太宗識奘 Taizong Knows His Man
當時三位引至御前，揚塵舞蹈。拜罷奏曰：「臣瑀等蒙聖旨，選得高僧一名陳玄奘。」太宗聞其名，沉思良久道：「可是學士陳光蕊之兒玄奘否？」江流兒叩頭曰：「臣正是。」太宗喜道：「果然舉之不錯，誠為有德行有禪心的和尚。朕賜你左僧綱，右僧綱，天下大闡都僧綱之職。」玄奘頓首謝恩，受了大闡官爵。又賜五彩織金袈裟一件、毘盧帽一頂。教他用心再拜明僧，排次闍黎班首，書辦旨意，前赴化生寺，擇定吉日良時，開演經法。当时三位引至御前，扬尘舞蹈。拜罢奏曰：「臣瑀等蒙圣旨，选得高僧一名陈玄奘。」太宗闻其名，沉思良久道：「可是学士陈光蕊之儿玄奘否？」江流儿叩头曰：「臣正是。」太宗喜道：「果然举之不错，诚为有德行有禅心的和尚。朕赐你左僧纲，右僧纲，天下大阐都僧纲之职。」玄奘顿首谢恩，受了大阐官爵。又赐五彩织金袈裟一件、毘卢帽一顶。教他用心再拜明僧，排次阇黎班首，书办旨意，前赴化生寺，择定吉日良时，开演经法。
逐句解 Line by line
Then the three led him before the imperial presence, where he made obeisance with the raising of dust and the dance of homage.
揚塵舞蹈, raising dust and dancing, is the formal court obeisance — a prescribed sequence of movements, and rather less spontaneous than the words make it sound.
Their bows completed, they submitted: 'We, your servants Xiao Yu and the rest, in obedience to the sage command, have selected one eminent monk, Chen Xuanzang.'
得 in 選得 is the outcome de. Xiao Yu, who carried the debate a few passages back, heads the selection panel.
When Taizong heard the name, he pondered a long while and said: 'Could this be Xuanzang, the son of the Academician Chen Guangrui?'
Taizong knows the name, which tells us how well Chen Guangrui was known at court. 兒 in 之兒, the son of, is the full noun ér.
Jiangliu-er knocked his head and said: 'Your servant is the very man.'
江流兒, Jiangliu-er, River-Current Child, is the name he was given as a foundling, and it is the one he answers to here in front of the emperor. The 兒 is the little suffix, read er.
Taizong said with pleasure: 'Truly he has been rightly put forward — he is indeed a monk of virtue and conduct, and of a heart set on Chan.'
為 in 誠為, is truly, is wéi, to be. 禪心, a heart set on Chan, marks him fit in spirit as well as in conduct.
'I grant you the offices of Left Samgha-Controller and Right Samgha-Controller, and of Chief Samgha-Controller and Grand Expositor of all the realm.'
僧綱 (sēng gāng) is a state post for administering the Buddhist clergy — the church run as a branch of government, which is how the Tang preferred it. In 都僧綱, Chief Samgha-Controller, the character 都 is dū, chief or metropolitan. 大闡 is Grand Expositor.
Xuanzang bowed his head, gave thanks for the grace, and received the rank of Grand Expositor.
了 in 受了 is the completed-action le. He is now the ranking cleric of the empire.
He was also granted a cassock of five-colored gold brocade and a Vairocana mitre.
The 毘盧帽, the Vairocana mitre, is a ceremonial crown named for Vairocana, the cosmic Buddha. Hold that thought: these first vestments are a rehearsal, and the gifts that will matter — Guanyin's brocade cassock and nine-ringed staff — are still some way ahead. 一件 and 一頂 take their regular shifted readings.
He was ordered to take pains to choose the enlightened monks anew, to arrange in order the ranks of the ācāryas and the leaders of the assembly, to draw up the imperial command in writing, to proceed to the Huasheng Temple, and there, choosing an auspicious day and hour, to open the exposition of the scriptural law.
教 in 教他用心 is jiào, to order. 闍黎 (shé lí, from the Sanskrit ācārya) is a Buddhist master or preceptor; 化生寺, the Temple of Transformation-Birth, is the site appointed for the Grand Mass.
Taizong's recognition closes the identification and binds Xuanzang to the throne by memory and gratitude at once: the emperor knew his father, the restored graduate Chen Guangrui, and greets the son with evident pleasure. The scene then does the practical work of investiture, conferring the highest offices of the Buddhist administration, the first ceremonial vestments, and the charge to organise the assembly at the Huasheng Temple.
Those opening gifts of cassock and mitre are quietly a promise of what is coming: they establish Xuanzang as a man worthy of vestments, and so prepare the reader for the far more consequential regalia — Guanyin's brocade cassock and nine-ringed staff — that the Bodhisattva will bring once the rite is under way. With the officiant named, recognised and empowered, the chapter is ready to open the Grand Mass itself.