大明高僧傳 7.20

7.20

釋天遊自號典牛。成都鄭氏子也。幼業儒。頴俊逸倫儕輩推重。初試郡庠復試梓州。二處皆與貢籍。懼不敢承。遂竄名出關。適會王山谷西還。見其風骨不凡談論超卓。邀其同舟。策往廬山削髮。不易舊名。首參死心不契。依湛堂準於泐潭。一日湛堂普說曰。諸人苦苦就準上座覓佛法。遂拊膝曰。會麼雪上加霜。又拊膝曰。若也不會豈不見乾峯示眾曰。舉一不得舉二。放過一著落在第二。師聞脫然悟入。出世於雲蓋。遷靈巖說法大有湛堂之風。甞和忠道者牧牛頌曰。兩角指天。四脚著地。拽斷鼻繩。牧甚屎屁。張無盡見之甚為擊節。因退雲巖過廬山。而棲賢主者意不欲納。乃故曰。老老大大正是質庫中典牛耶。師聞述偈曰。質庫何曾解典牛。秖緣價重實難酬。想君本領無多子。畢竟難禁這一頭。竟去菴於武寧。匾曰典牛。則終其身不出。年近百歲而告寂焉。徑山塗毒見時九十三矣。

Shi Tianyou styled himself Dianniu ('Pawned Ox'). He was a son of the Zheng family of Chengdu. In his youth, he engaged in Confucian studies. He was brilliant and outstanding, highly regarded by his peers. He first tested at the prefectural school, and then tested at Zizhou; both places granted him tribute scholar status. Fearful, he did not dare accept it. He then changed his name and fled through the passes. By chance, he met Wang Shangu returning west. Seeing that his bearing was extraordinary and his discourse lofty, Wang invited him to share his boat. Tianyou made his way to Mount Lu and shaved his head, not changing his former name. He first visited Sixin, but there was no accord. He then relied upon Zhantang Zhun at Letan. One day, Zhantang gave a general sermon, saying: 'All of you bitterly seek the Buddhadharma from Elder Zhun!' He then struck his knee and said, 'Do you understand? Frost on top of snow!' Again striking his knee, he said, 'If you still do not understand, haven't you seen Qianfeng address the assembly saying: "Raising one, you must not raise two; letting the first move pass falls into the second"?' Hearing this, the master attained a breakthrough and awakened. He appeared in the world at Yungai and moved to Lingyan; his preaching of the Dharma had much of Zhantang's style. He once matched Practitioner Zhong's 'Ode on Herding the Ox': 'Two horns point to heaven, / Four hooves stand on earth. / Snapping the nose rope, / What shit or fart are you herding?' Zhang Wujin saw it and beat time in deep admiration. Retiring from Yunyan, he passed by Mount Lu, but the master of Xixian was disinclined to receive him, so he deliberately said: 'Old and venerable as you are, aren't you precisely the pawned ox in the pawnshop?' Hearing this, the master composed a verse: 'How could a pawnshop ever understand a pawned ox? / Only because its price is heavy is it truly hard to redeem. / I suspect your capabilities are not very great; / After all, it's hard to hold back this one head!' He finally left to live in a hermitage in Wuning, inscribed a board with 'Pawned Ox', and did not go out for the rest of his life. Approaching the age of a hundred, he announced his quiescence. When Tudu of Jingshan saw him, he was already ninety-three.