30. Yeh-shou
[OMITTED]
The nun Yeh-shou (First in Achievement) (373-462) of Eastern
Green Garden Convent
Yeh-shou's secular surname was Chang. She was from [the northeastern
city of] P'eng-ch'eng [long a home to Buddhists].
Yeh-shou was dignified in demeanor and unsullied in observing the
monastic precepts. With her profound understanding of the Buddhist
teaching known as the Great Vehicle she was good at drawing out the
subtle principles. Especially fond of meditation and the chanting of
scriptures, she practiced both continuously without remiss.
[The first emperor of the Sung dynasty] Emperor Wu (363-420422)
greatly admired her extraordinary qualities.[104] [The third emperor]
Wen (407-424-453),[105] had, when a youth, received from her
the ceremony of Taking the Three Refuges.[106]
Yeh-shou lived in Eternal Peace Convent where gifts from the faithful
were donated unendingly. In the second year of the yüan-chia reign
period (425), Madame Fan, mother of Wang Ching-shen, presented to
Yeh-shou the grounds of the old ancestral hall of Wang T'an-chih
(330-375), where there was then built a convent called Green
Garden.[107]
Yeh-shou's community of disciples was a model for the proper
observance of religious life. Imperial Concubine P'an exclaimed about
her, "The nun Yeh-shou's propagation of the Buddhist teaching is
indeed worthy of great respect." In the fifteenth year of the yüan-chia
reign period (438), she enlarged the convent for Yeh-shou: to the west
she built a Buddha Hall; to the north she cleared the ground and built
a residence hall and also donated all the necessities.
The convent flourished, and the community of two hundred nuns
carried out their religious life and activities unceasingly. Through the
years those who relied on Yeh-shou grew more and more numerous
until she asked to retire, pleading old age, but the community would
not hear of it. In the sixth year of the ta-ming reign period (462), she
died at the age of ninety.
During that same time there were also the nuns Ching-ai, Pao-ying,
and Fa-lin who were all well known in the district of the capital
because of their purity of life and character. Ching-ai long cultivated
meditation and chanting and carried out the duties of her office with
utmost fidelity. She died in the fifth year of the t'ai-shih reign period
(469). Pao-ying was responsible for the building of a five-story
pagoda. She was diligent in the examining of principles and zealous in
keeping to a vegetarian diet. She died in the sixth year of the t'ai-shih
reign period (470). Fa-lin was widely read in both the doctrinal and
monastic scriptures and in her old age did not slacken her efforts. She
died in the first year of the yüan-hui reign period (473).
Furthermore, there was Yeh-shou's disciple, T'an-yin, who was accomplished
in both meditation and the monastic discipline. Contemptuous
of glory, she kept aloof from the struggle for power or wealth. She
died in the sixth year [
sic] of the
yüan-hui reign period (478?).
[104]
Emperor Wu of Sung (363-420-422) (Sung shu, chaps. 1-3; Nan
shih, chap. 1).
[105]
Emperor Wen of Sung (407-424-453) (Sung shu, chap. 5; Nan shih,
chap. 2).
[106]
The Three Refuges are the Buddha, his teaching, and the monastic
assemblies.
[107]
Wang T'an-chih (330-375), an important lay Buddhist during the
Southern dynasties (biography in Chin shu, chap. 7). Wang Ching-shen was
perhaps a distant relative or descendent of Wang T'an-chih.
