釋氏稽古略 3.74

3.74

Duke Fayun Wanxiang. On the fifth day of the fifth month in the sixth year of Zhenguan of Taizong, he was born into the Zhang clan of Wenshang, Guozhou. In the fourth year of Xianheng, the Emperor ordained him as a śramaṇa. When Wanxiang was young, he delivered a letter to his elder brother six thousand li away, departing in the morning and returning in the evening; hence he was called Wanxiang ("Ten Thousand Returns"). In the fourth year of Chuigong under Zetian, the Empress Dowager invited Wanxiang into the palace, bestowed brocade robes upon him, and ordered palace maidens to attend to him. In the second year of Chang'an, wherever Wanxiang went, he manifested supernatural transformations. When Xuanzong was still in his princely mansion, he once visited Wanxiang privately; Wanxiang patted him on the back and said, "For fifty years, Son of Heaven of Great Peace, take good care of yourself." In the second year of Shenlong of Zhongzong, he bestowed on Wanxiang the title Duke Fayun. In the tenth month of the second year of Jingyun of Ruizong, an imperial decree summoned Wanxiang into the palace to reside at the Jixian Academy, providing two beautiful women to serve him. In the twelfth month, he suddenly asked for river water from Wenshang. His attendants could not obtain it. Wanxiang said, "Dig a hole in the ground in front of the hall and you will obtain it." After Wanxiang finished drinking the water, he passed away peacefully at the age of eighty. He was posthumously granted the titles of Minister of Works and Duke of Guo State, and an imperial decree ordered his portrait to be painted at the Jixian Academy (his biography).