佛祖統紀 43.8

43.8

Earlier, among the common people, someone obtained a bronze tablet inscription by Master Baozhi of the Liang dynasty, which read: "A true person will arise from Jizhou; opening the mouth and drawing the bow on the left side, his sons and grandsons shall preserve the throne for eternal years." Lord Li of Jiangnan named his son Hongji, and all the sons of King Qian of Wuyue incorporated the character *Hong* in their names (Hongzong, Hongchu, Hongyi), hoping to correspond to the prophetic chart. When the Emperor received the abdication, the taboo name of Xuanzu precisely matched it. (Taizu's imperial father was named Hongyin, posthumously titled Xuanzu; from Zhao Pu's *Records of the August Dynasty's Dragon Soaring*.) When Emperor Shizong of the Zhou destroyed Buddhist images (Shizong personally held a chisel and smashed the chest of the Great Compassion icon in Zhenzhou), an ulcer erupted on his chest and he passed away. At that time, Taizu and Taizong witnessed it with their own eyes. They once visited the divine monk, the Venerable Mayi, and said, "The current destruction of the Buddha's Dharma is by no means a blessing for the altars of soil and grain." Mayi said, "Have you not heard of the calamities of the three emperors named Wu?" They further asked, "When will the realm be settled?" He replied, "A red aura has already shown its omen; between chen and shen, a true ruler will arise, and the Buddha's Dharma will also flourish greatly." (Later, Taizu accepted the abdication in the gengshen year, in the first month on the jiachen day; this was the fulfillment of that prophecy.) The recluse Chen Tuan lived in seclusion on Mount Hua, sleeping behind closed doors without rising for months at a time. At the end of the Xiande era, riding a white mule, he was about to enter the Eastern Capital. On the way, hearing that Taizu had ascended the throne, he laughed heartily and said, "From this moment on, the realm is settled!" When the Emperor first received the mandate, he silently reflected upon the Śākya clan: by what path did they command such devotion and reverence, so great as this? Once, traveling in disguise, he went to Xiangguo Temple and saw a monk drunkenly vomiting outside the gate, spouting foul curses unbearable to hear. The Emperor was angered by him. As he happened to pass by his side, he was embraced by the drunken monk, who said, "Do not lose your temper; it is almost evening, you should return to the palace at once." The Emperor was shaken in his heart. Upon returning, he secretly ordered a small eunuch to go and spy, commanding him to collect what had been vomited. When the eunuch arrived, the drunken monk was nowhere to be seen. He collected the remaining vomit and brought it back; when the Emperor inspected it before him, it was genuine frankincense. The Emperor sighed in wonder incessantly and came all the more to revere the Buddha. (The above four matters are from Cai's *Congtan*.) An edict decreed that the imperial birthday on the sixteenth day of the second month be the Festival of Eternal Spring, bestowing a banquet for the civil and military officials at Xiangguo Temple. The Chancellor Fan Zhi composed a vegetarian prayer text for the imperial celebration, which said: "A white rainbow recorded the omen, manifesting the descent of the Enlightened Sovereign into this world; (At the Buddha's birth, a white elephant penetrated the sun; at his parinirvāṇa, there were twelve white rainbows. Chancellor Fan's allusion here is likely derived from another source.) / A dark-blue horse showed its numinous response, matching the appearance of a wheel-turning king in the world. (When a Golden Wheel-Turning King appears, the seven treasures arrive spontaneously; the dark-blue horse treasure is one of them.) / Were his majesty not such as to shake the four heavens, it would not suffice to evoke spontaneous treasures; (A Golden Wheel-Turning King governs all four continents under heaven.) / Were his position not honoured in the three realms, who could bring about such rare auspicious omens? (The Buddha is the Great Teacher of the Three Realms.) / May his life span equal a hundred billion Mount Sumerus, and his virtuous benevolence cover the three-thousandfold world system. / Though the sands of the Ganges may be counted, his heavenly blessings are inexhaustible; / though the ocean of ink may dry up, the imperial foundation will remain all the firmer." On that day, by grace of the imperial birthday celebration, an edict ordered the universal ordination of eight thousand postulants. (From the *Guochao huiyao*.)