英語訳
## [Page 64 – Final Page of "Denritsu Zusho Kaishū," Lower Volume]
### [Upper Section]
This has been written and compiled with the brush. It is because the path of the Vinaya virtue and scholastic pursuits of the National Teacher Gyōnen rests considerably in its fundamental principles (bone-method) that this has been written out here, drawing from an examination of old manuscript records, in order to make the lineage chart known. The forms of the names of the patriarchs are extremely numerous. However, what is used by the disciples of the lineage is, in general, likely no more than this. Future scholars who see this should newly correct any errors. The poor penmanship and clumsy characters are a source of shame before outside eyes. It is far beyond the point where it should be disclosed publicly; yet my only wish is that through the merit of copying this draft manuscript, it may serve as the cause for eradicating sin and generating virtue.
In the palace of True Suchness, the moon of the Three Bodies shines brightly; upon the platform of Ultimate Reality, the seven-jeweled flowers bloom ever more fresh.
Monk of the Vinaya lineage affiliated with Tōdai-ji, the like-natured Bhikṣu, Ryōnen Jūkei (age 27, nine summer retreats in Dharma seniority)
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### The Account of the Appearance of the Sacred Relics at the Golden Stūpa of Kaidanin
On the fourteenth day of the third month of Kenji 2 (1276, year of Bingzi), at the Hour of the Rooster (around 6 p.m.), the Buddha's relics were excavated from the site of the Tō Zen'in (Chinese Meditation Hall).
The Tō Zen'in was the former residence of the Venerable Jianzhen (Ganjin), and a sacred site of great importance to this temple (Tōdai-ji). However, after the buildings had collapsed, over many years not a trace of the monk's hall remained, and the dwellings of laypeople crowded the eaves together. Then, when the Sōjō Jōshin took charge of the temple's administration, he had the numerous houses of the people removed and erected a single Buddhist hall. After that, at the site of this hall, the holy man Saigei Shōnin (of Renjitsubō), who at the time was raising funds for the construction of the stone platform at Tōdai-ji, earnestly expressed his great vow to restore the site. First, in order to build earthen walls on all four sides, he mobilized the local people to clear away the brambles and thickets. At the northwest corner, there was a large burial mound. While having it excavated to make level ground, a white lapis lazuli (glass) vessel was dug out from the base of the wall. (The mouth was about three sun [approximately 9 cm] wide. It was immediately struck by a hoe and broken into three pieces. However, the Buddha's relics gathered together into a mass resembling three balls of chestnut-rice cake, with some scattered about in small amounts.) At that time, Shōnin Chūdō and Shōnen were the first to rush over from Shingonin to that place, and they reverently placed the said Buddha relics into an incense box. This is an account of how they were respectfully retrieved. (And so forth.)
These Buddha relics, in the land of the Moon Clan (India), were distributed by the Great King Victorious in Battle (Ajātaśatru). An Indian monk brought five thousand grains to Daming Temple in Yangzhou, in the Tang Dynasty of China, and gave them to the Venerable Jianzhen (Ganjin). Of these, two thousand grains were placed in the stūpa of Dayun Temple. Three thousand grains were brought over by the Venerable himself: one thousand grains to Shōdai-ji (Tōshōdai-ji), one thousand grains to Emperor Shōmu, and one thousand grains were placed in the Tō Zen'in.
Full details are found in the Record of Miraculous Efficacy of the Sacred Relics. The Record of Miraculous Efficacy consists of one volume of more than sixty sheets.
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## [Page 1 – Preface to "Ritsuen Sōhō Den" (Biographies of Eminent Masters of the Vinaya Garden)]
### [Upper Section]
Zheng Weizhong, a Minister of the Tang dynasty, once asked Liu Zixuan (Liu Zhiji): "Why have there been many literary scholars since ancient times, but few who possess talent for writing history?" Liu replied: "History requires three excellences — talent, learning, and discernment. It is rare in the world to find someone who possesses all three. That is why those with talent for history are few." Now, in China (the Middle Kingdom), a land of literary brilliance, eminent literary men and famous scholars are as numerous as cartloads and bushel-measures. Yet even when it comes to historical talent, those who combine all three excellences are still said to be rare. How much more so in Japan!
The Vinaya Master Kenzō of Kaizanzan (Kaisan Risshi) at Anyō-ji in Kotō, entered the monastic order (the dark-robed gate) in his youth and transcended the world of dust. His character is pure and his learning is broad; his insight is far-reaching and his talent is great. He is thoroughly versed in past and present, and has cultivated both doctrinal study and Chan (Zen). He is truly the "literary phoenix" of the Buddhist community and the "great whale of the Dharma sea." In recent years, during his leisure in quiet retirement, he compiled and wrote the "Ritsuen Sōhō Den" (Biographies of Eminent Masters of the Vinaya Garden) in fifteen volumes, comprising more than three hundred persons in total, with interspersed eulogies (zan) composed for them. Ranging from India in the west (Xiqian) and China (Dongzhen) to Japan (Fusang), it gathers up the excellent conduct and fine words of eminent Vinaya masters, leaving almost nothing out. The writing is direct and concise; the facts are accurate and detailed. It fully merits the designation of a monastic history for the Vinaya school across an entire era.
I reflect that the Vinaya division was personally proclaimed by the Tathāgata with his golden mouth. After his passing, the Venerable Upāli gathered the assembly of sages and recited it again in verse form. It is through this that holy teachers and great virtuous masters spread it widely throughout the world. Each generation has produced such persons. Truly, it is the lamp of wisdom that illuminates the world, and the precious raft that crosses the river. Hence the Buddha's words: "O bhikṣus, after my passing, you should respect and hold dear the Prātimokṣa (the precepts), as one who in darkness encounters light, or as a poor man who obtains treasure. You should know that this is your great teacher. Even if I were to remain in the world, it would be no different from this."
The Venerable (Kenzō) has already followed and practiced the Tathāgata's earnest words of admonition, and is not unworthy of being counted among the disciples of Nanshan (the Vinaya Master Daoxuan of the Southern Mountain).
### [Lower Section]
Moreover, upon reviewing the entire compiled collection of volumes, it is not merely that his literary talent is outstanding; one particularly commends the long-held aspiration that supports and upholds the tradition. This is truly praiseworthy. In recent days, he requested a preface from me, and I was unable to refuse. I privately think that to see goodness and not to extol it is not the way of a gentleman. Therefore I have set forth an outline at the beginning of the volume, in the hope that those who are vain and mediocre, who live as idle monks within the clergy, who have not cultivated precept-virtue nor established upright conduct, may come to know that they have something by which they ought to be warned.
Written on the first day (望旦, the fifteenth day / first auspicious day) of mid-spring in the fifth year of Jōkyō Boshinchin (1688), by the Dharma-heir monk of the Chinese lineage, Nangen-ha (the Nangen Branch), written at the Tentoku Jōshitsu (the abbot's chamber of Tentoku-ji).