宋高僧傳 7.36

7.36

釋智佺，姓張氏，銅臺永濟人也。九歲，於鄴都臨清王舍城寺事師。暨受具戒，身器挺然八尺，面色玉如，行步若舒雁，言音如扣鐘。人望之凜然，僉曰：「美丈夫也。」恒誦諸經，晝三夜三，禮佛無闕。本師知其法器，遣往滑臺，抵明福寺，就暉師講肆。朞月，頓見諸法體用，喜不自任。時暉之門生炮勇烋幹者數十員，皆出佺之下。徇睢陽人請講，未久，又今東京遇信士捨宅為萬歲百法院。由此洛京、陳、許、徐、宿、維、青、琴臺咸樂請其敷演，自鳩聚檀嚫，前後飯僧三十萬。天雄軍戴、張、郭三家同建觀音院，命居之。佺敏利之性天資，初終講《百法論》，可百許遍。登法座，多不臨文，懸述辯給。後三過覽大藏經，以輔見知。其誦諷經呪也，甞聞戶外閴然，有彈指聲者，感鬼神讚歎歟？魏帥陳君思讓篤志歸依，表薦紫衣師，號曰歸政。殆臨八十一，而剋意學歐、王書體，僅入能妙。或問之，曰：「吾習來生字耳。」顯德五年，年八十三，呼弟子奉晏等囑累，令造木輿一所，歛送闍維。至其年十一月十一日奄終，奉木塔，舉高三丈餘。縱燎時有白鶴哀鳴，紫雲旋覆。收拾舍利，建塔緘焉。

Shi Zhiquan's secular surname was Zhang, and he was a native of Yongji in Tongtai. At the age of nine, he served a master at Wangshecheng Temple in Linqing, Yedu. When he received the full precepts, he was an imposing eight feet tall, with a face like jade, a gait like that of a slow-stepping goose, and a voice like a striking bell. Those who looked upon him were awed, and all said, "He is a handsome gentleman." He constantly recited scriptures; three times by day and three times by night, he paid homage to the Buddha without omission. His root master recognized him as a vessel of the Dharma and sent him to Huatai to enter Mingfu Temple and attend the lectures of Master Hui. In a year, he suddenly perceived the essence and function of all dharmas, and was overjoyed beyond measure. At that time, among Hui's disciples were several dozen bold and capable figures, yet all fell beneath Zhiquan's level. Answering an invitation from the people of Suiyang to lecture, he had not been there long before a faithful layman in the present Eastern Capital donated his residence to establish the Wansui Baifa Cloister. Thereupon the Western Capital of Luoyang, Chen, Xu, Xuzhou, Su, Wei, Qing, and Qintai all joyfully invited him to expound the teachings. From the alms and offerings he personally collected, he provided meals for three hundred thousand monks over the years. The three families of Dai, Zhang, and Guo of the Tianxiong Army jointly built the Guanyin Cloister and asked him to reside there. Zhiquan was endowed with natural keenness and sharpness; from beginning to end, he lectured on the Treatise on the Hundred Dharmas (*Baifa lun*) around one hundred times. When ascending the Dharma seat, he rarely looked at the text, expounding from memory with eloquent fluency. Later he read through the entire Tripiṭaka three times to supplement his understanding. While chanting and reciting scriptures and dhāraṇīs, he once heard complete silence outside the door, followed by the sound of snapping fingers; was it that ghosts and spirits were moved to praise him? The Military Commissioner of Wei, Lord Chen Sirang, took refuge in him with deep devotion, and petitioned the throne to grant him a purple robe and the master title of Guizheng. When he was nearly eighty-one, he set his mind on mastering the calligraphic styles of Ouyang Xun and Wang Xizhi, attaining the skillful and marvelous realms. When asked about it, he said, "I am merely practicing the writing for my next life." In the fifth year of the Xiande reign, at the age of eighty-three, he summoned disciples such as Fengyan to give his final instructions, bidding them to construct a wooden litter to gather his remains for cremation. On the eleventh day of the eleventh month of that year, he suddenly passed away. A wooden tower over thirty feet tall was erected for him. When the fire was lit, white cranes cried mournfully and purple clouds circled above. They collected his śarīra and built a stupa to entomb them.