His birth offended the meteor that dropped into the water,
He drifted with the current and followed the waves.
Jinshan Island had a great destiny:
The abbot Qian'an brought him up.
Only at seventeen did he meet his mother,
And go to the capital to find his grandfather.
Commander Yin Kaishan, raising a great army,
Wiped out and punished the bandits at Hongzhou.
Graduate Chen Guangrui escaped from the heavenly net,
And father and son were happily reunited.
Accepting the invitation he receives once more the monarch's grace,
And his fame is spread as he climbs the lofty tower.
Refusing to take office he wants to be a monk,
So as sramana of the Hongfu Temple he learns about the Way,
The child of an ancient Buddha who used to be called Jiangliu,
And took the dharma-name of Chen Xuanzang.
That day the Reverend Xuanzang was chosen from among all the monks. He had been a monk from infancy, and ever since birth he had eaten vegetarian food and observed the prohibitions. His maternal grandfather was an imperial commander, Yin Kaishan. His father Chen Guangrui had come top in the Palace Examination and had been appointed a grand secretary in the Imperial Library. Xuanzang, however, had no interest in honour and glory, and his only joy was to cultivate Nirvana. Investigation revealed that his origins were good and his virtue great; of the thousand sutras and ten thousand holy books there was not a single one that he did not know; he could sing every Buddhist chant and knew all the religious music. The three officials took him to the imperial presence, where they danced and stirred up the dust. When they had bowed they reported, “Your subject Xiao Yu and the rest of us have chosen a venerable monk called Chen Xuanzang in obedience to the imperial decree.”
On hearing his name Taizong thought deeply for a long time and then asked, “Is that the Xuanzang who is the son of Grand Secretary Chen Guangrui?”
“Your subject is he,” replied Xuanzang with a kowtow.
“Then you were indeed well chosen,” said the Emperor with satisfaction. “You are indeed a monk of virtuous conduct of a mind devoted to meditation. I give you the offices of Left Controller of the Clergy, Right Controller of the Clergy, and Hierarch of the Empire.” Xuanzang kowtowed to express his thanks and accepted the appointments. The Emperor then gave him a multicolored golden cassock and a Vairocana miter, telling him to be sure he conscientiously continued to visit enlightened monks, and giving him the position at the top of the hierarchy. He gave him a decree in writing ordering him to go to the Huasheng Temple to pick a propitious day and hour on which to begin the recitations of the scriptures.
Xuanzang bowed, took the decree, and went to the Huasheng Temple where he assembled many monks, had meditation benches made, prepared for the mass, and chose the music. He selected a total of twelve hundred high and humble monks of enlightenment, who he divided into an upper, a middle and a lower hall. All the holy objects were neatly arranged before all the Buddhas. The third day of the ninth month of that year was chosen an auspicious day on which to start the seven times seven days of the Great Land and Water Mass. This was all reported to the throne, and at the appointed time Taizong, the high civil and military officials, and the royal family went to the service to burn incense and listen to the preaching. There is a poem to prove it that goes:
At the dragon assembly in the thirteenth year of Zhen Guan
The Emperor called a great meeting to talk about the scriptures.
At the assembly they began to expound the unfathomable law,
While clouds glowed above the great shrine.
The Emperor in his grace orders the building of a temple;
The Golden Cicada sheds his skin to edify the West.
He spreads the news that rewards for goodness save from ill,
Preaching the doctrine of the three Buddhas of past and future.
In the year jisi, the thirteenth of Zhen Guan, on the day jiaxu, the third of the ninth month, the Hierarch Chen Xuanzang assembled twelve hundred venerable monks at the Huasheng Temple in the city of Chang'an for a chanting of all the holy scriptures. After morning court was over the Emperor left the throne hall in his dragon and phoenix chariot at the head of a host of civil and military officials and went to the temple to burn incense. What did the imperial chariot look like? Indeed
Propitious vapours filled the sky
That shone with ten thousand beams of sacred light.
A mellow breeze blew softly,
The sunlight was strangely beautiful.
A thousand officials with jade at their belts walked in due order.
The banners of the five guards are drawn up on either side.
Holding golden gourds,
Wielding battle-axes,
They stand in pairs;
Lamps of purple gauze,
Imperial censers,
Make majestic clouds.
Dragons fly and phoenixes dance,
Ospreys and eagles soar.
True is the enlightened Son of Heaven,
Good are his just and loyal ministers.
This age of prosperity surpasses the time of Shun and Yu;
The eternal peace he has given outdoes that of Yao and Tang.
Under a parasol with curved handle
The dragon robe sweeps in,
Dazzling bright.
Interlocking jade rings,
Coloured phoenix fans,
Shimmer with a magic glow.
Pearl crowns and belts of jade,
Gold seals on purple cords.
A thousand regiments of soldiers protect the imperial chariot,
Two lines of generals carry the royal chair.
Bathed and reverent, the Emperor comes to worship the Buddha,
Submitting to the True Achievement as he joyfully burns incense.
When the carriage of the Tang Emperor reached the temple, orders were given to stop the music as he descended from the vehicle and went at the head of his officials to bow to the Buddha and burn incense. When he had done this three times he looked up and saw what a magnificent assembly it was:
Dancing banners,
Flying canopies.
When the banners danced
The sky shook with the clouds of silk;
When the canopies flew
The sun gleamed as the red lightning flashed.
Perfect the image of the statue of the Honoured One,
Mighty the grandeur of the Arhats' countenances.
Magic flowers in a vase,
Censers burning sandalwood and laka.
As the fairy flowers stand in vases
Trees like brocade fill the temple with their brightness.
As the censers burn sandalwood and laka
Clouds of incense rise to the azure heaven.
Fresh fruit of the season is piled in vermilion dishes,
Exotic sweets are heaped on the silk-covered tables.
Serried ranks of holy monks intone the surras
To save abandoned souls from suffering.
Taizong and his civil and military officials all burned incense, bowed to the golden body of the Lord Buddha, and paid their respects to the Arhats. The Hierarch Chen Xuanzang then led all the monks to bow to the Emperor, and when this was over they divided into their groups and went to their meditation places while the Hierarch showed the Emperor the notice about the delivery of the lonely ghosts. It read:
“Mysterious is the ultimate virtue, and the Sect of Meditation leads to Nirvana. The purity of the truth is all-knowing; it pervades the Three Regions of the universe. Through its countless changes it controls the Negative and Positive; unbounded are the embodiments of the eternal reality. In considering those forlorn ghosts one should be deeply distressed. At the sacred command of Taizong we have assembled some chosen monks for meditation and preaching. He has opened wide the gates of enlightenment and rowed far the boat of mercy, saving all the beings in the sea of suffering, and delivering those who had long been afflicted by the six ways of existence. They will be led back to the right road and revel in the great chaos; in action and in passivity they will be at one with primal simplicity. For this wonderful cause they are invited to see the purple gates of the pure capital, and through our assembly they will escape from the confines of Hell to climb to the World of Bliss and be free, wandering as they please in the Paradise of the West. As the poem goes: