進《高僧傳》表
Memorial Presenting the Biographies of Eminent Monks
端拱元年十月日左街天壽寺通慧大師賜紫臣僧贊寧上表
Ending of the First Year of the Duan'gong Era, Tenth Month, Submitted by the Purple-Robed Monk Zanning, Master of Penetrating Wisdom at Tianzhou Monastery on Left Street
臣僧贊寧等言，自太平興國七年伏奉勅旨，俾修《高僧傳》與新譯經同入藏者，臣等遐求事跡，博採碑文，今已撰集成三十卷，謹詣闕庭進上。益琅函而更廣，延玉曆以彌長。臣等誠憂誠恐，兢惕之至。臣等聞渾儀之外，別有釋天；法海之中，多生僧寶。釋天可則，阿難記事而載言；僧寶堪稱，慧皎為篇而作傳。猗歟我佛，號「大遍知」，知教法之無依，委帝王之有力。當二千載之後，屬一萬年之初，伏惟應運統天叡文英武大聖至明廣孝皇帝陛下，神龍在天，愛日升上，土疆開闢，四夷請吏而貢琛，時律均和，百穀登敖而棲畝，耕籍田而又勸，賜酺飲以咸歡，儒術特興，玄風爰振。是以麒麟非中國之物，白雉非草莽之禽，今遊苑囿之間，且類牢籠之畜。近以從澶至濮，黃河牽一帶之清；自古及今，青史載千年之應。斯蓋陛下來從不動之地，示為長壽之王。飜譯成經，製甚深之御序；迴文作頌，演無盡之法音。仍降鳳書，令編《僧史》。屬此雍熙之運，伸其貞觀之風，合選兼才，豈當末學？得不擒犀截角，搴翠刪毛，精求出類之人，取法表年之史。所恨空門寡學，釋胄何知！或有可觀，實錄聊摹於陳壽；如苞深失，戾經宜罪於馬遷。副陛下遺賢必取之心，助陛下墜典咸修之美。今遇乾明聖節，謹令弟子賜紫顯忠、同元受勅，相國寺賜紫智輪進納。伏乞叡慈，略賜御覽。恭惟聖主是文章之主，微臣非惇史之臣。儻示天機，令知凡例。如得操北斗而斟酌，或示刀圭；執南箕而簸揚，方除糠糩。臣等冒黷天顏，無任惶懼激切屏營之至，謹言。
Your Imperial Majesty,
We, your monks Zanning and others, humbly speak: In the seventh year of the Taiping Xingguo era, by imperial decree we were commanded. to compile the *Biographies of Eminent Monks* and have it placed alongside the newly translated scriptures in the imperial canon. By widely seeking out accounts and broadly collecting inscriptions, we have now completed the work in thirty volumes. We reverently bring it to the palace to present to Your Majesty.
Thus we extend the splendor of the imperial library and lengthen the reign of the Sacred Calendar. In all humility and profound trepidation, we speak.
We have heard that beyond the armillary sphere there exists the celestial realm of Shakya, and in the vast ocean of Dharma, many monastic treasures are born. The Shakya heaven provides a model; Ananda recorded the teachings and set them down in words. These monastic treasures are worthy of praise; Huijiao and others wrote biographies and composed their records.
How wondrous is our Buddha, who is called "the All-Knowing." He knew the Dharma had no permanent foundation but recognized that earthly rulers have great power. Now, in the period two thousand years after his passing, as we enter the beginning of the ten-thousand-year era, we humbly stand before Your Majesty, the Emperor who responds to destiny, governs heaven, is brilliant in culture and martial might, supremely sage, most enlightened, broadly filial.
Your Majesty is like the divine dragon in the sky, like the loving sun rising high. The land has been opened and expanded; the four barbarian peoples now request Chinese rule and offer tribute. The seasons are harmonious and balanced; the hundred grains are abundant and cover the fields. You personally plow the sacred fields to encourage agriculture and grant banquets of wine to bring joy to all. Confucian scholarship has been specially promoted; the Way is now being revived.
Thus the qilin—a creature not native to China—and the white pheasant—a bird not of the wild meadows—now wander within our imperial parks, as docile as creatures in a cage. Most recently, from the banks of the Chan River to Pu, the Yellow River has run clear—a strip of purity from antiquity to today, a sign recorded in the annals of history for a thousand years.
This, Your Majesty, is because you come from the Unmoving Land and have manifested as the King of Long Life. You have had scriptures translated and composed a profound imperial preface; you have arranged verses into hymns and preached the endless sound of the Dharma. You further issued an imperial decree, ordering us to compile the History of Monks.
In this era of Yongxi prosperity, which continues the high standard of the Zhenguan era, we ought to select people of broad talent. Yet how can someone of such shallow learning as myself be up to the task? We must seize the rhino and cut off its horn, gather the kingfisher and trim its feathers—carefully select the most outstanding individuals—and take as our model the style of the great histories that chronicle the ages.
But I lament that our Buddhist community lacks broad learning. What do we members of the Shakya clan really know? If what we have produced has anything worth seeing, then we have merely imitated Chen Shou in writing a record of facts; but if we have made grave errors, we have offended the classics and deserve punishment as severe as that which Ban Gu directed at Sima Qian. It is to fulfill Your Majesty's resolve to never leave a worthy person unpicked, and to assist Your Majesty's beauty in restoring all things that had declined.
Now, on the occasion of the Emperor's birthday (the Qianming festival), we reverently order our disciple, the Purple-Robe monk Xianzhong, and Tongyuan, who received the original imperial command, along with the Purple-Robe monk Zhilun from the Xiangguo Monastery, to present this work to Your Majesty. We humbly beg Your Royal Wisdom to glance upon it.
We respectfully consider that Your Majesty is a lord of letters; we, your insignificant subjects, are not historians of integrity. If Your Majesty would reveal the celestial pattern and show us the proper principles, it would be like being given the Dipper to measure, or the winnowing fan to sift with—then we could remove the chaff.
Trembling with fear and agitation, we humbly speak.