樂邦文類 3.129

3.129

Yu Shen, courtesy name Yanbao, was a native of Xinye. In his youth he was extraordinarily intelligent; there were none among the classics, histories, and hundred schools that he did not master, and in chess, arithmetic, and mechanical skill he was peerless in his time. Yet by nature he inclined to tranquility and simplicity, especially fond of woods and springs; his ten-mu estate was half taken up by hills and ponds, and he ate vegetarian food, wore tattered clothes, and did not manage his estate. Once, while returning by boat from Juzhong, carrying one hundred and fifty shi of grain, someone consigned thirty shi with him. Upon arriving home, the consignor said: "Yours is thirty shi; mine is one hundred and fifty shi." Shen remained silent and did not speak, letting him take his fill. His handling of matters was generally like this. Emperor Wu was on good terms with Shen in his youth, and when he raised troops, he appointed Shen as an editorial clerk in the Pingxi Headquarters. In the Putong reign era, an imperial decree appointed him Vice Minister of the Yellow Gate. In each case he pleaded illness and did not take up office. In his later years, he especially revered the teachings of Śākya[muni], establishing a bodhimaṇḍa within his residence, performing the rites of repentance throughout the six periods of the day, and reciting the Lotus Sūtra completely once a day. Suddenly, late at night, he saw a practitioner of the Way who called himself Master Yuan. His appearance and bearing were most extraordinary; calling Shen "Gentleman of Superior Conduct," he handed him incense and left. In the fourth year of the Datong reign era, while resting, he suddenly woke from a dream and said: "Master Yuan has come again; I cannot stay long." As his words ended, he passed away at the age of seventy-eight. The entire household heard a voice chanting in the sky: "Gentleman of Superior Conduct has already been reborn in Amitābha's Pure Realm." Emperor Wu, hearing of this, revered him, and bestowed the posthumous title "Chaste and Moderate Retired Scholar" to make manifest his lofty virtue (see the History of the Southern Dynasties).