Buddhist Hagiography

What are the Liang Biographies? What role do they play in Chinese Buddhism?

• 梁．慧皎（497～554）著
  - 依「高僧」之「德」收錄編纂成《高僧傳》（519年完成）
• 並根據其所從事的佛教事「業」歸類分科
  - 原來八科，後增設為十科，各科有其特色。
• The Liang Biographies are a collection of Buddhist biographies, edited by the Buddhist monk Huijiao (497-554) in the Liang dynasty.
• In accordance to the special contributions of these eminent monks, the work was divided into eight categories, then increased to ten later. Each category has its own character.
• 僧傳在佛教典籍裡，佔有很重要的地位，因為僧傳記載僧人實際的活動，在一定的歷史條件下進行，與佛教發展盛衰息息相關，其中包含經典的翻譯、注疏，宗派的建立，學說的傳播以及典章制度、寺宇建築、甚至於國際間佛教交流等等，都反映在傳記裡。這也研究佛教歷史與思想不可或缺的文獻資料。
• Biographies of monks are of great importance for Buddhist classical writings. They record the actual lifes of the monks under certain historical circumstances. They are closely related to the rise and decline of Buddhism.
• The recorded events include the translation and interpretation process of the sutras, the establishing of schools, the spreading of doctrines, the creation of institutions, the building of temples, and even the international exchange of Buddhism. They are documents that cannot be neglected in the study of Buddhist history and thought.

Gaoseng Zhuan Fulltext at CBeta website:

http://www.cbeta.org/result/T50/T50n2059.htm