釋迦氏譜 1.83

1.83

Third, clarifying it by the seasons: Yin and yang, cold and heat, produce their functions according to the direction. In this land of the Divine Province, cold and heat are not uniform; in the south there are miasmas and pestilences with blazing heat, while in the north, even in the midst of summer, ice freezes. Although there is slight moderation, it is ultimately not universally balanced. In Central India, winter and summer are constantly tempered, without suffering from cold or heat; grasses and trees are ever lush, never withering from falling frost. This is precisely because, its location not being peripheral or remote, the wind and rain have no irregularity; yin and yang harmoniously interact, and all things are free from venom. Therefore, the Illustrated Guide to the Western Regions states: "The Five Indias reach the Snow Mountains (Himālaya) in the north and the great ocean in the south; for over sixty thousand li the rivers and marshes are flat and smooth, with no hills or mounds, but only streams branching and flowing, and forests standing dense. The other three directions are skirted with mountains and hills, continuously adjoining one another, resembling the eastern streams." This is truly because, at the initial formation of the world, through the karma of all living beings, this superior terrain was formed to await the arising of the Buddha. Seeking it in facts, if this is not called the center, what is? According to the Biographies of Eminent Monks: In the past, during the Jin dynasty, He Chengtian was skilled in understanding the astronomical signs, and no two gnomon shadows differed [in his calculations]. He thoroughly investigated the off-center and the central together with Dharma Master Zhiyan. Zhiyan said: "I once traveled to India and fully paid homage to the sacred personage; as for the gnomon markings, I took them deeply to heart. In a thorough survey of Central India, on the day of the summer solstice, at exact midday there is no shadow. This is truly because it is the center of the earth." At the gnomon-measuring terrace south of Luoyang in this land, on the day of the summer solstice there is still a remaining fraction [of shadow]. Therefore, this is not Daxia, but merely called Eastern Xia. When Chengtian heard this, he had no words to rebut him.