神僧傳 3.34

3.34

Shi Xuanchang's surname was Zhao. He was a native of Jincheng in Hexi. In his youth, his family was destroyed by the barbarian invaders, and disaster was about to reach Xuanchang. A barbarian commander saw Xuanchang, stopped them, and said, "The gaze of this boy's eyes shoots outward; he is no ordinary child." Thus he was spared. He then went to Liangzhou and renounced household life. Later, the cruel barbarians eradicated the Buddha's Dharma and harmed all the śramaṇas; only Xuanchang managed to escape. On the seventeenth day of the intercalary fifth month of the twenty-second year of Yuanjia, he departed from Pingcheng. His route went through Dai Commandery and Shanggu, crossed the Taihang Mountains to the east, passed through Youzhou and Jizhou, and turned south toward Mengjin. In his hands he held only a bunch of willow branches and a handful of onion stalks. Barbarian horsemen gave chase and were about to overtake him. Thereupon he struck the sand with the willow branches; sand rose up, darkening the sky so that men and horses could not advance. After a while the sand settled, and the horsemen arrived again. Thereupon he threw himself into the river, inserting the onion stalks into his nostrils to breathe and cross the water. On the first day of the eighth month he arrived in Yangzhou. He thoroughly understood the sūtras and vinaya, entered deeply into the essentials of dhyāna, and made prognostications of good and bad fortune, none of which failed to be verified. Reaching the final years of the Song, he took a swift boat afar, went to Chengdu, and stayed at Dashi Temple. With his own hands he painted the sixteen divine images, including Guhyapada Vajra. In the third year of Shengming, he again traveled to the western borders to view the Min range. At the border of Guangyang County in the northern part of Minshan Commandery, he saw Mount Qihou, and thereupon conceived the wish to end his days there. He then leaned against the crag beside the valley and bound grass to make a hut. His disciple Faqi saw a divine being riding a horse and wearing an unlined blue-green robe, who circled the mountain once and returned to indicate the site for building a stūpa. On the twenty-third day of the fourth month of the first year of Jianyuan of the Qi, he erected the pillar and established a monastery, naming it Qixing. Later, Crown Prince Hui sent an envoy to invite him; the imperial commands came repeatedly, and his excuses were not accepted. Thereupon he sailed east down the river. On the way he fell ill, and bearing his ailment he reached the capital. The gathered multitude had their hopes dashed, and after a short time he passed away, at the age of sixty-nine.