高僧傳 11.71

11.71

Shi Tanchao, whose secular surname was Zhang, was a native of Qinghe. He was eight chi tall, with an impressive bearing and demeanor. He ate vegetarian food, wore plain cloth robes, and took only one midday meal. At first he resided at Longhua Temple in the capital. At the end of the Yuanjia reign era, he traveled south to Shixing, surveying the mountains and waters everywhere and sleeping alone under trees, unharmed by tigers or wild rhinoceroses. During the Daming reign era he returned to the capital. When Emperor Taizu of the Qi mounted the throne, Tanchao was ordered by imperial decree to go to Liaodong to propagate and praise the way of dhyāna. He stayed there for two years, vastly carrying out the teaching of the Dharma. At the end of the Jianyuan reign era he returned to the capital, and soon afterwards went to Mount Lingyuan in Qiantang.