曰：「正無一物，除個什摩？」師索大顛曰：「併卻咽喉脣吻，速道將來。」對曰：「無這個。」師曰：「若與摩則你得入門也。」僧問：「如何是本來事？」師曰：「汝因何從我覓？」進曰：「不從師覓，如何即得？」師曰：「何曾失卻那作摩？」

> To the east of the temple there was a rock shaped like a platform, and he built a hut on top of it, so people of that time called him the Stone Head Monk. This platform was where Master Liang Hai had attained the Way. When the Master first arrived at Southern Terrace, some monks went to see him, and when they came back, they said to Master Rang, "That young man we went to see yesterday about the Dharma, the one who seemed so flippant—he's now sitting on the rock to the east." Rang said, "Is that really so?" They replied, "It really is." Rang then called his attendant and said, "Go to the east side and look carefully. If the monk sitting on the rock is that young man from yesterday, call out to him. If he responds, say to him: 'This stone that's been tossed about—perhaps it's worth planting here.'" The attendant took this verse and relayed it to the Master. The Master replied, "You may cry out with grief and sorrow, but you will never cross the mountain." The attendant went back and relayed this to Master Rang. Master Rang said, "This teacher! In the future, his descendants will shut the mouths of people everywhere." He then sent the attendant to ask about the Dharma. The attendant went and asked, "What is liberation?" The Master said, "Who has bound you?" "What is the Pure Land?" The Master said, "Who has defiled you?" "What is Nirvana?" The Master said, "Who has handed you birth and death?" The attendant returned and relayed all this to Master Rang. Master Rang then pressed his palms together in reverence. At that time, there were three great teachers of the age—Master Jiangu, Master Lan, and Master Rang—and they all said, "That one on the rock truly roars like a lion." The Master called the head of affairs and told him everything that had happened. The head of affairs said, "Please, Master, give the order." So Master Rang led the assembly to the east to see the Stone Head. Stone Head could no longer refuse, so he rose to greet him. After they had exchanged greetings, Master Rang and Stone Head together built a monastery and established the community. A monk asked, "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The Master said, "Go ask that post over there." The monk said, "I don't understand." The Master said, "I understand even less." Dachan asked, "The ancients said, 'To say there is a Way, or to say there is no Way, both are slander.' Please, Master, remove it for me." The Master said, "There is truly nothing at all—what is there to remove?" The Master then said to Dachan, "Block off your throat, lips, and mouth, and speak quickly." Dachan replied, "I have none of that." The Master said, "If that's so, then you've entered the gate." A monk asked, "What is the original matter?" The Master said, "Why do you come looking for it from me?" The monk pressed on, "If I don't seek it from you, how can I get it?" The Master said, "When was it ever lost that you need to get it like that?"

藥山在一處坐。師問：「你在這裏作什摩？」對曰：「一物也不為。」師曰：「與摩則閑坐也。」對曰：「若閑坐則為也。」師曰：「你道不為，不為個什摩？」對曰：「千聖亦不識。」師以偈讚曰：

> Yaoshan was sitting in a certain place. The Master asked him, "What are you doing here?" Yaoshan replied, "I am not doing anything at all." The Master said, "Then you are just sitting idly." Yaoshan replied, "If it were idle sitting, then I would be doing something." The Master said, "You say you are not doing anything—what is it that you are not doing?" Yaoshan replied, "Even a thousand sages cannot know it." The Master praised him with a verse:

「從來共住不知名，任運相將作摩行。自古上賢猶不識，造次常流豈可明？」

> "Though we have always lived together, I do not know your name; carried along by circumstances, how do we walk together? Even the wise of old could not recognize this, so how could ordinary people, acting hastily, ever understand?"

僧拈問：「漳南既是千聖，為什摩不識？」答曰：「千聖是什摩碗鳴聲！」師問僧：「從什摩處來？」對曰：「從江西來。」師曰：「江西還見馬祖不？」對曰：「見。」師乃指一柴橛曰：「馬師何似這個？」僧無對，卻迴舉似師，請師為決。馬師曰：「汝見柴橛大小？」對曰：「勿量大。」馬師曰：「汝甚有壯大之力。」僧曰：「何故此說？」馬師曰：「汝從南岳負一柴橛來，豈不是有壯大之力？」師述《參同契》曰：

> A monk asked, “Since Zhanan is a thousand sages, why doesn’t he recognize?” The master replied, “What bowl sound is a thousand sages!” The master asked a monk, “Where do you come from?” The monk replied, “I come from Jiangxi.” The master said, “Did you see Mazu in Jiangxi?” The monk replied, “Yes, I saw him.” The master then pointed at a piece of firewood and said, “How does Master Ma compare to this?” The monk had no response. He then returned and mentioned this to the master, asking him to resolve it. Master Ma said, “Did you see the size of that piece of firewood?” The monk replied, “Its size is beyond measure.” Master Ma said, “You must have great strength.” The monk said, “Why do you say this?” Master Ma said, “You carried a piece of firewood from Nanyue—isn’t that a sign of great strength?” The master composed the \*Cantong Qi\*, saying:

「笁土大仙心，東西密相付。人根有利鈍，道無南北祖。靈源明皎潔，枝派暗流注。執事元是迷，契理亦非悟。門門一切境，迴互不迴互。迴而更相涉，不爾依位住。色本殊質像，聲源異樂苦。暗合上中言，明暗清濁句。四大性自復，如子得其母。火熱風動搖，水濕地堅固。眼色耳聲音，鼻香舌鹹醋。然於一一法，依根葉分布。本末須歸宗，尊卑用其語。當明中有暗，勿以明相遇。當暗中有明，勿以暗相睹。明暗各相對，譬如前後步。萬物自有功，當言用及處。事存函蓋合，理應箭鋒住。承言須會宗，勿自立規矩。觸目不見道，運足焉知路。進步非遠近，迷隔山河耳。謹白參玄人，光陰勿虛度。」

師與鄧隱峰鏟草次，見蛇。師過鍬子與隱峰。隱峰接鍬子了，怕，不敢下手。師卻拈鍬子截作兩段，謂隱峰曰：「生死尚未過得，學什摩佛法。」師捋鍬子鏟草次，隱峰問：「只鏟得這個，還鏟得那個摩？」師便過鍬子與隱峰。隱峰接得鍬子，向師鏟一下。師曰：「你只鏟得這個。」洞山代曰：「還有堆阜摩？」

師唐貞元六年庚午歲十二月六日終，春秋九十一，僧夏六十三。僖宗皇帝諡號無際大師見相之塔。

> The Master passed away in the twelfth month of the sixth year of the Zhenyuan era of Tang, in the year of Gengwu (790 AD), at the age of ninety-one, with sixty-three years as a monk. Emperor Xizong bestowed upon him the posthumous title "Master of Boundlessness" and erected a pagoda to honor his visible manifestation.