卷一傳二偽趙建賢寺安令首尼

安令首。本姓徐。東莞人也。父忡仕偽趙為外兵郎。令首幼聰敏好學。言論清綺雅性虛淡。不樂人間。從容閑靜。以佛法自娛不願求娉。父曰。汝應外屬何得如此。首曰。端心業道絕想人外。毀譽不動廉正自足。何必三從然後為禮。父曰。汝欲獨善一身。何能兼濟父母。 首曰。立身行道方欲度脫一切。何況二親耶。

忡以問佛圖澄。澄曰。君歸家潔齋三日竟可來。忡從之。澄以茵支子磨麻油傅忡右掌。 令忡視之。見一沙門在大眾中說法。形狀似女。具以白澄。澄曰。是君女先身。出家益物往事如此。若從其志。方當榮拔六親令君富貴。生死大苦海向得其邊。忡還許之。

首便剪落從澄乃淨撿尼受戒。立建賢寺。澄以石勒所遺剪花納七條衣及象鼻澡灌與之。 博覽群籍經目必誦。思致淵深神照詳遠。一時道學莫不宗焉。因其出家者二百餘人。又造五六精舍。匪憚勤苦皆得修立。石虎敬之。擢父忡為黃門侍郎清河太守

1.2 (Tsai no.2) An Ling-shou

The nun An Ling-shou (Esteemed Leader) (in the lineage of a Parthian monk) of Founding of Wisdom Convent of the Northern, non-Chinese dynasty of Chao ¹

An Ling-shou's secular surname was Hsü. Her family was originally from Tung-huan [in northeastern China]. Her father Hsü Ch'ung served the non-Chinese dynasty of Latter Chao (319-350) as an undersecretary of the provincial forces. ²

When she was young, Ling-shou was intelligent and fond of study. Her speech was clear and beautiful; her nature modest and unassuming. Taking no pleasure in worldly affairs, she was at ease in secluded quiet. She delighted in the Buddhist teachings and did not wish for her parents to arrange her betrothal.

Her father said, "You ought to marry. How can you be so unfilial?"

Ling-shou said, "My mind is concentrated on the work of religion, and my thought dwells exclusively on spiritual matters. Neither blame nor praise moves me; purity and uprightness are sufficient in themselves. Why must I submit thrice [to father, husband, and son], before I am considered a woman of propriety?" ³

Her father said, "You want to benefit only one person—yourself. How can you help your father and mother at the same time?"

Ling-shou said, "I am setting myself to cultivate the Way exactly because I want to free all living beings from suffering. How much more, then, do I want to free my two parents!" ⁴

Hsü Ch'ung consulted the Buddhist magician monk from Kucha, ⁵ Fo-t'u-teng, who said, "You return home and keep a vegetarian fast, and after three days you may come back to see me again." ⁶ Hsü Ch'ung obeyed him. At the end of the three days, Fo-t'u-teng spread Hsü Ch'ung's palm with the oil of sesame ground together with safflower. ⁷ When he ordered Hsü Ch'ung to look at it, Ch'ung saw a person who resembled his daughter dressed in Buddhist monastic robes preaching the Buddhist teachings in the midst of a large assembly.

When he told all of this to Fo-t'u-teng, the monk said, "This is a former incarnation of your daughter, in which she left the household life and benefited living beings—such were her deeds. If you consent to her plan, she indeed shall raise her family to glory and bring you blessings and honor; and she shall guide you [to nirvana] on the far shore of the great ocean of suffering known as the incessant round of birth and death."

Hsü Ch'ung returned home and permitted his daughter to become a nun. Ling-shou thereupon cut off her hair, discarded secular ornaments, and received the rules of monastic life from Fo-t'u-teng and the nun Ching-chien. She established Founding of Wisdom Convent, and Fo-t'u-teng presented her with a cut-flower embroidered vestment, a seven-strip monastic robe, ⁸ and an elephant-trunk-shaped water ewer ⁹ that Shih Lo (274-319-333), ¹⁰ first emperor of the Latter Chao dynasty, had given him. ¹¹

Ling-shou widely perused all kinds of books, and, having read a book through only once, she was always able to chant it by heart. Her thought extended to the depths of the profound; her spirit intuited the subtle and divine. In the religious communities of that time there was no one who did not honor her. Those who left the household life because of her numbered more than two hundred. Furthermore, she built five or six monastic retreats. ¹² She had no fear of hard work and brought her projects to completion.

The Emperor Shih Hu (?-335-349), ¹³ nephew of the late Emperor Shih Lo, honored her and promoted her father Hsü Ch'ung to the official court position of undersecretary of the Yellow Gate and administrator of Ch'ing-ho Commandery. ¹⁴