---
title: "東林十八高賢傳 · 宗炳"
description: "東林十八高賢傳由唐代僧人釋某撰寫，記述東晉時期廬山東林寺慧遠大師與十八位高賢結社念佛、共修淨業的事跡。該傳反映了淨土宗早期發展的歷史背景，詳載高僧們的修行與弘法歷程，彰顯了念佛往生西方的思想。此傳雖已失傳，但作為中國佛教淨土宗的重要文獻，對後世淨土信仰的傳播與結社修行模式產生了深遠影響，是研究早期淨土宗歷史和慧遠大師思想的重要依據。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmcxie59v000njl04jaycogsm"
---

### 宗炳

> Zong Bing

宗炳。字少文。南陽人。其母聦辨。富于學識。教授諸子皆有成。炳妙善琴書。尤精玄理。殷仲堪桓玄並以主簿辟皆不就。劉裕領荊州。復辟為主簿。答曰。棲丘飲谷。三十年矣。乃入廬山築室依遠公蓮社久之。兄臧為南平守逼與俱還江陵。閒居絕俗。劉裕辟太尉掾不就二兄卒。累甚眾。頗營稼穡。武帝勅南郡長時至餼賚衡陽王義季在荊州親至其室炳角巾布衣引見不拜。王曰。處先生以重祿可乎。對曰。祿如秋艸。時過即腐。宋受禪徵為太子舍人。元嘉初徵為通直郎。太子建徵為中庶子並不應。妻羅氏。亦有高志。羅氏歿。炳哀之過甚。既而悲情頓釋。謂沙門慧堅曰。死生之分。未易可達。三復至教。方能遣哀。雅好山水。往必忘歸。西涉荊巫。南登衡岳。因結宇山中。懷尚平之志。以疾還江陵。歎曰。老病俱至。名山不可再登。唯澄懷觀道臥以遊之。凡所遊履。悉圖之于室。謂人曰。撫琴動操。欲令眾山皆響。宋元嘉二十四年卒。春秋六十九。

> Zong Bing, styled Shaowen, was from Nanyang. His mother was intelligent and articulate, possessing great learning and knowledge. She taught all her sons, and each achieved success. Bing was exceptionally skilled in the qin and calligraphy, and especially profound in his understanding of metaphysical principles. Both Yin Zhongkan and Huan Xuan sought to appoint him as their Chief Clerk, but he declined. When Liu Yu governed Jingzhou, he again sought to appoint him as Chief Clerk. Bing replied, "For thirty years, I have dwelled among the hills and drunk from the valleys." He then entered Mount Lu, built a dwelling, and joined Master Huiyuan's Lotus Society for a long time. Later, his elder brother Zang, as the Governor of Nanping, pressured him to return together to Jiangling. There, he lived in seclusion, detached from worldly affairs. Liu Yu sought to appoint him as an Officer in the Ministry of Defense, but he again declined. After his two elder brothers passed away, the burden of family responsibilities became heavy, and he devoted considerable effort to farming. Emperor Wu of the Song dynasty ordered the Governor of Nan Commandery to provide him with regular provisions and gifts. When Prince Yi Ji of Hengyang was in Jingzhou, he personally visited Bing's home. Bing, wearing a simple headscarf and cloth garments, received him but did not perform the ceremonial bow. The Prince said, "Would you accept a high official salary, Master?" Bing replied, "A salary is like autumn grass—once its season passes, it rots." When the Song dynasty received the Mandate of Heaven, he was summoned to serve as a Gentleman of the Heir Apparent's Household. In the early Yuanjia era, he was summoned as a Gentleman of the Palace Secretariat. When the Heir Apparent Jian summoned him as a Palace Attendant, he did not respond. His wife, Lady Luo, also held lofty aspirations. After Lady Luo passed away, Bing grieved excessively, but then his sorrow suddenly dissipated. He said to the monk Huijian, "The distinction between life and death is not easily understood. Only after repeatedly contemplating the supreme teachings can one dispel grief." He had a deep love for mountains and rivers, and whenever he traveled to them, he would forget to return. He journeyed west to Jing and Wu, and south to Mount Heng, where he built a retreat in the mountains, embracing the aspirations of Shang Ping. Due to illness, he returned to Jiangling and sighed, "Old age and sickness have both arrived; I can no longer climb the famous mountains. I can only purify my mind, contemplate the Way, and travel through them in my dreams." All the places he had traveled, he depicted on the walls of his room. He told people, "When I play the qin and move through the melodies, I wish to make all the mountains resonate." He passed away in the twenty-fourth year of the Yuanjia era of the Song dynasty, at the age of sixty-nine.