宋高僧傳 16.31

16.31

釋彥偁，姓龔氏，吳郡常熟人也。揭厲戒律，錙銖塵務，勤求師範，唯善是從。末扣擊《繼宗》記主，得其戶牗，乃於本生地講導，同好鳩聚，律風孔扇，號為毘尼窟宅焉。先是海隅，巫咸氏之遺壤，招真治之舊墟，古寺周圍不全，垝垣而已。甞一夜有虎中獵人箭，伏於寺閣，哮吼不止。偁憫之，忙係鞵，秉炬下閣，言欲拔之。弟子輩扶遏且止者三四，伺其更闌各睡，乃自持炬就拔其箭。虎耽耳舐矢鏃血，顧偁而瞑目焉。質明，獵師朱德就寺尋虎，偁告示其箭，朱德悛心罷獵焉。武肅王錢氏知重，每設冥齋，召行持明法。時覆肩衣自肱而墮，還自搭上，或見鬼物隨侍焉。所謂道德盛則鬼神助也。以貞明六年六月，終于山房，年九十九歲云。

Śramaṇa Yancheng was surnamed Gong and was a native of Changshu in Wu Commandery. He was strict and uncompromising in the precepts and rules, treating worldly affairs as negligible trifles; he diligently sought masters to emulate, following only what was good. Later, he questioned the author of the commentary Jizong, gaining entry into its gates, and thereupon lectured and guided others in his native place. Like-minded people flocked to him, and the vinaya tradition flourished vigorously, so that it was called the dwelling of the vinaya. Earlier, this maritime corner had been the leftover land of the Wu Xian clan and the former site of the Zhaozhen administration; the ancient temple was not completely enclosed, having only broken walls. Once, at night, a tiger struck by a hunter's arrow lay crouched in the temple loft, roaring incessantly. Cheng took pity on it, hurriedly tied his shoes, and held a torch to descend the loft, intending to pull it out. His disciples held him back and stopped him three or four times; waiting until the night was late and they had all fallen asleep, he took the torch himself and went to pull out the arrow. The tiger flattened its ears, licked the blood on the arrowhead, looked at Cheng, and closed its eyes. At dawn, the hunter Zhu De went to the temple to look for the tiger; Cheng showed him the arrow, and Zhu De repented and gave up hunting. King Wusu of the Qian clan held him in high esteem; whenever he held a nocturnal vegetarian feast, he summoned him to perform the vidyādhara rituals. At times his samghāṭī fell from his arm and draped itself back up on its own, and some saw spirit beings attending upon him. This is what is meant by: when moral virtue flourishes, ghosts and spirits assist. In the sixth month of the sixth year of the Zhenming reign era, he passed away in his mountain room at the age of ninety-nine.