續高僧傳 26.69

26.69

Śramaṇa Huicang was a native of Jizhou. Initially he studied the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra], and later he devoted himself to lecturing and expounding it. He guarded against greed and competition, and shunned all cause for censure. His words were serene and he showed no emotion on his face. Entering the capital in search of the Way, he resided at Guangming Temple. In the middle of the Renshou era, he was summoned by imperial decree to establish a pagoda in Huanzhou. When he first arrived at the pagoda temple, he conducted circumambulation and offered a vegetarian feast. Just above the pagoda, auspicious clouds appeared, displaying five colors like a floral canopy; no brocade or embroidery could surpass it. Appearing from noon until dusk, it only then faded away. There was also the monk Fashun of Yanxing Temple, who listened to and practiced the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra], skillfully guarding his sense-faculties, modest and self-restrained, possessing virtue without arrogance. An imperial edict ordered him to reside at Donglin Temple on Mount Lu in Jiangzhou to establish a relic pagoda. When he first arrived there, a farmer saw a light, dug beneath it, and unearthed a gilt-bronze image of Maitreya of extraordinary form and substance, which was immediately venerated. It is likewise unknown how [these monks] met their end.