佛祖統紀 28.77

28.77

朱氏如一。欽成朱后之姪。歸於四明薛君。繡法華經一部十年而成。至化城喻針鋒綴舍利如粟連獲數十粒。一字一拜。禮法華者三。於經首題別致八萬四千拜。誦法華經三月而通。刻擘窠圖勸人念佛。滿十萬聲。所化二十萬人。獨朱氏。旦夜誦之不可以數。紹熙四年為寶幢藏繡經。迎歸南湖。飯千僧為慶讚。是年微疾。請僧念佛。忽起加趺。薛君曰。吾家無是法。於是右脇吉祥而化家人夢乘彩雲向西而去。

Lady Zhu, [styled] Ruyi, was a niece of Empress Qincheng Zhu. She married Gentleman Xue of Siming. She embroidered a complete set of the Lotus Sūtra, completing it after ten years. When she reached the chapter on the 'Parable of the Conjured City,' [she found that] the tip of the needle accumulated relics like millet grains, obtaining several tens of them consecutively. Bowing once for every character, she performed prostrations to the Lotus Sūtra three times; and to the title at the opening of the sūtra she offered an additional eighty-four thousand prostrations. She memorized and chanted the Lotus Sūtra, mastering it in three months. She carved broad-character charts to exhort people to recite the Buddha's name; each completed one hundred thousand recitations, and those she converted reached two hundred thousand people. Lady Zhu alone recited it day and night beyond count. In the fourth year of Shaoxi (1193 CE), in order to enshrine the embroidered sūtra in a precious banner treasury, she welcomed it back to Nanhu, offering a vegetarian feast for a thousand monks in celebration and praise. That year she fell mildly ill. She invited monks to recite the Buddha's name, then suddenly sat up with her legs crossed. Gentleman Xue said, 'Our family has no such custom.' Thereupon she reclined on her right side in auspicious posture and passed away. Her family dreamt that she rode colorful clouds departing toward the west.