卷一傳六北永安寺曇備尼

曇備。本姓陶。丹陽建康人也。少有清信願修正法。而無有昆弟。獨與母居。事母恭孝宗黨稱之。年及笄嫁徵幣弗許。母不能違聽其離俗。精懃戒行日夜無怠。晉穆皇帝禮接敬厚。常稱曰。久看更佳。謂章皇后何氏曰。京邑比丘尼尟有曇備之儔也。

到永和十年后為立寺于定陰里。名永安(今之何后寺是)謙虛導物。未嘗有矜慢之容。名譽日廣。遠近投集。眾三百人。年七十三。泰元二十一年卒。弟子曇羅。博覽經律機才贍密。敕續師任。更立四層塔講堂房宇。又造臥像及七佛龕堂云

1.6 (Tsai no.6) T'an-pei

The nun T'an-pei (Perfection of the Dharma) (324-396) of Northern Everlasting Peace Convent ¹

T'an-pei's secular surname was T'ao, and she was a native of Tan-yang in the city of Chien-k'ang [the capital of the Eastern Chin dynasty located on the south bank of the Yangtze River]. ² When she was a young child, she already had pure faith and wished to cultivate the true teaching of Buddhism. She was an only child and lived with her widowed mother, whom she served with such filial devotion that her clan commended her behavior. When T'an-pei grew to marriageable age, she would not accede to any betrothal plans, and her mother, unable to go against her daughter's wishes, allowed her to leave worldly life [and become a Buddhist nun]. With great zeal, T'an-pei practiced the monastic rules day and night without remiss.

Emperor Mu (343-345-361) of Chin respectfully received her in audience, and he often praised her, saying, "The more I see her, the more excellent she seems." ³ To Empress Chang—that is, Madame Ho [niece of Ho Ch'ung]—the emperor said, "Among the Buddhist nuns here in the capital there is rarely one who can compare with T'an-pei." ⁴

In the tenth year of the yung-ho reign period (354) the Empress built a convent for T'an-pei in the Ting-yin Neighborhood, calling it [Northern] Everlasting Peace Convent (which I, Pao-ch'ang, the compiler, note is now known as Empress Ho Convent). ⁵

Modestly and selflessly T'an-pei guided others and never once gave any evidence of haughtiness. Her fame spread daily, and women from far and near gathered about her as disciples until there was a community of three hundred. T'an-pei was seventy-three years old when she died in the twenty-first year of the t'ai-yüan reign period (396).

Her disciple T'an-lo was well read in the scriptures as well as in the monastic rules, and her skills and talents in these subjects were broad and thorough. By imperial command she filled T'an-pei's position as teaching master of the convent. Furthermore, she had built a four-story pagoda, a lecture hall, and living quarters; also, she had made an image of the Buddha reclining [as he entered final nirvana], and a hall for the images of the seven Buddhas [of the past]. ⁶