宋高僧傳 5.9

5.9

Shi Yixing's secular surname was Zhang, and he was a native of Julu. His original name was Sui, and he was a collateral grandson of Gongjin, Duke of Tan, an founding supporter at the beginning of the Tang. In his youth he did not mingle with the crowd; he was clever, acute, and sharp, possessing the demeanor of a mature adult. He did not read a book a second time before he could recite it from memory. Coming across Chan Master Puji broadly practicing the essentials of Chan, with numerous followers submitting their hearts, he came to realize the world was an illusion, bowed to Puji as his master, and went forth from household life, shaving his hair and dyeing his robes. Of the scriptures and dharmas he recited, there were none he did not master thoroughly. Master Puji once held a great assembly, and śramaṇas from near and far arrived punctually as expected, numbering more than a thousand. At that time there was a summoned scholar, Lu Hong, who lived in seclusion on another peak, renowned for his lofty virtue and vast learning. The imperial court repeatedly sent carriage invitations, but he consistently declined and refused to leave seclusion. The director of the great assembly beforehand requested Lu Hong to compose an introductory text to preface and praise the community. On that day, Lu Hong took his text out from his sleeve and placed it on the desk. After the striking of the bells and the Sanskrit chanting had commenced, Lu Hong said to Master Puji, "I have composed several hundred to a thousand words, and moreover, the characters are rare and the prose archaic. I beg you to seek a bright and talented person to recite it, and I must instruct him face-to-face." Master Puji summoned Yixing, who unfolded the paper, glanced at it, smiled faintly, and set it back on the desk. Lu Hong wondered at his flippancy. When the monks gathered in the hall, Yixing rolled up his sleeves, stepped forward, and in a resounding voice and measured cadence, recited it without a single error. Lu Hong stared in astonishment for a long time, sighing in admiration without cease, and said again to Master Puji, "He is not someone you can instruct; you should let him travel and study freely." From then on, among famous masters of the three trainings, there were few he did not consult. Traveling to Dangyang, he met the monk Zhen, who had compiled the 'Preface to the Vinaya Piṭaka' and was deeply versed in the vinaya. Furthermore, as for books on yinyang and prophetic apocrypha, he investigated all of them in detail; he sought out mathematics over distances of no less than several thousand li, visiting and consulting anyone renowned for it. Finally, arriving at Guoqing Temple on Mount Tiantai, he saw a compound with old pines spanning several tens of paces, its gate overlooking a flowing stream, serene and secluded. Yixing stood at the gate screen and heard the calculation counting-rods clicking rapidly inside the compound. A monk said to his attendant, "Today there should be a disciple coming from afar to seek my mathematical methods. By calculation he ought to have reached the gate; surely there is no one to guide him in?" He immediately removed a counting rod. He then said to the attendant, "The stream before the gate ought to flow westward instead, and the disciple shall arrive." Yixing, taking him at his word, entered, bowed his head to request the Dharma, and was fully taught his methods; the stream before the gate flowed eastward again. From this time onward, his renown shook near and far, and the nobility held him in the highest esteem. Xuanzong heard of him, summoned him to the palace, and asked Yixing, "What ability do you possess, Master?" He replied, "I can somewhat memorize and read; I have no other special talent." The emperor then ordered a palace official to fetch the palace registers and show them to him. Just as Yixing finished browsing through them, he turned the text over and recalled it with thorough mastery, as though it were something he had always practiced. After he chanted several scrolls, the emperor unconsciously stepped down from his couch, bowed his head, and said, "You are truly a sage, Master!" and marveled for a long time. Soon afterward, imperial summonses for audience were without fixed limit; when he divined disaster and fortune, it was as if pointing to his own palm, and his words brought much benefit. At that time, Xing Hepu, a master of Daoist arts whose depths no one could fathom, once said to Yin Yin: "The upādhyāya Yixing is truly a sage. Luoxia Hong of the Han dynasty, when creating the calendar, said: 'After eight hundred years there will be a discrepancy of one day, and then a sage will correct it.' This year the period is completed. Now that the Dayandali (Great Expansion Calendar) has appeared and corrected its errors, Luoxia Hong's words are indeed trustworthy. If not a sage, who could anticipate this?" Moreover, under the Tripiṭaka Master Vajra[bodhi] he studied the esoteric seals of dhāraṇī, mounted the altar of the former Buddha, and received the treasure of the Dharma King; he also translated the Vairocana Buddha Sūtra with the Tripiṭaka Master [Śubhakara]siṃha, opening the realm of the later Buddha. In transmitting the Esoteric Treasury, he was sure to reach its deepest abyss. Ruizong and Xuanzong both invited him into the Academy of Scholarly Worthies within the palace, and soon decreed that he reside at Xingtang Temple. For the scripture he had translated, he then composed a commentary in seven scrolls, as well as the 'Compendium of the Vinaya Treasury' in sixty scrolls, the 'Genealogical Record of the Śākyas' in one scroll, and the 'Kaiyuan Dayan Calendar' in fifty-two scrolls. His calendar was incorporated into the 'Treatise on Calendars and Pitch Pipes' in the Tangshu and regarded as an unalterable classic. He also constructed an ecliptic-equatorial observation armillary instrument, casting the ecliptic and equatorial rings in iron, and manufactured it in the academy. Next, there was Old Woman Wang, an elderly neighbor of Yixing's. Formerly, she had often provided for Yixing in his poverty, and when Yixing attained honor and prominence, he constantly thought of repaying her. One day she paid a visit, saying: "My son killed someone and is about to be executed. Furthermore, as you, Master, are deeply respected by the sovereign, I beg you to memorialize the throne to commute his death penalty, so as to support this mother's remaining years!" Weeping thus several times, Yixing said: "The laws and penal codes of the state—how could they be excused through pleading?" He ordered an attendant monk to give her a certain amount of money and goods, letting her go and seek other plans. The old woman pointed her finger and reviled him, saying: "When I lived as your neighbor, we aided one another, and in swaddling clothes I held and nursed you. Having grown up, how could you forget this kindness!" Yixing's heart was benevolent and loving, and he was unhappy the entire night. Thereupon, having finished calculating, he summoned purifiers and instructed them, saying: "Carry a cloth sack to a quiet place in a certain ward, sit and wait at midday, and when you obtain living creatures, throw them into the sack and return quickly." The next day, there indeed was a sow leading seven piglets; the purifiers scattered to chase them; the mother sow fled, but they captured the piglets and returned. Yixing had already prepared a huge vat; he put them in one by one, closed the lid, sealed the opening with Liuyi mud, and chanted several verses of foreign incantations before stopping. At dawn, a palace eunuch brought an imperial decree summoning him for inquiry, saying: "The Directorate of Astronomy memorialized: 'Last night the seven stars of the Northern Dipper were completely invisible.' What is the reason?" He replied: "Formerly, the Later Wei once lost the planet Mars, and now the Imperial Carriage (the Dipper) is not seen. This means Heaven is about to give Your Majesty a great warning. When common men and women fail to find their proper place, it is like falling frost and drought; only the resonance of abundant virtue can avert it. That which resonates most urgently—is it not in burying dried bones? The Buddhist order overcomes all māras with a compassionate heart. In this humble monk's modest view, nothing is better than a general amnesty for all under heaven." Xuanzong complied with it. That night, the astrologers memorialized that one star of the Northern Dipper was seen, and after seven nights it was restored as before; his arts were unfathomable. Furthermore, during the Kaiyuan era, there was once a severe drought; the emperor ordered him to pray for rain. He said: "We must obtain a vessel with the shape of a dragon upon it, and only then can rain be brought about." The emperor ordered palace eunuchs to inspect the imperial storehouses everywhere together with him, but all said none resembled it. Several days later, he pointed to an ancient mirror with an entwined dragon knob, saying with delight: "This is a true dragon." It was then brought into the altar site, and within one day it rained. His extraordinary arts and supernatural resonance were like this. Xuanzong, at the Daming Palace, leisurely and secretly inquired about the good and bad fortune of the dynasty and matters regarding the end of the dynastic destiny. Yixing answered with other words. The emperor questioned him without ceasing, so he said: "Your Majesty will have a journey of 'ten thousand li (wanli)'." He also said: "The dynasty will ultimately end in 'auspiciousness (ji)'." The emperor was greatly pleased. He further presented the emperor with a small gold box shaped like a pellet, with something stored inside; it made a sound when shaken, but could not be opened, saying: "Open it when there is an emergency." When the emperor took refuge in Shu, in the panic he completely forgot this matter; upon arriving in Chengdu, he suddenly remembered and opened it: inside was the medicinal ingredient dang gui (angelica / 'ought to return'). The emperor said: "This medicine is produced here; the Master knew that when I fled disaster to Shu, I ought to return." Seeing the Wanli Bridge, he said: "Yixing's words—truly they are divine!" He ordered palace eunuchs to burn incense and offer prayers, thereby offering thanks. In the beginning of Zhaozong's reign, the Prince of Ji was enfeoffed, down to Crown Prince Prince De, when the Tang was destroyed by the Liang, ultimately fulfilling Yixing's words that "the dynasty will end in Ji ('auspiciousness' / King of Ji)." In the ninth month of the fifteenth year of Kaiyuan, his illness grew grave at Huayan Temple; about to be carried in his sickness to the palace to bid farewell, he stopped when he felt slightly better. That night, Xuanzong dreamed of looking into the Chan abode, seeing a rope bed, paper partition, and open door leaves; at dawn he investigated and found it was exactly as he had seen. Thereupon, he decreed that eminent and virtuous monks of the capital establish a great ritual site to pray for blessings for Yixing, and his critical illness improved slightly. Such was the favor he enjoyed. On the eighth day of the tenth month, following the imperial entourage to Xinfeng, his body was free of ailments, and not a word came from his mouth; suddenly he bathed in fragrant water, changed his clothes, sat cross-legged with correct mindfulness, and serenely demonstrated extinction. Another account says: after bidding farewell to Xuanzong, he came east ahead of the imperial carriage to Mount Song to pay homage to his original teacher, who was Puji. At that time, Pei Kuan, Governor of Henan, was visiting Puji. Puji said: "I have a minor matter and do not have leisure to converse intimately with the Governor. Please wait and rest a while." Pei Kuan then dismissed his attendants and stayed in a side room, watching what Puji would do. He saw the main hall being cleaned, with incense burning, and Puji sitting silently as if waiting for someone. In a short while, there was continuous knocking at the gate, saying: "The Heavenly Master Upādhyāya Yixing has arrived!" (The monk title 'Heavenly Master' is first seen here, meaning 'Teacher of the Son of Heaven'). Yixing entered, appearing quite hurried; he bowed to Puji's feet, whispered closely in his ear, his demeanor ever more reverent. Puji only nodded and responded: "There is nothing unallowable." When the words ended, he bowed again; he bowed and spoke three times, and Puji only said, "Yes, yes; there is nothing unallowable." When Yixing finished speaking, he descended the steps, entered the southern room, and shut the door himself. Puji then slowly called his attendant, saying: "Quickly strike the bell; Yixing has attained extinction." Those around ran quickly to look at him; he sat with closed eyes, and when they covered his breath to check, it was already severed. The fourfold assembly of disciples wailed and wept profusely, shaking the mountain valley; his spirit was then laid to rest at Wangji Temple. From his demise to his burial, three times seven days passed in all; his fingernails did not change, his beard and hair grew longer, and his expression was serene and pleasing; the assembly of that time was astonished. The emperor, reading the memorial, said with grief: "The Chan Master has abandoned Us, plunging Us into deep sorrow and longing!" The funeral expenses were supplied by the government, and it was decreed that he be buried on Tongren Plain, posthumously titled Chan Master Dahui. The imperial brush composed the stupa inscription, and Buddhist disciples under heaven took pride in it.