宋高僧傳 28.4

28.4

Śramaṇa Zhihui was surnamed Gao and was a native of the Xian-Qin region. In his earliest youth with bound hair, he sprouted the desire to leave the worldly life; he did not consort in children's games, and in all his movements he followed his natural endowments. Suddenly he encountered Chan Master Wen of Guifeng, whose bearing was magnificent, who emptied his mind to realize the Way, and around whose gates the good and the bad were clearly distinguished. He said to Zhihui: "You are truly a vessel of talent, an accomplished person of many capacities." Zhihui requested to be accepted by him. At twenty he received the precepts; his character was tall and prominent, and his preferences were exceptional. In the mountains it was tranquil without any other concerns; he solely searched through the Tripiṭaka teachings, penetrating both Chan and vinaya. Daily he recited hundreds of thousands of words, chewing over the flavor of their meanings. Hearing that the Buddha permitted secular studies for a time, he became quite skilled in reciting poetry, mastering the styles of the sao and ya. Beyond skill in calligraphy, his small paintings were especially fine; when his inspiration ran high upon white-plastered walls, clouds and mountains lay within his palm. He constantly said: "I admire the six principles [of painting] of Sengzhen and Daofen, and regret that I did not live at the same time to paint alongside them on adjacent walls, each bringing lifelike vitality to all things." He was indeed a man of untrammeled spirit! At times, shaking his staff, he traveled, freely taking in the landscape of mountains and rivers; at times, treading in straw sandals, he arrived and toured the markets and courts. Where his mind wished to stop, he stayed; when his inspiration was exhausted, he left. At times he entered the society at Donglin, or practiced walking meditation on the Southern Peak; he awakened to the ancestral tenets at Caoxi without bothering to stay a single night, or sought immortals at Ruan's Grotto, intending to reach the Three Purities. He pursued affairs according to his aspirations, and time was never spent in vain. Beyond this, he gathered herbs in the mountain valleys to cure the illnesses of traveling monks, single-mindedly keen on benefiting others with no other concern in his heart. In the fourth year of Qianhua of the Liang, he arrived at the imperial capital from south of the Yangtze. Looking around at the various Buddhist temples, he saw that nothing was lacking except for the bathhouses to wash away snow and dirt, in which there was a deficiency. He resided on an islet in the Luo River, cutting openings to make rooms, spanning the north and south banks; he repaired a dwelling of several mu and displayed placards, inviting those who delighted in deeds of merit to occupy it. Before a year was out, it was gradually constructed, every corner complete, with bathing utensils and monks' quarters neatly ordered. Because of this, the black-robed assemblies of Luoyang and the eminent figures of Daoist abbeys came as if returning home, with none barred from arrival. Every five days after the new moon, it opened for washing without any interruption. In one year there were more than seventy gatherings; in a single bathing, two to three thousand monks gathered from near and far! Hui personally labored at the service, never once complaining of weariness. Moreover, he used wooden clogs beneath his feet and wore garments stitched of raw hemp; how far removed from Kāśyapa was he! When he had leisure from serving the monks or moments of rest from chanting poetry, he would call for brush and ink—recalling the blue waves of the Jialing River and the Lotus Peak of Mount Taihua, with concentrated and distant spirit, he painted once he caught the inspiration; the misty vistas of the Five Streams and the wintry groves on the four walls were brought before one's eyes, turning summer days piercingly cold! In addition, he applied extraordinary ingenuity, fashioning a wheel to draw water with incomparable speed. He also built sixteen images of Arhats in the western corridor of the bathhouse, along with an Avalokiteśvara Hall, all completed over the years. At that time, Vice Director Yang Ningxi, who had retired and feigned madness, calling himself "Madman Yang," deeply esteemed Hui and composed an inscription praising his virtue. Where he ended is unknown.