佛祖統紀 45.12

45.12

The ninth year [1031]. An edict ordered the commanding official of Shaozhou to proceed to Nanhua Temple on Mount Baolin to welcome the sixth patriarch's robe and bowl to the capital for veneration. When they arrived, they were enshrined in the Qingjing Hall of the Imperial Palace. An edict commanded the Vice Minister of War Yan Shu to compose the *Record of the Sixth Patriarch's Robe and Bowl*. ○ The Institute for the Propagation of the Dharma reported: "The monk Huaiwen once traveled to Tianzhu and erected a stūpa for Emperor Zhenzong beside the diamond throne of the Buddha. Now he wishes to go again to erect two more stūpas for the Empress Dowager and the present Emperor. He requests that the sacred preface of the late reign, the Empress Dowager's vow text, and His Majesty's *Hymn to the Three Jewels* be granted to be carved on stone beneath the stūpas, and that a kāṣāya be made to present to the statue of Śākyamuni." An edict granted this, and further ordered court literati to compose the *Record of the Monk Huaiwen Traveling to the Western Heavens Three Times*. ○ Earlier, Taizu doubted whether Vinaya Master Xuan's Buddha tooth was genuine and sent an envoy to fetch it from Luoyang and burn it in a fierce fire; its color did not change. With a heart of reverent wonder at this supernatural marvel, he composed a vow text. During the reign of Taizong, it was tested again with fire, and [the Emperor] composed a gāthā in praise to express his reverence (see the *Three Reigns' Imperial Inscriptions Stele*). Consequently, it was enshrined in the Lotus Cloister of Da Xiangguo Temple. Zhenzong once welcomed and worshipped it under the Linggan Stūpa of Kaibao Temple; on the night of veneration, a divine light burst forth, and he composed a gāthā in praise (see the *Three Reigns' Imperial Inscriptions Stele*). Because of the reverent services of three reigns, His Majesty welcomed and placed it in the palace, washing it with rose water (produced in the realm of Sanfoqi in the Southern Sea, extraordinarily fragrant). Suddenly, a relic was found within a cavity, displaying five colors that dazzled the onlookers. He thereupon composed a eulogy, stored it in a double golden basin, and reverently returned it to the temple. The eulogy reads: "The Three Sovereigns concealed their substance, all returning to the earth; / The Five Thearchs hid their forms, already turned to dust. / Master Kong is praised as a sage within the realm; / Laozi is also spoken of as true in the world. / Burying their frames, one sees only empty abandoned mounds; / In what place can they show their bodies to later generations? / Only my Master's golden bone remains: / Having undergone a hundred smeltings, its color is ever fresh." (The character 䀃 is pronounced tuí [túi], a vessel resembling a basin; the Basic Annals mistakenly wrote 盝, which is now corrected).