樂邦文類 3.118

3.118

Fayue of Zhengjue Monastery in the Liang capital served as Clerical Director at the end of the Qi dynasty. He meticulously cultivated meritorious karma, and the four assemblies took refuge in him. He had heard that Emperor Ming of the Song had cast an eighteen-foot metal image that failed to form across four castings, and was thereupon changed to fourteen feet. Yue, together with Zhijing of Baima Monastery, led fellow donors to recast an eighteen-foot image of Amitāyus to realize that former intent. When they initially began gathering metal and copper, the chaos and turmoil at the end of the Qi intervened; only in the early Liang was the matter submitted to the throne. An imperial decree was handed down granting permission, and craftsmen and supplies were provided as needed. On the third day of the fifth month in the eighth year of the Tianjian era, the casting was carried out at Xiaozhuangyan Monastery. The original estimate for the Buddha's body was forty thousand catties of copper, but after melting and pouring, it had not yet reached the chest. The common people cast copper into the furnace and foundry, yet with each pour it remained unfilled. Another memorial was presented, and an edict decreed three thousand catties of copper. Just as the treasury began measuring it out for delivery, at the casting site an imperial messenger had already been seen transporting copper to the furnace; it was immediately melted together, and with a single draft [of the bellows] it was completed, whereupon the men who brought it all vanished. Only when the copper from the Palace arrived did they realize that what had arrived before was the result of a spiritual response. When the mold was opened and measured, it had welled up into nineteen feet, yet its radiant marks were without flaw. Two large coins appeared on the folds of the robe, a divine marvel beyond comprehension. Earlier, when the clay model was completed, Master Daozhao, repenting at night, suddenly saw the model shine with brilliant radiance. Three days after the casting, the monk Daodu assisted with expenses to open the mold; from afar he saw two monks kneeling and opening the topknot of the image, who suddenly vanished. When the image was being moved back to Guangzhai Monastery, there had long been no rain and much dust had gathered; suddenly at night a light rain moistened the ground. When Master Sengyou circumambulated near the image, he suddenly saw flames of light rising and falling beside it like lamps and candles. That night, merchants along the Huai River all heard people urging the repair of the bridge, sounding like several hundred voices. Ever since the Buddha's teachings flowed east, the spiritual portents of a metal image have never surpassed this.