釋氏稽古略 4.233

4.233

Grand Historian Lord Huang, tabooed name Tingjian, courtesy name Luzhi, who took the appellation Master of the Mountain Valley, had at this time suffered family bereavement and was residing at Mount Huanglong. He studied with Chan Master Huitang Zuxin, and had an especially deep bond beyond worldly dust with Sixin Xin and Caotang Qing. In the course of conversation, Huitang cited Confucius speaking to his disciples: "Do you think I have anything concealed from you? I have nothing concealed from you. There is nothing I do that is not shared with you two or three gentlemen; that is Qiu." He asked the Lord to interpret it twice, but Huitang rejected his explanations. Anger showed on the Lord's face, and he remained silent for a long time. It happened that the heat had receded and coolness arose, with the fragrance of autumn filling the courtyard. Huitang said, "Do you smell the fragrance of the sweet osmanthus?" The Lord said, "I smell it." Huitang said, "I have nothing concealed from you." The Lord delightfully attained understanding. Later, when in Qiannan, he sent a letter to Sixin Xin saying, "In former days, I received your earnest reminders and instructions, yet I was always as if in a drunken dream, dimly lingering amidst light and shadows. Because my sense of doubt was not exhausted and the root of life was not severed, I looked at the cliff and withdrew. While exiled as an official, lying down during the day on the road in Qianzhou, I awoke and suddenly everything was open and clear. When I reflected upon it, how many times had I been confounded by the old venerable monks throughout the world! Only the Daoist Sixin refused to approve of me; that was truly the greatest kindness to me" (Ganshan Ying Zhongwen Luohu lu).