釋氏稽古略 4.336

4.336

In the Song, Chan Master Matou of Mount Yushan in Huating was named Faning. He was born into the Li family of Ju County in Mizhou, Shandong. In his early years, he went to Venerable Miaokong Ming of Tianning in Yizhou and was ordained. He resided at Jingju Monastery on Mount Matou in Yizhou. In the beginning of the Shaoxing era, he traveled by sea to Qinglong Town in Huating. Lady Gao, the mother of the Investigation Judge Zhang Gun, who was residing there in retirement, dreamed of a deva saying: "An ancient Buddha has arrived." The next morning the master arrived, and she welcomed him to stay in the Qian family garden. The master then built a vihāra, and upon excavating the foundation, discovered the auspicious signs of an iron chime, a broken stele, and a Buddha image. The Magistrate of Huating, Liu Yue, reported this clearly to the relevant authorities, who petitioned for an imperial bestowal of the name "Jingju" for the constructed monastery. The master went to Mingzhou to visit Miaokong at Xuedou, and built a hermitage on another peak of Putuo called Qingshan (now Little Baoning). The commandery prefect Mo Jiang invited him to preside over Jixiang. Earlier, during the Yuanfu era of Zhezong, there was a vihāra on Mount Yushan called Lingfeng; applying for a ministry credential, its plaque was changed to "Zhaoqing Chan Cloister." Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs Zhu E invited the master to be the founding abbot. He later transferred to Guanghui in Mingzhou, and then returned to Zhaoqing. Down to this year, Bingzi, on the eighth day of the first month, he entered into silence. His whole body was stupaed to the east of the abbot's quarters. His worldly age was seventy-six; his monastic seniority was fifty-nine summers. He was a Dharma heir of Chan Master Xuedou Ming; Ming was an heir of Changlu He; He was an heir of Fayun Ben, of the Yunmen lineage (Wudeng huiyuan).