神僧傳 7.17

7.17

釋一行。俗姓張氏。鉅鹿人也。本名遂。早歲不群聰黠明利有老成之風。讀書不再已暗誦矣。師事普寂禪師出家剃染於嵩山。師甞設食於寺。大會群僧及沙門。居數百里者皆如期而至。且聚于數人。時有盧鴻者。道高學富隱於嵩山。因請鴻為文讚歎其會。至日鴻持其文至寺。其師授之致於几案上。鐘梵既作。鴻謂普寂曰。某為文數千言。況其字僻而言怪。盍於群僧中選其聰悟者。鴻當親為傳授。寂乃令召一行。既至伸紙微笑止於一覽。復致於几上。鴻輕其疎脫而竊怪之。俄而群僧會于堂。一行攘袂而進。抗音典裁一無遺忘。鴻驚愕久之。謂寂曰。非君所能教導也。當縱其遊學。一行因窮大衍。自此求訪師資不遠數千里。甞至天台國清寺見一院。古松數十株門前有流水。一行立於門屏間聞院中僧於庭布算。其聲蓛蓛。既而謂其徒曰。今日當有弟子求吾算法。已合到門。豈無人導達耶。即除一算。又謂曰。門前水合却西流弟子當至。一行承言而入。稽首請法盡授其術。而門水復東流矣。自此聲振遐邇。玄宗聞之召令入內。謂曰。卿何能。對曰。善記覽。玄宗因召掖庭取宮人籍以示之。周覽既畢覆其本。記念精熟如素所習讀。數幅之後。玄宗不覺降榻為之作禮。呼為聖人。嗟嘆良久。尋乃詔對無恒。占其災福若指于掌。言多補益。刑和璞甞謂尹愔曰。一行其聖人乎。漢之洛下閎造大衍曆云。後八百歲當差一日。則有聖人定之。今年期畢矣。而一行造大衍曆正其差謬。則洛下閎之言信矣。一行又甞詣道士尹崇。借揚雄太玄經。數日復詣崇還其書。崇曰此書意旨深遠。吾尋之積年尚不能曉。吾子試更研求何遽見還也。一行曰。究其義矣。因出所撰大衍玄圖及義決一卷以示崇。崇大嗟伏。謂人曰。此後生顏子也。初一行幼時家貧隣有王姥。前後濟之約數十萬。一行甞思報之。至開元中一行承玄宗敬遇言無不可。未幾會王姥兒犯殺人。獄未具。姥詣一行求救。一行曰。姥要金帛。當十倍疇也。君上執法難以請求如何。王姥戟手大罵曰。何用識此僧。一行從而謝之。終不顧。一行心計渾天寺中工役數百。乃命空其室內。徙一大甕。於中。密選常住奴二人。授以布囊。謂曰。某方某角有廢園。汝中潛伺從午至昏。當有物入來。其數七者可盡掩之。失一則杖汝。如言而往。至酉後果有群豕至。悉獲而歸。一行大喜。令寘甕中覆以木蓋。封以六一泥。朱題梵字數十。其徒莫測。詰朝中使叩門急召至便殿。玄宗迎問曰。太史奏。昨夜北斗不見。是何祥也。師有以禳之乎。一行曰。後魏時失熒惑至今帝車不見。古所無者天將大警於陛下也。夫匹夫匹婦不得其所。則隕霜赤旱。盛德所感乃能退舍。感之切者其在葬枯出擊乎。釋門以瞋心壞一切善。慈心降一切魔。如臣曲見莫若大赦天下。玄宗從之。又其夕太史奏。北斗一星見。凡七日而復。帝甞問國祚幾何有留難否。行曰。鑾輿有萬里之行。社稷終吉。帝驚問其故不答。退以小金合進之曰。至萬里即開。帝一日發合視之。蓋當歸少許。及祿山亂駕幸成都。至萬里橋忽悟。未幾果歸。昭宗初封吉王。唐至昭宗而滅。故終吉。至開元末裴寬為河南尹。寬深信佛法師事普寂禪師。日夕造焉。或一日寬詣寂。寂云。方有少事未暇款語。且請遲迴休息。寬乃屏賓從止於空室。見寂潔滌正堂焚香端坐。坐未久忽聞扣門連聲云。天師一行和尚至矣。一行入詣寂作禮。禮訖附耳密語。其貌絕恭。寂但頷云。無不可者。語訖復禮禮訖又語如是者三。寂唯云是是無不可者。一行語訖降階入南堂自闔其戶寂。乃徐命弟子云遣。聲鍾一。行和尚滅度矣。左石疾走視之一如其言滅。度後寬服縗絰。葬之日徒步出城送之。春秋四十五。帝哭之哀甚輟朝三日。停龕三七日。行容貌如生。帝親製碑書于石。出內庫錢五十萬建塔銅人原。諡曰大慧禪師。

Śramaṇa Yixing, whose secular surname was Zhang, was a native of Julu. His original given name was Sui. In his early years he stood out from the crowd, being clever and acute, with the demeanor of a mature and experienced person. When he read a book, he did not need to read it a second time before he could already recite it by heart. He served Chan Master Puji as his teacher, renounced household life, and had his head shaved on Mount Song. His master once provided a meal at the monastery, holding a great assembly of the monks and śramaṇas; those living within several hundred li all arrived as scheduled, gathering in great numbers. At that time there was a man named Lu Hong, whose virtue was lofty and whose learning was vast, living in reclusion on Mount Song. Puji therefore requested Hong to compose a text in praise of the assembly. On that day, Hong brought his text to the monastery, and the master received it and placed it upon the desk. When the bells and Sanskrit chants had sounded, Hong said to Puji, 'I have composed several thousand words; moreover, the characters are rare and the phrasing arcane. Why not select the most discerning among the monks, and I shall instruct him in person?' Puji then ordered Yixing summoned. When he arrived, he unfolded the paper, smiled faintly, and stopped after a single glance, placing it back on the desk. Hong looked down on his casual manner and secretly found it strange. Shortly thereafter, the assembly of monks gathered in the hall; Yixing rolled up his sleeves, stepped forward, and recited with a resonant voice and proper cadence without omitting a single word. Hong was astonished for a long time and said to Puji, 'He is not someone whom you can instruct. You ought to let him roam freely to study.' Yixing subsequently plumbed the depths of the Dayan [astronomy and calendar], and from then on sought out masters and teachers without minding journeys of several thousand li. He once went to Guoqing Monastery on Mount Tiantai and saw a courtyard with several tens of ancient pines and flowing water before the gate. Yixing stood between the screen-doors and heard a monk in the courtyard laying out counting rods on the flagstones, the sound clicking rapidly. Presently the monk said to his disciples, 'Today a disciple is supposed to come seeking my computational methods; he should have reached the gate by now. Is there no one to usher him in?' He then removed one rod and said further, 'The water before the gate should reverse and flow westward, and the disciple will arrive.' Yixing, hearing these words, entered, bowed his head to request the Dharma, and was fully transmitted the art; whereupon the water at the gate resumed its eastward flow. From then on, his fame shook far and wide. Emperor Xuanzong heard of him and summoned him to the inner palace, saying to him, 'What are your abilities, sir?' He replied, 'I am good at memorisation and reading.' Xuanzong thereupon summoned the inner palace attendants to bring the registers of the palace ladies to show him. Having browsed through them completely, he turned over the books, and his memory was so precise and familiar that it was as though he had practiced reciting them all along. After several folios, Xuanzong unconsciously descended from his couch to pay homage to him, hailed him as a sage, and sighed in admiration for a long time. Soon afterwards, decrees summoned him to imperial audiences without fixed schedule; his divinations of fortune and misfortune were as clear as pointing to the palm of his hand, and his advice was of great benefit. Xing Hepu once said to Yin Yin, 'Is Yixing not a sage? Luoxia Hong of the Han dynasty created the Dayan calendar and said, "After eight hundred years, it will differ by one day, and then a sage will correct it." This year the term is complete, and Yixing has created the Dayan calendar to correct its errors; thus the words of Luoxia Hong are verified.' Yixing also once went to the Daoist Yin Chong to borrow Yang Xiong’s Taixuan jing (Classic of Supreme Mystery). Several days later, he went back to Chong to return the book. Chong said, 'The purport of this book is deep and far-reaching; I have pursued it for years and still cannot understand it. You, young man, should try to investigate it further; why return it so hastily?' Yixing said, 'I have probed its meaning.' He then produced his own Dayan xuantu (Profound Diagrams of the Dayan) and Yijue (Judgments of Meaning) in one fascicle to show Chong. Chong sighed in great submission and said to others, 'This is a later-born Yanzi!' Earlier, when Yixing was young, his family was poor, and a neighbouring old woman named Wang had aided him on various occasions with roughly several hundred thousand coins. Yixing had always thought of repaying her. By the Kaiyuan era, Yixing was treated with great respect by Xuanzong, and whatever he said was granted. Before long, it happened that Old Woman Wang's son committed murder, and his sentencing was not yet finalised. The old woman came to Yixing to beg for help. Yixing said, 'If you want gold and silk, I will repay you tenfold. But as for the sovereign upholding the law, it is difficult to petition him; what can be done?' Old Woman Wang pointed her fingers at him and cursed loudly, saying, 'What was the point of knowing this monk!' Yixing followed and apologised to her, but she never looked back. Yixing considered that in Huntian Monastery there were several hundred labourers, so he ordered a room cleared and a large vat moved into it. He secretly selected two monastery slaves, gave them a cloth sack, and told them, 'In such-and-such direction and corner there is an abandoned garden. Lie in wait there from noon until dusk. Some creatures will enter; when their number reaches seven, you must capture them all. If you lose one, I will have you caned.' They went according to his words, and after the hour of the rooster, a herd of pigs indeed arrived; they captured them all and returned. Yixing was overjoyed, ordered them placed in the vat, covered it with a wooden lid, sealed it with 'six-one mud', and inscribed several tens of Sanskrit syllables in cinnabar. His disciples could not comprehend it. At dawn, a palace commissioner knocked on the gate and urgently summoned him to the informal audience hall. Xuanzong welcomed him and asked, 'The Grand Astrologer reported that last night the Northern Dipper was not seen. What portent is this? Does the master have a means to avert it?' Yixing said, 'In the Later Wei dynasty, Mars was lost, and now the Imperial Carriage is unseen. An event without precedent in antiquity means that Heaven is giving Your Majesty a great warning. When common men and common women fail to find their proper place, frost falls and severe drought ensues; only the resonance of abundant virtue can cause the stars to withdraw. What resonates most keenly is to bury the exposed bones and release the captives. In the Buddhist teaching, anger destroys all goodness, while compassion subdues all māras. In my humble view, nothing equals a grand amnesty throughout the realm.' Xuanzong complied. That evening, the Grand Astrologer reported that one star of the Northern Dipper had appeared, and after seven days it was restored. The Emperor once asked how long the dynastic fortune would last and whether there would be difficulties or delays. Yixing said, 'The imperial carriage will make a journey of ten thousand li; the altars of soil and grain will ultimately be fortunate (ji).' The Emperor was startled and asked for the reason, but he did not answer. After withdrawing, he presented a small gold box, saying, 'Open it only when you reach Wanli (Ten Thousand Li).' One day, the Emperor opened the box and looked into it; it contained a small piece of Chinese angelica (danggui, 'ought to return'). When An Lushan rebelled, the imperial carriage went to Chengdu; on reaching Wanli Bridge, the Emperor suddenly understood. Before long, he indeed returned (gui). Emperor Zhaozong was originally enfeoffed as Prince of Ji, and the Tang dynasty ended under Zhaozong; hence 'ultimately Ji.' Toward the end of the Kaiyuan era, Pei Kuan served as Governor of Henan. Kuan deeply believed in the Buddhadharma and served Chan Master Puji as his teacher, visiting him day and night. One day Kuan went to Puji, and Puji said, 'I have a small matter at hand and have no leisure for an intimate conversation; please wait and rest awhile.' Kuan then dismissed his attendants and stayed in an empty room, where he saw Puji clean the main hall, burn incense, and sit upright. Before he had sat for long, sudden repeated knocking at the gate was heard, saying, 'Heavenly Preceptor, the Venerable Yixing has arrived!' Yixing entered, bowed to Puji, and after paying homage, whispered in his ear, his manner exceedingly respectful. Puji merely nodded and said, 'Nothing is impermissible.' When he finished speaking, he bowed again, and having bowed, spoke again; this happened three times. Puji only said, 'Yes, yes, nothing is impermissible.' When Yixing finished speaking, he stepped down the stairs, entered the south hall, and closed the door himself. Puji then slowly instructed his disciples, saying, 'Sound the bell; the Venerable Yixing has passed away.' Those to his left and right ran swiftly to look, and it was exactly as he had said: he had passed into extinction. Afterward, Kuan wore hemp mourning garments, and on the day of the burial, he walked on foot out of the city to escort him. His age was forty-five. The Emperor wept for him in deep grief, suspended court audiences for three days, and retained the coffin for three weeks; Yixing's countenance was as if alive. The Emperor personally composed the stele inscription and carved it in stone, and dispatched five hundred thousand cash from the imperial treasury to construct a stupa on the Tongren Plain, conferring the posthumous title of Chan Master Dahui.