佛祖歷代通載 13.52

13.52

（三十九）　是歲魯山令元德秀卒。德秀字紫芝。河南人。少孤事母孝。舉進士不忍去左右。自負其母至京師。母亡廬墓側。刺血寫佛經數千言。絕筆感異香。芬馥彌日而息。食不鹽酪藉無茵席。調南和尉。德秀不及親在而娶。不肯婚。人以為不可絕嗣。答曰。兄有子先人得祀。吾何娶為。初兄子襁褓喪親。無資得乳媼。德秀自乳之數日涌流。能食乃止。家苦貧求為魯山令。歲滿笥餘一縑駕柴車還。愛陸渾佳山水。乃定居。家無僕妾。歲饑或日一爨。嗜酒陶然鼓琴以自娛。房琯每見德秀。歎息曰。見紫芝眉宇。使人名利之心都盡。蘇源明嘗語人曰。吾不幸生衰俗。所不恥者識元紫芝也。及卒家唯枕履簞瓢而已。族弟元結哭之慟。或曰。子哭過哀禮與。結曰。若知禮之過而不知情之至。大夫弱無固壯無專老無在死無餘。人情所耽溺喜愛可惡者。大夫無之。生六十年。未嘗識女色。視錦繡未嘗求足。苟辭佚色。未嘗有十畝之地十尺之舍十歲之僮。未嘗完布帛而衣具五味而飡。吾哀之以誡荒婬貪佞綺紈粱肉之徒耳。

([Year] thirty-nine) In this year, Yuan Dexiu, the Magistrate of Lushan, passed away. Dexiu, courtesy name Zizhi, was a native of Henan. Orphaned young, he served his mother filially. When recommended as a jinshi, he could not bear to leave her side, and carried his mother on his own back to the capital. When his mother died, he built a hut beside her grave, pricking his blood to write several thousand words of Buddhist sūtras; when his brush stopped, an extraordinary fragrance was felt, its rich scent lingering for a full day before ceasing. He ate neither salt nor dairy, and used neither mats nor cushions to sit on. He was appointed as Commandant of Nanhe. Dexiu had not married while his parent was alive, and so he refused to wed. People considered that his ancestral line should not be cut off, but he replied, "My elder brother has a son, so the ancestors will receive sacrifices. Why should I marry?" Earlier, when his brother's son lost his parents while still in swaddling clothes, there were no means to hire a wet nurse; Dexiu nursed the infant himself, and after several days milk surged forth, stopping only when the child could eat solid food. His family being bitterly poor, he sought the post of Magistrate of Lushan. When his term was complete, there remained in his basket only a single bolt of silk, and he returned riding a firewood cart. Loving the fine mountains and waters of Luhun, he settled there. His household had neither male nor female servants; in years of famine, he sometimes lit a fire to cook only once a day. Fond of wine, he pleasantly played the zither to amuse himself. Whenever Fang Guan saw Dexiu, he sighed and said, "Seeing Zizhi's countenance causes one's mind of fame and profit to vanish completely." Su Yuanming once said to others, "It is my misfortune to be born into a decadent age; what saves me from shame is having known Yuan Zizhi." When he died, his home contained only a pillow, sandals, a bamboo basket, and a gourd ladle. His clan younger brother Yuan Jie wept bitterly for him. Someone said, "Is it in accordance with ritual that you weep with excessive grief?" Jie said, "You know the excess of ritual, but you do not know the utmost of affection. When young, the gentleman had no stubbornness; when mature, no self-absorption; when old, no attachment; when dying, no leftovers. The things human affection wallows in, delights in, and loathes—the gentleman had none of them. In sixty years of life, he never knew female beauty; looking upon brocades and embroideries, he never sought sufficiency. Courteous in speech and unhurried in appearance, he never possessed ten mu of land, a ten-foot hut, or a ten-year-old servant boy; he never wore whole cloth for clothing or ate with all five flavors complete. I grieve for him so as to admonish those who are profligate, greedy, flattering, dressed in fine silks, and gorged on choice meats."