45. Ching-hui
[OMITTED]
The nun Ching-hui (Pure Radiance) (421-492) of
Samantabhadra Convent[46]
Ching-hui's secular surname was Yang. Her family was from Chien-k'ang
[the capital of the Ch'i dynasty]. Her determination in the way
of Buddhism was utterly sincere, and her joy in the teachings of the
religion was exceptionally earnest. When she had first accepted all the
monastic precepts for women, she received instruction from the masters
of exegesis T'an-chi and Fa-yüan.[47] She single-mindedly investigated
the difficult subtleties of the Great Vehicle of Buddhism, and
after ten years she was then herself a distinguished master.
The Ch'i heir apparent, Wen-hui (458-493) [eldest son of Emperor
Wu], and the prince of Ching-ling, Wen-hsüan (460-494) [second son
of the emperor], both treasured her.[48] In the eighth year of the yung-ming
reign period (490), the prince of Ching-ling invited her to his residence
to give a lecture on the Vimalakīrti Scripture.[49]
Later Ching-hui became the abbess of the convent, and young and
old alike respectfully served her as though serving their parents. Those
who followed her as disciples numbered over four hundred persons. In
the tenth year of the
yung-ming reign period (492), she died at the age
of seventy-two.
At that time in the convent were the nuns Seng-yao and Kuang-ching,
who were also known for their study and practice of Buddhism.
[46]
Samantabhadra (universal sage) is the name of a great bodhisattva who
appears in the Flower of the Law Scripture and who is depicted as riding on a
six-tusked white elephant.
[47]
T'an-ch'i and Fa-yüan. The title masters of exegesis does not appear in
the biography. The two monks are classed in that category in Kao seng chuan.
Fa-yüan is the same monk as mentioned in biography 44. T'an-chi is mentioned
briefly in the biography of T'an-pin in Kao seng chuan 7:373.b.6; and
also has a partially extant biography in Pao-ch'ang's Meisōden-shō (Ming
seng chuan ch'ao).
[48]
Wen-hui and Wen-hsüan; see above, biography 39, chap. 3 n. 10.
[49]
Vimalakīrti, see biography 9, chap. 1 n. 73.
