法賢

藏中所記寥寥，唯《佛祖統紀》數條而已。卷四十三載太宗覽新譯經而授官一事：「二年上覽新譯經」〔T49n2035 0399c04〕，「乃詔天息災除朝散大夫試光祿卿。法天施護並除朝奉大夫試鴻臚卿。法天改名法賢」〔T49n2035 0399c05〕；同條又云「新譯經論並刊板印行」〔T49n2035 0399c07〕。卷四十四繫真宗之世三事：「咸平元年。御製三藏聖教序。賜明教大師法賢等」〔T49n2035 0402a08〕；「三年八月。試光祿卿天息災亡。諡慧辯法師」〔T49n2035 0402a23〕；「四年五月。試鴻臚卿法賢亡。諡玄覺法師」〔T49n2035 0402a29〕。除此之外，鄉貫、師承、生年，藏中皆不出。

What the canon records is scant — a few entries in the Chronicle of the Buddhas and Patriarchs and no more. Its forty-third scroll records the emperor Taizong's conferral of office upon reading the new translations: "In the second year His Majesty looked over the newly translated scriptures" 〔T49n2035 0399c04〕, and "he then decreed that Tianxizai be appointed Grand Master of Court Audience and Acting Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, and that Fatian and Shihu both be appointed Grand Master of Court Service and Acting Chief Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial; Fatian changed his name to Faxian" 〔T49n2035 0399c05〕; the same entry adds that "the newly translated scriptures and treatises were all cut on blocks and printed" 〔T49n2035 0399c07〕. The forty-fourth scroll fixes three events under Zhenzong: "In the first year of Xianping the emperor composed a preface to the sacred teaching of the Tripiṭaka and bestowed it upon the Great Master Who Illumines the Teaching, Faxian, and the rest" 〔T49n2035 0402a08〕; "In the eighth month of the third year the Acting Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, Tianxizai, died, with the posthumous title Dharma Master Wise in Discourse" 〔T49n2035 0402a23〕; "In the fifth month of the fourth year the Acting Chief Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, Faxian, died, with the posthumous title Dharma Master of Profound Awakening" 〔T49n2035 0402a29〕. Beyond this the canon gives neither his native place, nor his teachers, nor the year of his birth.

而諸繫不一。本編所譯《佛說大乘無量壽莊嚴經》卷端署「朝散大夫試光祿卿明教大師」〔T12n0363 0318a05〕，《佛祖統紀》則以「朝散大夫試光祿卿」屬天息災，以「試鴻臚卿」屬法賢；同書別處又作「明教大師天息災亡。諡惠辯」〔T49n2035 0473a27〕、「傳教大師法賢亡。諡玄覺」〔T49n2035 0473a27〕，其「明教大師」之所屬，與卷四十四「賜明教大師法賢等」一句復不同。官階與賜號之相涉如此，藏本自身已不一致，本編誌其相違而不強為一；生卒亦仍從闕。

And the entries do not agree. The head of the Sūtra of the Adornment of the Great Vehicle of Measureless Life rendered in this edition is signed "Grand Master of Court Audience, Acting Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, Great Master Who Illumines the Teaching" 〔T12n0363 0318a05〕, whereas the Chronicle assigns "Grand Master of Court Audience and Acting Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments" to Tianxizai and "Acting Chief Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial" to Faxian; and elsewhere the same book has "The Great Master Who Illumines the Teaching, Tianxizai, died, with the posthumous title Wise in Discourse" 〔T49n2035 0473a27〕 and "The Great Master Who Transmits the Teaching, Faxian, died, with the posthumous title Profound Awakening" 〔T49n2035 0473a27〕 — so that the holder of the title Illumines the Teaching differs again from the line in the forty-fourth scroll, "bestowed it upon the Great Master Who Illumines the Teaching, Faxian". The offices and the conferred titles cross one another in this way; the canon is not consistent with itself, and this entry records the disagreement without forcing it into one. His dates likewise remain blank.