It was due to Nāgārjuna in the first place that the 100,000 ślokas of the Gaṇḍavyūha [24] flourished again in Sindhu [Note: India is also called “Sindhu”]; [25] it was due to Ŭisang[26] that they spread to the Eastern lands; [27] and it was due to the Venerable Master (Kyunyŏ) that they first became widespread under the (present) Illustrious Dynasty.[28]
Thus, the Academician [Note: T’ang title] of icholch’an rank (Ch’oe) Ch’iwŏn[29] of the Ch’ŏngha clan, wrote The Life of Ŭisang. However, there is no account yet of the life and deeds of the Venerable Master. Those practising the Ekayāna[30] thought this a pity and so did I. Recently, the Palace Chronicler Kang Yuhyŏn[31] made a compilation from existing records of the Master’s life, but although the work was written with vigour and elegance, it omitted many things. Those practising the Ekayāna regretted this and so did I.
Then, in the first month of the summer of the tenth year of Hsien-yung[32] (1074 A.D.), the Great Master Ch’ang’un,[33] the commentator on the Sūtra of the Divine Assembly,[34] showed me a fascicle of an old manuscript containing an attested record (of the Venerable Master’s life) and entrusted me with its arrangement (into an account of his life). I agreed to this, but worldly entanglements then distracted me, and I became unable to carry the task to completion. Time passed as I framed my ideas during the night and composed my sentences by lamplight. Autumn became winter, and I finally laid down my brush the following spring. I myself wrote this Foreword, which I, the chinsa[35] Hyŏngnyŏn Chŏng herewith respectfully submit.
I have divided my account of the Venerable Master’s life into ten sections:[36]
1) How His Auspicious Birth Accorded with Needs
2) How He Became a Monk and Sought Instruction
3) How His Sister Was Equally Gifted
4) How He Established the True Meaning of the Dharma and Clarified Its Principles
5) How He Interpreted Many Texts
6) How He Displayed Supernatural Powers and Performed Miracles
7) How His Songs Circulated and Enlightened the World
8) How His Translated Songs Revealed True Virtue
9) How He Responded to People’s Needs and Subdued Demons
10) How He Made a Show of Being Subject to the Cycle of Samsāia