63. Shih Hui-hui
[OMITTED]
The nun Shih Hui-hui (Radiance of Wisdom) (in the lineage of
Shākyamuni) (442-514) of Joyful Peace Convent
Hui-hui's secular surname was Lo, and her family was from Ch'ing
Province [some distance northeast of the capital].[82] When she was six
years old, she wanted very much to delight in the religious life, but her
parents would not hear of it. At age 11 [to conform to the monastic
precepts], she stopped eating all strong-flavored vegetables such as
garlic and onions.[83] Clear and placid in mind and elegant in manner
she recited the Great Nirvāna Scripture and chanted the Flower of the
Law Scripture.[84] When she was seventeen, she went with her father to
the capital, where, resolute in her vigor, she accomplished in her practice
of religion what others could not achieve. Her parents, filled with
affection on account of her efforts, permitted her to fulfill her aspirations,
and, when she was eighteen, she left secular life to take up residence
in Joyful Peace Convent.
Hui-hui received instruction in the Discourse on the Completion of
Reality, the Nirvāna,[85] and other scriptures from the four masters of
the law T'an-pin (407/411-473/477),[86] T'an-chi, Seng-jou (431494),
and Hui-tz'u (434-490),[87] and in ten-some years her learning
became as well established as a veritable forest, and all the nuns in the
capital turned to her as their instructor. Thus religious activities were
set up one after another, drawing together people from all directions
like clouds. Hui-hui continuously carried on her lectures as well as her
meditation and chanting of scriptures. Her mind a standard of upright
thought, she went day and night forgetting to sleep. Royalty, nobility,
and commoners all greatly respected her, coming from everywhere to
bestow gifts in great number throughout the year. The wealth that she
received she used for copying scriptures, making images, and distributing
as alms wherever appropriate. At that time someone, whose
name has not come to light, renovated Joyful Peace Convent, refurbishing
everything so that it looked new.
Hui-hui died in the thirteenth year of the t'ien-chien reign period
(514) at the age of seventy-three and was buried at Stone Top Hill [in
the southwestern part of the capital].
At that time there was also the nun Hui-yin, whose particular vocation
was engaging in the ritual of offering worship [to the Buddha] and
in the chanting [of scriptures].
[82]
Ch'ing Province, in present-day central eastern Shantung Province.
See map.
[83]
Garlic and onions. See biography 31, chap. 2 n. 108.
[84]
Great Final Nirvāna Scripture (see biography 42, chap. 3 n. 30); Flower
of the Law Scripture (see biography 5, chap. 1 n. 53).
[85]
Discourse on the Completion of Reality (Ch'eng shih lun) (Satyasiddhishāstra),
T. 32, no. 1646; Great Final Nirvāna Scripture (see n. 84 above).
[86]
All except T'an-chi have biographies in Kao seng chuan. A partial biography
of T'an-chi appears in Pao-ch'ang's Meisōden-shō (Lives of famous
monks) in which the only specific date given is that in the year 458 the
emperor requested him to live in the capital. The biography also states that he
is the author of a work titled A Treatise on the Seven Schools. T'an-pin (biography
in Kao seng chuan 7:373.a), and Hui-tz'u (biography in Kao seng chuan
8:379.b), are both specifically credited with expertise in one or more of the
scriptures mentioned above. Seng-jou (biography in Kao seng chuan 8:378.c),
although not so credited with a specific scripture, is listed among the monks
known for their skill in explaining the scriptures.
[87]
T'an-pin (biography in Kao seng chuan 7:373.a.16); T'an-chi is probably
the same one who appears as a subbiography in T'an-pin's biography. His
is one of the few extant biographies in Pao-ch'ang's Meisōden-shō (Lives of
famous monks), chap. 16; Seng-jou (431-494) (biography in Kao seng chuan
7:378.c.4); Hui-tz'u (434-490) (biography in Kao seng chuan 8:397.b.23).
