佛祖統紀 29.41

29.41

Dharma Master Yixing was a grandson of Zhang Gongjin. He first shaved his head under Pujī. When Lu Hong saw him, he marvelled at him and said to Jī: 'This child is not one whom you can model and mold; you should allow him to make enquiries in the east and seek instruction in the south.' Wherever the Master went, people welcomed him with their shoes turned backward. From Sanskrit palm-leaves of the West to yin-yang and apocryphal texts, there was nothing he did not investigate thoroughly. He received the esoteric teachings from Vajrabodhi and Śubhakarasiṃha, compiled the commentary on the *Vairocana-sūtra*, ascended the altar for abhiṣeka, and received the five divisions of Yoga. He went to Guoqing Temple to study calendar calculation from an old monk. When he first arrived, the monk was laying out counting rods and said to his attendant: 'A disciple will come to seek my computational methods.' Removing one rod, he said: 'When the stream before the gate flows westward, he will arrive.' The Master burst in, bowed his head, and finished receiving the oral instructions; the water then flowed east again. From then on, his computational methods were extraordinary. In the third year of Kaiyuan, an edict summoned him for an audience to consult him on supramundane dharmas and the way to pacify the state and cherish the people; he was known at the time as the Heavenly Master. The Emperor asked about the destiny of the state, and he replied: 'The imperial carriage will make a journey of ten thousand li; the altars of soil and grain will ultimately be auspicious.' Presenting a golden box, he said: 'Open and inspect it only when you reach ten thousand li.' Inside was merely a small amount of angelica (*danggui*). During the An Lushan rebellion, when the Emperor fled to Chengdu, he reached the Ten-Thousand-Li Bridge (*Wanli Qiao*), understood the omen of *danggui* ('ought to return'), and was relieved of his worries. 'Ultimately auspicious' (*zhongji*) meant that the dynasty would end with Emperor Zhaozong, who had previously been enfeoffed as Prince of Ji (*Ji Wang*). A son of an old neighbourhood woman named Wang committed a capital offense and was condemned to die; she sought rescue from the Master. He ordered the capture of seven young piglets, placed one into a jar each day, sealed it with six-one mud, and incanted over it: after seven days, the Northern Dipper completely disappeared. The Grand Astrologer memorialised that a great anomaly had occurred, and the Master urged the Emperor to declare a general amnesty, whereupon the woman's son was spared. He then released one piglet each day, and after seven days, the stars of the Dipper were all restored. The Master did not originally understand weiqi; while at the seat of Duke Yan, he watched a game played by Wang Jixin and immediately became his rival. He said to Duke Yan: 'This is merely the method of seizing the initiative; if one recites my poor monk's four-line verses on multiplication and division, everyone can become a national master.' Xing Hepu said to Yin Yin: 'When Luoxia Hong made the calendar, he said: "In eight hundred years there will be an error of one day, and a sage will arise to fix it." Now that the Dayan Calendar has appeared, Hong's words have all been verified.' In the fifteenth year, he accompanied the imperial entourage to Xinfeng, fell ill along the way, and an edict ordered ten Great Virtues of the capital to establish an altar to pray for blessings. On the eighth day of the tenth month, he manifested nirvana at Huayan Temple; his coffin was kept for twenty-one days, his countenance looking just as in life. A stupa was built at Tongren Plain, and he was given the posthumous title Chán Master of Great Wisdom. His authored works, the *Yi lun* (Treatise on Changes) and the *Dayan Calendar*, are catalogued in the bibliographical treatises of the *Tang Books*.