四明尊者教行錄 1.41

1.41

First year of Tianxi, dingsi: The stupa epitaph states: 'At the beginning of the change of reign era to Tianxi, when the Master had reached the age of sixty, he said to his disciples: "To forfeit the body for half a verse, to cast oneself into fire for a single line—such was the mind of the sages for the sake of the Dharma. If I cannot abandon life and limb to startle and arouse the indolent, what is the use of mere talk?" Thereupon he gathered ten monks to cultivate the Lotus Repentance for three years, vowing to burn themselves together upon its completion. At that time, the Hanlin Academician Yang Yi and the Commandant of the Imperial Son-in-law Li Zunxu were both literary giants and richly meritorious ministers of the imperial court. Whenever they heard of the Master's thorough awakening, they always looked up to him with boundless admiration and deference. In that year, an imperial decree conferred a purple saṅghāṭī, both of which resulted from the discussions and recommendations of these two gentlemen. Furthermore, having heard of his intention to abandon his body, Duke Yang sent a letter firmly requesting him to remain in the world, exchanging letters several times, even specially enjoining the prefectural commander to protect him; due to this, the vowed act could not be carried out. He also composed the Xiaofu sanyong zhang (Chapter on the Three Functions of Subduing and Quelling) and issued the Jiangwei sanshi wen (Thirty Questions from the Crimson Curtain), which his disciple (Renyue) answered, all recorded in this year.'