宋高僧傳 20.10

20.10

釋大川，不知何許人也，沈默自居，節操彌厲。戒無竁穴，言不浪施。於漢州棲賢寺行四聖種法，克苦既增，川也，其樂也泄泄。綿竹之人無夙少，率皆宗奉。及乎終也，臥于寺外，白衣具床榻，相率舁歸寺中，務營喪禮。方當屍舉，無何雙鹿引前若騶導焉。始履門閾，寺額奮然隕地，遠近驚歎。又此山靈異，不容麁鄙。有僧深藏者，不謹愿，多所違犯。神人擲于山下可七里許，唯傷足指。從此無不悛革守戒者。大曆初北山變成黃金色，上有樓閣，菩薩行道。斯須之間，萬形千狀。川素居此寺，與地俱靈，留影供養，如事靈祠焉。次閩城法烱者，未詳何許人也，行頭陀法，克苦克勤，激勸閩人，辭氣剛直。聞海壇練門江內有巨鐘，相傳云昔有人往廣州募鑄信鼓。巨艦至此，忽值風濤沈溺。每月望日，其潮大至，水退，其蒲牢乃出，可容一人從中穿過，約其周圍徑一丈餘。大曆中烱欲出此鐘，先於開元寺設大會齋誦呪，令一小僧詣龍宮——乞鐘於人世，擊扣以警晨昏。小僧見海神曰：「我惜以鎮海。」別與小珠三顆為信，當爾時小僧有如夢覺，珠在手焉。

Śramaṇa Dachuan was a man of unknown origin. He lived in taciturn seclusion, and his moral integrity grew ever more rigorous. His monastic discipline was without breach, and he never spoke words in vain. At Xixian Temple in Hanzhou, he practiced the method of the four noble traditions (āryavaṃśa). As his austerities increased, Dachuan's joy was utterly carefree and expansive. People of Mianzhu, old and young alike, all revered him. When his end came, he was lying outside the temple. Laypeople prepared a couch and carried him back to the temple together, attending to the funeral rites. Just as the corpse was being lifted, a pair of deer suddenly led the way before it as though serving as outriders. As soon as they set foot on the threshold, the temple placard abruptly dropped to the ground, causing everyone near and far to marvel in awe. Furthermore, the mountain was miraculously numinous and did not tolerate the coarse and vulgar. There was a monk named Shencang who was neither cautious nor upright and committed many transgressions. A spirit being cast him down to the foot of the mountain some seven li away, injuring only his toe. From that time on, there was none who did not reform and observe the precepts. At the beginning of the Dali era, the North Mountain turned the color of yellow gold; atop it were multi-storied pavilions and bodhisattvas walking the path. In an instant, thousands of shapes and ten thousand forms appeared. Dachuan had long resided in this temple and was numinous in tandem with the place; his portrait was preserved for offerings, much like serving a numinous shrine. Next, Faxiong of Mincheng was a person whose origins are unknown. He practiced the dhūta austerities with hardship and diligence, inspiring and exhorting the people of Min with unbending and upright speech. He heard that within the Lianmen River of Haitan there was a giant bell. Tradition said that in the past someone had gone to Guangzhou to collect donations to cast a signal drum. When the great ship reached this place, it suddenly met wind and waves and sank. On the fifteenth day of every month, when the tide rose high and the waters receded, the bell's suspension loop (pulao) would emerge; it was large enough to allow a person to pass through the middle, with a circumference estimated at over one zhang in diameter. During the Dali era, Xiong wished to bring out this bell. He first held a great vegetarian gathering at Kaiyuan Temple to recite incantations, and sent a novice monk to the dragon palace to request the bell for the human world, so it might be struck to warn [people] at dawn and dusk. The novice monk saw the sea god, who said: "I cherish it to subdue the sea." He gave three small pearls as a pledge. At that very moment, the novice monk felt as though waking from a dream, with the pearls right in his hand.