佛祖歷代通載 9.19

9.19

（十三　乙未）　是年魏胡太后。作永寧石窟二寺。極土木之美。而永寧尤盛。有金像高丈八尺如中人者又十軀。為浮圖九級。築基下及黃泉。其高九十丈。上立剎復高十丈。每夜靜鈴鐸聲聞十餘里。佛殿如太極殿。三門如端門。僧房千楹。玉珠錦綉。駭人心目。未幾雷電火爇其塔。遠近咸見烟焰中有塔升空而沒。後月餘有自東州來者云。此日見塔乘空飛海上。而望海者時亦見之。

(13. Yiwei) In this year, Empress Dowager Hu of the Northern Wei built the two temples of Yongning and Shiku, taking the beauty of woodwork and masonry to the extreme, with Yongning being especially magnificent. There was a golden statue eighteen feet tall, as well as ten statues the size of ordinary humans. A nine-story pagoda was constructed, with foundations dug down to the yellow springs, rising ninety zhang high, and a finial erected above it that was another ten zhang high. In the quiet of every night, the sound of its bells could be heard for over ten li. The Buddha hall was like the Taiji Palace, the three gates were like the Duan Gate, and the monks' quarters numbered a thousand bays; jade, pearls, and embroidered silks dazzled the hearts and eyes of people. Soon after, thunder, lightning, and fire burned the pagoda; people far and near all saw a pagoda ascending into the sky amidst the smoke and flames, and then disappearing. More than a month later, someone arriving from the eastern provinces said: 'On that day, I saw a pagoda flying through the sky over the sea,' and those looking out to sea also saw it at times.