Page 54 - Sothebys Sutra Auction Hong Kong

Indian Monks Dwelling Dharma Master] written in the ‰rst year of the
Tianshun period (1457) by the Minister of Rites Hu Ying (1375-
A disciple of the Indian monk Sahajasri, Zhiguang was well-
versed in Sanskrit and Tibetan and went to Tibet several times 1463). In his early years, Huijin was summoned by the Yongle
on o¬cial missions. He was responsible for inviting the Fifth Emperor to explain the central meaning of the Surangama
Karmapa, then aged twenty, to Nanjing for a meeting with the Sutra. Subsequently the Emperor bestowed on him a
Yongle Emperor. Zhiguang was responsible for the translation prestigious purple robe, appointed him Abbot of Tianjiesi in
of several Buddhist classics and earned the favour and Nanjing, and then tasked him with editing and compiling Da
attention of the three early-Ming emperors for his intellectual Ming sanzang fashu [Categories of Buddhist concepts from
cultivation and his diplomatic contributions. The Yongle the canon of the Great Ming dynasty] at Lingusi in Nanjing.
Emperor bestowed on him the rank of National Preceptor Huijin later followed the Yongle Emperor to Beijing and was
and then elevated him to that of Sengsilu shanshi (World stationed at Haiyinsi, where he managed the publication of the
Benefactor of the Central Buddhist Registry). He lived at Yongle Northern Tripitaka. At Huijin’s invitation, the Yongle
Chongguosi (which, as mentioned above, would be renamed Emperor “himself wrote thirteen Sutra prefaces and twelve
Dalongshansi). The Hongxi Emperor (r. 1425) gave him the colophons on Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.” Later the Emperor
rank of Daguoshi (Grand National Preceptor) and installed bestowed on Huijin “an Indian-style portrait of Shakyamuni,
him at Danengrensi. The Xuande Emperor further gave him a kesi panel of Avalokiteshvara, crystal rosary beads, and
the title of Xitian fozi (Buddhist of the West), the highest title gathas of the seven Buddhas.” During the Xuande reign,
attainable by a Han Chinese Buddhist monk at the time. In Huijin was “treated as an elder of the nation” and tasked
the 2nd year of the Xuande period (1427), on the order of with “copying in gold ink the four Sutras of Avatamsaka,
his mother, the Empress Dowager Zhang, the Emperor built Prajnaparamita, Ratnakuta, and Parinirvana.” According to
Dajuesi for Zhiguang as a place of retirement. Zhiguang held this record, Huijin was most likely responsible for the 120-case
multiple Sutra teaching sessions for the Emperor. copy of the Ratnakuta Sutra (gs 1, 6 and 7) and the 40-case
copy of the Parinirvana Sutra (g. 2) in gold ink (additionally
After arriving in China and being received by the Yongle there are two cases of a copy of the Later Analysis of the
Emperor, Sri-Sariputra was ordered ‰rst to stay at Haiyinsi. Parinirvana Sutra in the same mounting and calligraphic
He had brought from India ‰ve golden Buddhist icons and a styles), both accompanied with prefaces by his Majesty, dated
painting of the Mahabodhi stupa of Bodhgaya, and Zhenjuesi to the 5th year of the Xuande reign (1430) and now preserved
was built speci‰cally to house them. In the 15th year of the in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Yongle period (1417), after visiting Mount Wutai, Sri-Sariputra
was given the title Sengsilu chanjiao (Promoter of Teachings According to Hu Ying’s epitaph, Huijin was friendly with
of the Central Buddhist Registry) and stationed at Nengrensi several prominent monks in Beijing and socialized with them
by imperial decree. After the Hongxi Emperor ascended the frequently, including Daoyan (1335-1418), who helped Yongle
throne, he received the title of Grand National Preceptor. ascend the throne, Zhiguang, Yinfeng, and Palden Tashi.
During the early reign of Xuande, he was ordered to host Xitian fozi yuanliu lu [Itineraries of the Buddhist of the West],
Buddhist ceremonies. Sri-Sariputra entered nirvana in the ‰rst which includes a biography of Palden Tashi, records that he
year of the Xuande reign (1426), and his sarira are housed at once invited Huijin to his home monastery of Dalongshansi
Zhijuesi (now Beijing Stone Carvings Art Museum). to lecture on the Surangama Sutra, the Sutra of Complete
Enlightenment, and other sacred texts, indicating their close
Huijin and the Xuande-Era Buddhist Sutras in Gold Ink friendship. According to Tibetan-language sources, the
The Bu xu gaoseng zhuan [Supplement to further biographies Medicine Buddha Hall at Dachongjiaosi, built by Palden Tashi,
of eminent monks], edited by the Ming-dynasty monk Minghe, housed two copies of the Avatamsaka Sutra in gold ink, one in
documents the life of Huijin, a renowned monk of the Huayan Chinese and the other in Tibetan. The former may have been
school during the Yongle and Xuande periods. The substance one of the four Sutra copies that Huijin supervised and may
of this record was drawn from the Qiyanfazhu dashi ta ming have been gifted to Dachongjiaosi by the Xuande Emperor.
[Epitaph on the Stupa of the Great Instructor Mountain-

52 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比