續高僧傳 29.19

29.19

釋住力。姓褚氏。河南陽翟人。避地吳郡之錢塘縣。因而家焉。宿植勝因早修慧業。甫及八歲出家學道。器宇凝峻虛懷接悟。聲第之高有聞緇俗。陳中宗宣帝。於京城之左造泰皇寺。宏壯之極罄竭泉府。迺勅專監百工。故得揆測指撝面勢嚴淨。至德二年。又勅為寺主。值江表淪亡僧徒乖散。乃負錫遊方訪求勝地。行至江都。乃於長樂寺而止心焉。隋開皇十三年。建塔五層。金槃景耀峨然挺秀。遠近式瞻。至十七年。煬帝晉蕃又臨江海。以力為寺任繕造之功故也。初梁武得優填王像神瑞難紀。在丹陽之龍光寺。及陳國云亡道場焚毀。力乃奉接尊儀及王謐所得定光像者。並延長樂身心供養。而殿宇褊狹未盡莊嚴。遂宣導四部王公黎庶。共修高閣並夾二樓。寺眾大小三百餘僧。咸同喜捨畢願締構力乃勵率同侶二百餘僧。共往豫章刊山伐木。人力既壯。規摹所指妙盡物情。即年成立。制置華絕。力異神工。宏壯高顯挺冠區宇。大業四年。又起四周僧房。廊廡齋厨倉庫備足。故使眾侶常續斷緒無因。再往京師。深降恩禮還至江都。又蒙勅慰。大業十年。自竭身資。以栴檀香木。模寫瑞像並二菩薩。不久尋成同安閣內。至十四年。隋室喪亂道俗流亡。骸若萎朽充諸衢市。誓以身命守護殿閣。寺居狐兔顧影為儔。啜菽飲水再離寒暑。雖耆年暮齒。而心力逾壯。泥塗褫落周匝火燒。口誦不輟手行治葺。賊徒雪泣見者哀歎。往往革心相佐修補。皇唐受命弘宣大法。舊僧餘眾並造相投。邑室雖焚此寺猶在。武德六年。江表賊帥輔公祐。負阻繕兵戈潛圖反叛。凡百寺觀撤送江南。力乃致書再請。願在閣前。燒身以留寺宇。祐偽號尊稱。志在傾殄。雖得其書全不顧遇力謂弟子曰。吾無量劫來積習貪愛。不能捐捨形命以報法恩。今欲自於佛前取盡決。不忍見像濟江。可積乾薪自燒供養。吾滅之後像必南渡。衣資什物並入尊像。泣服施靈理宜改革。便以香湯沐浴加趺面西。引火自焚卒於炭聚。時年八十。即武德六年十月八日也。命終火滅。合掌凝然。更足闍維。一時都化。初力在佛前焚時。群鵲哀鳴。其聲甚切。右遶七匝方始飛去。及身沒後像果南遷。殿閣房廊得免煨燼。法寶僧眾如疇昔焉。門人慧安智賾者。師資義重甥舅恩深。為樹高碑于寺之內。東宮庶子虞世南為文。今像還歸於本閣云。

Śramaṇa Zhili. His surname was Chu, and he was a native of Yangdi in Henan. Fleeing hardship to Qiantang County in Wu Commandery, he settled there. Having planted superior causes in past lives, he cultivated the practice of wisdom early. Just at the age of eight, he left household life to study the Way; his capacity was dignified and lofty, and with an open mind he received comprehension. The eminence of his reputation was known among both monastics and laity. Emperor Xuan, Emperor Zhongzong of the Chen dynasty, built the Taihuang Temple to the left of the capital city; of supreme grandeur, it exhausted the imperial treasury. He then issued an edict appointing Zhili to oversee exclusively all the artisans; thus he was able to measure, direct, and make its orientation solemn and pure. In the second year of the Zhide reign-period [584 CE], he was further appointed by edict as the abbot of the temple. When the region south of the Yangzi fell and the monastic assembly scattered, he carried his staff and traveled to various regions seeking superior places. Arriving at Jiangdu, he settled his mind at Changle Temple. In the thirteenth year of the Kaihuang reign-period of the Sui [593 CE], he built a five-story pagoda whose golden disks shone brightly, towering and lofty, looked up to with reverence far and wide. In the seventeenth year [597 CE], when Emperor Yang, then Prince of Jin, governed the coastal region again, he entrusted Li with the responsibilities of the temple on account of his achievements in construction. Earlier, Emperor Wu of the Liang had obtained a statue of King Udayana whose divine marvels were difficult to record, which was housed at Longguang Temple in Danyang. When the Chen state fell and the place of practice was burned, Li received this venerated image, as well as the statue of Dīpaṃkara obtained by Wang Mi, and invited them both to Changle Temple, making offerings with body and mind. However, the halls were cramped and lacked full ornamentation. He therefore proselytized the four assemblies, princes, dukes, and commoners, to build a tall pavilion flanked by two secondary towers. The temple assembly of more than three hundred monks, great and small, all rejoiced and gave, fulfilling their vow to construct it. Li then encouraged and led more than two hundred fellow monks to go together to Yuzhang to clear mountains and fell trees. The manpower being abundant, the designs he indicated subtly captured every sentiment. That very year it was completed, its design and arrangement exceedingly splendid; Li's strength seemed like divine craftsmanship, and its majestic, elevated presence stood supreme throughout the realm. In the fourth year of the Daye reign-period [608 CE], he also constructed monastic quarters on all four sides, with corridors, dining halls, kitchens, and storehouses fully provided, so that the assembly was continuously sustained without cause for interruption. He went twice to the imperial capital, where he was bestowed profound imperial favor and rites; upon returning to Jiangdu, he again received imperial edicts of comfort. In the tenth year of the Daye reign-period [614 CE], he exhausted his own personal resources to replicate the auspicious image along with two bodhisattvas using sandalwood; they were completed shortly after and installed together inside the pavilion. By the fourteenth year [618 CE], the Sui house fell into ruin and chaos; monastics and laypeople were displaced, and corpses were strewn like withered wood across the streets and markets. Li vowed to guard the halls and pavilion with his life; foxes and hares inhabited the temple, and he regarded his own shadow as his companion, drinking water and eating beans, passing through two winters and summers. Though advanced in years and toothless, his resolve grew all the firmer. As the mud plaster peeled off and fires raged on all sides, he did not cease his chanting, and repaired things with his own hands. Bandits wept, and all who saw him sighed with sorrow; often they transformed their hearts and helped him in making repairs. When the August Tang received the mandate and widely proclaimed the Great Dharma, the former monks and remaining assembly all returned to him; though the city dwellings had been burned, this temple alone survived. In the sixth year of the Wude reign-period [623 CE], the rebel leader south of the Yangzi, Fu Gongyou, relied on natural barriers and gathered weapons, secretly plotting rebellion; all temples and shrines were dismantled and sent south of the Yangzi. Li submitted letters twice requesting to burn his own body before the pavilion so that the temple buildings might be spared. You claimed a bogus title and honored appellation, his mind set on destruction; though he received the letter, he disregarded it entirely. Li said to his disciples: 'For countless kalpas I have accumulated habits of craving and love, unable to cast aside body and life to repay the debt to the Dharma. Now I wish to bring an end to my life before the Buddha, resolute, unable to bear seeing the image cross the river. You may gather dry firewood so that I may burn myself as an offering. After I pass away, the statue will surely be moved south; my robes, provisions, and utensils should all be dedicated to the venerated image. Since weeping and donning mourning clothes belong to worldly customs, they should be done away with.' He then bathed in scented water, sat cross-legged facing west, set fire to himself, and passed away atop the heap of charcoal. He was eighty years old at the time, on the eighth day of the tenth month in the sixth year of the Wude reign-period [623 CE]. When his life ended, the fire went out, and his joined palms remained motionless. Adding more firewood for the cremation (jhāpitam), all was transformed at once. Earlier, when Li was burning before the Buddha, a flock of magpies cried mournfully with extreme pathos; they circled to the right seven times before flying away. After his passing, the statue was indeed moved south, but the pavilions, halls, rooms, and corridors were spared from the ashes; the Dharma treasures and monastic assembly were just as in former times. His disciples Hui'an and Zhize, cherishing the gravity of teacher-disciple bonds and the deep affection between nephew and uncle, erected a tall stele within the temple. Yu Shinan, Vice Mentor to the Crown Prince, composed the text. It is said that the statue has now returned to its original pavilion.