宋高僧傳 30.32

30.32

Śramaṇa Qiji, whose secular surname was Hu, was a native of Yiyang. He maintained high and brilliant moral integrity, though his appearance was unimposing and crude. While young, he abandoned secular life at the monastery on Mount Dawei; exceedingly intelligent and surpassing the ordinary run of people, he received the full ordination precepts and studied the vinaya rules and deportment. Yet by nature he was addicted to chanting and composing poetry, with a style clear and untrammelled. A Chan traveler arrived from Deshan and expounded its principles, whereupon Qiji unconsciously found his spirit roaming the vast and boundless realm. He then personally went to pay homage and make inquiries, and having attained understanding and awakening, all traces and omens vanished entirely. In this way, Yaoshan, Lumen, Huguo—among all the hundreds of Chan groves, which did he not visit and consult? He looked upon fame and profit entirely as floating clouds. At the Dharma assembly of Shishuang, he was invited to direct monastic affairs. When the Liang displaced the Tang mandate, the realm was in turmoil. At that time, Gao Jichang, acting on the Liang emperor's orders, attacked and drove Lei Man out of Zhugong; thereupon he became the acting governor of Jingzhou, and soon formally received appointment as military commissioner. By the time Emperor Jundi lost control and Zhuangzong of Hedong entered Luoyang from Weifu, the Gao clan carved out an autonomous regional domain, gathering men of fame and integrity from afar; he obtained Yifeng of Qi and Qiji of the Southern Peak, regarding this as the initial verification of building his Golden Terrace. In the first year of Longde (xinsi, 921 CE), he showed respect to Qiji by settling him in a pure cloister at Longxing Temple, providing him with a monthly stipend and appointing him saṅgha director; this was not what Qiji preferred. Thus, on quiet mornings and calm nights, he was much occupied with verses; he composed fifteen pieces of the 'Zhugong mowen pian' (Ask Not in Zhugong) to express his mind, merely complying with Gao's orders. Qiji had a tumor on his neck, which contemporaries dubbed his 'poetry pouch.' He rested content in austerity, wrapping himself in a tattered robe and binding his knees with hemp. He delighted in mountains and waters and was averse to visiting kings and nobles, even composing the familiar lines: 'Never have I taken a single word / Lightly to call upon the feudal lords.' He exchanged poems with the Mount Hua recluse Zheng Gu. When he passed away, his Bailian ji (White Lotus Collection) circulated in the world; he styled himself 'the Śramaṇa of Mount Heng.'