續高僧傳 13.37

13.37

Śramaṇa Huibi, surnamed Hong, was a native of Jiaxing in Suzhou. From the time of his conception in the womb, his mother abstained from pungent foods and fishy meat. After his birth, he developed an aversion to foul smells; thus, from infancy until the age of seven, he ate only vegetables to fill his belly, utterly renouncing all desires. He went forth from household life under Master Yan of Faliushui Monastery to understand the teachings, following and practicing them obediently. After coming of age, he wandered widely in search of the Way, making no distinction between easy and perilous paths. He inquired into the essential principles of the four treatises and the three sūtras. Once his learning was clear and accomplished, he was invited back to his former residence. People from all four directions heard of his reputation and all came to pay their respects. Several hundred disciples constantly came and went. Morning and evening, he instructed and guided them, delighting in preaching without weariness. His back did not touch the sleeping mat for over forty years. In his old age, lacking lasting strength, he would occasionally rest his hand on a curved armrest. At the end of the Zhenguan era, he was over seventy years of age. This man was not from distant times, yet records of his deeds are rarely transmitted; people throughout the four directions merely praised him, saying he was an inconceivable bhadanta. As for his mounting the seat to meet students and his composing models and ordinances, his lofty course is not heard of, and I fear it will remain buried in the past. What a pity!