[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [神僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064) › 9.43 # 神僧傳 9.43 神僧傳 9.43 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [9.43](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.9.43) 釋僧緘。俗姓王氏。京兆人。恒居于淨眾寺。髭髮皓白而面色紅潤逍遙然。人莫測其情偽。有華陽進士王處厚者。於偽蜀落第入寺寫憂於松竹間見緘。緘曰。得非王處厚乎。處厚驚曰。未嘗相狎何遽呼耶。緘曰。偶然耳。處厚心知其異。咨曰。和尚某身跡奚若。緘曰。子將來之事極於明年。而今而後事可知矣。意言蜀將亡也。囑令勿洩。一日緘於案頭拈文卷。覽之則處厚府試賦\[葶-丁+呆\]。曰考乎真偽。非君燭下之文。何多誑乎。遂探懷袖賦\[葶-丁+呆\]示之。此豈非程試之真本乎。處厚驚竦不已。乃曰。僕後偶加潤色。用補燭下倉卒之過也。師何從得是本乎。緘曰。非但一賦。君平生所作之者皆貯之矣。明日訪之。携處厚入寺。謁太尉豳公杜琮之祠。坐於西廡下。俄有數吏服色厖雜。自堂宇間綴行而出。降階再拜。緘曰。新官在此便可庭參。處厚惶懼而作。緘曰。此輩將為君之驅策。又何懼乎。寧知泰山舉君為司命否。仍以夙負壯圖未酬前志請候登第後施行。復檢官祿簿見來春一榜人數已定。君亦預其間。斯乃陰注陽受也。策人世之名食幽府之祿。此陽注陰受也。處厚震駭不知所裁。但問明年及第姓名。緘索紙筆立書一短封與之。誡之嚴密藏之。脫洩禍不旋踵。至春試罷。緘來處厚家留一簡云。暫還弊廬。無復再面也。後往寺覓之。已他適矣。乃拆短封視之。但書四句云。周成同成。二王殊名。王居一焉。百日為程。及榜出有八士也。二王處厚與王慎言也。王居一焉。惡其百日為程。處厚唯狎同年。置酒高會極遂性之樂。由是荒亂不起。是夜暴亡。同年皆夢。處厚藍袍槐笏驅殿而行。驗其策名之榮。止一百二十日。詳其緘之年生於文宗太和初。成名在宣宗大中。王處厚遇之已一百三十餘歲矣。 > Śramaṇa Sengjian, secular surname Wang, was a native of Jingzhao. He constantly resided at Jingzhong Monastery. His beard and hair were gleaming white, yet his complexion was ruddy, and he was easygoing and carefree; no one could fathom his true nature. There was a Jinshi graduate of Huayang named Wang Chuhou who, having failed the civil service examinations under the illegitimate Shu regime, entered the monastery to dispel his sorrow among the pines and bamboos, where he saw Jian. Jian said, "Could you be Wang Chuhou?" Chuhou said in surprise, "We have never been acquainted; why do you call me so suddenly?" Jian said, "It is merely by chance." Chuhou knew in his heart that he was extraordinary, and inquired, "Master, how will my future path be?" Jian said, "Your future affairs will reach their limit next year; from then on, what happens may be known." He meant that Shu was about to perish, and urged him not to disclose it. One day, Jian picked up a bundle of writings on the table; looking at it, it was the draft of Chuhou's prefecture examination rhapsody. He said, "Examining the true and false, this is not the essay you composed beneath the candle! Why so much deceit?" He then reached into his sleeve, took out an examination draft, and showed it to him, saying, "Is this not the genuine manuscript of your examination?" Chuhou was endlessly astonished and terrified, and said, "I merely polished it later to make up for my hasty errors under the candle. From where did you obtain this copy, Master?" Jian said, "Not only this one rhapsody; all that you have composed in your life is stored \[with me\]." The next day, Chuhou visited him. Jian took Chuhou into the monastery to pay respects at the shrine of Grand Commandant Du Cong, Duke of Bin. Sitting under the western corridor, suddenly several clerks in motley garments came forth in single file from the hall, descended the steps, and bowed twice. Jian said, "The new official is here; you may now pay your court respects." Chuhou arose in terror. Jian said, "These fellows will be driven and commanded by you; why fear? Did you not know that Mount Tai has nominated you to be the arbiter of human destiny? Because you still harbor grandiose ambitions from the past and have not fulfilled your former intent, they requested to wait until you pass the examinations before enacting it. Furthermore, looking at the register of official emoluments, the number of persons on next spring's roster has already been fixed, and you are also among them. This is 'inscribed in the unseen world and received in the daylight world.' When you gain fame in the human world and consume the emoluments of the nether realm, this is 'inscribed in the daylight world and received in the unseen world.'" Chuhou was terrified and did not know what to do; he only asked for the names of those who would pass the next year. Jian asked for paper and brush, immediately wrote a short sealed note, and gave it to him, warning him to conceal it strictly, for if it were leaked, disaster would arrive immediately. When the spring examinations were concluded, Jian came to Chuhou's house, left a note saying, "I return for a short while to my humble hut, never to meet again." Later \[Chuhou\] went to the monastery to look for him, but he had already gone elsewhere. He then opened the short sealed note and looked at it; it only had four lines: "Zhou and Cheng will pass together, / Two Wangs with different names. / A Wang shall occupy the first place, / With a hundred days as the span." When the roster was published, there were eight scholars; the two Wangs were Chuhou and Wang Shenyan. Wang occupied the first place. Distressed by the phrase "with a hundred days as the span," Chuhou only associated with his fellow successful candidates, hosting lavish banquets to pursue pleasure to the utmost. Because of this, his health became disordered and he could not rise; that night he died suddenly. His classmates all dreamed that Chuhou, wearing a blue robe and holding a locust-wood tablet, marched ahead with an escort. Testing the glory of his passing the examinations, it lasted only a hundred and twenty days. Examining the year of Jian's birth, he was born in the early Taihe era of Emperor Wenzong and gained renown in the Dazhong era of Emperor Xuanzong; when Wang Chuhou met him, he was already over a hundred and thirty years old. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 9.42](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.9.42) - [Next: 9.44](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.9.44) - [Up: 9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.9) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064~en-mt.9.43) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [宋高僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.22.18) — 贊寧, Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.9.43](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.9.43) · Pramāṇa