T2046 Lives of Great Monks and Nuns

Biographies of Buddhist Nuns Translated from the Chinese of Baochang (Taishø Volume 50, Number 2063) by

Li Rongxi

Contents Translator's Introduction 61 Biographies of Buddhist Nuns Fascicle One Baochang's Preface 69 1. Jingjian of Bamboo Grove Nunnery in the Jin Dynasty 71 2. An Lingshou of Jian-xian Nunnery in the Spurious Zhao Dynasty 73 3. Zhixian of the Western Nunnery in Si-zhou 4. Miaoxiang of North Mountain in Hong-nong 5. Kang Minggan of Jian-fu Nunnery 6. Tanbei of Northern Yong-an Nunnery 7. Huizhan of Jian-fu Nunnery 8. Sengji of Yan-xing Nunnery 9. Daoxing of the Eastern Nunnery in Lou-yang 10. Daorong of New Grove Nunnery 11. Lingzong of the Western Nunnery in Si-zhou 12. Zhi Miaoyin of Jian-jing Nunnery 13. Daoyi of Empress He's Nunnery 75 76 77 79 80 80 81 82 84 85 86 Fascicle Two: The Song Dynasty 14. Huiguo of Jing-fu Nunnery 15. Fasheng of Jian-fu Nunnery 16. Huiyu of Niu-mu Nunnery in Jiang-ling 17. Daoqiong of Jian-fu Nunnery 18. Daoshou of Qi-huan Nunnery in Jiang-ling 89 90 91 92 93 19. Shi Xuanzao of Tai-xuan-tai Nunnery in Wu Prefecture 94 20. Shi Huiqiong of Nan-an Nunnery 95 57

Lives of Great Monks and Nuns 21. Puzhao of Zhang-guo Nunnery in Nan-pi 96 22. Shi Huimu of the Nunnery of Zhu-ge Village in Liang Prefecture 97 23. Fasheng of the Southern Nunnery in Wu County 24. Sengduan of Yong-an Nunnery 25. Guangjing of the Middle Nunnery in Guang-ling 26. Shanmiao of Shu Prefecture 98 99 100 101 27. Sengguo of Guang-ling 103 28. Jingcheng of Bamboo Grove Nunnery in Dong-xiang in Shan-yang 104 29. Faxiang of Tai-xuan-tai Nunnery in Wu Prefecture 30. Yeshou of Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery 31. Fabian of Jing-fu Nunnery 32. Daozong of San-ceng Nunnery in Jiang-ling 33. Huijun of Zhu-yuan Nunnery 34. Baoxian of Pu-xian Nunnery 35. Fajing of Pu-xian Nunnery 36. Huiyao of Yong-kang Nunnery in Shu Prefecture 105 106 108 109 110 110 112 113 Fascicle Three: The Qi Dynasty 37. Fayuan of Zeng-cheng in Dong-guan 38. Tanche of Southern Yong-an Nunnery 39. Sengjing of Chong-sheng Nunnery 40. Sengmeng of Qi-ming Nunnery in Yan-guan 41. Miaozhi of Hua-yan Nunnery 42. Zhisheng of Jian-fu Nunnery 43. Senggai of Chan-ji Nunnery 44. Faquan of Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery 45. Jinghui of Pu-xian Nunnery 46. Tanjian of Fa-yin Nunnery 47. Jinggui of Fa-yin Nunnery 48. Huixu of Ji-shan Nunnery 49. Chaoming of Qi-ming Nunnery in Qian-tang 50. Tangyong of Fa-yin Nunnery 51. Dele of Qi-xing Nunnery in Shan County 115 116 117 118 120 121 123 125 126 126 127 128 131 132 132 58

Contents Fascicle Four: The Liang Dynasty 52. Jingxiu of Chan-lin Nunnery 53. Sengnian of Chan-lin Nunnery 54. Tanhui of Chang-le Nunnery in Cheng-du 135 139 140 55. Feng of Lang-zhong Nunnery in the Illegal Capital of Gao-chang 143 56. Huisheng of Xian-ju Nunnery of the Liang Dynasty 57. Jingxian of Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery 58. Jingyuan of Zhu-yuan Nunnery 59. Jingxing of Zhu-yuan Nunnery 60. Shi Lingyu of Southern Jin-ling Nunnery 61. Sengshu of Xian-ju Nunnery 62. Miaoyi of Western Qing-yuan Nunnery 63. Shi Huihui of Le-an Nunnery 64. Shi Daogui of Di-shan Nunnery 65. Shi Faxuan of Zhao-ming Nunnery in Shan-yin 145 145 146 147 148 149 151 151 152 153 59

Translator’s Introduction

Translator's Introduction

Baochang's Bi-qiu-ni zhuan, or Biographies of Buddhist Nuns, is the only compilation of biographies of Chinese Buddhist nuns (bhik≈u√∆s) collected in one volume. The text consists of narratives about sixty-five nuns, starting with Jingjian and ending with Faxuan, and spanning two hundred and three years, from 313 to 516 C.E.This was during the Six Dynasties period (222-589), a time when Buddhism had firmly taken root in Chinese soil and was being disseminated widely among the Chinese people.

Influenced by the teachings of Buddhism, female devotees whose piety was equal to that of their male counterparts began to emerge. These devout women wished to engage themselves exclusively in the practice of Buddhism as homeless almswomen. This was a natural development as Buddhism spread in China. To become a nun in the Buddhist tradition, however, had never been an easy undertaking. The Buddha denounced unequal social systems, particularly the age-old caste system of India. If not in a position to abolish the caste system in society as a whole, he consistently preached and acted against it within the scope of his ministry. The Buddha declared that the nobility or crudeness of a person was not determined by birth but by deeds, and he opened the door of his monastic order to any man, regardless of his original caste. All were welcomed as members of the sangha (monastic community), and enjoyed equal rights and status therein.

Women, however, were not given the same privilege of taking refuge in the Buddha. The Buddha did not overlook the importance of women in society, and indeed praised them profusely on many occasions. And in fact female lay devotees played no small part in propagating the Buddha's teachings in his time, not only by 61

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implementing the teachings but also through substantial material support of the order of monks.

According to the literature the Buddha was initially quite reluctant to grant permission to women to join the sangha. A number of texts, dating from around the first century C.E., contain the dire prediction that the presence of women in the sangha would shorten the existence of Buddhism in the world by five hundred years.

The Buddha's aunt and foster mother, Mahåprajåpat∆, like many other female members of the royal family, was converted to the new faith by the force of the Buddha's personality and the profundity of his new teachings. But when she requested permisson to join his sangha, he refused. Ånanda, the Buddha's cousin and one of his chief disciples, intervened and appealed repeatedly on behalf of the royal lady. Only then did the Buddha finally give his consent for women to join the order.

However, he did so on the condition that they abide by the Eight Points of Deference. This was a set of special rules for female monastics, in addition to the regular disciplinary rules they were required to observe, which were more stringent and numerous than those required of their male counterparts in the order. The women who insisted on joining the sangha thus showed true and unshrinking determination.

The Eight Points stipulated that (1) a nun, even though a hundred years old, must stand up on seeing a Buddhist monk (bhik≈u), however young or newly ordained, and salute him after preparing a seat for him; (2) she must never scold or slander a monk; (3) she must not accuse a monk of faults or speak of his misdeeds, though he may speak of hers; (4) a female novitiate (Ωik≈amå√å), having learned Ω∆la (moral precepts), must receive full ordination from monks; (5) if she commits an o›ense in the saµghåvaΩe≈a category (grave o›enses that are punishable by temporary excommunication), a nun must make an open confession in the presence of the twofold sangha (consisting of both monks and nuns) at the fortnightly meeting; (6) a nun must ask a monk to be her preceptor 62

Biographies of Buddhist Nuns

once every fortnight; (7) a nun must not spend the summer retreat in the same place as the monks; and (8) after the conclusion of the summer retreat, she must go to the monks to seek a confessor. Regardless of the restrictive nature of these extra rules, Mahåprajåpat∆ was overjoyed to accept them. She became the first Buddhist nun in the fourteenth year after the Buddha's enlightenment. During the reign of King AΩoka (r. ca. 265-238 B.C.E. or ca. 273-232 B.C.E.), the nuns' order, the bhik≈u√∆ sangha, was transmitted from India to Sri Lanka by his son Mahendra Thera and his daughter Saµghamitrå Ther∆. Sent by AΩoka to propogate Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Mahendra successfully fulfilled his mission by converting King Devånaµpiya Tissa (247-207 B.C.E.) to the new faith and establishing the bhik≈u sangha in Sri Lanka. Princess Anulå, a niece of the Sinhalese king, also desired to join the order. Word was sent to På†aliputra to dispatch competent nuns to Sri Lanka to ordain the princess and her retinue of royal ladies. This was necessary because the Vinaya (monastic rules) stipulated that monks alone, without the participation of nuns, could not ordain novitiates as nuns. As a result of this invitation, Saµghamitrå and enough other qualified nuns to constitute a quorum were sent to Sri Lanka to ordain Princess Anulå. She became the country's first nun, and the nuns' order was thus established there.

In the mid-fifth century C.E., the Sri Lankan bhik≈u√∆ sangha was transmitted to China. The nuns' sangha is still extant in China at the present time, though it no longer exists in the country of its origin. There were Buddhist nuns in China before the arrival of the Sinhalese nuns in 429 C.E., but they were not considered fully ordained as they had not received dual upasaµpadå (higher ordination) from both the monks' and nuns' sanghas, as required by the Vinaya.

As seen in this text, Jingjian was the first Chinese woman to devote herself to religious life. She received the ten precepts from a monk named Jñånagiri sometime before 317 C.E., when he 63

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returned to KaΩm∆ra. However, at this stage of her career, Jingjian is regarded not as a nun but as a "daΩaΩ∆la observer, " an observer

of the ten precepts. Having received the ten precepts did not make her a Ωråma√erikå (properly ordained female novice). During the Xian-kang period (335-342) of the Jin dynasty (265-420), the Chinese monk Sengjian obtained a copy of the Mahåsåµghika-bhik≈u√∆-karman, together with its Pråtimok≈a (rules for gaining emancipation), from the kingdom of the Yuezhi people. These texts were translated into Chinese in the first year of Sheng-ping (357). With the aid of these Vinaya texts, a foreign monk, Dharmagupta, built an altar for the full ordination of Chinese nuns. However, the Chinese monk Daochang objected to the ordination ceremony, on the grounds that it was not in conformity with the rules laid down in the ¸∆lanidåna-s¥tra. So it was that Jingjian and three other Chinese women received full ordination as nuns from a group of monks in a ceremony conducted aboard a boat on the Si River. (This event is reminiscent of Sri Lankan custom; even today ordination ceremonies are often performed on a boat anchored in the Kelaniya River, in front of the Kelaniya Temple in the vicinity of Colombo.) This was the only means through which the women could receive ordination at that time, because there were no proper bhik≈u√∆s to complete the requirements for a dual ordination ceremony. These requirements were satisfied only when the Sinhalese nuns arrived in China in 429 C.E., and, in particular, by the second group of eleven Sinhalese nuns headed by Ther∆ Devasårå, which arrived in the Chinese capital in 433 C.E. Devasårå and her group of Sinhalese nuns established the first true bhik≈u√∆ order in China, through a formal dual ceremony of ordination performed in cooperation with the monks. This important event in the history of Buddhism is not only related in Chinese Buddhist works such as this Biographies of Buddhist Nuns and other historical writings, but is also formally recorded in authentic Chinese histories in clear and unequivocal language. 64

Biographies of Buddhist Nuns

If Jingjian, the first Chinese woman to receive full ordination from monks alone, cannot be considered a proper nun, then the nun Sengguo, ordained in the tenth year of Yuan-jia (433) by a group of monks headed by Saµghavarman from India and the group of nuns headed by Devasårå from Sri Lanka, was beyond doubt the first recipient of the valid lineage of the bhik≈u√∆ sangha in China.

Baochang, the writer of this work, was a well-known Buddhist monk-scholar. He was of peasant descent and became a monk at the age of eighteen under the tutorship of the Vinaya master Sengyou (444-518) of Jian-chu Monastery. There he studied Buddhist texts as well as Confucian and Taoist philosophical works, and he became a versatile scholar.

As a biographer, he is credited, besides the present text, with the Biographies of Famous Monks (in thirty-one fascicles). An accomplished cataloguer, he revised Sengsao's Catalogue of Buddhist Texts of the Hua-lin Garden and compiled his own New Catalogue of Chinese Buddhist Texts (generally known as "Baochang's Catalogue, " in four fascicles). With the monk Sengmin of Zhuang-yan Monastery, he compiled the Jing-lü-yi-xiang (Classified Excerpts from the Sutra and Vinaya Pi†akas) in fifty fascicles. He also took part in the translation work undertaken by Saµghapåla, a monk from Fu-nan (Cambodia), who rendered a number of Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including the Vimok≈amårga in twelve fascicles.

Baochang's contribution through his literary e›orts to the dissemination of Buddhism in China earned him a record in a separate section of Biographies of Eminent Monks, compiled by Daoxuan of the Tang dynasty, in which details of his career are described.

65

BIOGRAPHIES OF BUDDHIST NUNS by Shi Baochang of the Great Zhuang-yan Monastery

Fascicle One

Baochang's Preface

The mind of purity, lofty aspiration, unusual conduct, and exceptional morality is not only the embodiment of human nature, but also serves as a high standard of virtue to encourage those who are striving to reach the summit of moral integrity. Thus it is said that one who endeavors to emulate the sage Yan Hui isa person in the same category as the sage, just as a horse that aspires to be a thoroughbred is itself a good stallion.

That is why the good reputations of persons with sublime morality and brilliant character have never ceased to transmit their fragrance from the past. Writers record their words for future generations to read, and historians and biographers write down their deeds to educate future generations. Therefore, it seems impossible to forget their words, even if one were to try to do so. In the past, when the Great Enlightened One was born in Kapilavastu and the Sun of the Buddha shone over Jambudv∆pa, all beings of the three realms took refuge in him and all creatures of the four forms of birth adored him with respect. The tradition of Buddhist nuns had its origin in Mahåprajåpat∆. There have been nuns in successive generations who have either attained the various stages of the bodhisattva vehicle or gained the fruit of arhatship. Their names are listed in the Dharma-pi†aka as conspicuously as the sun traveling across the sky. Since the Buddha dissolved his shadow at KuΩinagara and ended his footsteps between the twin Ωåla trees, time has passed incessantly, year after year. There has been degeneration and disorder. Faith and slander have become mixed up, and both faithful followers and slanderers appear and vanish from the world. Due to disturbances caused by unworthy persons, the abstruse teaching sank into oblivion after having been popular for a time. The revival 934b8

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934c

of the true Dharma after its downfall was the result of the advocacy of wise and sagacious people.

After the Dharma of the Semblance Period had spread to the East, Jingjian became the first nun in China. For several hundred years in succession, nuns of great virtue emerged one after the other, such as Shanmiao and Jinggui, who practiced asceticism very strictly, and Fabian and Sengguo, who fully realized the subtlety of meditation. Sengduan and Sengji had the determination to be truthful and resolute in their faith, and the good reputations of Miaoxiang and Faquan reached far and wide.

Such persons appeared without interruption. Being deep in knowledge and of high virtue, they were persons of actualization, resembling a complete piece of music commencing with the tingling of the bell and ending with the chiming of the ringing jade. They were indeed the mainstay in the Period of Decadence, and belonged to the four types of persons (i.e., monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen) to be depended upon in the time of degeneration. With the passage of time, the pure disciplinary rules have become somewhat inaccessible, but the virtuous deeds of these nuns will be models for people for a thousand years to come. Yet their deeds and the events of their lives had not been collected and committed to paper in the form of a book, and I have felt regret at this for many years. I started writing the present work by widely collecting eulogistic compositions inscribed on slabs and making an extensive search for notes and records. I made inquiries of erudite scholars and visited elderly people for information. I have written full accounts of the lives of sixty-five persons who lived from the Sheng-ping period (357-361) of the Jin dynasty, up to the Tian-jian period (502-519) of the Liang dynasty. In my writing I did not aim at making superfluous embellishments, but tried my best to preserve the essential facts, so that those who desire to gain emancipation may strive to attain to the same level of morality as these virtuous persons. As I am a poor hand at writing and my knowledge is limited, there may be omissions and oversights in my work. It is my hope that learned scholars will supply any missing information.

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Biographies of Buddhist Nuns

1. Jingjian of Bamboo Grove Nunnery

in the Jin Dynasty

Jingjian was a native of Peng-cheng. Her original surname was Chong, and her personal name was Lingyi. Her father, Dan, served as governor of Wu-wei Prefecture.

Since childhood, Jingjian loved learning. She became a widow early in life. As her family was poor, she often taught children of noble families to play the Chinese zither and to read and write. When she listened to the Dharma, she had faith in it with a feeling of joy, but there was no one from whom she could seek advice and instruction.

She later met the Ωrama√a Fashi, who was well learned in the Buddhist scriptures. He had established a monastery at the western gate of the palace city during the Jian-xing period (313-316) of the Jin dynasty. Jingjian paid him a visit. When the monk preached the Dharma to her she became awakened. Thinking that she should try to acquire the benefit of the Dharma while she was still of sound mind and health, she borrowed some Buddhist texts from [Fashi]. By reading these texts she came to understand the gist of Buddhism.

One day she said to Fashi,

"As it is mentioned in the scriptures

that there are monks and nuns, I wish to be ordained as a nun. "

Fashi said,

"In the Western Region there are male and female sanghas, but in this land instruction about the sangha is incomplete. "

Jingjian then said,

"Since they are said to be monks and nuns

(bhik≈usandbhik≈u√∆s), how can there be any di›erence in their instructions?"

Fashi said,

"The foreigners said that the nuns have to observe five hundred disciplinary rules, and that must be the di›erence. But I will make an inquiry about it to the preceptor (upådhyåya). "

The preceptor said,

"The disciplinary rules for nuns are generally the same [as those for monks], with only minor di›erences. They cannot be transmitted without a proper procedure. A female 71

Lives of Great Monks and Nuns

novice (Ωråma√erikå), however, may receive the ten precepts from a monk; but without a preceptress (upådhyåy∆), she would have nobody to depend on in her religious life.

"

Jingjian then shaved her head and received the ten precepts from the preceptor. Twenty-four ladies followed her example. They constructed the Bamboo Grove Nunnery at the western gate of the palace city. These female novices had no preceptress, so they sought advice from Jingjian, who was competent to help them accomplish deeds of virtue.

Jingjian's preceptor was the Ωrama√a Jñånagiri, a native of the country of KaΩm∆ra in the Western Region. He was an intelligent man with a lenient and amiable nature, and was expert in meditation and the recitation of Buddhist scriptures. He came to China at the end of the Yong-jia period (307-312) of the Jin dynasty, and lived by begging alms. Whatever he said was for the propagation of the Way, but the people of the time were so shallow in their faith that they did not ask him for instruction. In the first year of the Jian-wu period (317) [of the Jin dynasty], he returned to KaΩm∆ra. Later, when Buddhatuçga came to China and related Jñånagiri's virtuous deeds, the people regretted that they had not studied under him.

Jingjian took in disciples and supported a group of nuns. She was moderate and elegant in manner and had an upright character. Her sermons were instructive and persuasive, like wind bending the grass beneath it.

During the Xian-kang period of the Jin dynasty, ¸rama√a Sengjian obtained from the country of the Yuezhi the Mahåsaµghika-bhik≈u√∆-karman and the Pråtimok≈a. These texts were translated into Chinese on the eighth day of the second month in the first year of the Sheng-ping period (357) at Luo-yang. The foreign Ωrama√a Dharmagupta was asked to erect an ordination platform, but the Chinese Ωrama√a Shi Daochang raised the objection, on the basis of the ¸∆lanidåna-s¥tra, that the platform was not properly erected according to the Dharma.

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So a boat was launched on the Si River, and Jingjian, together with three other ladies, went up to the floating platform and received full ordination as nuns from a group of monks. Jingjian thus became the first nun in the land of China. On the day of the ordination, everyone present noticed an unusual fragrance. They admired it and marveled at it, and respected Jingjian all the more. She observed the Vinaya rules strictly and never ceased in pursuing her studies. Although she received many o›erings from devotees, she distributed them to others the moment she received them. She always looked after the welfare of others before she would consider herself. At the end of the Sheng-ping period, the same fragrance was again noticed and simultaneously a red vapor was seen as a lady holding flowers of di›erent colors descended from the air. Delighted at the sight, Jingjian said to her fellow nuns, "Look after yourselves

well in the future. I am leaving you now.

" After saying farewell

to them, grasping their hands in hers, she ascended into the air. The path she traveled on looked like a rainbow stretching up to the sky. She was then seventy years old.

2. An Lingshou of Jian-xian Nunnery in

the Spurious Zhao Dynasty

An Lingshou, originally surnamed Xu, was a native of Dong-guan. Her father, named Chong, served as Commander of External Troops at the court of the insurgent Zhao (319-352). When she was young, Lingshou was intelligent and fond of learning. Her talk was elegant and refined. She was of a tranquil and desireless nature, taking no delight in worldly a›airs. Quiet and leisurely in manner, she took pleasure in the study of Buddhism and did not wish to be married.

Her father said,

"You should be married. How can you be as

you are now?"

Lingshou said,

"I fix my mind on the way of karma, and I am always thinking of the supermundane life. Neither blame nor 73

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praise can change my mind, and I am self-su‡cient in honesty and uprightness. Why must I conform to the morality of the Three Obediences before I may be considered [worthy] to keep the ethical vows (precepts)?"

Her father said,

"If you wish to gain benefit for yourself alone, how can you serve your parents at the same time?" Lingshou said,

"It is precisely for the purpose of saving all people and, needless to say, my parents, that I wish to engage myself in the practice of the Way.

"

Chong consulted Buddhatuçga about the matter. Buddhatuçga said to him,

"Go back home and keep a pure fast for three days, and then come again.

" Chong obeyed him.

Buddhatuçga mixed some red paste with sesame oil, rubbed it into the palm of Chong's right hand, and asked him to look at it. He saw a Buddhist monk with features resembling his daughter's preaching the Dharma to a great assembly. He described this to Buddhatuçga, who said,

"That was your daughter's previous incarnation: she was a monk working for the benefit of others. Such was her former life. If you comply with her wish, she will bring glory and exaltation to all the six relations of your family and make you rich and noble; and she may reach the other shore across the great sea of the su›ering of rebirth.

"

After returning home, Chong granted his permission to Lingshou. She then cut o› her hair and received ordinationfrom both Buddhatuçga and the bhik≈u√∆ Jingjian, after which she founded Jian-xian Nunnery. Buddhatuçga gave her one piece of a sevenstriped robe made of cut-flower patches, presented to him by Shi Le (r. 319-333), together with a bathing jar in the shape of an elephant's trunk. Lingshou read various texts extensively and could recite whatever she read. Her thought was profound, and her spiritual influence reached far and wide. All the Buddhist devotees of the time respected her. More than two hundred persons renounced home life under her influence, and thus five more nunneries were 74

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constructed. The devotees were not daunted by hard, painstaking work, and all of them made spiritual achievements. Shi Hu (r. 334-349), out of respect to Lingshou, promoted her father, Chong, to the post of Palace Attendant and also to Governor of Qing-he Prefecture.

3. Zhixian of the Western Nunnery

in Si-zhou

Zhixian, originally surnamed Zhao, was a native of Chang-shan. Her father, named Zhen, served as magistrate of Fu-liu County. Since her childhood, Zhixian was refined in behavior and chaste in character. She donned the religious robe and perfectly observed the disciplinary rules with a spirit of rectitude and profundity, never cherishing any impure thought in her magnanimous mind. The governor Du Ba, a devout believer in Taoism, hated the Buddhists. He wanted to diminish the numberof Buddhist monks and nuns living in the monasteries and nunneries under his jurisdiction by putting them through an examination at a fixed date. The standard of the test was set so high that no ordinary person could possibly pass it. The young monks and nuns were so frightened that they fled in fear. Zhixian alone had no fear and lived with composure in her nunnery as usual.

On the day of the examination, all those assembled at the Archers' Hall outside the city were elderly people. Among the nuns, Zhixian was the only person who was in the prime of life. Du Ba first put some questions to Zhixian and found that she was well above the standard of the test. She was elegant in appearance and spoke in a polished and eloquent manner. Du Ba harbored evil intentions and forced Zhixian to stay alone with him. Having sensed his ill purpose, Zhixian vowed not to violate the disciplinary rules and resisted the governor with harsh words at the risk of her life. Du Ba became furious and struck her with a knife, inflicting more than twenty wounds on her body. She fainted and fell to the ground. When Du Ba had gone away, she recovered consciousness. 75

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Since then Zhixian practiced Buddhism more strenuously and lived an austere life, taking only vegetarian food. She had over a hundred disciples, who were always in perfect harmony with her, like water mixed with milk.

When Fu Jian illegitimately established himself as ruler (in 331), he heard of Zhixian's fame and showed great respect for her. He had an embroidered brocade robe made for her. It took three years to complete the needlework, which was worth a million coins. Afterward she lived at the Western Nunnery in Si-zhou, propagating the right Dharma and spreading faith in and the practice of Buddhism.

During the Tai-he period (366-370), when Zhixian was over seventy years old, she still recited the Saddharmapu√∂ar∆ka-s¥tra once every day and night. At her living quarters many birds used to perch on the trees and whenever she took a walk in the open, they always followed her, chirping and singing. 4. Miaoxiang of North Mountain

in Hong-nong

Miaoxiang, originally surnamed Zhang with the personalname of Peihua, was a native of Hong-nong. Her father, Mao, had a rich and prosperous family.

Miaoxiang studied the classics at an early age, and when she was fifteen she was married to Huangfu Kui of Bei-di, who was a palace attendant to the crown prince. Huangfu Kui committed a breach of propriety during his mourning period, and because of this Miaoxiang scorned him and asked to end their marriage. She also asked permission to renounce home and enter religious life. Her father consented to both of her requests. She led a strenuous and diligent life and lived as a vegetarian.

Miaoxiang concentrated her mind on learning the texts of wisdom and acquired a clear understanding of the characteristics of the Dharma. She lived on North Mountain in Hong-nong, where a forest faced a wild plain. With her many disciples, she took delight 76

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in leading a leisurely and carefree life. She stayed for more than twenty years at this secluded place, practicing asceticism more and more earnestly as time went on. Whenever she preached the Dharma to the people, she often feared that the listeners would not concentrate their attention; she would exhort them even with tears. Therefore, her instructions always brought great benefit to her audience.

In the Yong-he period (345-356) of the Jin dynasty, the governor of Hong-nong invited her to attend a religious ceremony for seven days. A layman in the assembly asked some questions about Buddhism in an impolite way. Miaoxiang said to the man, with a stern look,

"You are not only being arrogant toward me, but you are also showing disrespect to an o‡cial of the state. How can you be so imprudent as to misbehave in a public congregation?" Then the man withdrew from the assembly on the excuse of illness. All the clergy and laypeople praised her.

Some time later she was laid up by sickness for some days. On her deathbed she said with serenity to her disciples, "Whoever is

born is bound to die, no matter whether he is poor or rich. I am leaving you today.

" After saying this, Miaoxiang passed away.

5. Kang Minggan of Jian-fu Nunnery

Minggan, originally surnamed Zhu, was a native of Gao-ping. Her family traditionally professed the great Dharma. She was once captured by an intruder, one of an invading enemy tribe, who intended to make her his wife. In spite of the torture inflicted on her, she was determined not to yield to the insult. Thus she was deported to serve as a shepherdess. After ten years, her desire to return home became more and more strong, but she did not know the way homeward. She always meditated on the Triple Gem (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha) and wished to renounce secular life.

Then she encountered a monk, from whom she received the five precepts. The monk also gave her a copy of the AvalokiteΩ-77 935c

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vara-s¥tra, which she studied and recited day and night without pause. Minggan wished to construct a five-storied pagoda on her return home, so she fled eastward though in great fear [at traveling alone]. At first she did not know the way, but she continued to go forward day and night. She came to a mountain where she saw a tiger a few paces away from her. She was frightened at the sight of the animal, but regained her composure a moment later. Her wishes were to be fulfilled.

Minggan followed the tiger. After traveling for ten days, she reached Qing-zhou. When she was about to enter a village, the tiger disappeared. At Qing-zhou, she was again captured by Ming Bolian. When news of this reached her home, her husband and son came and retrieved her.

Her family, however, denied Minggan's will and did not allow her to practice asceticism. Only after three years of a hard life of devotion could she engage wholeheartedly in the practice of meditation. She observed the Vinaya rules without blemish. Whenever she committed a minor o›ense, she would make a confession for a whole morning and would not stop until she had experienced an auspicious sign, such as seeing flowers raining down from the sky, hearing a voice in the air, witnessing a vision of the Buddha, or having a good dream at night.

In her old age, Minggan was even more strict in her conduct. The women north of the Yangzi River respected her as their teacher and took refuge in her.

In the spring of the fourth year of the Yong-he period (348) in the Jin dynasty, Minggan crossed the river with ten people, including Huizhan, to see He Chong, the Lord in Charge of Public Works. He showed respect for her at their first meeting. As there was no nunnery in the capital at that time, He Chong o›ered his private villa as a location for a nunnery. He asked Minggan what it should be named.

Minggan replied,

"Now the four groups of Buddhist followers

are all present for the first time in the capital of the great Jin dynasty. What you, the donors, have performed is really a deed of 78

Biographies of Buddhist Nuns

blessedness. It may be named Jian-fu (Performing Blessedness) Nunnery.

" The lord agreed to her suggestion.

Later she fell ill and passed away shortly after. 6. Tanbei of Northern Yong-an Nunnery

Tanbei, originally surnamed Tao, was a native of Jian-kang in Dan-yang.

When she was young she had pure faith and wished to practice the true Dharma. Having neither an elder nor younger brother, she lived alone with her mother, whom she served with respect and filial piety. For this she won the commendation of her clansmen. When Tanbei reached marriageable age, she refused to accept any betrothal gifts. Her mother could not act against her wishes and allowed her to renounce secular life. After that she observed the Vinaya rules strictly day and night without negligence. Emperor Mu (r. 345-362) of the Jin dynasty honored her with deep respect. He often praised her, saying that the more one looked at her, the more pleasant she appeared. He said to Empress Zhang, (born He),

"Few nuns in the capital are comparable to Tanbei. "

In the tenth year of Yong-he (354), the empress constructed a nunnery for Tanbei in the Ding-yin Area and named it Yong-an Nunnery (now known as Empress He's Nunnery).

Tanbei taught the people in a modest and unassuming way and never showed any sign of pride or arrogance. Her fame spread widely day by day, and a group of three hundred persons flocked to her from far and near.In the twenty-first year of Tai-yuan (396), she died at the age of seventy-three.

Her disciple, Tanluo, was witty, wise, and scrupulous and she was well read in the scriptures and Vinaya texts. She was ordered by imperial degree to succeed to the duties of her teacher, Tanbei. In addition to the original houses, Tanluo constructed a four-storied pagoda, a lecture hall, and some other buildings of the nunnery. She also made an image of the reclining Buddha and built a shrine hall for the worship of the seven Buddhas.

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7. Huizhan of Jian-fu Nunnery

Huizhan, originally surnamed Hou, was a native of Peng-cheng. She was a person of noble deportment, carried herself with dignity, and was unusually meticulous in her behavior. She had profound thoughts and a magnanimous spirit and regarded saving others as her bound duty. She was a vegetarian and wore plain garments, and she was happy leading a simple life.

Once Huizhan was traveling in a mountainous region, carrying some robes with her, when she encountered a group of bandits. They intended to strike her with their knives, but their hands failed them. Then they asked Huizhan to give them the robes she was carrying with her. She smiled merrily and said to them, "You

gentlemen expected much more, but you have actually gotten so little!" So she also untied her new skirt under her robe and gave it to the bandits. But the bandits declined the o›er with thanks and returned the robes to Huizhan. She traveled on, leaving the robes behind.

In the second year of Jian-yuan (344) of the Jin dynasty, Huizhan was ferried across the Yangzi River, and was greatly honored by He Chong, the Lord in Charge of Public Works, who invited her to live at Jian-fu Nunnery.

8. Sengji of Yan-xing Nunnery

Sengji, originally surnamed Ming, was a native of Ji-nan. When she was young, at the age of tying up her hair, she fixed her mind upon the Way and intended to renounce the world. But her mother did not allow her to do so and secretly betrothed Sengji. The man's engagement gifts were hidden away from her. She got wind of the a›air only when the date of the marriage ceremony was near. She then began to fast, not taking even a drop of water. All her relatives begged her to take food, but she would not change her mind. On the seventh day her mother called in the bridegroom, who was a devout person. Seeing that his bride-to-be was near death, 80

Biographies of Buddhist Nuns

he said to Sengji's mother,

"Every person has his or her own aspirations, and nobody has the right to suppress them. "

Thereupon, her mother gave her consent and Sengji renounced the world at the age of twenty-one. All her relatives, from both the paternal and maternal sides of the family, came to pay tribute to her. They vied with one another in presenting precious and beautiful gifts as well as o›ering delicious food to her. The governor of the district sent musicians for the occasion, and the magistrate of the prefecture attended the function in person. All the clergy and laypeople remarked with admiration that this was an unheardof event. Sengji observed the disciplinary rules with purity and studied the scriptures and Vinaya texts well. Her fame and status were almost the same as that of the nun Tanbei. She was very close to central authority and was expert in deliberating public a›airs. For this the Emperor Kang honored her highly.

In the second year of Jian-yuan (344), [Empress Kang], (born Chu), built for Sengji the Yan-xing Nunnery at Tong-gong Lane outside the gate of the city wall of the capital. Sengji lived in this nunnery with over a hundred disciples. In managing the a›airs of the nunnery, she was just and fair and won the respect of both the clergy and laypeople. She passed away in the first year of Longan (397), at the age of sixty-eight. 9. Daoxing of the Eastern Nunnery

in Luo-yang

Zhu Daoxing, originally surnamed Yang, was a native of Tai-shan. She was faithful and prudent person, and was never argumentative with others. When she was a novice priestess she always recited Buddhist scriptures while she served the residents of the nunnery. At the age of twenty, she could recite the Saddharmapu√∂ar∆kas¥tra, the Vimalak∆rtinirdeΩa-s¥tra, and other scriptures. After receiving full ordination, Daoxing undertook profound studies to acquire the principles and the wisdom-flavor of the 936b

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teachings of Buddhism. She was a vegetarian and led an ascetic life, which became more and more austere as her age advanced. She lived in the Eastern Nunnery in Luo-yang and was good at theoretical discussion. She was particularly well versed in the smaller version of the Mahåprajñåpåramitå-s¥tra. Daoxing valued the understanding of the teachings and would not engage in rhetorical argument. All the Buddhist students of the whole prefecture regarded her as their teacher. She was the first priestess and lecturer on Buddhist scriptures in China. During the Tai-he period of the Jin dynasty there was a woman by the name of Yang Lingbian who had faith in Taoism and practiced exclusively the art of deep breathing. At first she also had quite a number of people following her with respect. But when Daoxing's way became popular, Yang Lingbian's art ceased to attract people and it passed out of existence. On the pretext that they both belonged to the same clan, Yang Lingbian got acquainted with Daoxing, and they exchanged visits frequently. But the woman actually bore a grudge against the nun and waited for a chance to poison her. Later, she secretly put a toxic substance in Daoxing's food that caused the nun to su›er from an incurable illness. Daoxing's disciples asked her to name the house where she got the sickness. She said in reply, "I know

the person well. But all this is due to my own karma from the past, so you need not make any inquiries. Even if it could do me any good, I would not tell you, and in any case it is of no use to do so. "

Then she expired without revealing who had poisoned her. 10. Daorong of New Grove Nunnery

Daorong, a native of Li-yang, lived at Wu-jiang Nunnery. She was strict and rigorous in observing the Vinaya rules and was good at the art of divination, knowing beforehand fortune and misfortune. People alleged that she was a holy person. Emperor Ming (r. 323-326) of the Jin dynasty highly respected her. Once heplaced 82

Biographies of Buddhist Nuns

some flowers under her mat to test whether she was a saint or an ordinary person. In truth, the flowers did not wilt. Before ascending the throne, Emperor Jianwen (r. 371-372) served his teacher, the Taoist master of Qing-shui. This master was known in the capital by the name of Wang Puyang, and a Taoist temple was built for him in the royal residence. Daorong tried her best to edify the emperor-to-be, but he would not listen to her. Later, whenever the maids-of-honor entered the Taoist temple, they always saw that the hall was full of celestial beings in the form of Buddhist monks. The emperor-to-be suspected that this was done by Daorong, but he was not sure of it. After Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, some crows made a nest at the Tai-ji Palace, and he ordered Qu Anyuan to make a divination about the event with the milfoil. The diviner said that a woman teacher in the southwest could remove this abnormality. The emperor sent a messenger to invite Daorong from Wu-jiang Nunnery and discussed the matter with her.

Daorong said,

"The only thing to do is to fast and observe the eight precepts for seven days. Then the abnormality will vanish by itself.

" The emperor listened to her advice and lived an austere life with a concentrated mind. In less than seven days, the crows gathered together and carried the nest away.

Thereafter, the emperor deeply believed in Daorong with respect and constructed a nunnery for her, providing her with all the daily requisites. Because it was in a forest, the nunnery was named Xin-lin (New Grove) Nunnery. He then served her with the proprieties due to a teacher and professed the right Dharma. It was through Daorong's e›orts that the Way of the Buddha was glorified during the Jin dynasty.

At the time of Emperor Xiaowu [of the Jin dynasty] (r. 373-396), Daorong was all the more honored and respected. Duringthe Tai-yuan period (376-396) she suddenly disappeared, and nobody knew where she had gone. The emperor ordered that her robes and almsbowl be entombed, and that was why a grave stood beside the nunnery.

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11. Lingzong of the Western

Nunnery in Si-zhou

Lingzong, originally surnamed Man, was a native of Jin-xiang in Gao-ping. Since her childhood, she had pure faith and was praised by the people of her native place. Her family encountered calamity and misfortune, and she was captured by some invaders. She called on the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha and recited the "Chapter on the Universal Gate" [of the Saddharmapu√∂ar∆ka-s¥tra] with the utmost sincerity. In order to plead for her release, she plucked out her eyebrows, pretending to be ill with a noxious disease. Thus she was set free.

Lingzong followed the road to return south. When she had gone out of Ji-zhou, she was again pursued by a group of bandits. She climbed a tree in the wood and meditated with a concentrated mind. Her pursuers only looked ahead and did not raise their eyes to look above, so they failed to find her and soon dispersed. Lingzong came down from the tree and proceeded on her way, but she dared not go begging for food. At first she did not feel hungry. She arrived at Meng Ford in the evening, but there was no boat to ferry her across. In a state of fear and anxiety, she again called on the Triple Gem. Suddenly she saw a white deer coming from out of nowhere. It went down and waded across the stream, raising a cloud of sand and dust without a splash or waves. Lingzong followed the deer and crossed the stream, just as if she were walking on dry land, without getting wet. In this way she was able to reach her home.

Lingzong again entered the religious life to undertake a profound study of Buddhism with an absorbed mind. She learned and practiced the Way diligently with an earnest mind and read the scriptures extensively. She comprehended their deep meaning and grasped the essence of the Dharma.

Upon hearing her name, Emperor Xiaowu of the Jin dynasty sent her a letter to convey his respects. Later, the people su›ered from disease and many became impoverished. Lingzong used all 84

Biographies of Buddhist Nuns

her available resources to relieve their su›ering and spared no e›ort in collecting donations from the public no matter the distance [she had to travel] or the obstacles [she encountered]. She aided those who needed support. A large number of people received assistance and relied upon her, while she herself endured hunger and toiled hard. Her body became emaciated.

One morning when she was seventy-five, Lingzong suddenly summoned her disciples and told them her dream of the previous night. In the dream she saw a huge mountain, Mount Sumeru, with lofty and extremely beautiful peaks that touched the sky and were adorned with precious ornaments shining as brilliantly as the sun. The drum of the Dharma sounded loudly, and the smoke of fragrant incense pervaded the air. When she was told to go forward, she was startled and awoke from her sleep. Then she suddenly had an unusual feeling. It was not painful, but it caused her to fall into a trance. Daojing, a fellow nun, remarked that [the land in the dream] must have been the Land of Bliss. As they were talking, Lingzong passed away suddenly.

12. Zhi Miaoyin of Jian-jing Nunnery

Miaoyin, whose native place is unknown, had set her mind on the Way since her childhood. She lived in the capital and was well versed in both Buddhist and worldly learning. She was good at writing literary compositions. Emperor Xiaowu of the Jin dynasty, Premier Wang Dao of Kuai-ji, Meng Yi, and others all respected her. She often discussed the writing of literary compositions with the emperor as well as with the premier and other scholars at the court. Owing to her brilliant talent, she enjoyed a high reputation. In the tenth year of Tai-yuan (385), the premier built the Jianjing Nunnery for Miaoyin and appointed her abbess. She had a following of over a hundred disciples. All the talented and skillful composition writers from within and outside the court approached her to improve themselves. Thus she received a vast amount of o›erings and gifts and became a person of enormous wealth in 85

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the capital city. Both nobles and commoners served her with deference, and every day more than a hundred horses and carriages were parked at her gate.

When Wang Chen, the governor of Jing-zhou, died, Emperor Liezong (r. 396-398) intended to replace him with Wang Gong. Huan Xuan, who was at Jiang-ling and had su›ered setbacks at the hands of Wang Chen, heard that Wang Gong, whom he had always feared, was coming to take the vacant post. Yin Zhongkan was then a student of Wang Gong, and Huan Xuan knew that he was weak in ability and easy to control; therefore Huan Xuan wished tohave him fill the vacancy. He sent a messenger to ask Miaoyin to secure the governorship for Yin Zhongkan. Before long Emperor Liezong asked Miaoyin,

"Now that post

at Jing-zhou is vacant, who should be appointed to fill it?" Miaoyin said in reply,

"As I am but a humble religious person,

how can I allow myself to discuss such secular matters? But I have heard people both inside and outside the palace say that nobody is more competent than Yin Zhongkan. He is a scrupulous and thoughtful man, and both those qualities are needed in the regions of Jing and Chu.

"

The emperor consented. Yin Zhongkan was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Wang Chen. In this manner, Miaoyin was influential in the whole court and exercised authority within and beyond the palace.

13. Daoyi of Empress He's Nunnery

Daoyi, originally surnamed Jia, was a native of Lou-fan in Yanmen and a paternal aunt of Huiyuan. She was married to Xie Zhi, a man of the same prefecture, who served as magistrate of Xunyang County and died at his post there. Daoyi, who was then twenty-two years old, discarded all her worldly burdens and donned the religious robe. She was clever, intelligent, learned, and possessed a good memory. She recited the Saddharmapu√∂ar∆ka-s¥tra and lectured on the Vimalak∆rti-nird-86

Biographies of Buddhist Nuns

eΩa-s¥tra and the smaller version of the Mahåprajñåpåramitås¥tra. She had an exceptional understanding of the subtle meanings and the wonderful doctrines. She was strict in observing the Vinaya rules, and her manners were sublime and dignified. Having heard that the scriptures and Vinaya texts were gradually being translated in the capital, where preaching meetings were held continually, Daoyi went there at the end of the Tai-yuan period of the Jin dynasty. She stayed at Empress He's Nunnery. She engaged wholeheartedly in the study of the Vinaya-pi†aka and acquired full understanding of all of its details. She was always humble and polite and never idle, even when she was alone in seclusion. She wore coarse and inferior garments and carried her religious sta› and almsbowl by herself. As she was simple and plain without a›ectation, both the clergy and laity held her in high esteem.

When she was seventy-eight years old, Daoyi fell seriously ill. But she remained deeply pious and never stopped her religious recitations. Her disciples said to her,

"We hope that you will give

us messages by which we can rectify our defects. "

Daoyi replied,

"It ill befits me to say anything.

" After saying

this, she expired.

End of Fascicle One of Biographies of Buddhist Nuns 87

Fascicle Two

The Song Dynasty

14. Huiguo of Jing-fu Nunnery

Huiguo, originally surnamed Pan, was a native of Huai-nan. She always practiced austerities and never wore thick clothing made of cotton. She paid special attention to the study of the Vinaya and observed the disciplinary rules with perfect purity. Because she was admired by both the clergy and laity, her good reputation spread far and wide.

Chuan Hongren of Bei-di, the governor of Qing-zhou in the Song dynasty (420-479), highly appreciated her nobility and provided her with rich sustenance. In the third year of Yong-chu (422) (Baochang's note: Tanzong said it was in the seventh year of Yuanjia [430],but Bhik≈u√∆ Hong-an, the abbess of the nunnery, showed me the document for raising funds to build the nunnery, which bears the date of the third year of Yong-chu.) the governor assigned the land to the east of his residence for the construction of a vihåra and named it Jing-fu Nunnery, with Huiguo as the director. Whatever donations or gifts she received were turned over to the sangha. The activities of the nunnery prospered; and all the residents, old and young, heartily admired her.

Gu√avarman, a Buddhist monk of the Western Region, arrived in the sixth year of Yuan-jia (429). Huiguo asked him, "The nuns

of this land who have already received ordination did so without a previous example. If we trace [the nuns' lineage] back to Mahåprajåpat∆, her case may certainly serve us as a good precedent. But is there any di›erence after her time?"

"No di›erence,

" replied Gu√avarman.

937b18

89

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Lives of Great Monks and Nuns Huiguo inquired again,

"According to the text of the Vinaya, the preceptor who gives ordination under such circumstances is considered to have committed an o›ense. How can you say that there is no di›erence?"

The monk replied,

"He is regarded as having committed an o›ense [only] if a female novice did not make preliminary studies of the Vinaya for two years before her ordination in a place where the nun's sangha existed.

"

Huiguo further asked,

"It may be allowed because formerly there were no nuns in this country, but they were not absent in Jambudv∆pa.

"

The monk said,

"According to the rules of the Vinaya, a quorum of ten monks is required for one to receive full ordination but, in a remote place, five persons may form a quorum to give ordination. This is because we must not do anything contrary to the rules at places where the required conditions are available. "

Huiguo asked again,

"How many li away is considered a frontier place?"

The monk said,

"A place more than a thousand li away and separated by mountains and sea is a frontier place. "

In the ninth year (432), Huiguo and her disciples Huiyi, Huikai, and others, five persons in all, received full ordination anew from Saµghavarman. Huiguo observed the Vinaya rules with veneration and prudence, as if she were protecting her own head. She died in the tenth year of Yuan-jia (433). She was more than seventy years of age.

Huiguo's disciple Huikai was also well known at the time for her moral integrity.

15. Fasheng of Jian-fu Nunnery Fasheng, originally surnamed Nie, was a native of Qing-he. At the time of the uprising in the state of Zhao, her family fled to Jinling. In the fourteenth year of Yuan-jia (437), she renounced home and became a nun at Jian-fu Nunnery. 90

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Being a person of talent and knowledge with intelligent comprehension, Fasheng behaved according to wise judgment. Living in the capital as a refugee in her old age, she always cherished the memory of her native home, even though the imperial capital was prosperous and peaceful. Only by making a profound study of the abstruse principles of religion was she able to dispel sorrow and forget about her advanced age. Then she received the bodhisattva precepts from the Venerable Ou of Dao-chang Monastery. During the day she undertook discriminative studies, and in the evenings she discussed and pondered over the doctrine.

After a number of years, Fasheng gradually became bright and cheerful in sentiment. Although she was getting old, she exceeded those who were in the prime of life. She always wished to be reborn in the Pure Land of Bliss, and told her fellow nuns, Tanjing and Tan'ai,

"I engage in the practice of the Way with the

intention of being born in the Western Pure Land. "

On the twenty-seventh day of the ninth month in the sixteenth year (439), as Fasheng was worshiping the Buddha in the pagoda in the evening, she became a·icted by an illness which eventually turned out to be serious. At the first watch of the night of the last day in that month, when she was dozing in her bed, the Tathågata descended from the air with two bodhisattvas, discussing the two vehicles. In an instant they came down, riding on fragrant flowers and clouds, with a large retinue to visit Fasheng in her sickbed. A light shone brilliantly and was seen by the whole nunnery. All the residents came to ask her what the light was, and she told them everything. As soon as she finished speaking, Fasheng passed away. She was seventy-two years old.

This was related by Zhang Bian of Wu Prefecture, governor of Yu-zhang, who always honored and respected the nun Fasheng. 16. Huiyu of Niu-mu Nunnery in Jiang-ling

Huiyu, a native of Chang-an, was diligent in cultivating good deeds and well learned in both the scriptures and the Vinaya texts. She 91

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often traveled to edify people and passed through various districts in the country. She would go whenever there was a chance, whether or not it was the cold or hot season. She journeyed to the regions of Jing and Chu in the south and stayed at Niu-mu Nunnery in Jiang-ling. She recited the Saddharmapu√∂ar∆ka-s¥tra, the ¸¥raµ-gama[-samådhi]-s¥tra, and other scriptures for ten days and gained the benefit of the Dharma. All the clergy and laity in the regions to the west of the state of Tan paid homage to her. She never stopped reading and studying the scriptures and commentaries. In the tenth month of the fourteenth year of Yuan-jia (437), Huiyu performed the seven-day self-mortification practice, vowing that through the sincere performance of this practice she would become enlightened and see the Buddha after she left her body. Also, she wishedto see the Buddha's light within the seven-day [period of the rite]. At midnight on the fifth day, a spiritual ray glowed brilliantly in the woods to the east of the nunnery. She related this to the other residents, and all of them respected and admired her more heartily. Afterward the abbess Fahong built a meditation hall at the site where the ray had gleamed. Formerly, when Huiyu was at Chang-an, she once saw a light of a reddish-white color at the monastery built by the imperial minister Xue. The light illumined the surrounding place and dimmed after ten days. Later, on the eight day of the fourth month, a monk of Liu-chong Monastery discovered a one-foot-tall golden image of Maitreya at the place where the light had been seen. 17. Daoqiong of Jian-fu Nunnery

Daoqiong, originally surnamed Jiang, was a native of Dan-yang. She was already well read in the classics and history when she was a little more than ten years old. After receiving full ordination, she acquired a clear understanding of the Tripi†aka and assiduously practiced asceticism. During the Tai-yuan period of the Jin dynasty, the empress admired Daoqiong's lofty behavior and, for the culti-92

Biographies of Buddhist Nuns

vation of meritorious deeds, [the empress] mostly depended on Jian-fu Nunnery. Wealthy and noble ladies vied with one another to associate with Daoqiong.

In the eighth year of Yuan-jia (431), Daoqiong made a large number of images that were enshrined in various places. Two golden images, complete with curtains and pedestals, were placed at Peng-cheng Nunnery; one processional image of Maitreya with a canopy and pearls was installed at Wa-guan Nunnery; two golden images with accessory banners and canopies were placed at Southern Jian-xing Nunnery; and an image [of the reclining Buddha] together with a shrine hall were constructed at Jian-fu Nunnery. She also made a processional image of Samantabhadra for which all of the oblatory utensils were fine and exquisite. In the fifteenth year of Yuan-jia (438), Daoqiong made a golden image of Amitåyus. On the tenth day of the fourth month in that year, that image emitted a ray from between its eyebrows, shining brightly with a golden hue in the nunnery. The clergy and laypeople told one another about the event, and they all came to pay their respects. Upon seeing the divine radiance, all were happy and delighted.

With a legacy bequeathed by the late empress, Daoqiong extended the southern part of the nunnery and constructed more dormitories for the nuns.

18. Daoshou of Qi-huan Nunnery

in Jiang-ling

Daoshou, whose native place is unknown, was a person of peaceful and tranquil disposition. She was well known for her filial piety and deference. Since childhood she observed the five precepts and never violated any of the rules.

During the Yuan-jia period (424-453) her father died. Because of her excessive grief in mourning, she su›ered from an ailment which caused her neither pain nor itching but reduced her to a jaundiced skeleton. For several years no treatment could cure her. 93

Lives of Great Monks and Nuns

Then she made a vow that if she was cured of her disease, she would renounce home to become a nun. After making this vow she gradually recovered her health and so, in fulfilment of her vow, she left secular life and went to live at Qi-huan Nunnery. Daoshou surpassed all others in leading a diligent and ascetic life and she recited the Saddharmapu√∂ar∆ka-s¥tra three thousand times. [When reciting the sutra] she often saw auspicious signs of light. At midnight of the seventh day of the ninth month in the sixteenth year of Yuan-jia (429), she witnessed a precious canopy suspended in the air over that sutra.

938b

19. Shi Xuanzao of Tai-xuan-tai Nunnery

in Wu Prefecture

Xuanzao, originally surnamed Lu and a native of Wu Prefecture, was the daughter of An Gou, though in the Xuan-yan-ji [his] name is given as An Xun. When she was over ten years old, she was a·icted with a serious disease. Despite all the good medicine she had taken, her condition worsened day by day.

At that time, Shi Faji of Tai-xuan-tai Nunnery told An Gou, "I am afraid her illness is caused by her own karma, and no medicine can cure it. According to Buddhist scriptures, those who are in pain and in an emergency may be saved if they take refuge in the Triple Gem, repent, and beg to be saved. If you and your daughter could discard incorrect practices and wash away defilements and impurities with your minds concentrated, she would be cured of her illness.

"

An Gou accepted the advice and performed in his house the ceremony for worshiping AvalokiteΩvara. With a pure mind and sincere intent, he and Xuanzao worshiped the bodhisattva with great devotion. In spite of her illness, Xuanzao prostrated herself at the shrine and kept her mind in uninterrupted concentration. After seven days she suddenly saw, in the first watch of the night, a golden statue about one foot high that caressed her three times from head to foot. Then she felt that her severe illness was cured in an instant. Since 94

Biographies of Buddhist Nuns

she had personally experienced this supernatural sign, she begged to renounce secular life and went to live at Tai-xuan-tai Nunnery. Xuanzao diligently recited the Saddharmapu√∂ar∆ka-s¥tra. For thirty-seven years, she lived as a strict vegetarian and constantly fixed her mind upon rebirth in the Tu≈ita Heaven. In the sixteenth year of Yuan-jia (439) of the Song dynasty, she went to the capital to make copies of Buddhist scriptures. Where she went afterward is unknown.

20. Shi Huiqiong of Nan-an Nunnery

Huiqiong, originally surnamed Zhong, was a native of Guang-zhou. She devoted herself to the Way in a noble and unsullied manner and never tasted fish or meat. When she was nearly eighty, she was even more assiduous in performing religious deeds. She always wore ramie or hemp cloth and never used silk or floss silk. Besides taking charge of the nunnery, she engaged in preaching. Originally Huiqiong lived at Nan-an Nunnery in Guang-ling. In the eighteenth year of Yuan-jia (441), Lady Wang, the mother of the heir apparent of the Prince of Jiang-xia of the Song dynasty, presented Huiqiong with a parcel of land on which she built a convent named Southern Yong-an Nunnery. Later, in the twentysecond year (445), Xiao Chengzhi of Lan-ling erected a stupa in a foreign style at the nunnery.In the fifteenth year of Yuan-jia (438), Huiqiong also constructed the Bodhi Nunnery, of which all the halls, shrines, and other buildings were grand and beautiful. She then went to live there and presented Southern Yong-an Nunnery to the Buddhist monk Huizhi. In the twentieth year of Yuan-jia (443), while en route to Kuaiji with Meng Yi, Huiqiong passed away at Po-kang. She had instructed her disciples,

"After my death my body need not be

buried. You may hire someone to cut it into pieces to feed to living creatures.

" But when she died, her disciples could not bear to carve up her remains. So they went to report the case to the magistrate of Ju-rong County, who ruled that the corpse should be carried to 95

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the mountains to allow birds and animals to feed on it by themselves. For more than ten days, the body remained as it was before and did not change its complexion. The magistrate asked the villagers to scatter some raw rice around the corpse. The birds ate up all the rice at some distance from the body, but the grains near it were left untouched. Upon hearing about this matter in the capital, Huiqiong's disciple Huilang rushed to the spot. She brought the remains back and buried them on the hill in front of Gao-zuo Nunnery. A stupa was erected over the grave.

938c

21. Puzhao of Zhang-guo Nunnery

in Nan-pi

Puzhao, originally surnamed Dong with the given name Bei, was a native of An-ling in Bo-hai Prefecture. When she was young, she adhered to moral principles. At the age of seventeen she renounced home and lived at Zhang-guo Nunnery in Nan-pi. Later she journeyed with her teacher to Guang-ling to study at Jian-xi Vihåra. She devoted her mind to the practice of the Dharma and won the praise of all the residents of the vihåra. After the death of her teacher Huizi, she dissociated herself from both rejoicing and mourning activities and practiced austerities with unparalleled strictness.

In the twelfth month of the eighteenth year of Yuan-jia (441) of the Song dynasty, Puzhao fell ill because of excessive strain. Although her condition was serious, she was still earnest in her mind and kept her deep faith without deviating from her original intention. She prayed sincerely day and night with a concentrated mind. She could not get down from bed, so she worshiped on the pillow, practiced repentance as usual, and also recited three fascicles of the Saddharmapu√∂ar∆ka-s¥tra each day. In the middle of the second month of the nineteenth year (442), Puzhao suddenly fainted away. She recovered consciousness after two meals' time. She related that [in a dream] she had gone toward 96

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the west and come upon a pagoda in the middle of the road, where a monk was sitting in meditation with closed eyes. He was amazed to see her and asked where she had come from. She answered the monk and inquired of him how far it was from there to her nunnery. The monk replied that it was fifty million li. The road was covered with grass and there were people going along it, but she recognized none of them. The wind blew the clouds so that they were scattered high, the place was neat and clean, and it was particularly bright toward the west. She intended to proceed onward but the monk did not allow her. So she turned back and then woke up abruptly. Seven days later, Puzhao died at the age of twenty-five.

22. Shi Huimu of the Nunnery of Zhu-ge Village in Liang Prefecture

Huimu, originally surnamed Fu, was a native of Bei-di. Leaving home at the age of eleven, she served Huichao as her teacher and observed the minor precepts. She lived at the Nunnery of Zhu-ge Village in Liang Prefecture. In the beginning she studied the larger version of the Mahåprajñåpåramitå-s¥tra, of which she recited two fascicles each day. She also read various other scriptures. Her mother was old and sick and had lost all her teeth, so Huimu chewed dried meat in order to feed her. Because her mouth was impure, she did not receive full ordination, but at all she times repented her own karma.

Huimu suddenly saw the ordination altar, and the sky turned golden in color. When she raised her head to look up, she saw a man in the south wearing a double silk garment entirely yellow in color. He moved to and fro around Huimu and told her, "I have

already given you ordination.

" Then he disappeared in an instant.

Huimu did not tell anyone of this event, and she experienced many more strange phenomena like this one.

Huimu's elder brother got wind of the matter and wished to know more about it. He said to her, with false intimidation, "You

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have been practicing the Way for so many years, and yet you have gained no benefit at all. So let your hair grow and I will find you a husband.

" These words worried her, so Huimu told her elder brother what she had seen. She then received full ordination. On the eve of receiving ordination, she dreamed that a man transmitted the Pråtimok≈a to her orally. When she had been ordained, she could recite the text after reading it twice. During the Yuan-jia period of the Song dynasty, Huimu made images of the Buddhas of the ten quarters and produced copies of the Pråtimok≈as and the Karmans of the four schools of the Vinaya for distribution among the four groups of the Buddhist sangha. 23. Fasheng of the Southern Nunnery

in Wu County

Fasheng left secular life when she was young, and lived at the Southern Nunnery, or, as it was also called, the Eastern Nunnery, in Wu County. She was well known for her modesty and honesty, as well as for her prudence and assiduousness. During the Yuan-jia period of the Song dynasty, Sima Long of He-nei, the assistant magistrate of Pi-ling, encountered invaders and was killed in battle. His wife (born Shan), who had lost her parents long ago and had no children, was already an old woman. She went to Wu Prefecture to seek shelter from Fasheng, who received her as [she would] a relative. A hundred days later, the woman fell sick and was ill for three years with a quite serious condition. As Fasheng had no savings in reserve, she had to beg for alms to sustain the woman and provide her with medical treatment. In doing this, she was undaunted by rain and heat, wind and cold. The woman was cured of her illness, and Fasheng was praised and esteemed by the people.

Later she traveled to the capital to study dhyåna (meditation) and the Vinaya, thereby gaining complete knowledge of mental concentration and wisdom as well as probing into the profound truth. In teaching her disciples, Fasheng was successful without 98

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resorting to arrogant strictness. When she was active, it was not to seek personal gain; and when she was inactive, she did not mean to win fame by it. Her perfect attentiveness was only to help sentient beings. When Fasheng reached the age of sixty, she was ill for some time. She said she would not be able to recover her health. Her relatives were surprised to hear this, and asked her why. She replied,

"Yesterday I saw two monks who told me so.

"

After a moment she spoke again.

"Now I see two monks, not the

two I saw yesterday, with their right shoulders uncovered, holding flowers in their hands and standing behind my sickbed. I see a Buddha sitting on a lotus flower at a distance, whose light is shining upon my body.

" After that Fasheng could not sleep at night and asked others to repeat the Saddharmapu√∂ar∆ka-s¥tra. Late in the night, when her breath became feeble, she asked others to stop repeating the scripture, but to chant the name of the Buddha while she also did the same. When it was nearly daybreak, she passed away with her countenance unchanged.

24. Sengduan of Yong-an Nunnery

Sengduan was a native of Guang-ling. Her family had professed Buddhism for several generations, and all her sisters were devout Buddhists. She vowed to leave secular life and refused to accept any betrothal gift. As she was such a beauty, well known in her native district, wealthy families flocked to her house to make marriage proposals. Her mother and elder brother promised to marry her o› to a certain man.

Three days before the wedding, Sengduan fled to a nunnery in the night. The abbess lodged her in a separate room and provided her with what she needed. Sengduan asked for a copy of the AvalokiteΩvara-s¥tra, which she memorized in two days' time. She worshiped with tears raining down, day and night, without cease. Three days later, while she was worshiping the Buddha's image, it spoke to her.

"Your betrothed is coming to the end of his

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life. Just be diligent in your practice and do not worry. " The next

day, the bridegroom was butted to death by a bull. Sengduan was then free to leave home to observe the prohibitive rules with perseverance. She kept her mind empty and undisturbed in concentration and was reserved, as if she could not speak. But when she engaged in analyzing the nature of name and reality, she would discourse eloquently without feeling tired. She read the Mahåparinirvå√a-s¥tra once every five days.

In the tenth year of Yuan-jia (433), Sengduan traveled south to the capital and lived at Yong-an Nunnery. She administered the a›airs of the nunnery with a›ection for all and treated everybody equally. Both old and young were pleased with her, and they venerated her more with the passing of time.

In the twenty-fifth year of Yuan-jia (448), when she was over seventy years old, Sengduan died. Her disciples, Pujing and Puyao, were renowned for their practice of asceticism. Both of them recited the Saddharmapu√∂ar∆ka-s¥tra.

939b

25. Guangjing of the Middle Nunnery

in Guang-ling

Guangjing, whose original surname was Hu and given name Daobi, was a native of Dong-gian in Wu-xing. While she was young, she renounced home and went to live with her teacher at the Middle Nunnery in Guang-ling.

During her youth, Guangjing was strict in her behavior. When she grew up she practiced contemplative meditation. She refrained from eating delicious food, and when she was about to receive the major precepts, she gave up eating grains completely. She lived on pine nuts for fifteen years after receiving full ordination. Although her intelligence remained sharp and bright, her physical strength diminished and she became feeble and exhausted. Still she prayed sincerely in an acceptable manner and often labored from morning to evening.

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The monk Facheng said to her,

"Clothing and food are not

important matters in Buddhism.

" On hearing this advice, Guangjing resumed eating polished rice. Then she redoubled her e›orts and studied diligently without feeling tired. The number of people who followed her to learn the methods of contemplation was always more than a hundred.

In the fifth month of the eighteenth year of Yuan-jia (441), Guangjing fell ill and said,

"I have abhorred and detested this body

of mine for quite a long time.

" Thereupon she repented both mentally and verbally while su›ering from illness. Her mind was calm and lucid, and her spirit was cheerful and joyful. On New Year's Day of the nineteenth year (442), she fasted without taking any food or drink and fixed her mind on the Tu≈ita Heaven uninterruptedly. She did so without cessation until the night of the eighteenth day of the fourth month, when an unusual fragrance and strange visions filled the air. She passed away that night. 26. Shanmiao of Shu Prefecture

Shanmiao, originally surnamed Quyang, was a native of Fan County. She renounced home while she was young. She was of mild and amiable disposition, and seldom showed feelings of pleasure or displeasure. She never tried to acquire fine clothes or delicious food. She had a younger sister who was a widow and had nobody to depend upon. So Shanmiao lodged her sister and her sister's young son in her room. Her sister often heard Shanmiao lamenting that she was not born at the time of the Buddha. Whenever she made this remark, she would sob sorrowfully and her tears flowed incessantly.

The [two women] lived together for four or five years, but the younger sister never saw her elder sister take a meal. When the younger sister cooked the food and called Shanmiao to eat with her, Shanmiao would say that she had just taken her meal somewhere else, or that she was feeling indisposed and could not eat anything.

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In this way, they lived together for a number of years. The younger sister became ashamed of herself and said, "I am so unfortunate as to have lost my husband. Because I have no other relatives, my son and I have come to depend on my elder sister. I must have made the place so squalid and untidy that my elder sister is disgusted with it and will not eat with me.

" She said this with

tears in her eyes and then wished to leave.

Shanmiao held her hand and consoled her, saying, "You do

not understand what I mean. Since I have had good opportunities to obtain alms at some other place, why should I consume food at home? Just stay here with an easy mind. I will make a long journey soon. You will have to look after this house and must not go anywhere. " When she heard these words, the younger sister gave up the idea of going away.

Shanmiao then spun cotton into yarn to produce cloth and also purchased several bushels of oil, which she stored in an earthen jar that she placed in the courtyard. She said to her younger sister, "I intend to perform meritorious deeds with this oil. Please don't use it.

"

At midnight on the eighth day of the fourth month, Shanmiao wrapped herself with cloth [in order] to burn her own body. When the fire reached her head, she asked her younger sister to call the ceremonial leader to strike the bell.

"I am forsaking this life. Tell

all thenuns to come quickly to bid me farewell. " When the nuns

arrived, alarmed, Shanmiao was not yet dead and said to them, "Each of you should work hard with diligence. The round of birth and death is dreadful. Try to win emancipation from it, and don't go around in transmigration. I have given up my body as an o›ering twenty-seven times in my previous lives, and it is only in this life that I will finally attain the result.

"

(Baochang's note: When I made inquiries of the local people, some of them said that the immolation took place in the seventeenth year of Yuan-jia [440],while others said that it happened during the Xiao-jian period [454-456]or during the Da-ming period [457-464].Accordingly, I record all these dates here.) 102

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27. Sengguo of Guang-ling

Sengguo was originally surnamed Zhao and her given name was Fayou. She was a native of Xiu-wu in Ji Prefecture. She had instinctive piety and faith that had been cultivated in her previous lives, and her pure devotion was spontaneous. Even as a child at the breast, she would not eat after midday. For this her parents praised her and marveled at her. On reaching adulthood, she fixed her mind on one purpose. But because favorable circumstances were intermingled with obstacles, she was able to leave secular life only when she was twenty-seven years old.

Sengguo served as a teacher to the nun Huicong of Guangling. She observed the Vinaya rules with perseverance in a clear manner, and practiced meditation in a faultless way. Each time she entered samådhi, she would sit from dusk to dawn with her spirit dwelling in a state of mental purity and her body as motionless as a withered tree. Yet shallow-minded people still doubted her.

In the sixth year of Yuan-jia (428), a foreign shipowner named Nandi traveled from the Land of the Lion (Sri Lanka) with some nuns, who arrived in the capital of Song and stayed at Jing-fu Nunnery. Some time later, they inquired of Sengguo, "Have there

been any foreign nuns in this country before?" She replied,

"No.

"

Then they asked,

"Where did the Chinese nuns get both of the

two sanghas from whom to receive the full ordination?" Sengguo replied,

"They received the full precepts only from

the bhik≈u sangha, as an expedient means to arouse feelings of the great importance [of becoming ordained] in their minds. In this same way, Mahåprajåpat∆ received ordination through accepting the Eight Rules of Veneration. Thus the five hundred ladies of the ¸åkya clan could have Mahåprajåpat∆ as their preceptress. This was an eminent precedent.

"

Even though Sengguo replied thus [to the nuns' question], she still had doubts in her own mind. So she inquired about the whole 103

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matter from the Tripi†aka master, who o›ered the same explanation. Then she asked further, "May one receive full ordination for

a second time?"

The master said,

"As Ω∆la, samådhi, and prajñå are developed

from imperceptibility to prominence, it would be even better for one to receive ordination again.

"

In the tenth year (433) the shipowner Nandi came again with eleven nuns, Devasårå and others, from the Land of the Lion. The nuns who arrived earlier had by now mastered the Chinese language. Saµghavarman was asked to mark the boundaries of a chapter house at Nan-lin Monastery, in which more than three hundred persons were reordained, one after another. In the eighteenth year (441), when Sengguo was thirty-four, she once sat in meditation for an entire day. The ceremonial leader touched her and announced that she was dead. The functionaries of the nunnery were surprised at the announcement, and they all came to look into the matter. They saw that Sengguo's body had become cold and her flesh sti›, but she was still breathingfaintly. When they started to carry her away, she opened her eyes and talked to them, smiling as usual. Thus the ignorant were convinced of her spiritual attainment. It is not known what happened to her afterward.

28. Jingcheng of Bamboo Grove Nunnery

in Dong-xiang in Shan-Yang

Jingcheng, originally surnamed Liu with the given name Sheng, was a native of Qiao Prefecture. She observed the Vinaya rules in a consummate and ascetic way, and chanted four hundred fifty thousand words of scriptures. Her nunnery was located in a wood at the foot of a mountain, away from all noisy disturbances. She could engage her mind in contemplative meditation, completely free from worldly din and bustle.

Once a man lost his cow and searched for it everywhere. He came to the mountain during the night and saw a fire blazing over 104

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the woods of the nunnery. But when he arrived at the place, there was nothing there at all.

There was a tiger that always followed Jingcheng wherever she went. When she sat in meditation, it crouched beside her. When any of the nuns in the nunnery committed a fault without making a confession in time, the tiger would become furiously angry, but it would be pleased once the confession was made. Later, when Jingcheng left the mountain for a short time, she met on the way a woman from Bei-di, who casually exchanged greetings with her as if they were old acquaintances. This woman, who had the surname Qiu and the given name Wenjiang, was originally from Bo-ping. She was by nature fond of the Buddha-Dharma. Having heard that the Way was thriving in the south, she had come to the southern region when the pass opened for travel. She then renounced secular life and practiced austerities with Jingcheng. Both of them refrained from eating grain, living only on sesame seeds and millet.

The fame [of the two women] reached the capital of a barbarian tribe. [The barbarians] regarded them as holy persons and dispatched messengers from afar to greet them. But because they did not want to stay in the frontier region, [Jingcheng and Wenjiang] purposely misbehaved in order to ruin their reputation [with the barbarians]. When the chief of the tribe prepared a sumptuous feast of fish and meat for them, they devoured everything without discrimination. Because of this, the chief despised them and no longer detained them. Jingcheng and Wenjiang then returned to their own nunnery. Jingcheng passed away at the age of ninety-three without illness.

29. Faxiang of Tai-xuan-tai Nunnery

in Wu Prefecture

Faxiang, originally surnamed Hou, was a native of Dun-huang. She deported herself in a pure and chaste manner, and her talent and insight were brilliant and outstanding. Devoted to study, she 105

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never gave up learning even though she often lived in want. As she was contented with a life of poverty, she would not change her mind in order to gain glory and eminence. She was married into the Fu family, which su›ered more than once from misfortune. At the time Fu Jian was defeated, [all of] Faxiang's kinfolk were scattered or lost. She then renounced secular life and observed the Vinaya with deep faith and understanding. She often o›ered her good clothes and food to the nun Huisu. The nuns of the nunnery admonished her, saying, "Huisu is crude and dull witted in

speaking. She has never set her mind on the Buddhist scriptures and the Vinaya texts. She wanted to learn meditation, but she had no teacher. She is stubborn and stupid, and is only a foolish woman of the lowest grade. Why don't you plant the seeds of merit in a superior field, instead of cultivating merit in an inferior way?" Faxiang replied,

"Only a holy person knows about the success

or failure of the field. As I am only an ordinary person, how can I choose what to accept and what to reject? Should I meet someone in need of alms, what does it matter if I o›er something without thinking of my own gain?"

Later, Huisu conducted a meditation retreat for seven days. On the third night, she sat together with the assembly. When the others rose from their seats, she did not get up. All the people came to see her and found that she was as sti› asa piece of wood or a rock and did not move when pushed. They said that she was dead, but after three days Huisu got up and was as well as usual. Then the people marveled at her and began to understand Faxiang's foresight and comprehension. Such events as this happened more than once at di›erent times.

When Faxiang was getting old she conducted herself with even more strictness. At the end of the Yuan-jia period, she passed away at the age of more than ninety.

30. Yeshou of Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery

Yeshou, originally surnamed Zhang, was a native of Peng-cheng. 106

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Her deportment was lofty and austere, and her observance of the Vinaya rules was immaculate. She deeply understood the Mahayana teachings and could comprehend the subtle principles. She was very fond of meditation and reciting the scriptures and never relaxed even at her busy times.

Emperor Wu (r. 420-422), the founder of the Song dynasty, respected her highly as an unusual person. Emperor Wen (r. 424-453), who took the Three Refuges under her guidance when he was young, lodged her in Yong-an Nunnery and o›ered alms to her incessantly. In the second year of Yuan-jia (425), Wang Jingshen's mother (born Fan), presented Yeshou with the site of the former ancestral temple of Wang Tanzhi for her to build a convent there. It was named Qing-yuan Nunnery.

Yeshou trained her disciples to be sedate and deferential with perfect discipline. Lady Pan, the imperial concubine, praised her, saying,

"Bhik≈u√∆ Yeshou propagates the Buddha-Dharma. She is highly respectable.

" In the fifteenth year of Yuan-jia (438), Lady

Pan enlarged the nunnery for Yeshou by building a Buddha hall on the west[ern side] and expanded it to the north by constructing more cells. She also provided the nuns with whatever they needed, and the nunnery became prosperous. The community of two hundred performed religious practices without cease. When Yeshou grew advanced in age, more people looked up to her. On account of her old age, she pleaded several times to retire but the community did not consent. In the sixth year of Daming (462), she died at the age of ninety. At that time there were also three nuns, Jing'ai, Baoying, and Falin, all of whom were well known in the capital area for their stainless morality. Jing'ai was experienced in meditation and reciting scriptures and was fair and unbiased regarding [nunnery] a›airs. She died in the fifth year of Tai-shi (469). Baoying constructed a five-storied pagoda, studied the principles diligently, and was a strict vegetarian. She died in the sixth year of Tai-shi (470). Falin was well read in Buddhist scriptures and Vinaya texts, and never relaxed even when old. She died in the first year of Yuan-hui (473). 107

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Falin also had a disciple named Tanyin, who was experienced in both meditation and the Vinaya. She detached herself from worldly glory and never cast a glance at the morning market. She died in the sixth year of Yuan-hui (478).

31. Fabian of Jing-fu Nunnery

Fabian, a native of Dan-yang, renounced home when young and became a disciple of Buiguo of Jing-fu Nunnery. Being faithful and prudent as well as pure and discreet, she always lived frugally, wore coarse garments, and ate a vegetarian diet, never tasting any odorous or pungent food. Her fame for loftiness and simplicity was known in the capital from an early time. Yu, the Prince of Lang-ya and the governor of Yang-zhou, respected her highly. Later, Fabian acquired knowledge of contemplative meditation from the foreign monk KålayaΩas of Dao-lin Monastery, and she practiced it in the prescribed way with full success and complete understanding. Whenever she was present in an assembly, she often looked as if she were dozing. Once, in the refectory, she did not get up from her seat when the others had dispersed. In alarm, the ceremonial leader touched her and found that she was as still as a piece of wood or a rock. The ceremonial leader quickly informed the other nuns, who all came to see. But after a moment Fabian came out of her trance and spoke as usual. All the nuns admired her with redoubled veneration.

In the seventh year of Da-ming (463), Fabian died at the age of over sixty. Two days earlier, Dharma Master Chaobian of Upper Ding-lin Monastery dreamed of a magnificent and beautiful palace city, in which all the apparel, ornaments, and other articles of daily use were brilliant and gorgeous beyond anything ever seen in this world. [The palace city] was full of men and women attired in fine dress, but without a lord. Chaobian asked why and received the reply,

"Fabian of Jing-fu Nunnery will be reborn in this place, and she is expected to arrive here tomorrow.

"

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On that day, Fabian had a shivering spell, and so she sent someone to inform the community. When all the nuns, old and young, had assembled, she said,

"There are mysterious figures

around me. They appear and disappear abruptly like shadows and clouds.

" After saying this, she died sitting upright in the meditation posture.

Later there were also [the nuns] Daozhao and Sengbian, who were well known for their strenuous e›orts. Daozhao, originally surnamed Yang, was a native of Xu in Bei-di. Living on the support o›ered by the Prince of Lin-he, she was a vegetarian and a reciter of scriptures.

32. Daozong of San-ceng Nunnery

in Jiang-ling

Daozong, whose native place was unknown, lived at San-ceng Nunnery in Jiang-ling. Since her youth she never discriminated against people based on their appearance. When mature, she did not judge people by whether they were ordained or not and associated with both the wise and the ignorant solely for the purpose of practicing the Way. Her meritorious deeds were of all kinds and she was deeply and widely involved in e›orts to help people. In the night of the fifteenth day of the third month in the seventh year of Da-ming (463) of the Song dynasty, Daozong purged herself [by pouring] oil [over herself and setting] herself on fire. While her forehead was burning and her ears and eyes were consumed by the flames, she still recited and chanted scriptures without stopping. Both the clergy and the laity sighed with admiration, and the evil ones as well as the faithful were alike astonished. Those throughout the whole country who heard about this event generated the mind of enlightenment (bodhicitta). The eremitic scholar Liu Qiu of the Song dynasty, who respected her highly, composed a verse in praise of her.

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33. Huijun of Zhu-yuan Nunnery

Huijun, originally surnamed Chen, was a native of Shan-yin. When she was a child, she was bright and intelligent; her devotion surpassed that of ordinary people. In the morning she always burned incense to meditate and worship for a while; at noon she ate only vegetarian food, never taking fish or meat. Although she was staying at home, she lived as though she had renounced secular life. Her parents could not change her mind and permitted her, when she was eighteen, to follow the religious life. Huijun read all Buddhist and non-Buddhist texts that came to her. There was no method of deep meditation and mysterious contemplationthat she did not practice. She was quiet and uncontentious, mild and moderate. With her friends and acuaintances, she never spoke frivolously.

(Liu) Yigong, the Prince of Jiang-xia and Premier of the Song court, respected her highly and always provided her with clothing and medicine throughout the four seasons without fail. Huijun never hoarded any private wealth, but spent it all for the construction of the nunnery. The establishment of Zhu-yuan Nunnery was Huijun's achievement. Her delight in meditation did not fade even when she became old. In the eighth year of Da-ming (464) of the Song dynasty, she passed away at the age of seventy-three. Her remains were buried on Fu Mountain.

In the same nunnery there was the nun Senghua, who was an intelligent and outstanding person, well read in many scriptures and Vinaya texts. She was a vegetarian and led an ascetic life, and she was just as famous as Huijun.

34. Baoxian of Pu-xian Nunnery

Baoxian, originally surnamed Chen, was a native of Chen Prefecture. At the age of sixteen she lost her mother. For three years of mourning, she refrained from eating grains and lived on the roots of kudzu and taro. She wore neither silk or cotton garments, nor 110

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used couches or mats for seats. When she was nineteen years old she renounced secular life and lived at Jian-an Nunnery. She conducted herself well, practiced religion diligently, and was well learned in meditation and the Vinaya.

Emperor Wen of the Song dynasty treated Baoxian with courtesy and provided her with clothing and food. Emperor Xiaowu (r. 454-464) also treated her with respect and granted her [a large cash stipend] each month. When Emperor Ming ascended the throne (465), he appreciated and received her even more reverentially. In the first year of Tai-shi (465), Baoxian was appointed by imperial decree the abbess of Pu-xian Nunnery. In the second year (466), she was ordered by imperial degree to be the Directress of Nuns in the capital. She was highly awe-inspiring and passed fair judgment like a divine being. She was good at analyzing the principles of worldly a›airs and would always rectify injustice. Endowed with a firm and upright nature, she never harmed or caused trouble to anybody.

Formerly, during the Sheng-ping period of the Jin dynasty, the bhik≈u√∆ Jingjian, the first Buddhist nun in China, received full ordination only from the order of monks. Huiguo, Jingyin, and others of Jing-fu Nunnery inquired of Gu√avarman about this matter; and he told them,

"If two orders of the sangha do not exist

in this country, you should receive full ordination from the order of monks alone.

"

Later, Huiguo and the others met the foreign nun Devasårå and her group; and in the eleventh year of Yuan-jia (434), they received full ordination for a second time from Saµghavarman at the ordination platform in Nan-lin Monastery. This was done not because their previous ordination was considered invalid, but because they wished to enhance the goodness of the Vinaya. After that event some people who were fond of novelty widely emulated their practice and caused inconsistency in the system of the Vinaya. In the second year of Yuan-hui (474), the Vinaya teacher Faying expounded the gist of the Sarvåstivåda-vinaya at 111

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Jin-xing Monastery. When the lecture was concluded, more than ten nuns wished to receive ordination again.

Baoxian sent someone to the authorities in charge of monastic a›airs and brought back an order to the lecture hall. There it was announced with the striking of a wooden bell (gha√†å) that the nuns were not allowed to receive ordination for a second time. If a nun was found to be under age, her teacher should first bring her to repent before the assembly of the sangha and then approach the authorities in charge of monastic a›airs. Only with the permission of the authorities and after having been properly checked could one receive ordination for a second time. Anyone who disobeyed this order would be expelled. Thereafter, the erratic practice was suppressed for some time.

During her term of o‡ce, Baoxian was pure and simple, and she was talented at managing a›airs as well as at upholding justice. Under her care the community of nuns lived in happiness. She was kind to her subordinates. For her austere and plain living, thepeople respected her all the more. In the first year of Sheng-ming (477), she died at the age of seventy-seven.

35. Fajing of Pu-xian Nunnery

Fajing was a native of the region north of the Yangzi River. When she was twenty, she encountered a time of trouble and followed her father to take refuge at Mo-ling. Having come from a Buddhist family, she left secular life at an early age and lived at Yong-fu Nunnery.

Fajing observed the Vinaya rules in a pure manner and understood the underlying principle of phenomena. With deep thinking and intensive learning, she made profound studies of the abstruse doctrines. Her fame and position were roughly the same as those of the nun Baoxian.

Emperor Ming (r. 465-472) of the Song dynasty, who considered her an extraordinary person, invited her by imperial degree to live at Pu-xian Nunnery in the first year of Tai-shi (465). When 112

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Fajing was received in the palace, she was treated with the honor due to a teacher or friend. In the second year (466), she was appointed by imperial degree to be the Ceremonial Leader of the capital area. She managed a›airs in a fair and correct way, which was truly exceptional. She recommended and promoted people according to circumstances, and submitted to virtue like water flowing downward.

Her reputation of intelligence and virtue was so great that the nuns and their female relatives in the Jing and Chu regions used to write letters and send gifts to her from distant places to become acquainted with her. Seven hundred persons sought instruction from her as a model of the observance of the Vinaya. In the first year of Yuan-hui (473), she died at the age of sixty-five. 36. Huiyao of Yong-kang Nunnery

in Shu Prefecture

Huiyao, originally surnamed Zhou, was a native of Xi-ping. She left secular life when she was young, and often vowed to burn herself as an o›ering to the Triple Gem. By the end of the Tai-shi period (465-471), she asked permission to do this from the prefectural governor Liu Liang, who initially consented. There was a brick pagoda built by Zhao Qian'en's concubine (born Wang), and Huiyao asked permission to burn herself in that pagoda. Wang granted her permission to do so.

In the night of the fifteenth day of the first month, Huiyao, carrying oil and cloth, led her disciples to the pagoda. Before she had finished preparing herself, Liu Liang sent a message that if Huiyao actually burned herself, all the nuns of Yong-kang Nunnery would be heavily punished. Huiyao was obliged to give up her plan for the moment. Wang became enraged and said,

"This nun is aiming to gain fame and profit, and so she pretended to do something unusual. But she secretly bribed the people in the yamen (o‡ce of theprefectural governor) to do this. Otherwise how can those in the city know about it in the middle of the night?" 113

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Huiyao said,

"Madame, don't be so resentful. The sacrifice of my body is my own a›air. How can others know about it?" Then Huiyao returned to her nunnery and stopped eating grains but drank fragrant oil. In the first year of Sheng-ming (477), she immolated herself in the nunnery. When the flames reached her face, she was still reciting scriptures without ceasing. She said to the nuns,

"When you collect my remains, you will get exactly two liters of ashes.

" When the fire had gone out, they found that it was precisely as she had said.

One month or so before Huiyao burned herself, a foreign monk of about twenty arrived [at the nunnery]. He was of good appearance and had very soft hair, six or seven inches in length, growing on his shoulders. People asked him about it, and he said through an interpreter that because he never covered his shoulders, hair grew on them.

He spoke to Huiyao, saying,

"I live in the kingdom of Vårå√as∆

and have come here for just a few days. I have heard that you are going to sacrifice your body. I present you with a silver urn as a gift.

" Huiyao accepted it by placing it on her head, but before she could makefurther inquiries, the monk hurriedly departed. Someone was then sent to pursue and detain the monk, but he vanished as soon as he went out of the gate. Her Ωar∆ras (relics), less than two ge in quantity, were contained in the silver urn. End of Fascicle Two of Biographies of Buddhist Nuns 114

Fascicle Three

The Qi Dynasty

37. Fayuan of Zeng-cheng in Dong-guan

Fayuan, originally surnamed Yu, was a native of Zeng-cheng in Dong-guan. In the ninth year of Yuan-jia (432) of the Song dynasty, she was ten years old and her younger sister Facai was nine. They knew nothing of Buddhist scriptures or the Dharma, [but both] suddenly disappeared on the eighth day of the second month. They returned home three days later. They said that they had been to the heavenly palace of the Pure Land, where they saw the Buddha and received edification from him.

On the fifteenth day of the ninth month, they went there again and returned after ten days. After that they could write and speak a foreign language and chant Buddhist scriptures. When they saw people from the Western Region, they could talk and joke fluently with perfectmutual understanding.

On the fifteenth day of the first month in tenth year (433), [Fayuan and Facai] vanished once again. Some farmers working in the fields saw them drifting toward the sky in a gust of wind. Their parents were worried about them and o›ered sacrifices to the gods to seek blessing. After a month, the sisters returned in the form of nuns wearing religious robes, holding their own [shorn] hair in their hands.

They said that they had seen the Buddha and a nun, who said to them,

"Due to causes in your previous lives, you are to be my disciples.

" Then she raised her hand to stroke their heads, and their hair fell o› by itself. She gave the religious name Fayuan to the elder sister and Facai to the younger one. When they were sent back, the nun said to them,

"You may construct avihåra and

I will give you the scriptures.

"

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After returning home, Fayuan and her sister Facai demolished the household shrine for worshiping the gods and built a vihåra instead. There they lectured and chanted scriptures day and night. In the evenings, a ray of five colors often issued from the mountaintops, as if there were lamps or candles. From that time on, [the sisters'] deportment was elegant and dignified, and their speech and rituals were perfect and correct. The chanting of scriptures in the capital could not surpass their recitations. Both of the two prefectural governors, Wei Lang and Kong Mo, made o›erings to them. Upon hearing their utterances, the governors respected them all the more as extraordinary persons. Hence all the scholars believed in the right Dharma. In the Jian-yuan period (479-482), Fayuan died at the age of fifty-six.

38. Tanche of Southern Yong-an Nunnery

Tanche, whose native place was unknown, became a disciple of Bhik≈u√∆ Puyao when she was young and went to live at Southern Yong-an Nunnery with her teacher. Puyao was well known in her time for being pure in practicing the Way and excellent in learning, while Tanche comported herself well without a›ectation and pursued her studies ceaselessly. She was determined to completely understand the abstruse meanings of the Buddha-Dharma. Before she received ordination, she was already well learned in the scriptures and commentaries. After she was fully ordained, she made extensive studies of the Vinaya.

Tanche was a talented person capable of dealing with important a›airs, and she was particularly good at preaching and lecturing. She could make detailed analyses of things and elucidate obscurities, as well as delve into profundity and unveil the hidden. All nuns, old and young, asked her to be their teacher. They followed her in groups, carrying their books with them, wherever she went, in order to attend her preaching meetings. All the ladies of the 116

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five ranks of nobility and the seven families of distinction and those below them in status paid homage to her. In the second year of Yong-ming (484) of the Qi dynasty (479-502), Tanche passed away at the age of sixty-three.

39. Sengjing of Chong-sheng Nunnery

Sengjing, originally surnamed Li, was a native of Kuai-ji, but her family resided at Mo-ling. When she was still in her mother's womb, the family arranged an assembly and invited a monk from Wa-guan Monastery as well as the nun Tanzhi from Chao-xi Nunnery. The monk and nun were asked to point their fingers at the belly of the pregnant lady and call the fetus in her womb their disciple, while on behalf of her unborn child the mother called the two monastics teachers and promised to send the child, whether male or female, to lead the homeless religious life. One day, when the mother was about to go into labor, she dreamed of a divine being, who said to her, "You should observe

the eight precepts of purification and abstention. " So she ordered

that arrangements be made. But before a monk could be invited and an image installed, she gave birth to Sengjing. At that time a voice in the air was heard to say,

"The child may be given to the

nun Bai of Jian-an Nunnery to be her disciple. " The mother acted

accordingly.

When Sengjing reached the age of five or six, she could recite from memory whatever scripture on hymn she heard people chanting.She studied several hundred scrolls of scriptures with deeper and deeper understanding as the days went by. She lived on vegetarian food with self-restraint, and her pure manner of life became gradually well known.

During the Yuan-jia period, when Kong Mo of Lu Prefecture was dispatched to the garrison at Guang-zhou, Sengjing went there with him. There she met the foreign nun Devasårå and others, who were on their way to the capital of the Song court. All of 117

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them were of unusually lofty manners and character. Sengjing received ordination from them once again, gaining a deep comprehension of the doctrine of impermanence. Then she wished to sail across the sea to visit the sacred sites [in India]. However, both clergy and laypeople were prohibited from going abroad, so Sengjing stayed at Ling-nan for more than thirty years. Wherever her moral influence prevailed, rude folk changed their mental aspect. Thirteen families o›ered their houses and gardens to her and jointly built for her a nunnery at Chaoting, with the name Zhong-zao Nunnery. When Emperor Ming of the Song dynasty heard about her, he sent a messenger to invite her from a great distance, to the deep disappointment of the clergy and laity of Pan-yu [where she was staying]. After returning to the capital, Sengjing was ordered by imperial decree to live at Chong-sheng Nunnery, and both the clergy and laypeople followed her example in conduct and behavior. Yue Zun of Dan-yang donated his residence to make a nunnery for her, and later she went to live there.

Both Crown Prince Wenhui of the Court of Qi and Prince Wenxuan of Jing-ling admired her manners and virtue and o›ered donations to her without negligence. When Sengjing was eightyfour years old, she died on the third day of the second month in the fourth year of Yong-ming (486). Her remains were buried on the southern side of Zhong Mountain. Her disciples erected a stone memorial tablet on which was inscribed the epitaph composed by Shen Yue of Wu-xing, Vice-Minister of the Imperial Secretarial Department.

40. Sengmeng of Qi-ming Nunnery

in Yan-guan

Sengmeng, originally surnamed Cen, was a native of Nan-yang, but she was of the fifth generation since her family had moved to live in Yan-guan County. Her great-grandfather, named Shuai, was a former member of the civil service of the Jin dynasty and 118

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served as the magistrate of Yu-hang. Her family professed Taoism and also traditionally worshiped evil spirits. Since her childhood, Sengmeng had a deep aspiration to rise above vulgarity. When she was twelve, her father died, and she wailed so much that she spat blood and went into a faint for some time before regaining consciousness. After the conclusion of three years' mourning, she showed others the nature of immortality and took leave of her mother to lead the homeless life. Sengmeng was pure in conduct and served her teacher with respect and veneration. She ate only vegetables and unpolished rice in order to sustain her life. She practiced the Way and made confessions without becoming tired or indolent. Whenever she repented her former sins she would shed tears with sincerity, and she could do what others could not do. Upon hearing of her good name, Zhang Dai of Wu Prefecture, the prefectural governor of Yi-zhou, honored her with deference and begged her to be his personal teacher. In the first year of Yuan-hui (473) of the Song dynasty, the nun Jingdu came to Wu [Prefecture] and brought Sengmeng along to the capital, where she lived at Jian-fu Nunnery. She studied various scriptures day and night and always followed after teachers and attended their preaching meetings with an unwearied mind. She heard much, and with her retentive memory she could remember whatever had come to her ears. In this way, she studied and acquired a thorough understanding of all the scriptures and Vinaya texts. When she practiced meditation with a serene mind, she would sit placidly in an upright posture.

In the fourth year of Jian-yuan (482) of the Qi dynasty, Sengmeng's mother fell ill. The eastern part of her residence was given to make a convent with the name of Qi-ming Nunnery. There shrine halls were built and trees and bamboo were planted in rows. It was quiet and peaceful within and without, resembling the abode of immortals. Food was distributed to the hungry, and clothes were given to those who were cold.

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Once a hunter came near the southern end of the nunnery. The flying birds and running beasts flocked to Sengmeng to seek protection, but the falcons and hounds chased after them to within an arm's distance. Sengmeng placed herself between them. Although she was pecked and bitten, the birds and animals that came to her for shelter were saved.

Many people stayed together with her for more than thirty years, and they never saw her give vent to anger or resentment. She died in the seventh year of Yong-ming (489) at the age of seventy-two. At that time there was also the nun Sengyuan, who was a daughter of Sengmeng's cousin. She too was well known for her filial piety. Her conduct was lofty and superior, and her wisdom and discernment were deep and concentrated.

41. Miaozhi of Hua-yan Nunnery

Miaozhi, originally surnamed Cao, was a native of He-nei. She was mild and brilliant by nature, and molded her mind according to the Great Edification. She observed the prohibitive rules of the Vinaya as persistently as if she were safeguarding lustrous pearls. With a mind of patience, she bore no ill will against anyone, and even when she had been insulted or was annoyed, she always wore a kind countenance. She lived in seclusion, with curtains dropped, to engage in studies year round and never felt bored for a single day. As she had acquired a perfect understanding of the aspects of all things, the people honored her with their respect for her. When the meditation hall was first built, Emperor Wu (r. 483-493) of the Qi dynasty issued a decree inviting Miaozhi to preach on the ¸r∆målådev∆siµhanåda-s¥tra and the Vimalak∆rtinirdeΩa-s¥tra. When she started preaching on the topic, and during the course of her lectures, the emperor personally attended several preaching meetings and asked numerous questions, which Miaozhi did not hesitate to answer comprehensively. She analyzed [the questions] one by one, beginning from the base. The emperor 120

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repeatedly praised her, and the four groups of Buddhist followers highly respected her with admiration.

Prince Wenxuan of Jing-ling of the Qi dynasty demarcated Zhong Mountain [as the place] to collect and bury the remains of famous and virtuous ones. In the second year of Jian-wu (495), Miaozhi died at the age of sixty-four, and her ashes were buried on the southern side of Ding-lin Monastery. The wife (born Jiang), of Wang Lun of Lang-ya, an Imperial Attendant at the Court of Qi, wrote an eulogistic epitaph with a preface, which was inscribed on a stone tablet planted on the left side of the tomb. 42. Zhisheng of Jian-fu Nunnery

Zhisheng, originally surnamed Xu, was a native of Chang-an; but her family had lived at Kuai-ji for three generations when she was born. At the age of six she went with her grandmother to the capital, where she visited Wa-guan Monastery and saw the magnificent caitya (sanctuary) beautifully decorated with precious ornaments. She was moved to tears and wished to cut o› her hair and become a nun. When her grandmother asked her why she was crying, she explained her intention; but her grandmother said that she was too young and would not permit it.

During the turbulent time of the Song dynasty, all of the four classes of [Buddhist followers] lost their vocations. A number of years of this disorderly state of a›airs passed. When Zhisheng was approaching twenty, she was able to renounce secular life and went to live at Jian-fu Nunnery. Her singular practices were peerless, and her severance of worldly connections was di‡cult for others to emulate. She attended lectures on the Mahåparinirvå√as¥tra and could grasp the meaning of the text after hearing it only once. Later, when she studied the Vinaya-pi†aka she did not need to work on it a second time.

Her faculty of retention was well known to all, and all looked up to her with increased respect. She wrote several tens of scrolls of theoretical commentaries, with abstruse meanings and subtle 121

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and profound principles, in concise but comprehensive language. Zhisheng was so pure in character that even if she were to be immersed in a dark fluid she would not become black, and her steadfast nature was like a piece of solid rock that could not be ground thin.

Once, during the Da-ming period, a man plotted deceptively for an appointment with Zhisheng, attempting to commit an impropriety against her. But she had a deep will of morality, and her character was as upright as a precipice. She informed the community of nuns, who wrote a report and sent it to the authorities. She kept the Vinaya rules in a pure manner, as if she were safeguarding lustrous pearls.

At that time, of the Ven. Tanbin's disciples at Zhuang-yan Monastery, Sengzong and Xuanquwere jointly in charge of the Buddha hall. Through their negligence a thief came and stole the bodhisattva's necklace of pearls and a seven-jeweled bathing jug. Except for his robes and almsbowl, which were left untouched, the Ven. Tanbin's chamber also became as empty as a hanging bell and he had no means to replace the lost articles. He was so sad and worried about it that he stopped preaching and confined himself in his room for three days. Zhisheng made an announcement to the four groups of Buddhist followers, who replaced the lost properties within ten days. The influence of her virtue was always like this.

On hearing of her reputation, Crown Prince Wenhui of the Qi dynasty often summoned and received her. Each time she was invited to preach on various scriptures in the palace, Prince Wenxuan of Jing-ling, the Minister of Civil A›airs, highly venerated her. Zhisheng's will was as staunch as gold produced in the south, and her mind was as pure as the snow of the north. In guiding and admonishing the nuns, she truly enjoyed the confidence of all. The empress dowager appointed her abbess of the nunnery, and all the resident nuns honored her as their parent.

She received the bodhisattva precepts from the Ven. Sengyuan of Ding-lin Monastery. There was always an incense burner beside 122

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his seat. Zhisheng put a pinch of incense into it, though Sengyuan tried to stop her, saying,

"It has not been lit for two nights.

" The

incense she had put in, however, started issuing a dense, fragrant smoke which wafted into the air. Everyone praised her, saying that this was a spiritual response to her devotion and sincerity. During the Yong-ming period (483 -493), Zhisheng once made an o›ering of food to the [image of the] Holy Monk while she prayed with a concentrated mind. Suddenly she heard the snapping of fingers in the air, and she listened to it attentively with her palms joined together.

Staying at the nunnery for thirty years, Zhisheng never went out to attend a festival or associate with the nobility. She always preferred to remain in a quiet and solitary place and engage in meditation. Thus her fame was not widely spread. Crown Prince Wenhui o›ered special donations to her, su‡cient for her daily and monthly use. More houses were constructed and the whole nunnery lived in glory and abundance. Zhisheng gave away her robes and almsbowl [to raise money] for the carving of stone statues of seven emperors of the Song and Qi dynasties at She-shan Monastery.

In the tenth year of Yong-ming (492), when she was ill in her sickbed, Zhisheng suddenly saw golden carriages covered with jade canopies coming to welcome her. On the fifth day of the fourth month, she said to her disciples,

"I am leaving now.

" Her disciples

wept, and then she opened her robe and exposed her chest, on which was shown the character "Buddha" [written] in the cursive style in a brilliant white color with a bright and glossy sheen. At noon on the eighth day she died at the age of sixty-six, and her remains were buried on Zhong Mountain. Crown Prince Wenhui supplied her with medicine, and all that was needed for her funeral was provided by the government.

43. Senggai of Chan-ji Nunnery

Senggai, originally surnamed Tian, was a native of Jun-ren in the 123

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state of Zhao. Her father, named Hongliang, was the governor of Tian-shui. When she was young, she left home to become a disciple of the nun Sengzhi. She lived at Hua-lin Nunnery at Peng-cheng. She cared nothing for personal gain and was indi›erent to praise or blame from others.

In the first year of Yuan-hui (473), when the Tuoba clan of the north invaded the state, Senggai traveled south to the capital with her fellow student Fajin and lived at Miao-xiang Nunnery. She attended numerous lectures on the scriptures and Vinaya texts, and made profound studies of their ultimate meanings. She practiced meditation exclusively and always felt that the days were not long enough [to practice as much as she would like]. Whether it was the cold or hot season, she never changed her garments. She never took seasonal food throughout the the four seasons, eating only one vegetarian dish for her midday meal. Senggai studied under the two dhyåna masters Yin and Shen, both of whom praised her for her faculty of quick awakening. During the Yong-ming period of the Qi dynasty, she went to live at Chan-ji Nunnery with the intention ofpropagating the way of contemplation. Clergy and laypeople visited her for consultations, and this became so disruptive to her that she had to build a separate meditation room to the left of the nunnery in which she sat in silent contemplation. When she came out of her room, she instructed others earnestly without feeling tired. Xiao Ziliang, Prince Wenxuan of Jing-ling of the Qi dynasty, provided her with all the requisites for the four seasons. In spite of her old age, she did not slacken in her aspirations. For a whole day she would reside in a state of unattached serenity and she would not lie down all through the night. In the eleventh year of Yong-ming (493), Senggai died at the age of sixty-four. There was at that time another nun in the same nunnery, named Fayan. Her original surname was Xu, [and she was] a native of Gao-yang. She was diligent in her practice of religion and was also well known for engaging in meditation.

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44. Faquan of Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery

Faquan, originally surnamed Dai, was a native of Dan-yang. She had a dignified appearance and was fond of quietude, and she was diligent in cultivating concentration and wisdom. At first she widely studied various scriptures with Zong and Yuan. Later she learned all the methods of meditation and contemplation, with Shen and Yin as her teachers. In the daytime she perused the texts and made profound deliberations, while at night she experienced the mysterious mental state of contemplation. She could expound all the abstruse texts of the Mahayana teachings and was a teacher of the secret methods of samådhi. She ate only vegetarian food, and her clothes were merely for covering her body. She taught and guided the unlearned, and encouraged new students by helping them in their studies. Her listeners practiced the Way and gained much benefit.

The nunnery was a large one and it was di‡cult to manage. In the third year of Tai-shi (467), the community of nuns discussed the matter and decided to divide it into two parts. The nun Baoying sought to build meditation cells and a new relic stupa on the east side of the nunnery. So the nunnery was divided [into two parts], [with the eastern part known] as Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery. In the second year of Sheng-ming (478), Baoying passed away. Since the community [at Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery] had just been established, there was not yet anyone suitable to succeed her. When Faquan was finally chosen to be the abbess, all the nuns, old and young, were delighted and none bore her the slightest grudge. In the first year of Long-chang (494), Faquan died at the age of eighty-three.

The nuns Jinglian, Senglü, and Huixing were also living in the same nunnery at that time. All of them were famous for their learning.

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45. Jinghui of Pu-xian Nunnery

Jinghui, originally surnamed Yang, was a native of Jian-kang. She aimed at the Way with a sincere and concentrated mind, and took delight in the Dharma with earnest admiration. When she first received full ordination, she studied under the guidance of Ji and Yuan, and made a profound study into the mysteries of Mahayana teachings with deliberate thought. Ten years after her ordination, she became a prominent teacher. Both Crown Prince Wenhui and Prince Wenxuan of Jingling of the Qi dynasty were fully convinced of her learning. In the eighth year of Yong-ming (490), the Prince of Jing-ling invited her to lecture on the Vimalak∆rtinirdeΩa-s¥tra at his residence. Later, she served as abbess for more than twenty years, and the nuns, old and young, served her with the respect due to parents. More than four hundred persons followed her as disciples. In the tenth year of Yong-ming (492), Jinghui died at the age of seventytwo. The nuns Sengao and Guangjing were both at the same nunnery. They were also well known for their learning and practice. 943c

46. Tanjian of Fa-yin Nunnery

Tanjian, originally surnamed Zhang, was a native of Qing-he.She was a disciple of the nun Fajing and lived in the same nunnery, and she traveled to study in the Huaihui region and propagated the right Dharma. She always considered others before thinking of herself, and her aspiration was to save all living beings. In the fourth year of Jian-yuan (482) of the Qi dynasty, Tanjian founded the Fa-yin Vihåra. She engaged in silent meditation and mastered the method of samådhi. Her fame for virtue spread widely, and her spiritual influence reached far. Both the clergy and the laity venerated her and o›ered her rich alms. There was then a Ven. Huiming, who was a person deeply fond of quietude. He originally lived at Dao-lin Monastery, which was 126

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constructed and furnished by Crown Prince Wenhui and Prince Wenxuan of Jing-ling during the Yong-ming period. The monks were mostly scholars learned in Buddhist theories and they often lectured on the scriptures and commentaries. The monastery was a clamorous and bustling place from the coming and going of many people, and Huiming wished to leave it. So Tanjian o›ered her nunnery to him.

She removed to White Mountain, where she built a thatched hut to shelter herself from wind and rain and lived by begging at the proper time for whatever alms she could collect. She frequently gathered firewood, saying that she was performing a meritorious deed. On the night of the eighteenth day of the second month in the first year of Jian-wu (494), Tanjian mounted a pile of firewood and set it on fire in order to immolate herself as a sacrifice to the Triple Gem. When they saw the fire, [people from] the villages nearby rushed to the spot to rescue her, but when they arrived Tanjian was already dead. The religious devotees and laypeople wailed [in grief], and their voices echoed in the valley. They collected her remains, for which a tomb caitya was erected. 47. Jinggui of Fa-yin Nunnery

Jinggui, originally surnamed Zhou, was a native of Jin-ling, but her family had lived in Jian-kang County for three generations. During her childhood, she was intelligent and could understand much after hearing [something only] once. She was by nature unaccustomed to the world and wished to renounce home at an early age. Having sympathy with her, her parents did not oppose her aspirations.

Jinggui became a disciple of the nun Fajing and lived at Fayin Nunnery. She was pure and profound in her virtuous conduct, and was widely learned in the scriptures and Vinaya texts. She was pure in the Three Activities and was conversant with the secrets of meditation. Her spiritual attainments were so deep and far-reaching that nobody could fathom them. She neglected her 127

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body and forgot about food, and so she always looked haggard and emaciated. Her vigor and perfect ability to uphold goodness and suppress evil were exemplary for the world.

In teaching and guiding her pupils, Jinggui could in most cases instruct them according to their circumstances. The people of the time respected her with heartfelt admiration. She lived with the nun Tanjian at Fa-yin Nunnery and later moved to White Mountain, where she dwelled under a tree. Her meritorious deeds as well as her spiritual influence became widely known. On the eighth day of the second month in the first year of Jian-wu (494), she immolated herself along with the Tanjian on the same night. Both clergy and laity attended her funeral, sobbing and weeping. Her ashes were collected and buried under a tomb caitya. 48. Huixu of Ji-shan Nunnery

Huixu, originally surnamed Zhou, was a native of Gao-ping in Lüqiu. She was a noble and straightforward person with an inaccessible air, and looked more like a man than a woman. Her words and speech were very frank and upright, never dodging anything. When she was seven she became a vegetarian and kept fasts with a firm and steadfast mind. At the age of eighteen she left home to live as a nun at San-ceng Nunnery in Jing-zhou. She observed the Vinaya rules in a perfect manner, winning the praise of both clergy and laypeople.

At that time there was at Jiang-ling a recluse nun who enjoyed a reputation for virtue in the western part of the country. On seeing Huixu, the recluse considered her an unusual person. Despite the di›erence in their ages, the two [women] practiced the Way together companionably. They stayed at the same place for one summer, practicing the pratyutpanna samådhi, exerting themselves mentally and physically day and night without rest. When Shen Youzhi was the prefectural governor, he enforced a general selective elimination of monks and nuns. Huixu went to 128

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the capital in order to avoid the calamity. When Shen had failed [and fallen from power], she returned to the west. Xiao Yi, the Prince of Yu-zhang, who was the Chancellor of Military A›airs and Minister of War of the Qi dynasty, went to serve as garrison commander in the regions of Jing and Shan at the end of the Sheng-ming period (477-479) of the Song dynasty. Knowing that Huixu was a person of religious practice, he invited her to his o‡cial residence and provided her with the four requisites. At that time the dhyåna master Xuanchang came down from the region of Shu to the region of Jing. Huixu learned the methods of meditation from him and made a thorough study of the subtle mysteries. Xuanchang often praised her, saying that her religious practice in her former existence had not been superficial. She was not only proficient in the practice of meditation, but was also a vegetarian and led a life of strict morality. Because of this, the wife of the Prince of Yu-zhang and the other female members of the royal family highly venerated her and learned the methods of meditation from her.

Whenever Huixu received any gifts, she would distribute them to others at once, never hoarding anything for herself. Her mind was magnanimous and far-reaching, and she never concerned herself about her own living. Prince Xiao Yi invited her to return with him to the capital, where he built a vihåra for her, named Fu-tian Nunnery, on the eastern estate of the royal family. She often went to the royal residence to practice the Way.

In the ninth year of Yong-ming (491), Huixu said that she was suddenly su›ering from illness. But there was no symptom of real sickness, except that she refused to take food. She became haggard in appearance and bitterly begged to return to her nunnery. As soon as she returned to the nunnery, she became quite well. Ten days later, she was again invited to the royal residence. She was ill again as before, but again nobody knew why. Shortly afterward, when the prince had passed away, calamities and misfortunes befell his family one after another.

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In the vicinity of the eastern estate, Emperor Wu (of the Qi dynasty) constructed another convent, Ji-shan Nunnery, and brought all the nuns [from Fu-tian] to live in it. Meanwhile, Futian Nunnery was used separately to lodge foreign monks and masters. The royal family continued to o›er alms to those who were good at reciting and chanting charms and spells. After Huixu went to live at Ji-shan Nunnery, she did not set foot in the royal residence again for several years. People from within and outside the residence highly respected this nun, and often exhorted her to pay a short visit to the inner chambers of the royal house. When Lady Zhu wished to invite the nuns to accept alms of food, she first sent a messenger to consult with and invite Huixu, who said,

"Very good. As I am getting old and weak, I really wish at this moment to go to the royal house once to bid farewell to the various good ladies.

" So she went to the royal residence to take part in the function. After it was over, she asked for paper and writing brush and composed this poem: To those who know me not,

My name is Old Zhou.

Being invited to attend

A seven-day rite.

I'll not put an end

To the ceremony of insight.

(Baochang's note: There were ten more characters expressing farewell, but I have forgotten them.) After writing the poem, Huixu talked and smiled with the people, not di›ering in the least from her usual lofty demeanor. When she took leave of them, she said,

"My return to my nunnery this

time is our eternal parting. I am getting old and there will be no further reason for me to come to the royal house again. " She

was thenquite healthy, but a month or so after returning to her nunnery, she fell ill. She did not alter her usual activities and died in a few days, on the twentieth day of the eleventh month of the 130

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first year of Yong-yuan (499). Huixu was then sixty-nine years old. Zhou She wrote an eulogistic epitaph in honor of her. There was also the nun Desheng, who had the same virtue and shared the same aim as Huixu, and was her [sister] in the Dharma. She practiced the Way and trained herself in contemplation under Huixu's personal instruction. 49. Chaoming of Qi-ming Nunnery

in Qian-tang

Chaoming, originally surnamed Fan, was a native of Qian-tang. Her father, named Xian, was a scholar at the National Academy when he was young, and his family had professed the great Dharma for generations. When Chaoming was young, she was clever and intelligent and had noble aspirations. She studied the Five Classics with full understanding of their literal meanings. A person of rectitude and politeness, she was respected by people from both within and outside of her family.

At the age of twenty-one Chaoming lost her husband and lived as a widow. A neighbor asked for her hand in marriage, but she refused and took a vow not to marry again. Thus she renounced secular life and went to live at Chong-yin Nunnery. Her mentality and rationality were brilliant and penetrating, and her discernment of the Way was clear and mindful.

Having heard that Dharma Master Tanzheng, of Bei-zhang Monastery in Wu County, was energetic and austere in his religious practice, Chaoming received full ordination from him. Later, she went to Tu-shan to attend the sermons delivered by Dharma Master Huiji on various scriptures, and she studied the gists of his theories. Whatever she had heard once, she never forgot. Both the gentry and the commoners of the three regions of Wu, as well as those within and outside the palace, respected her. Not long afterward, she returned to Qian-tang and sojourned at Qi-ming Nunnery. In the fifth year of Jian-wu (498), Chaoming died at the age of over sixty.

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There was also the nun Fazang, who was famous for her learning and practice. 50. Tanyong of Fa-yin Nunnery

Tanyong was the elder sister of the nun Tanjian. She was by nature firm and straightforward, never bending or changing herself to suit circumstances. She always considered the practice of meditation and the observance of the Vinaya as her moral obligation, and she never bothered about food and clothing. She lived at Fa-yin Vihåra, deeply understanding the truth of impermanence and highly revering the teaching of the unchangeability and bliss of nirvana(liberation). In the first year of Jian-wu (494), Tanyong moved with Tanjian to White Mountain. During the night of the fifteenth day of the second month in the third year of Yong-yuan (501), she piled up firewood and immolated herself as an o›ering. Those who witnessed or heard about the event made up their minds to practice the Way. They collected her ashes, for which a tomb caitya was erected. 944c

51. Dele of Qi-xing Nunnery

in Shan County

Dele, originally surnamed Sun, was a native of Pi-ling. Her greatgreat-grandfather Yu was the prefectural governor of Yu-zhou during the Jin dynasty. She was born with two teeth in her mouth, and when she had grown up she could often see clearly in a dark room without the aid of a lamp or candle.

Dele wished to leave secular life and, as her parents loved her tenderly, they did not have the heart to stand in her way. When she was eight, she was permitted to enter the religious life together with her sister. They became disciples of the nun Lingguang of Jin. After receiving ordination, both of them went to study in the capital, where they lived at Southern Yong-an Nunnery. They 132

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worked hard day andnight with earnest determination. They made thorough studies of the scriptures and the Vinaya, and they spoke in a refined and elegant manner. Emperor Wen of the Song dynasty treated them well.

In the seventh year of Yuan-jia (430), the foreign monk Gu√avarman arrived in the capital. The General of Song established Royal Garden Monastery (on the northern side of the road to Jetavana Monastery) and invited Gu√avarman to stay there. In the eleventh year (434), more than ten nuns arrived from the Land of the Lion, and Dele received full ordination again from Saµghavarman.

In the twenty-first year (444), the nuns Fajing and Tanlan of the same nunnery were involved in a conspiracy led by Kong Xixian. They were punished under the law; the nunnery was demolished and all the nuns dispersed. Dele went to stay at Eastern Qing-yuan Nunnery, where she sought advice about the method of deep meditation and made a thorough study into the subtle sphere of the mind.

After the demise of Emperor Wen (453), Dele traveled east to Kuai-ji and stayed at Zhao-ming Vihåra at White Mountain in Shan County. Students flocked to study under her, and she taught them in an easy and natural manner. Thus the Way flourished in the southeast of the country.

In the fifth year of Yong-ming (487) of the Qi dynasty, Yuan Jian, a devout Buddhist believer of Chen-liu, donated his own residence to establish Qi-xing Vihåra, with Dele as the superioress. Both old and young were pleased with her. People far and near admired her moral integrity, and wished to depend on her as their teacher. She had more than two hundred disciples and never accumulated donations o›ered to her [but dispensed them]. At the annual preaching meeting, she presented gifts to all monks and nuns equally without discrimination. In the third year of Yongyuan (501), she died at the age of eighty-one. There was also the nun Sengmao in Shan County, who was originally surnamed Wang and was a native of Peng-cheng. She 133

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was moderate in food and ate only vegetables, and she sincerely practiced austerities as her regular task. She gave all the gifts she received to support Zhu-yuan Vihåra.

End of Fascicle Three of Biographies of Buddhist Nuns 134

Fascicle Four

The Liang Dynasty

52. Jingxiu of Chan-lin Nunnery

Jingxiu, originally surnamed Liang, was a native of Wu-shi in Anding. Her grandfather, named Chou, was a commander of the troops for subjugating the frontier tribes; her father, Canzhi, was the Marquis of Du-xiang in Long-chuan County.

Since childhood, Jingxiu was intelligent and farsighted and loved to perform benevolent deeds. At the age of seven, she naturally observed fasts, and she learned about abstaining from eating fish and meat when a monk was invited to recite the Nirvana Sutra at her home. After that she became a vegetarian, but she dared not let her parents know about it. Whenever salmon or eel was served, she would secretly throw it away. She received the five precepts from the foreign monk Pulian and observed them strictly without fail. She worshiped the Buddha and read and chanted the scriptures day and night without taking rest.

When Jingxiu was only twelve, she begged her parents to [permit her to] renounce home; but they forbade her to do so. After she had learned to write she often copied scriptures. Whatever money she had she spent for the performance of meritorious deeds. She never sought worldly pleasure, and neither wore embroidered brocade nor used cosmetics. She lived in this manner until she was nineteen, when she was permitted to become a disciple of the nun Yeshou of Qing-yuan Nunnery.

Jingxiu served her teacher with utmost sincerity, still fearing that she might not be up to the mark. She diligently practiced the Way with e›orts of body, speech, and mind, never relaxing for a moment from morning till night. She was always at the head of 135

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the community in performing the communal duties of the nunnery, and she toiled in drudgery, o›ering herself for any work that came her way.

There was then an elder named Ma, who was called a divine person by the people. On seeing Jingxiu, he predicted, "This nun

will be reincarnated in the Tu≈ita Heaven.

"

Benevolent deities protected her with respect and were always around her. Once three nuns were sitting in the shrine hall when they suddenly heard a voice in the air like the bellowing of a bull. The other two nuns were frightened, but Jingxiu remained calm and unperturbed. She went back to her room to fetch a candle. She returned to the shrine hall and just as she was ascending the steps, the voice in the air was again heard, saying, "Nuns, make way!

Dhyåna teacher Jingxiu is coming back!"

On another day Jingxiu was again sitting in the meditation hall with several other nuns. One of the nuns fell asleep and began to snore. In her sleep she saw a man supporting the hall with his head, and he said to her,

"Don't disturb Bhik≈u√∆ Jingxiu!" Later,

as Jingxiu was sitting together with the other nuns, one of them rose from her seat for a short while. When she returned to her room, she saw a person stopping her with his hand, saying, "Don't

distract Bhik≈u√∆ Jingxiu!"

Jingxiu behaved herself in conformity with the rules laid down in the Vinaya. Once she wished to invite the Dharma master Yao to give lectures on the Sarvåstivåda-vinaya, but she had only one thousand jian (an amount of cash)and worried that it could not be done. In the night she had a dream, in which she saw crows, magpies, and mynas riding in carriages of appropriate sizes and singing in chorus: "We shall assist Bhik≈u√∆ Jingxiu in making arrangements for the lectures!" When the function began, seventy donors turned up to viewith one another in making the best of o›erings.

Later Jingxiu also invited the Vinaya master Faying to lecture on the Sarvåstivåda-vinaya for a second time. On the day when the title of the text was explained, the water in the washbasin 136

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became fragrant by itself. On that day she had no companion to sit with her in the lecture hall and she feared that this would be an infringement of the rule of good conduct. She inquired of the Vinaya master about it, and he said that it was not so. On seeing that the nuns were not behaving themselves in perfect accordance with the Dharma, Jingxiu remarked with a sigh, "The Great Light has not gone far, and yet spiritual orderliness has [already] slackened somewhat. If I do not rectify myself, how can I guide others?" Thus she conducted the månatva ceremony of absolution to confess her own o›enses. When the community saw this, they all retired one after the other to ponder redress of their faults and made confessions with a sense of shame. In the seventh year of Yuan-jia (430) of the Song dynasty, the foreign monk Gu√avarman arrived in the capital. His exemplary observance of the Vinaya was pure and sublime, and Jingxiu received ordination again from him. The nuns of Qing-yuan Nunnery all had di›erent ways of understanding [and practicing the Dharma], so she thought of establishing a separate lodging where she could strictly observe the prohibitive rules of the Vinaya outwardly while inwardly fixing her mind on silent contemplation. In this way so she hoped to fulfil her own [spiritual] goals to some extent.

In the eighth month of the seventh year of Da-ming (463) of the Song dynasty, the Princess of Nan-chang, together with Huang Xiuyi, donated a piece of suitable land to her for building a vihåra. Jingxiu dressed in hempen clothes and ate coarse food, and personally carried mortar and tiles, working hard on the construction from morning till night. Niches were built and images made, and nothing was in short supply. More than ten fellow nuns lived with her in the vihåra. They all practiced meditation as their regular duty. In the third year of Tai-shi (467), Emperor Ming (of the Song dynasty) ordered that, according to those who assembled there, the convent should be named Chan-lin (Meditation Forest) Nunnery.

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945c

Jingxiu copied with her owns hands various scriptures that were preserved in a scriptural terrace specially built in the nunnery. The two sågaranåga brothers showed their traces for a whole day to signify their patronage. None of Jingxiu's acquaintances who [visited the nunnery] failed to see the phenomenon. Each time she made o›erings to the [image of the] Holy Monk, there were always unusual signs left on the fruits and food.

Once Jingxiu performed the seven-day o›ering ceremony. When it was concluded she concentrated her mind in meditation. In [that state] she saw two foreign monks raising their hands and talking together. One was called Mikkala and the other Vikåra. The robes they wore were of the color of ripe mulberries. So Jingxiu used clay to dye her robes the color she had seen in the vision. Another time she again invited five hundred arhats from Lake Anavatapta, five hundred arhats from KaΩm∆ra, and also virtuous monks from the capital to attend a twenty-one-day assembly. On the second day there came another foreign monk, of whom the congregation had doubts. They made inquiries of him, and he said that he had come from KaΩm∆ra a year before. The doorkeeper was asked to keep an eye on him. Many people saw that he went out of the Song-lin Gate and suddenly disappeared after walking about ten paces.

Once Jingxiu cleaned the image of the Holy Monk. [As she did so,] there was complete silence except for the sound made by the gourd ladle. All the auspicious and supernatural manifestations she experienced were like this.

Crown Prince Wenhui of the Qi dynasty and Prince Wenxuan of Jing-ling accorded her rich hospitality and never failed to o›er alms to her. She was invited [to the palace] by imperial decree in the third year of Tian-jian (504) of the Liang dynasty. As she was getting old and feeble and could not walk any more, she was allowed the privilege of riding in a sedan chair to the inner palace. On the seventeenth day of the sixth month of the fifth year (506), Jingxiu felt sorrowful at heart and could not eat or drink anything. On the nineteenth day of the sixth month, Dharma 138

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Master Huiling of Peng-cheng Monastery dreamed that he saw an unusually magnificent hall with columns, which was said to be a palace in the Tu≈ita Heaven, and he saw that Jingxiu was in it. When he heard that Jingxiu was ill, Huiling went to see her and gave her an account of his dream. He exhorted her, "Since you

have been born in a superb place, don't forget to receive me. "

Jingxiu said,

"The Dharma master, being a great man and

having propagated the teachings of the scriptures, should naturally live in an excellent place.

"

On the thirteenth day of the seventh month, she felt a little better and had a dream in which she saw banners, canopies, and musical instruments on the west side of the Buddha hall. On the twenty-second day, she invited the clerics with whom she was acquainted to bid farewell to them. On the twenty-seventh day, she told her disciples,

"I am going up to the Tu≈ita Heaven.

" After

saying this, Jingxiu died at the age of eighty-nine. 53. Sengnian of Chan-lin Nunnery

Sengnian, originally surnamed Yang, was a native of Nan-cheng at Mount Tai. Her father was an assistant to the governor of Mi-zhou. She was the aunt of Dharma Master Tanrui of CåturdiΩa Monastery. She had a noble character from her early days, and her talented ability of discrimination was brilliant and comprehensive. Having established her virtue while she was young, Sengnian left home at the age of ten to become a disciple of the nun Fahu and lived with her teacher at Tai-hou Nunnery. She led a life of moral integrity with a mind of austerity, and her contemplative thought was subtle and profound. She was well read and versatile, and her writings were good both in meaning and in composition. She was a vegetarian and performed the ceremony of confession even more earnestly during her old age. She recited the Saddharmapu√∂ar∆ka-s¥tra seven times in one day and night. 139

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Both Emperor Wen and Emperor Xiaowu of the Song dynasty often provided her with substantial aid. During the Yong-ming period of the Qi dynasty, Sengnian went to live at Chan-lin Nunnery. Her mode of meditation became very popular, and she had numerous students. The Prince of Jing-ling, who was the Minister of Civil A›airs, supported her with the four requisites. In the third year of Tian-jian (504) of the Liang dynasty, she died at the age of ninety. Her remains were buried in the village of Zhongxing in Mo-ling County. 54. Tanhui of Chang-le Nunnery

in Cheng-du

Tanhui, originally surnamed Qingyang and named Baiyu, was a native of Cheng-du. When she was young she took delight in practicing the Way, but her parents did not allow her to do so. In the ninth year of Yuan-jia (432), the foreign dhyåna master KålayaΩas came to the region of Shu to teach meditation and contemplation. Tanhui, who was then eleven, begged her mother to invite the dhyåna master, as she wished to inquire of him about the methods of meditation; her mother consented. The moment KålayaΩas saw her, he remarked with admiration that the child possessed prenatal competence and he asked her to practice meditation. He told the nun Fayu to assist her. But Tanhui's mother had already betrothed her to the son of her paternal aunt. As the date of wedding was fixed, nothing could be done to alter the plan. Bhik≈u√∆ Fayu secretly took the girl to her nunnery, and Tanhui made a deep vow, saying, "If I cannot

fulfill my religious purpose and I am forced to do anything else, I will burn myself to death.

"

Hearing of this matter, the Prefectural Governor Zhen Fachong dispatched a messenger to invite Tanhui. He assembled the chief o‡cials together with their assistants and various people of renown, and requested the presence of the monks and nuns to carry out a 140

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thorough investigation of the matter. Zhen Fachong asked, "Do

you think that you can lead the homeless life?" Tanhui replied,

"That has been my humble wish for a long

time. Now I beg for your help and support.

"

Fachong said,

"Good.

" He then sent a messenger to consult

with her aunt, who readily accepted the governor's instructions. Tanhui renounced home when she was just thirteen years old, under the instruction of the nun Fayu, from whom she learned a method of meditation. Immediately after she had received her first lesson, she went to sit at the last seat and entered samådhi. She saw two rays of light in the east. One was as white as the sun and the other was pale blue like the moon. In this state of samådhi she thought that the white light must represent the path of the bodhisattva, while the blue one must signify the Dharma of the Ωråvaka, and that if this were truly the case, the blue light should fade away while the white one would glow brighter. In response to this thought, the bluish light vanished and the white ray brightened. When Tanhui emerged from samådhi, she told this to Bhik≈u√∆ Fayu who, being skilled in the way of contemplation, was delighted to hear about it and extolled her with praise. There were then more than forty persons sitting together with her, and all of them marveled at this rare occurrence.

Later Tanhui's betrothed, suspecting that she was deceiving him, led a raid against her and abducted her to his home. Tanhui, who was then sixteen years old, guarded herself against the assault with the aid of her maidservant. Her fiancé was then at the end of his tether. She sued him through the prefectural government. The governor appreciated her unusual conduct and consulted with KålayaΩas, who said,

"This person is endowed with intelligence.

It would be prudent not to act against her wishes. If her fiancé's family is willing to settle the case and is short of money to cover expenses, I have a servant whom I can spare to make a contribution. " In this way the problem was solved.

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946b

Later, in the course of meditation [practice], Tanhui came to understand the immutability of the Buddha-nature and other Mahayana doctrines that her teacher had not taught her. Various well-known teachers of the time tried their utmost to raise di‡cult questions to test her, but nobody could ba·e her. Thus her fame spread far and near, and she won the trust of all people. In the nineteenth year of Yuan-jia (442) of the Song dynasty, the Prince of Liu-chuan came to govern South Yan-zhou. He invited Tanhui to his residence when she was twenty-one years old. When the prince was given the title of General of Biao-qi [and so began] to administer the region of Shan, he brought her to the southern part of Chu. One thousand two hundred men and women, both clergy and laypeople, served her as their teacher with great respect and honor.

Months and years passed. Tanhui longed to see her mother and insisted on returning to her home village. As she was distinguished by her virtuous deeds, her disciples increased day by day. To the northwest of the bridge at the market, she built a temple with a stupa. The shrine rooms, halls, sidehouses, and corridors were completed very quickly. She also constructed three more nunneries, all of which were finished with such amazing speed that the people marveled at her and remarked that she possessed spiritual powers. In the third year of Tian-jian (504), Tanhui died at the age of eighty-three.

One time, when Zhang Jun was with his parents in Yi-zhou, he suddenly went straight to visit Tanhui without previous notice. More than thirty guests who had come along with him had just sat down when fruits, rice dumplings, and other seasonal delicacies were immediately served. Later, the prefectural governor Liu Quan also went with his friends [to visit Tanhui], and the same thing happened.

The Prince of Xuan-wu of the Liang dynasty once sent provisions to Tanhui to prepare a feast for a hundred persons. He said that he would not join the gathering, but in the middle of the event 142

Biographies of Buddhist Nuns

he went there in person and found that there were as many as three hundred monks and some of his assistant o‡cials, nearly four hundred persons in all. At the moment when they were going to perform a religious ceremony, Tanhui sent a maidservant to ask people to help serve the food. Some people were sent to her, and they saw that only two of her disciples and two maidservants were preparing the food without the aid of any other servants. The prince remarked with still greater admiration, "She is unfathomable!"

Once somebody asked Tanhui,

"I see that you and your disciples

possess no more assets than a middle-class family. How is it that you can do things in such a marvelous way?"

She said in reply,

"This poor person never had any savings.

Whenever I am in need of money, I just manage to have three or five pieces of gold to spend. Each time I need some money, it comes to me in a way that I do not know.

" That person who had talked

with her thought that she had an inexhaustible treasury. There was also the nun Huaguang, who was originally surnamed Xianyu and who had a penetrating understanding of the abstruse subtlety of deep meditation and marvelous insight. She was well-read in the Tripi†aka as well as in the philosophies of various schools. She was particularly good at writing compositions, and she wrote an encomium in praise of Tanhui with well-regulated phrasing that was not contrary to literary elegance. 55. Feng of Lang-zhong Nunnery

in the Illegal Capital of Gao-chang

Bhik≈u√∆ Feng, originally surnamed Feng, was a native of Gaochang. Out of respect for her, people of the time addressed her by her surname. She renounced home at the age of thirty and went to live at Lang-zhong Nunnery in the capital of Gao-chang. Taking only one vegetarian meal a day, she observed the Vinaya rules strictly. By way of fervent devotion she burned six of her fingers, all right up to the palms, and recited the Mahåparinirvå√a-s¥tra 143

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once every three days.

There was then a Dharma master named Fahui, whose religious devotion surpassed that of all others. He was the preceptor of all the nuns in the whole country of Gao-chang. Some time later, Feng suddenly said to Fahui,

"Åcårya (teacher), you are not yet

perfect. Let me be a virtuous friend to you. You,åcårya, should go to the kingdom of Kucha, where, under the tent of the Golden Flower Monastery, you may listen to the monk on monthly duty and gain the supreme Dharma.

"

Fahui listened to her and accepted her advice. He went to that monastery and saw the monk, who was pleased and o›ered him a pint of grape wine to drink. Fahui was amazed, "I have come to

seek the supreme Dharma, but here you are giving me wine to drink.

" When he refused to drink the forbidden beverage, the monk shoved him and ordered him out at once. Fahui withdrew and thought to himself, "I have come from a

great distance but have not achieved my intention. Perhaps I should not disobey him.

" Then he drank the wine in one gulp and became intoxicated. He vomited and lost consciousness in a state of total stupor. Meanwhile the monk went away. When Fahui sobered up, he realized that he had violated the Vinaya rules, to his great repentence. He deeply regretted what he had done and intended to take his own life. While he was thinking in this way, he attained the third stage of arhatship. The monk returned and asked him,

"Have you achieved it?"

Fahui replied,

"Yes!" Then he set out on his return journey to Gao-chang.

When he was still two hundred li away, Bhik≈u√∆ Feng, without being informed beforehand, called the community of nuns to go out and greet him from a great distance. This was an example of her foreknowledge.

All the nuns of Gao-chang honored Feng as their teacher.In the third year of Tian-jian (504) of the Liang dynasty, she died at the age of ninety-six.

144

Biographies of Buddhist Nuns

56. Huisheng of Xian-ju Nunnery

of the Liang Dynasty