『続高僧伝』智首伝と「故首律師高徳頌」の関係について=The Relationship Between the Biography of Zhishou in the Xu Gaoseng Zhuan and the “Monument Extolling the Vinaya Master and Eminent Monk Zhishou”
This paper is part of my recent comparative research on the Xu Gaoseng zhuan and inscriptions. I discuss the relationship between the “Monument Extolling the Vinaya Master and Eminent Monk Zhishou” 智首律師高徳頌碑 (Zhishou monument) and the Xu Gaoseng zhuan’s biography of Zhishou. The Zhishou monument was built in the twelfth month of Xianqing 1 (656), over twenty years after his death in Zhenguan 9 (635). One of the reasons for its construction was that a plot was in the works to isolate Xuanzang, who was reigning over the Chang’an Buddhist world after returning to China and receiving the patronage of Taizong; he was seen by Gaozong and Wu Hou (later Wu Zetian) as part of a faction of Taizong’s former senior statesmen. The Zhishou monument was built at the gate of the Hongfu-si, where Zhishou had last resided. It became a place that highlighted the returning power of Zhishou’s disciples. This probably led to Zhishou’s top disciple, Daoxuan, becoming the senior monk at the Ximing-si in Xianqing 3 (658). Judging from the Zhishou monument text’s sequential composition and use of similar words and phrases, it is highly likely that it drew from the Xu Gaoseng zhuan (first version: ca. Zhenguan 19). However, the Xu Gaoseng zhuan mentions this monument. It appears that this was added when this collection of biographies was revised after Daoxuan became the senior monk at the Ximing-si.
