宋高僧傳 21.38

21.38

又長安大興善寺，本隋舍衛寺也，至唐先天中火災，殿宇蕩然，唯遺基耳。明慶中東明觀道士李榮者，本巴西人也，好事薄徒，多與釋子爭競優劣。榮來玄都觀，因率黃冠指其灰燼而嘲之曰：「道善何曾善？言興且不興。如來燒赤盡，唯有一群僧。」僧中有憤其異宗譏誚者，急募勸重新締構，復廣於前。十二畝之地，化緣雖日盈千萬，計未能成。僧眾搔首躇蹰，未知何理克成。忽有一僧，衣服麁弊，形容憔悴，負一破囊入緣，言：「速了佛殿。」步驟而去。啟視之，則黃金也，校耒之一千兩矣。時人奇之，由此檀施日繁，殿速成矣。

Furthermore, the Great Xingshan Temple in Chang'an was originally the Śrāvastī Temple of the Sui dynasty. In the Xiantian era of the Tang, it suffered a fire, and the halls and buildings were razed, leaving only the foundations. During the Xianqing era, the Daoist Li Rong of Dongming Abbey was a native of Baxi, an meddlesome, frivolous man who often disputed superiority with Buddhist monks. Rong came to Xuandu Abbey, led some Daoists to point at the ashes, and ridiculed them, saying:
"They speak of goodness, but when was it ever good?
They claim it flourishes, yet it does not flourish.
The Tathāgata has been burnt away completely,
Leaving behind only a crowd of monks!"
Among the monks, some were indignant at the rival religion's mockery and urgently solicited donations to rebuild the halls, making them even more expansive than before. For the twelve-mu site, although alms collections brought in tens of thousands daily, they could not bring the plan to completion. The monastic assembly scratched their heads in hesitation, not knowing how it could ever succeed. Suddenly there came a monk in ragged, worn clothes and an emaciated appearance, carrying a tattered sack to join the fundraising. He said, "Quickly finish the Buddha hall!" and walked briskly away. When they opened it and looked, it was gold—amounting to one thousand liang upon weighing. The people of the time marveled at it; from this, donors' gifts multiplied daily, and the hall was quickly completed.