高僧傳 2.13

2.13

In the second year of the Xianning era, a sow gave birth to a piglet with one body and three heads. A dragon emerged from a well in the eastern wing and coiled itself before the palace hall; by dawn it had disappeared. Zuan took this as an auspicious omen and named the grand hall the Dragon Soaring Hall. Shortly afterwards, a black dragon ascended at the Nine Palaces Gate facing the sun; Zuan renamed the Nine Palaces Gate the Dragon Rising Gate. Kumārajīva submitted a memorial saying, "Recently, hidden dragons have come out to roam, and a pig omen has displayed an abnormality. Dragons belong to the yin category; their coming and going have their seasons. Appearing repeatedly now, they portend calamity; there will surely be a revolt of inferiors plotting against superiors. You should restrain yourself and cultivate virtue to respond to Heaven's warning." Zuan did not accept it. Playing a game of bo with Kumārajīva, Zuan captured a piece and said, "I cut off the Hu slave's head!" Kumārajīva said, "You cannot cut off the Hu slave's head; the Hu slave will cut off a man's head." These words held an inner meaning, but Zuan remained oblivious to the end. Lü Guang's younger brother Bao had a son named Chao, whose childhood name was Hu Nu. Later, Chao indeed killed Zuan, cutting off his head, and set up his elder brother Long as ruler; only then did the people of that time realize the truth of Kumārajīva's words.