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The nun Ching-hsien (Pure Virtue) (431-505) of Eastern Green Garden Convent
Ching-hsien, whose secular surname was Hung, was originally from Yung-shih [to the southeast of the capital]. She lived in the capital in Eastern Green Garden Convent. Capable and talented, she liked to practice meditation; well read in both the scriptures and the books of monastic precepts, her words were certainly elegant and seemly. Although she did not give lectures on these texts, she had thoroughly examined their essential teachings.
Emperor Wen (407-424-453) of the Sung dynasty held her in esteem. When the prince of Hsiang-tung [eleventh son of Emperor Wen] was a young child, he often had nightmares. After the emperor ordered him to take the Three Refuges [in the Buddha, in his teaching, and in the monastic assemblies] from the nun Ching-hsien, the prince's disturbed sleep was cured. The emperor thus esteemed her all the more and generously honored her with gifts, and everyone both within and without the palace personally rewarded her.
When the prince ascended the throne as Emperor Ming (439-465472), he treated her with even greater courtesy and presented gifts in even greater abundance. Religious feasts and meetings for talks on the scriptures were held one after another, and all the famous scholars of that time honored and respected her.
Later she was in charge of the convent for more than ten years. She died in the fourth year of the t'ien-chien reign period (505) of Liang at the age of seventy-five.
There were also the nuns Hui-kao and Pao-yung, who were both famous. Hui-kao practiced meditation and chanted the scriptures in addition to diligently managing the affairs of the Assembly of Nuns. Pao-yung expounded on the Flower of the Law Scripture and was adept in the practice of contemplation.
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 Published
by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003
by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia |
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