[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [宋高僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061) › 22.18 # 宋高僧傳 22.18 宋高僧傳 22.18 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [22.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.22.18) 釋僧緘者，俗名緘也，姓王氏，京兆人。少而察慧，辭氣絕群。大中十一年，杜審權下對策成事，祕書監馮涓即同年也。乾符中，巢寇充斥，隨流避亂。至渚宮投中令成汭，汭攻淮海，不利，遂削髮出家。屬雷滿據荊州，襄州趙凝攻破之。梁祖遣高季昌誅滅焉，江陵遂屬高氏。緘避地夔峽間。後唐同光三年入蜀，尋訪馮涓，已死矣。遂居淨眾寺，而髭髮皓然，且面色紅潤逍遙然，人不測其情偽。有華陽進士王處厚者——乙卯歲於偽蜀落第，則周顯德二年也——，入寺寫憂於松竹間，見緘。緘曰：「得非王處厚乎？」處厚驚曰：「未甞相狎，何遽呼耶？」緘曰：「偶知耳。」遂說本唐文宗大和初生，止今一百三十餘載矣。處厚曰：「某身跡奚若？」「子將來之事極於明年。而今而後，事可知矣。」意言蜀將亡也，囑令勿洩。明日再尋，杳沈聲跡。一日，復扣關自來云：「暫去禮峨眉，結夏於黑水方還。」緘於案頭拈文卷覽之，則處厚府試賦\[葶-丁+呆\]，曰：「考乎真偽，非君燭下之文。何多誑乎？」遂探懷抽賦\[葶-丁+呆\]示之，「此豈非程試真本乎？」處厚驚竦不已，乃曰：「僕試後偶加潤色，用補燭下倉卒之過也。師何從得是本也？」緘曰：「非但一賦，君平生所作之者，皆貯之矣。」明日訪之，携處厚入寺之北隅，同謁故太尉豳公杜琮之祠坐於西廡下，俄有數吏服色厖雜，自堂宇間綴行而出，降階再拜。緘曰：「新官在此，便可庭參。」處厚惶懅而作。緘曰：「此輩將為君之驅策，又何懼乎？寧知泰山舉君為司命否？仍以夙負壯圖，未酬前志，請候登第後施行。復檢官祿簿，見來春一牓人數已定，君亦預其間，斯乃陰注陽受也。策人世之名，食幽府之祿，此陽注陰受也。」處厚震駭，不知所裁，但問：「明年及第人姓名為誰耶？」緘索紙筆，立書一短封與之，誡之：「嚴密藏之。脫洩，禍不旋踵。」須臾吏散。緘携手出廟，及瞑而去。至春試罷，緘來處厚家，留一簡云：「暫還弊廬，無復再面也。」後往寺僧堂中問之，已他適矣。乃拆短封視之，但書四句云「周成同成，二王殊名，王居一焉，百日為程。」及乎牓出，驗之有八士也。二王，處厚與王慎言也，王居一焉。惡其「百日為程」，處厚唯狎同年，置酒高會，極遂性之歡。由是荒亂不起，是夜暴亡。同年皆夢處厚藍袍槐笏，驅殿而行。驗其策名之榮，止一百二十日也。詳其緘之生於文宗太和初也，成身在宣宗大中，王處厚遇之已一百三十餘歲也。次，偽王蜀城都大慈寺僧亡名恒諷誦《法華經》，令人樂聞。時至分衛，取足而已。身微所苦，有示方藥。伊僧策杖入青城大面山採藥。㳂溪越險，忽然雲霧四起，不知所適。有頃，見一翁，僧揖之，序寒暄問「何以至此？」僧曰：「為採少藥也。」翁曰：「莊舍不遠，略迂神足，得否？」僧曰：「迷方失路，願隨居士。」少頃雲散，見一宅宇陰森。既近，翁曰：「且先報莊主人矣。」僧入門覩事，皆非凡調。問曰：「還齋否？」曰：「未食。」焚香且覺非常欝悖，請念所業經。其僧朗聲誦經，勉令誦徹部。所饋齋饌，皆大慈寺前食物。齋畢，青衣負竹器以香草薦之，乃施錢五貫，令師市胡餅之費。翁合掌送出。或問，云：「此孫思邈先生也。」到寺已經月餘矣。其錢將入寺，則黃金貨泉也。王氏聞之，收金錢，別給錢五百貫。其僧散施之，將知仙民恒在名山。次嘉州羅目縣有訴：孫山人賃驢不償直，乞追攝。問小童，云：「是孫思邈也。」縣令驚怪，出錢代償。其人居山下，及出縣路，見孫公取錢二百以授之，曰：「吾元伺汝於此，何遽怪乎？」得金錢僧不知其終所。 > Shi Sengjian's secular given name was Jian, and his surname was Wang; he was a native of Jingzhao. In his youth he was perceptive and wise, with eloquence and bearing surpassing the crowd. In the eleventh year of the Dazhong era, he passed the examination with his policy response under Du Shenquan; Feng Juan, Director of the Palace Library, was an examination graduate of the same year. During the Qianfu era, Huang Chao's rebels swarmed everywhere, and fleeing the turmoil, he drifted with the crowds. Arriving at Zhugong, he threw himself upon the protection of Secretariat Director Cheng Rui. Rui attacked Huaihai without success, whereupon Jian shaved his head and took pravrajyā. When Lei Man occupied Jingzhou, Zhao Ning of Xiangzhou attacked and defeated him. The Liang founder dispatched Gao Jichang to execute and destroy them, so Jiangling came under the rule of the Gao family. Jian took refuge in the region between Kui and the Gorges. In the third year of the Tongguang era of the Later Tang, he entered Shu to seek out Feng Juan, but Juan was already dead. He then dwelt at Jingzhong Temple, with beard and hair snowy white and his complexion ruddy and leisurely, so that no one could fathom whether he was ordinary or profound. There was an advance scholar of Huayang named Wang Chuhou—having failed the examinations in pseudo-Shu in the yimao year, which was the second year of the Xiande era of the Zhou dynasty—who entered the temple to dispel his grief among the pines and bamboos, where he saw Jian. Jian said, 'Might you not be Wang Chuhou?' Chuhou said in surprise, 'We have never been acquainted; why do you suddenly call me by name?' Jian said, 'I merely happen to know.' He then stated that he was originally born at the beginning of the Dahe era of Emperor Wenzong of the Tang, more than one hundred and thirty years ago up to the present. Chuhou asked, 'How will my own fortune turn out?' \[Jian said,\] 'Your future affairs will reach their limit next year. From now on, what will happen can be known.' He meant that Shu was about to fall, and cautioned him not to leak it. The next day Chuhou sought him again, but all trace and sound of him had vanished without a trace. One day, \[Jian\] knocked at the gate and came on his own, saying, 'I went briefly to pay homage at Mount Emei and completed the summer retreat at Heishui, and have just returned.' On the desk Jian picked up an essay roll and browsed it; it was the draft of the rhapsody Chuhou had submitted for the prefectural examination. He said, 'Examining what is true and false, this is not the text you wrote under the lamp. Why deceive so much?' Thereupon he reached into his robe, drew out a draft of the rhapsody, and showed it to him: 'Is this not the genuine copy from the examination?' Chuhou was endlessly astonished and terrified, and said, 'After the examination, I occasionally polished it to make up for the hasty errors made under the lamp. From where did the master obtain this copy?' Jian said, 'Not only this one rhapsody; all that you have composed throughout your life is stored away.' The next day \[Chuhou\] visited him, and Jian took Chuhou by the hand into the northern corner of the temple. Together they paid respects at the shrine of the late Grand Defender, Duke of Bin, Du Cong, sitting under the western veranda. Presently, several clerks in diverse and mingled robes came out in a line from the halls, descended the steps, and bowed twice. Jian said, 'The new official is here; you may now pay your court respects.' Chuhou arose in fear and trepidation. Jian said, 'These fellows are to be driven and directed by you; why fear them? Do you know whether Mount Tai has nominated you to be the arbiter of fate? Still, because you have long harbored grand ambitions and have not yet fulfilled your former aspirations, they requested to wait until after you passed the examinations to carry it out. Upon checking the register of official emoluments again, it was seen that the number of people on next spring's roll has already been determined, and you are also included among them. This is being inscribed in the unseen and received in the visible realm. Passing the examination for worldly fame while consuming the emolument of the nether world—this is being inscribed in the visible and received in the unseen realm.' Chuhou was shaken and dismayed, not knowing what to make of it, and only asked, 'Who are the names of those who will pass next year?' Jian asked for paper and brush, immediately wrote a short slip, sealed it, gave it to him, and admonished him: 'Keep it strictly concealed. If it leaks out, disaster will arrive before you can even turn on your heel.' In a moment, the clerks dispersed. Jian took him by the hand and left the shrine, departing at dusk. When the spring examinations were over, Jian came to Chuhou's house and left a note saying, 'I am returning briefly to my humble hut; we shall not meet again.' Later, when Chuhou went to the temple's saṅgha hall to inquire about him, he had already gone elsewhere. He then tore open the short sealed slip and looked at it; it only had four lines written: 'Zhou and Cheng will both succeed, / Two Wangs with different names; / A Wang shall occupy the first place, / With a hundred days as the allotted span.' When the roll was issued, upon verification there were eight scholars. The 'two Wangs' were Chuhou and Wang Shenyan, and Wang \[Chuhou\] occupied the first place. Loathing the line 'With a hundred days as the allotted span,' Chuhou merely fraternized with his fellow examination graduates, setting out wine for grand gatherings to indulge fully in his pleasures. Consequently, he fell into dissolute abandon and took to his bed, and that night he died suddenly. His fellow graduates all dreamed of Chuhou in a blue robe with a scholar-tree tablet, riding at the head of an escort. Verifying the glory of his passing the examination, it lasted only one hundred and twenty days. Examining in detail the matter of Jian, he was born at the beginning of the Taihe era of Wenzong, established his career under Xuanzong in the Dazhong era, and when Wang Chuhou met him, he was already over one hundred and thirty years old. Next, an anonymous monk of Daci Temple in Chengdu of the pseudo-Wang Shu kingdom constantly chanted the Lotus Sūtra, making people delight in hearing it. When the time came for alms begging (piṇḍapāta), he took only enough to suffice. When his body suffered a slight ailment, someone showed him medicinal recipes. That monk, staff in hand, entered the Damian Mountain of Qingcheng to gather herbs. Following the stream and traversing perilous paths, clouds and mist suddenly arose on all four sides, so that he did not know where to go. After a while, he saw an old gentleman. The monk bowed to him, and after exchanging pleasantries, \[the old gentleman\] asked, 'Why have you come here?' The monk said, 'To gather a few medicinal herbs.' The old gentleman said, 'My farmstead is not far; could you slightly redirect your divine steps to come along?' The monk said, 'Having lost my way and gone astray, I am willing to follow the upāsaka.' Soon the clouds dispersed, and he saw a mansion gloomy and deep. As they drew near, the old gentleman said, 'Let me first report to the master of the farm.' When the monk entered the gate and observed the matters within, none were of the ordinary world. \[The host\] asked, 'Have you taken your midday meal yet?' He said, 'I have not yet eaten.' They burned incense, which felt remarkably dense and fragrant, and requested him to recite the sūtra of his practice. That monk recited the sūtra in a resonant voice, and was urged to recite the entire text through. The vegetarian meal served to him consisted entirely of foodstuffs from in front of Daci Temple. When the meal was finished, a maidservant carrying a bamboo vessel cushioned with fragrant grass presented him with an offering of five strings of cash to cover the master's expenses for buying sesame cakes. The old gentleman joined his palms and saw him off. Someone asked \[who the host was\], and said, 'This was Master Sun Simiao.' By the time \[the monk\] reached the temple, over a month had already passed. When the cash was about to be brought into the temple, it turned out to be golden coins. When the Wang family heard of it, they collected the gold coins and separately gave five hundred strings of cash. That monk distributed them in charity. From this one may know that immortal people constantly abide in celebrated mountains. Next, in Luomu County of Jia Prefecture, there was a lawsuit: Sun, a mountain hermit, had hired a donkey without paying the fee, and \[the owner\] begged for him to be arrested. When a young boy was asked, he said, 'It is Sun Simiao.' The county magistrate was amazed, and paid out money on his behalf to settle the debt. That person lived at the foot of the mountain; when he came out onto the county road, he saw Lord Sun take out two hundred coins and hand them to him, saying, 'I was originally waiting for you here; why were you so hastily surprised?' The final whereabouts of the monk who received the gold coins is not known. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 22.17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.22.17) - [Next: 22.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.22.19) - [Up: 22](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.22) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061~en-mt.22.18) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [神僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.9.43) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.22.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.22.18) · Pramāṇa