---
title: "續比丘尼傳 · 一九、唐長安濟度寺尼惠源傳（附．慈和傳）"
description: "續比丘尼傳由釋震華法師於民國時期編述，是中國佛教史上專門記載比丘尼事蹟的重要傳記。該書編撰於二十世紀上半葉，繼承了梁代寶唱《比丘尼傳》的傳統，系統收錄了自南北朝至民國以來的傑出比丘尼傳記。內容詳實記錄了她們的修行經歷、弘法事蹟及對佛教的貢獻，填補了佛教史傳中女性修行者記載的空白。此書不僅是研究中國比丘尼歷史與佛教女性地位的關鍵文獻，也是了解近現代漢傳佛教發展的重要史料，具有極高的學術與宗教價值。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmgn470d70r03k1041bfcs0jg"
---

### 一九、唐長安濟度寺尼惠源傳（附．慈和傳）

> 19\. Biography of Huìyuán of Jìdù Temple in Chang'an, Tang Dynasty (with attached: Biography of Cíhé)

惠源，俗姓蕭氏，南蘭陵人也。曾門梁孝明皇帝，大夫諱瑀，唐中書令尚書左右僕射司空宋國公；父諱釴，給事中利州刺史。紛綸葳蕤，奕世名家。原師之始誕也，惠音清越，閒氣冲亮，稟天真於太和，集神祐於純嘏。及數歲後，養必申敬，動皆合理，發跡有道，出言有章。屏金翠而窒其繁華，絕葷羶而割其嗜欲，超然戰勝，但思出家。天鑒孔明，精心上感，年二十二，詔度為濟度寺尼，如始願也。受戒和上，寺大德尼，道之崇也；羯磨闍黎，太原寺大德律師薄塵，法之良也。廸延師立證，登壇進律，僧夏歲潔，戒珠日明，奉以周旋，不敢失墜。先是，其姑法願亦出家濟度寺，卒時，師始二歲。初，師纔至九歲，遘先大夫之酷。廿有七，執先夫人之夏，皆泣血茹哀，絕漿柴毀，古之孝子，烏足道哉！每秋，天露下衰，林風早棘，心欒欒若在喪紀，不忘孝也。亦能上規伯仲，旁訓弟姪，嗈嗈閨門，俾其勿壞。則天倫之性，過人數級。夫其內炳圓融，外示方便，恂恂善誘，從化如流，亦猶師子一吼，魔宮大隤，則感激有如此者。行住坐臥，應必皆空，慈悲喜捨，用而常寂。黃裳元吉，清風穆如，則龜鏡有如此者。後遇高僧義福者，常宴坐清禪，止觀傳明，殊禮印可。又有尼慈和者，世莫之識。知微通神，見色無礙，時人謂之觀音菩薩。嘗於大眾中目師曰：「十六沙彌，即法華中本師釋迦牟尼之往號也。」非師心同如來，孰能至于此？而更精承密行，親佩耿光，十數年間，演其後事。他日，師厭世示疾，以開元廿五年秋九月二日，從容而謂門人曰：「死生者，天之常道。身沒之後，於少陵原為空，遷吾神也。」言卒右脅而臥，怡然歸寂，享年七十有六。即以十一月旬有二日，從事於空，遵理命也，倉曹參軍楊休烈撰故大德比丘尼惠源和上神空誌銘。銘曰：「猗那明行，足不復還；至人去兮，逍遙天地之間。」

> Huiyuan, whose secular surname was Xiao, was from Nanlanling. Her great-grandfather was Emperor Xiaoming of Liang; her grandfather was Xiao Yu, who served as Secretariat Director, Left and Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, and Minister of Works, and was enfeoffed as Duke of Song; her father was Xiao Yi, who served as Supervising Secretary and Prefect of Lizhou. Her family was illustrious and distinguished, a renowned lineage through the generations. From the moment of her birth, Huiyuan’s voice was clear and resonant, her innate spirit pure and bright, endowed with heavenly sincerity in great harmony, and blessed with divine protection and pure fortune. By the age of several years, her upbringing was always respectful, her actions always reasonable. Her conduct followed the Way, and her speech was well-ordered. She cast aside gold and jade to curb extravagance, abstained from meat and strong flavors to sever desires, transcending worldly battles with only the thought of leaving home. Heaven’s discernment was clear, and her sincere heart moved it above. At twenty-two, by imperial decree, she was ordained as a nun at Jidu Temple, fulfilling her original aspiration. Her precept master was the temple’s senior nun, a venerable of the Dharma; her karmavachana teacher was the senior Vinaya master Bocen of Taiyuan Temple, an excellent upholder of the Dharma. Guided by these teachers, she ascended the platform to receive the precepts. As the monastic years passed, her precept-pearl grew ever brighter. She upheld them in all her actions, never letting them fall. Earlier, her paternal aunt, Fayuan, had also left home at Jidu Temple and passed away when Huiyuan was just two years old. When Huiyuan was only nine, she encountered the tragedy of her father’s death. At twenty-seven, she observed the summer retreat mourning her late mother. In both cases, she wept tears of blood, swallowed her grief, abstained from food, and emaciated herself in mourning—how could the filial sons of antiquity compare? Every autumn, as the dew descended and the forest winds turned early and harsh, her heart grieved as if in mourning, never forgetting filial piety. She was also able to guide her elder and younger brothers and instruct her nephews and nieces, harmonizing the family gate, ensuring it did not decay. Thus, her natural familial virtue surpassed others by many degrees. Within, she shone with perfect integration; without, she manifested skillful means. Gentle and adept at guidance, those she transformed followed like a flowing stream. It was like the lion’s roar that causes the demon palace to crumble greatly—such was her inspiring power. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, her responses were always empty. Compassion, joy, and equanimity she employed while ever abiding in stillness. Like the yellow skirt of supreme good fortune, her pure demeanor was solemn and serene—such was her mirror-like clarity. Later, she met the eminent monk Yifu, who often sat peacefully in pure meditation, transmitting the clarity of shamatha and vipashyana, and who accorded her special respect and recognition. There was also the nun Cihe, whom the world did not recognize. She knew the subtle and communicated with the divine, seeing forms without obstruction. People of the time called her Guanyin Bodhisattva. Once, in a great assembly, she looked at Huiyuan and said, “The sixteen shramaneras—this is the past title of our original teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha, in the Lotus Sutra.” If Huiyuan’s mind were not identical to the Tathagata’s, how could she have reached this? Moreover, she diligently received esoteric practices, personally bearing their radiant light, and for over a decade, she expounded their subsequent matters. One day, weary of the world, she manifested illness. On the second day of the ninth lunar month in the twenty-fifth year of the Kaiyuan era, she calmly said to her disciples, “Life and death are the constant way of heaven. After my body perishes, on Shaoling Plain make a stupa to transfer my spirit.” Having spoken, she lay on her right side and peacefully returned to stillness, aged seventy-six. On the twelfth day of the eleventh lunar month, they proceeded with the stupa, following her stated wish. The Army Consultant Yang Xiulie composed the epitaph for the late senior bhikkhuni precept master Huiyuan’s spirit stupa. The inscription reads: “Alas, the bright practice, the feet do not return; The sage has departed, roaming freely between heaven and earth.”