神僧傳 4

English (machine translation) 4

Language: English

Shi Huitong was of unknown origin. During the Yuanjia era of the Song, he was seen in Shouchun. His lodgings were never fixed, and he wandered through villages and hamlets. His drinking, feasting, and eating were no different from ordinary people. He constantly called himself Zheng Sanqi. His predictions of future events were quite often verified. In Jiangling there was a traveling merchant named Bian Senggui who did business in Shouchun and was about to return home. On the road he met Huitong, who said he wished to entrust him with an object. At the time, Senggui was carrying a heavy load himself and firmly declined. Huitong then forcibly placed it upon his load, yet Senggui did not feel any weight at all. After walking several li they parted, and Huitong said to Senggui, "I have an elder sister in Jiangling who is a nun named Huixu, residing at Sanceng Temple. Would you please send word to her for me, saying that I intend to go there soon?" Having spoken, he suddenly vanished. Looking back at the object entrusted upon his load, it was also gone. When Senggui arrived, he found Huixu and explained his intention in detail. Since Huixu had no such brother, she also did not understand why this happened; she then went to Shouchun herself to look for him, but never met him. Later, Huitong went to Jiangling himself, but Huixu had already died. He entered her room and inquired into all the details. He then stayed in Jiangling for a short while; whenever his path passed people's graves, he unfailingly knew their clans and the months and years of their deaths. Those who passed the questions along found that all was as he said. Sometimes he would point out thieves and robbers from afar and state their crimes, whereupon bandits who saw Huitong from a distance would invariably take side roads to avoid him. Furthermore, on the road at Jiangjin he met a man, suddenly struck him with a staff, and said, "Why don't you hurry back? See how your home is doing!" When this man arrived home, it had indeed been caught in a spreading fire, and the house and belongings were completely consumed. At the beginning of the Yongyuan era of the Qi, he suddenly went to an acquaintance, Ren Yang, asking for wine with great urgency, saying, "Now I must make a long journey and will not see you again. Give my farewells to all our good friends; all should take diligent cultivation of good as paramount." When he finished drinking the wine, he lay down on the ground beside the wall; upon going to look, he had already died. Several tens of days later, someone saw him again in the marketplace, caught up with him, and spoke with him, and after a long time he vanished.

4.3

Shao Shuo

4.4

The śramaṇa Shao Shuo was a native of the country of Kangju. He was on the best of terms with Master Baozhi. Entering and leaving, walking and wandering, he paid no heed to night or day; when he wished to seek something, he would go. He traveled to Yizhou, and by using comical words to speak of matters, he could make people laugh with delight, using this to encourage them to do good. Every household was pleased with him. When he went to someone's house and slept on the ground, that household would surely have a death. When he asked someone for a fine mat, a young child would surely pass away. At the time, everyone took these as omens. On the eighth day of the fourth month, during the religious procession in Chengdu, Shuo assumed the form of a lion among the crowd. That day, Pi County also reported seeing Shuo assume the form of a lion, whereupon people realized he had divided his body. Regional Inspector Xiao Huikai and Liu Mengming both revered and served him. Mengming dressed two concubines in men's clothes to test Shuo, saying, "May I give these two persons to you as attendants, venerable sir?" Shuo was fond of speaking in rhyme, so he said to Ming, "Better to beg for food oneself to feast in purity, / Than spend my remaining years together with a husband!" Later he suddenly wore a cloth hat and visited Ming; a short while later, Ming died. Prior to this, Mengming's Aide-de-camp Shen Zhongyu had revised the regulations on flogging, making ordinary statutes severe. Shuo said to Yu, "The clamor of heaven and earth arises from this! If you abolish the flogging regulations, you will become Regional Inspector." Yu abolished them; when Ming died, Zhongyu indeed took charge of provincial affairs. In the ninth month of that year, when about to die, Shuo said to the śramaṇa Fajin, "I wish to have my corpse exposed beneath a pine tree, but my feet must wear clogs." Jin gave his assent. Soon after, Shuo passed away. They carried his corpse and exposed it; the next day, when they went to look, its whereabouts were lost. Soon someone came from Pi County, saying, "Yesterday I saw Master Shuo wearing a single clog walking in the marketplace. He said, 'Tell Master Jin for me: the young boys have cheated me, providing me with only one clog.'" Jin asked the novice monks in surprise, and they replied, "When carrying the corpse, one clog fell off; we were in such a hurry that we had no time to tie it on." Fayuan.

4.5

Śramaṇa Fayuan, originally surnamed Zhong and named Wuli, was originally a man of Changshe in Yingchuan. In his grandfather's generation, they fled political troubles and moved to Changcheng in Wuxing. His family originally served the spirits, and he himself was trained in drumming and dancing. He had fully mastered the subtleties of worldly sundry arts and divination by yarrow stalks and trigrams as well as physiognomy. He once looked into a mirror at his own face and said, "Before long, I shall see the Son of Heaven." Thereupon he went out to the capital and lived by Shen Bridge, making a living by practicing physiognomy for hire. When Zong Que and Shen Qingzhi were still obscure, they asked Fayuan for a physiognomic reading. Fayuan said, "You, Lord Zong, should become regional inspector of three provinces; Lord Shen will surely reach the highest office of the Three Excellencies." In this way he examined many people, and there was more than one instance where his predictions regarding their immediate affairs came true. Consequently, word reached Emperor Taizu of the Song. When Taizu met him, he took a prisoner from the Dongzhi penal workshop and a handsome slave, dressed them in official robes and caps, and ordered Fayuan to physiognomise them. Fayuan pointed at the prisoner and said, "You have many perils and tribulations; once you step down from the steps, you should immediately be put into irons." He addressed the slave, saying, "You are a person of base standing; how is it that you have escaped it only temporarily?" The Emperor was astonished and decreed that he reside in the rear hall to manage the occult arts of yin and yang. A short time later, Fayuan submitted a memorial asking to renounce household life; only after petitioning three times was his request granted. He became a disciple of the venerable Yuan of Upper Dinglin. When Emperor Xiaowu ascended the imperial throne, Zong Que went out to garrison Guangzhou and took Fayuan along with him, venerating him as his master of the five precepts. It happened that Prince Qiao plotted rebellion, and Que consulted Fayuan. Fayuan said, "Following you here was a mistaken act of homicide. Now Venus offends the Southern Dipper, and by rule a high minister must be killed. You should swiftly change your plans; you will surely achieve great merit." It indeed turned out as Fayuan had said. When Que was transferred to be regional inspector of Yuzhou, he again took him along. When Prince Dan of Jingling launched his uprising, Fayuan's counsel and admonitions were also just so. When Emperor Gao of the Qi personally served the young sovereign, he constantly suffered anxiety about unforeseeable disasters and repeatedly consulted Fayuan. Fayuan said, "In the coming seventh month, matters will be settled." It indeed turned out as he had said. When Emperor Gao ascended the throne, he treated him with the etiquette due to a master. When Emperor Wu succeeded to the throne, he also showed the utmost respect due to a master. Fayuan died in the first year of the Yongyuan era at the age of eighty-two.

4.6

Baozhi

4.7

Śramaṇa Baozhi, originally surnamed Zhu, was a native of Jincheng. At first, a woman of the Zhu family heard a baby crying in an eagle's nest; she placed a ladder against the tree, retrieved him, and raised him as her son. At the age of seven, he relied on the monk Jian of Zhongshan to renounce household life and cultivate the practice of meditation. He wandered between Mount Wan and the Jianshui river. His face was square and as bright and translucent as a mirror, while his hands and feet were entirely like bird claws. He dwelt at the Daolin Monastery in Jiangdong. Around the beginning of the Dashi era of the Song, he suddenly became eccentric and extraordinary. He had no fixed residence and no set meal times. His hair was several inches long, and he constantly walked barefoot through the streets and alleys, carrying a ringed staff. At the head of the staff he hung scissors and a mirror, or occasionally one or two bolts of silk. During the Jianyuan era of the Qi, his extraordinary marks gradually manifested. He would go without food for several days without showing any signs of hunger. When he spoke with people, it was difficult to understand at first, but later his words all proved accurate. At times he would compose poems with words like prophecies. The gentry and commoners of Jiangdong all served him together. Emperor Wu of the Qi thought that he was deluding the masses and arrested and detained him in Jiankang. At dawn, people saw him entering the marketplace; yet when they returned to check the prison, Zhi was still there. Zhi told the jailer, "Outside the gate there are two carriages of food coming, with rice placed in golden bowls; you may take it." Shortly thereafter, Crown Prince Wenhui and Prince Ziliang of Jingling both sent food as offerings to Zhi, precisely as he had said. When the Magistrate of Jiankang, Lü Wenxian, reported the matter, Emperor Wu immediately welcomed him into the palace and lodged him in the rear hall. Once, when the inner court was cleared for a banquet, Zhi also left with the crowd. Shortly afterward, atop Mount Jingyang there was still a Zhi with seven monks. The Emperor was angered and sent officers to investigate his chamber. The officers reported, "Zhi left long ago and is at the Secretariat, currently smearing his body with black ink." At that time, the Monastic Controller Faxian wished to present a robe to Zhi, and sent messengers to seek him at both Longguang and Jibin Monasteries. At both they said, "He stayed overnight yesterday and has just left." The messenger also went to the home of Marquis Li Bo, which Zhi often visited, to search for him. Bo said, "Zhi was circumambulating and practicing here yesterday, and has slept until morning without waking." When the messenger returned and reported to Xian, they only then realised that his body had stayed overnight in three different places. Zhi would often walk half-naked in the depths of winter. The śramaṇa Baoliang wished to present him with a patchwork robe; before he could speak, Zhi suddenly came, grabbed the patchwork robe, and left. Later, he availed himself of divine power for Emperor Wu of the Qi, causing him to see Emperor Gao in the subterranean realms constantly enduring the torment of awls and knives. From then on, the Emperor permanently abolished the punishment of awls and knives. Emperor Wu also often summoned Zhi to the Hualin Garden. Zhi suddenly came to see him wearing a triple-layered cloth hat. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Wu passed away, and Crown Prince Wenhui and the Prince of Yuzhang died in succession. During the Yongming era, Zhi regularly resided in the rear hall of the Eastern Palace. One day at dawn, as he walked in and out through the gate, he suddenly cried, "Blood on the gate will stain my robe!" and lifted his robe and ran past. When Prince Yulin was assassinated and his body was carried out in a carriage, this emperor's neck blood flowed onto the threshold of the gate. Hu Xie, the Commandant of the Guards of the Qi, fell ill and invited Zhi. Zhi wrote on the invitation, "I shall bend [my steps] tomorrow." The next day, he never went. That day, Xie died, and his corpse was carried back to his residence. Zhi said, "Tomorrow the corpse will be brought out." When Yin Qizhi, the Marshal of the Grand Defender of the Qi, was about to follow Chen Xianda to garrison Jiangzhou, he took his leave of Zhi. Zhi drew a tree on paper with a crow atop it, and told him, "When in urgent danger, you may climb this." Later, Xianda committed treason and left Qizhi to guard the province. When Xianda was defeated, Qizhi fled into Mount Lu. The pursuing cavalry were about to overtake him when Qizhi saw a tree in the forest with a crow upon it, just as Zhi had drawn. He understood and climbed it; the crow never flew away. The pursuers saw the crow, assumed no one was there, and turned back; thus he was finally spared. Sang Yan, a cavalry officer of the Qi, was about to plot rebellion and went to visit Zhi. Seeing him from afar, Zhi ran and shouted aloud, "Besieging the Palace City, wanting to rebel, heads will be chopped off and bellies slit open!" More than ten days later, the plot was uncovered; Yan fled to Zhufang, was captured, and indeed had his head chopped off and his belly slit open. The Loyal and Ardent Prince of Poyang of the Liang once invited Zhi to his mansion; Zhi suddenly ordered people to fetch chaste-tree branches in great haste, and once obtained, placed them above the gate, with no one understanding the reason. Shortly afterward, the Prince went out to serve as regional inspector of Jingzhou. Instances of his prescient foreknowledge were not limited to this. Zhi frequently went back and forth between the Xinghuang and Jingming monasteries. When Emperor Wu of the Liang ascended the throne, he issued an edict saying: "Lord Zhi's traces blend with the dust and dirt, while his spirit roams the dark and quiet. Water and fire cannot burn or wet him; serpents and tigers cannot assail or terrify him. If we speak of his Buddhist understanding, he is beyond the śrāvakas; if we discuss his reclusion, he surpasses the lofty immortals. How could common mundane people with ordinary feelings seek to restrain him with mere rules? How vulgar and lowly it is to have reached such a point! From now on, let him come and go, entering and leaving at will, and let no one restrict him again." From then on, Zhi frequently entered and left the imperial palace. Once, at the Palace City, he ate minced raw fish in the presence of Emperor Wu of the Liang, with Crown Prince Zhaoming and various other princes in attendance. When the meal was over, Emperor Wu said, "I have not tasted flavour for over twenty years; why do you do so, Master?" Lord Zhi then spat out small fish, their scales and tails intact and swimming lively. Emperor Wu was deeply amazed. Even now in Moling there are still "half-eaten minced fish." In the winter of the fifth year of the Tianjian era, there was a drought. Every sacrifice for rain was performed, yet no rain fell. Zhi suddenly submitted a memorial stating: "Zhi's illness has not abated; I beg my life from the authorities. If I do not report it, the authorities should apply the rod. I wish to have the Śrīmālādevī-sūtra expounded in the Huaguang Hall to clear up the drought and bring rain." Emperor Wu of the Liang then ordered the śramaṇa Fayun to expound the Śrīmālādevī-sūtra; that very night there was a great downpour of rain. Zhi also said, "A basin of water with a knife placed atop it is needed." Shortly after, a torrential rain fell, fully soaking both high and low ground. Mount Qian in Shuzhou was most uniquely secluded, and the foot of the mountain was especially exquisite. Both Lord Zhi and Daoist White Crane wished to have it. In the sixth year of the Tianjian era, both of them petitioned Emperor Wu. Considering that both possessed divine supernormal powers, the Emperor instructed each of them to mark the ground with an object, and whoever marked it first would dwell there. The Daoist said, "I will take the place where my crane alights as my mark." Zhi said, "I will take the place where my ringed staff strikes as my mark." Shortly after, the crane flew off first; as it reached the foot of the mountain and was about to land, it suddenly heard the sound of a staff flying through the air. Lord Zhi's ringed staff then struck the foot of the mountain, and the crane, startled, alighted in another place. The Daoist was displeased, but as his previous words could not be taken back, each built a dwelling at his marked spot. There was a certain Chen Zheng'lu whose entire family served Zhi with great devotion. Zhi once manifested his true form to them, whose radiant marks were like an image of a bodhisattva. Zhi was famous and manifested marvels for more than forty years; the gentlemen and ladies who made offerings and served him were beyond count. However, he was fond of using urine to wash his hair; certain worldly monks secretly mocked and laughed at him. Zhi also knew that many of the monks did not abstain from wine and meat. One who mocked him drank wine and ate pig intestines; Zhi angrily said to him, "You laugh at me for washing my head with urine; why do you eat bags that hold dung?" The mocker was terrified, humbled, and convinced. On the day when Prince Xiaogang of Jin'an was born, Emperor Wu of the Liang sent an envoy to ask Zhi. Zhi joined his palms and said, "The birth of the imperial prince is fortunate indeed; however, his mortal enemy has also been born." Later, upon calculating the calendar and omens, it was discovered that he was born in the same year, month, and day as Hou Jing. At the Linhai Monastery in Kuaiji, there was a senior monk who often heard that Lord Zhi in the capital of Yangzhou spoke frantically and behaved freely and unrestrainedly. The monk said, "This must be the enchantment of a fox spirit. I wish to go to the capital to find hunting hounds to chase it away." Thereupon he boarded a light boat into the sea, headed for Pukou intending to go upriver to the west. Suddenly he was blown by a great gale; he estimated they drifted southeast for six or seven days before reaching an island, where he saw from afar a gilded stūpa towering up into the clouds. He then followed a path and arrived at a monastery whose courtyards were refined and beautiful and whose flowers and plants were fragrant. There were five or six monks, all around thirty years of age, of handsome appearance, all wearing genuine crimson kāṣāyas, leaning on staffs beneath trees at the gate and talking. The monk said, "I was heading for the capital and was tossed about by the wind. I do not know what province or country this is where you venerable sirs dwell. Looking around now, we are surrounded by sea, and I fear I may never see my homeland again." They replied, "If you truly wish to head to Yangzhou, you will arrive instantly. Now we entrust you with a letter to take to the Zhongshan Monastery; go to the second room at the southern end of the western row, find Yellow Head, and give it to him." The monk then closed his eyes and sat in the boat; when the sound of the wind ceased, he opened his eyes, and just as they had said, he had suddenly arrived at the western shore. Entering the inlet for several tens of li, he reached the capital. He went straight to the Zhongshan Monastery to inquire, but there was no one named Yellow Head at all. When the monk explained the details, they reported, "The second room at the southern end of the western row belongs to an eccentric Dao-practitioner with wind illness. Although Lord Zhi is said to be assigned to this monastery, he is always in the lively gathering places of the capital and does not come once in a hundred days; the room is empty and devoid of people." In the midst of their questioning, without anyone noticing, Lord Zhi was already in the monastery kitchen, demanding food while drunk. Because the noon meal had passed and it was late in the day, they did not give him any; he then threw himself about and cursed the monastery monks foully. They tried sending a novice to walk around the side of the kitchen and casually call out, "Yellow Head!" Zhi suddenly said, "Who is calling me?" He immediately chased the novice and came to the monk's place, saying to him, "You promised to bring hunting hounds to catch me; why have you come empty-handed?" The monk knew he was no ordinary man; he made prostrations, repented, and handed over the letter to him. Zhi looked at the letter and said, "The Daoist of the abbot's quarters calls me; before long I shall also return on my own." Zhi then counted on his fingers and said, "I will leave on such-and-such month and day, and will no longer be with you." This monk told the assembly, "Just take note of such-and-such month and day." In the winter of the thirteenth year of the Tianjian era, in the rear hall of the Palace, he said to people, "The Bodhisattva is about to depart." Within ten days, he passed away without illness. His corpse was fragrant and supple, and his expression was serene and joyful. When on the verge of passing, he lit a single candle and handed it to the chamberlain of the rear chamber, Wu Qing. Qing immediately reported it to the throne. Emperor Wu of the Liang sighed, saying, "The Great Master will not stay any longer! Does the candle mean he entrusts the later affairs to me?" He therefore held a lavish funeral, burying him on the Dulong Mound of Mount Zhong. Furthermore, he established Kaishan Monastery at the tomb site, decreed that Lu Chui compose an inscription inside the tomb, and had Wang Yun carve a stele inscription at the monastery gate. The portraits handed down of him are preserved in many places.

4.8

Xiang Acārya

4.9

As for Ācārya Xiang, none knew whence he came. He stayed at a monastery on Mount Qingcheng in Yizhou. According to local custom, on the third day of the third month the people always went up the mountain on excursions, mostly bringing along wine and meat to indulge in carousing. Xiang repeatedly admonished them, but they did not cease. Later, on the third month, when they gathered as before, Xiang had people dig a pit about one zhang square. He suddenly said, "You dānapatis have always drunk and eaten by yourselves, never giving any to Xiang. Today I must have a meal!" Everyone vied to offer him meats and wine; as he received them, he consumed them all, as if filling a vast chasm. When evening came, he said, "I am thoroughly drunk and sated; help me to the pit, lest I foul the ground." Reaching the pit, he opened his mouth and vomited profusely: pheasant meat came out from his mouth and could fly and call at once; mutton came out from his mouth and could run and gallop at once. Wine and meat poured out in disorder, about to fill the pit; fish slices, geese, and ducks swam and crisscrossed one another. The assembly was all astonished and sighing, and vowed to cut off slaughtering. From then on, wine and meat were forever banned from being brought up the mountain. Such was Xiang's moral influence. Later, because Master Baozhi sent a message to him, he passed away at the monastery. When his disciples prepared a tomb and were about to inter him, they wondered at the coffin being extremely light. Upon opening it, they saw only an armrest and a staff.

4.10

Daolin

4.11

Shi Daolin was originally a native of Shanyin in Kuaiji. He renounced household life at a young age and possessed precept practice. He was skilled in the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra and Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra, and recited the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-sūtra. Zhang Xu of the state of Wu paid him reverence and served him. Later, he lived at Linquan Monastery in Fuyang County. Ghostly monsters were often there, but once Lin resided there, they vanished. Lin's disciple Huishao was crushed by a collapsing building, his head sinking into his chest. Lin prayed for him. At night, Shao saw two foreign monks pull out his head. Rising at dawn, he was completely restored. Lin thereupon held a vegetarian feast for the holy monks (āryasaṅgha), spreading fresh silk upon the couch. When the feast ended, footprints of a human were seen upon the silk, over three chi long. The multitude all submitted to this miraculous response. The people of Fuyang then began setting up a seat for holy monks in every household to feed them. At the beginning of the Liang, Lin went out to live at Qi'xi Monastery. In the eighteenth year of the Tianjian reign era, he passed away, at seventy-three years of age.

4.12

Dhūta Song

4.13

Dharma Master Dhūta Song lived among the rocky valleys forty li north of Shuanglin in Wuzhou. He founded Xiangshan Monastery there. When erecting the miraculous stūpa pole, tens of thousands of monastics and laypeople together pulled hemp ropes to hoist it. The ropes suddenly snapped in the middle, and all who were pulling fell stumbling. The Master then said, "What demonic hindrance has caused this?" He then took a bowl filled with pure water, stirred it inside and out, chanted an incantation, and paid reverence. Holding the bowl, he circumambulated the pole once; the pole then stood upright of itself without relying on human labor. Later, he went to Mount Lai and established a monastery. The Master often said, "Mount Lai shall flourish, but not for long; Mount Xiang shall endure for long, though it will not flourish." It later turned out just as he had spoken. In the end, his whereabouts remained unknown.

4.14

Master Azhuan

4.15

As for Master Azhuan, his clan and lineage are not known. He wandered like a cloud in Dingzhou. Whenever he heard among the villages in the prefecture that people had gatherings, societies, vegetarian offerings, marriages, or funerals, or places where young men flew falcons, ran hounds, and gathered in carousing revelry, he was never absent. Amidst them, in brawls and clamor, he also crookedly took sides with factions. This went on for many years. Later, on the night of the fifteenth of the first month, he disturbed the seats of elders and youths, and cursed everyone in unison. The hosts wanted to beat him to death, but people from the market rescued and led him away. The next morning, the brothers of that house sought to seize him, and saw Master Azhuan sitting joyfully smiling atop a broken wall. He said to them, "Why do you despise and demean me here? I shall abandon you and depart." The pursuers raised their staves, wanting to hurl them; others again restrained them. Azhuan said again, "You surely despise and demean me; I am leaving." Striking the wall with his staff, he called out, "Chichi!" The section of wall upon which he rode suddenly rose several tens of ren into the air. Raising his hands, he bid farewell to the villagers, saying, "Fare well!" Among the commoners who saw it, none failed to bow and repent their fault. In an instant, he disappeared behind the clouds. After about a year, he was in Chang'an, behaving just as before. Thereafter, his whereabouts were unknown.

4.16

Bodhidharma

4.17

Bodhidharma was of a brahmin caste of South Tianzhu. His divine wisdom was vast and clear; whatever he heard, he understood. His aspiration lay in the Mahāyāna, his mind merged in empty stillness. He penetrated subtlety and mastered arts, and was eminent in the study of dhyāna. At the beginning of the Putong reign era of Emperor Wu of the Liang, he reached Guangzhou. The regional inspector memorialized the matter, and Emperor Wu sent an envoy with an edict to welcome him to Jinling. The Emperor personally questioned him: "Since our accession, we have built monasteries, copied sūtras, and ordained monks beyond count. What merit and virtue is there?" The Master said, "There is no merit and virtue at all." The Emperor asked, "Why is there no merit and virtue at all?" The Master said, "These are merely small fruits of humans and devas, causes with defilements (āsrava); though they exist, they are not real." The Emperor asked, "What is true merit and virtue?" The Master said, "Pure wisdom is wondrous and perfect, its essence naturally empty and still. Such merit and virtue cannot be sought in the world." The Emperor asked, "What is the supreme truth of the noble truths?" The Master said, "Vast emptiness, with nothing holy." The Emperor asked, "Who is facing us?" The Master said, "I do not know." The Emperor did not comprehend the profound meaning. The Master knew that conditions did not align; on the nineteenth day, he left the Liang. Snapping a single reed, he crossed the Yangtze River, and on the twenty-third day headed north into the territory of the Wei, soon reaching Luoyang. At first he resided at Shaolin Monastery on Mount Song, sitting facing a wall all day long for nine years. Thereupon he passed away and was buried on Mount Xiong'er. When Song Yun of the Wei was returning from his mission to the Western Regions, he met the Master in the Pamir Mountains (Congling), and saw him lightly departing alone, carrying a single shoe in hand. Yun asked where he was going. He said, "Going to the Western Heavens." He also said to Yun, "Your lord has already grown weary of the world." Hearing this, Yun was perplexed; he parted from the Master and traveled east. When he reported back on his mission, Emperor Ming had already passed away. When Emperor Xiaozhuang ascended the throne, Yun fully reported the matter. The Emperor ordered his tomb opened: only an empty coffin and a single leather shoe remained.

4.18

Master Tong

4.19

As for Master Tong, his clan and lineage are not known. He had no fixed dwelling, and his words were mad and erratic, yet they never failed to come true. He drank wine, ate meat, and wandered among the people. Hou Jing placed great faith in him. Before Yangzhou fell, Tong collected countless dead fish heads and piled them outside the Ximing Gate, and also uprooted green grass and brambles to plant them in the market wards. When Hou Jing crossed the Yangtze River, he first slaughtered the entire city of the Eastern Headquarters, killing everyone, and placed their heads outside the Ximing Gate to make a skull tower (jingguan); the court and markets collapsed, and wherever one looked was desolation. Master Tong spoke of gains and losses in ways disadvantageous to Jing. Jing resented him, but feared he was no ordinary man and dared not harm him. Secretly he dispatched the minor general Yu Ziyue with four warriors to visit him. Jing told Ziyue, "If he knows of the killing, do not harm him; if he does not know, seize him in secret." Ziyue stationed the four men outside the gate, and entered alone to find Tong stripping off his clothes to roast by the fire. Anticipating him, Tong said to Ziyue, "You come to kill me? What kind of man am I, that you dare rashly kill me?" Ziyue bowed down, saying he dared not. Thereupon he galloped back to report to Jing. Jing bowed and apologized to him, and in the end dared not harm him. Later, Jing summoned Tong on the occasion of a feast. Tong took meat, dipped it in salt, and offered it to Jing, asking, "Is it good?" Jing said, "Too salty." Tong said, "If not salty, then it rots." A few days after Jing died, the multitude placed five shi of salt in his belly and sent his corpse to Jiankang; in the market, the common people fought to butcher, slice, make broth of, and eat it all up. Thereafter, it was never known where Tong went.

4.20

Senglin

4.21

Shi Senglin was a native of Wu. Profoundly virtuous in nature, his pure conduct could move living beings. During the Datong reign era of the Liang, he went up to Shu. One hundred and forty li northwest of Tongzhou City, there was Mount Doutu, on which was a spirit shrine. The local people venerated it and always went there to sacrifice and pay respects. Lin went to live there, sitting silently in meditation for days on end. Suddenly, a large python coiled itself before his rope bed, raising its head as if bowing in deference. Lin conferred the three refuges upon it; having received them, it departed. From then on, all was peaceful and settled, and there were no calamities or anomalies. In the sunlit land north of that mountain by the Fu River, there had never been monkeys. Ever since Lin took shelter there, two monkeys came to rely on Lin and reside there. Some who first saw them said they came swimming across the water. Later, whenever Lin stepped out of the mountain gate, the monkeys again swam across; this happened many times. After a long passage of years and months, they bred and gave birth, numbering several tens. At times they escorted Lin to the Longmen crossing, gazing after him before returning. Later, he lived in an old monastery at Chishui Cliff. Its buildings were all ruined, with only thickets and woods remaining; he then sat in the open. A tiger crouched before the trees, looking down at Lin. He thereupon preached the Dharma to it; after a long while, it left. Thereafter, he traveled alone through rugged wilderness without avoiding fierce beasts, constantly practicing benevolence and rescue, bringing about immense conversion. At the end, he passed away in the commandery of Tong.

4.22

Huiyue

4.23

Shi Huiyue, styled Desu, had the secular surname Lou. He was a native of Wushang in Dongyang. His ancestors for generations had been an official family in the southeast. A diviner of their ancestral graveyard once said, "In later generations there will be one who attains the Way through ascetic practice and becomes a preceptor to emperors." His mother, née Liu, dreamt of a tall man holding a golden statue and bidding her swallow it; she also saw purple light encircling her body. Thereupon she became pregnant, and at once felt her spirits clear and energetic, and her understanding of principles bright and penetrating. On the day he was born, light and fragrance filled the room, and his body was as white as snow. His secular folks on this account named him Lingcan. In his childhood, he would gather sand to make stupas and pile stones into high seats. At age seven, he asked to enter schooling; he recited the *Classic of Filial Piety* and the *Analects*, and even upon opening the texts of histories and biographies, he perceived their underlying meaning. South of the house was an orchard which neighbouring children vied to harvest, often causing distress; he would give up what he had obtained and return empty-handed. In his home region, sericulture was the primary livelihood, at which he always felt sorrow and pity; because of this, he would not wear silk fabrics or floss. His youngest paternal uncle was fond of hunting; Huiyue tried to reform him, but in the end he did not change. Huiyue often sighed, "Flying and running creatures are far removed from mankind, yet they love life and dread death—how is their feeling any different?" He then abstained from meat and fish. His uncle subsequently moved away to another village, slaughtering as he pleased. The uncle then dreamt of a red-robed messenger clutching a spear and halberd, who said to him, "You kill living beings all day long, and even when a bodhisattva instructs and reforms you, you cannot stop. I will arrest you to face death!" He awoke in fright, drenched in sweat. In the morning, he immediately destroyed all his hunting gear and deeply reformed his former wrongs. When Yue again went to the place where hunting usually occurred, he saw several tens of deer leaping and resting, following his boat as if expressing shame and gratitude. His dwelling was secluded and remote, and he had never seen a monastery. Suddenly he met a monk, whom he asked about the ultimate teaching. The monk raised his hand, pointed east, and said, "In Shanzhong, Buddhist affairs flourish greatly." Thereupon the monk disappeared, and only then did Yue realize he was a divine person. At age twelve, he first travelled to Shan, paying reverence throughout to stupas and temples, roaming freely through the mountains and rivers, meeting afar with his original inclination, and thoroughly examining the scriptures. In the fourth year of the Taishi era of the Song dynasty, at Dongshan Temple in Shangyu, he took leave of his parents and had his hair shaved off; he was then seventeen years old. He served the śramaṇa Huijing of Nanlin Temple, following Jing to dwell at Fanju Temple in Shan, waiting upon him attentively and nurturing him for over twelve years. When Jing died, he mourned him with all his heart. After the ritual mourning clothes were laid aside, he abstained from grains, nested in the crags, and fed on pine needles and atractylodes; banishing illness and lengthening his years, he derived profound benefit from it. In the Qi dynasty, Grand Tutor Duke Wenjian, Chu Yuan, once invited him to lecture on the *Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa* and *Śrīmālādevī-siṃhanāda*. When Yuan fell ill and was sleeping during the day, he saw a Tianzhu monk say, "A bodhisattva is about to arrive; shortly there will be a man of the Way who comes, and it is he." In a short while, Yue arrived, and Yuan's illness suddenly cleared; he immediately requested to receive the five precepts. In the Qi, Supervising Secretary Lou Youyu, who possessed learning from his youth, was Yue’s clan grandfather. Whenever he saw Yue, he would rise to pay homage. Someone asked, "This is merely a junior member of your clan; why are you so respectful?" Yu said, "When a bodhisattva appears in the world, he will become a teacher to all under heaven; how could it be that only this old man pays homage?" The people of the time did not comprehend this import; only Wang Wenxian profoundly agreed with it. Later Yue returned to the capital and again lived at Caotang Monastery. During the Longchang era, Junior Preceptor Shen Yue, holding an external post, took Yue along with him. While in the commandery, Yue took pleasure only in tranquil seclusion, delighting in meditation and recitation; strange fragrances entered his chamber, and fierce beasts grew tame upon his steps. He often entered Mount Jinhua to collect herbs, or halted at the Red Pine Ravine. A Daoist priest, Ding Dejing, died suddenly in his lodge; rumour said he was killed by a mountain spirit. Thereupon a Grand Parish Master was invited to live there, yet strange apparitions still swarmed. The magistrate of Changshan, Xu Bochao, initiated a motion to invite Yue to relocate there. Before even ten days had passed, the supernatural wraiths subsided. Later, while lying down in the daytime, he saw two women dressed in green emerge from the ravine's water, who bowed and repented, saying, "Our past karmic hindrances were profound and heavy, and we fell into being these water spirits, vexed day and night." He at once conferred the refuges and precepts upon them. From that time on, disasters and anomalies ceased forever. On the eighth day of the fourth month in the eighteenth year of the Tianjian era (a yihai year), the Emperor aroused the mind of the great vow and received the bodhisattva precepts. He then visited Dengjue Hall. From the Crown Prince on down, extending to monastics and layfolk, gentlemen and commoners, all hoped for liberation. The disciples whose names were recorded numbered altogether forty-eight thousand people. Once, when he conferred the precepts, a magpie ascended step by step up the stairs, appearing as though it were receiving them; only after the exposition of the precepts was completed did it soar away. Furthermore, once when he was setting forth the precepts, two peacocks could not be driven away. By imperial order, they were permitted to ascend. They strode slowly to the altar, bowing their heads to listen to the Dharma. The Emperor said, "These birds certainly wish to attain parinirvāṇa and separately receive another fruit; out of pity for their utmost sincerity, let the Dharma be expounded for them further." Shortly after, both birds passed away together. Later, when he was dwelling quietly in a vacant chamber, suddenly a rustic old woman brought several volumes of books, placed them upon the sutra desk, and departed without a word; she also brought an unusual tree and planted it in the courtyard herself, saying it was a "Green Courtyard Tree". Yue said, "If these books are good, there is no need to read them; if they are evil, neither is it worth the trouble to look at them." After seven days, he again saw an old man ask for the books and withdraw. The leaves of this tree were green and its flowers red; branching luxuriantly, it still survives. He also moved an unusual bird, its body red and its tail long, shaped like a kingfisher; they nested together and flew in and out among the trees. In the fourth year of the Datong era, he dreamt of his old residence with white walls and vermilion gates, splendid and magnificent. Thereupon he made a vow to build a monastery; an imperial decree named it Bensheng. An imperial order also changed his dwelling place, Zhushan Hamlet, to Zhizhe Hamlet. In the eighth month of the first year of the Datong era, he instructed people to cut the tree branches outside the gate, saying, "The imperial carriage is about to arrive; do not let them block the way." People did not fathom this. On the sixth day of the ninth month, he manifested illness, lying with his head to the north and on his right side. His consciousness was tranquil and joyful, with no pain or distress at all. He said to his disciples, "I dreamt that the fourfold assembly, with banners and flowers arrayed in the air, welcomed me and went soaring through the clouds. My karmic reward is about to end." On the sixteenth day, an imperial decree sent Executive Xu Yan to inquire after his illness. He replied, "Tonight I shall depart." At the second call of the fifth watch, a strange fragrance filled the room, and those around him fell solemn. He then said, "Where there is life, there must be death; this is the constant law of nature. Diligently cultivate mindfulness and wisdom, and do not arouse disordered thoughts." Having finished speaking, he joined his palms and entered nirvāṇa. His worldly age was eighty-four, and his monastic age was sixty-three summers. When he first lay ill, he saw an old man enter holding a khakkhara staff. On the day of his passing, the monks all divined a site on the eastern cliff of the monastery, but the Emperor relocated his burial to Dulong. Might the old man seen previously have been Master Baozhi coming to welcome him? Furthermore, on the night of his death, the green ox he used to ride suddenly bellowed and wept copiously. On the day of the funeral, an imperial envoy led the ox to follow in the procession; from the time it left the temple until it reached the mountain, its bellowing and tears did not cease. Also, when construction of the stupa began, a pair of white cranes circled the tomb, crying with tears in voices exceedingly sorrowful. Three days after the funeral, they suddenly departed forever.

4.24

Master Dandete

4.25

Master Dandete, also named Huifeng, was a monk whose native place was unknown. He drank wine and ate meat, and his speaking or remaining silent followed no fixed pattern. When he made predictions of future events, things later always turned out according to his words. He lived in Liangzhou. When Yuwen Zhonghe was inspector, he invited him into the administrative office. As he inspected the stables and storehouses, he remarked, "Why keep other officials' horses and other officials' goods?" Zhonghe did not understand his meaning, and in anger would not allow him to remain in Liangzhou. Shortly thereafter, Zhonghe refused to accept a replacement, and the imperial court ordered Dugu Xin to capture him. Zhonghe was killed, and his wealth was confiscated by the state. King Wen of Zhou sent a letter summoning him. Dandete set out and reached Qizhou, just as Emperor Shenwu of Qi came to invade Yubi. Dandete said, "How could a dog reach Dragon Gate?" As expected, Shenwu did not reach Dragon Gate and turned back. Before Hou Jing rebelled against Eastern Wei, Dandete suddenly grabbed a staff, the top of which was carved in the shape of a macaque; he made its face constantly point to the west, playing with it day and night. He also demanded a horn bow and drew it. Shortly thereafter, Jing sent word of surrender, but soon rebelled again; everyone regarded this as a verification. At the beginning of spring in the seventeenth year of the Datong era, he suddenly put on a cloth cap. King Wen's attendants were startled and asked him about it. Dandete said, "You will wear one, and the King will wear one too." In the third month, Emperor Wen of Wei died. He then took a white silk cap and put it on. The attendants again asked him about it. Dandete said, "You will wear one, and the King will wear one too." Not long after, the Chancellor's wife died. He again put on a white silk cap. The attendants again asked him about it, and he said, "You will wear one, and the King will wear one too." Soon after, the Chancellor's second son, the Duke of Wuyi, died. His predictive verifications were mostly like this. Shortly thereafter he fell ill and died. King Wen of Zhou ordered him to be buried.

4.26

Zhixiang

4.27

Shi Zhixiang, surnamed Hao, was a native of Fu in Zitong. He once served as a minor clerk in Baxi Commandery. Grand Protector Zheng Zhen ordered Xiang to take tribute items down to the capital Yangdu, where he saw Emperor Wu of Liang, princes, and dukes venerating the Buddhist teachings, whereupon he wished to renounce household life. He returned to Shu to take his resolute vow. His family members, together with his wife and children, sharing Xiang's aspiration, had their hair shaved off all at once. After renouncing household life, he devoted himself to ascetic practices, eating one meal a day and always sitting up, keeping his mind focused on Buddhist principles and dedicating his life to it. At that time, in Nanwu Commandery, there was a man of the Way named Fa'ai who boastfully displayed magical arts; Xiang went to observe him. In the evening, Ai used his own mantra power to manifest a great deity, dressed in robes and cap, with an imposing and majestic appearance, which came and lifted the rope bed four or five feet off the ground. Xiang then recited the precepts, and the deity immediately ran away. A moment later it came back and lifted the bed, moving only one corner, and retreated as before. Shortly after, it came again and stood in front of Xiang. Xiang kept his mind upright and pure, without the slightest stir. Soon after, it left again and manifested its face on the roof; the beams of the building cracked with a very loud noise. Xiang was also without fear. Seeing that he was unmoved, the deity came forward to bow, pleading for mercy and repenting. In the morning, Xiang said to Ai, "What you value is heterodox arts, not the correct Dharma; you should abandon it." Later, travelling along the road, Xiang stayed overnight at a Daoist abbey. The Daoist priests, who had heard of Xiang's renown, feared he would convert their followers and refused to admit him. That night, a pack of tigers circled the courtyard, roaring at one another. The Daoist priests were uneasy the entire night. At dawn, they pursued him and received the bodhisattva precepts from him. He also once walked along the bank of the Hongnong River and saw someone angling with a line; Xiang urged him to stop, but the man did not follow his words. Xiang then spat into the water; suddenly a great serpent raised its head, looked in all four directions, and came toward the fisherman. Thereupon the man took refuge, approached Xiang, and renounced household life. Later, because of the military chaos at the end of the Liang, he entered Mount Qingcheng to gather followers and cultivate practice; before he had time to establish it, he passed away. Early on, when Xiang stayed at Bailin Temple west of the city of Mianzhou, after the compound buildings were completed, he planted a parasol tree in front of the main hall, which grew exceedingly luxuriant. In a summer month, its leaves suddenly fell without cause. Furthermore, when the karmadāna struck the bell in the morning, it made no sound at all. Both senior and junior monastics were perplexed and suspicious, not knowing why. The senior monk, thinking there would be a great disaster, grasped his khakkhara staff and fled. In a short while, a message arrived reporting that Xiang had already passed away; only then did they know that the withered tree and choked bell were portents of the morning of his passing. His disciples, carrying out his instruction, exposed his corpse beneath the pines.

4.28

Lu Fahe

4.29

Lu Fahe: it is not known where he was from. He lived in seclusion on Baili Isle in Jiangling. His clothing, food, and dwelling were entirely the same as those of a śramaṇa observing the precepts. Elders had seen him since their youth, and his countenance was ever unchanging; no one could fathom him. Some said he came from Mount Songgao and traveled far and wide. After entering Wenyang commandery in Jingzhou, he resided at Mount Zishi in Gaoyao county. Without any apparent reason, he abandoned the mountain where he lived, and soon after there was the rebellion of the Man barbarian rebel Wen Daoqi. People of the time thought he had foreseen the signs beforehand. When Hou Jing first announced his surrender to the Liang, Fahe said to Zhu Yuanying of Nanjun, "This poor monk shall go with you, dānapati, to attack Hou Jing." Yuanying said, "Hou Jing has performed meritorious service for the state. Why do you say we should attack him, Master?" Fahe said, "It is simply as it is." When Hou Jing crossed the Yangtze River, Fahe was at Mount Qingxi. Yuanying went to ask him, "Hou Jing is now besieging the city; how will the matter turn out?" Fahe said, "When ordinary men pick fruit, they ought to wait until it is ripe." When pressed with questions, he said, "He will conquer, and yet he will not conquer." Hou Jing sent his general Ren Yue to attack Xiao Yi, the Prince of Xiangdong of the Liang, at Jiangling. Fahe then went to the Prince of Xiangdong to request permission to campaign against Ren Yue. He summoned eight hundred Man barbarian disciples to the river ferry. In two days they set out. The Prince of Xiangdong sent Hu Sengyou leading over a thousand men to march with him. Fahe boarded the warship and laughed loudly, saying, "Countless soldiers and horses!" Jiangling had many spirit shrines where commoners constantly prayed; from the moment Fahe's army set out, not a single one had any efficacy left. People thought this was because all the spirits had followed him on the march. Reaching Lake Chasha, he faced Ren Yue. Fahe rode in a light boat without armor or helmet, floating downstream to within one li of Yue's army. He then returned and said to his generals and soldiers, "I merely observed that their dragon is asleep and motionless, while our army's dragon is leaping with great vigor. Attack them at once! If we can engage them tomorrow, we will rout the rebels without losing a single man from among either guests or hosts. Yet there is a hazardous spot." Thereupon fire-ships were launched, but the headwind was unfavorable. Fahe held a white feather fan and waved it at the wind; the wind immediately reversed direction toward Ren Yue. All of Ren Yue's host saw the Liang soldiers walking on the water. Thereupon they suffered a great collapse, and all threw themselves into the water. Ren Yue fled and went into hiding, and no one knew where he had gone. Fahe said, "He will be captured tomorrow at noon." When the time arrived and he had not yet been caught, people questioned him. Fahe said, "Earlier, when the water on this isle was dry, I erected a pole. I told you dānapatis, 'Although this is a pole, it is actually the rebels' marker.' Now why do you not look beneath the marker for the rebel?" Just as he said, they indeed saw Ren Yue in the water clasping the pole, with his head tilted upward just barely exposing his nose. They then captured him. Yue said, "I beg to die before the Master's eyes." Fahe said, "Dānapati, you have the physiognomy of one who will definitely not die by weapons. Moreover, you have a karmic bond with the Prince; there is definitely no other worry. The Prince will later obtain your assistance, dānapati." The Prince of Xiangdong indeed released him and appointed him a commandery governor. When Western Wei besieged Jiangling, Yue rushed to its relief with troops and fought valiantly. Having subjugated Ren Yue, Fahe went forward to see Wang Sengbian at Baling and said to him, "This poor monk has already broken off one of Hou Jing's arms; what more can he do? Dānapati, you should immediately pursue and capture him." He then requested to return, and said to the Prince of Xiangdong, "Hou Jing will naturally be pacified; he is not worth worrying about. The Shu rebels are about to arrive; this Fahe requests to guard the Wu Gorges to await them." He then gathered the various armies, went there, and transported stones to fill the river; in three days the water ceased to flow. He blocked it across with iron chains. Xiao Ji, Prince of Wuling, indeed sent Shu troops to cross the mouth of the gorges; pressed by circumstances, they could neither advance nor retreat. Wang Lin and Fahe planned the strategy, and in a single battle exterminated them. When the army halted at Baidi, he said to the people, "Zhuge Kongming may truly be called a famous general. I have seen it myself: beside this city there is about one hu of his buried crossbow arrowheads." He then planted a marker and ordered them to dig; it was just as he had said. He also once went beneath a large tree north of the city of Xiangyang, drew a square of two chi on the ground, and ordered his disciples to dig; they found a tortoise a chi and a half long. Tapping it with his staff, he said, "You wished to come out but could not for several hundred years; had you not met me, how could you have seen the light of day?" After he conferred the three refuges upon it, the tortoise entered the grass. Earlier, Mount Badie had many people with virulent illnesses; Fahe gathered herbs for them and treated them, and within three doses all were cured. They immediately requested to become his disciples. In the mountains there were many poisonous insects and fierce beasts; Fahe conferred the prohibitive precepts upon them, and they no longer bit or stung. Wherever he moored on rivers and lakes, he would erect a marker beside the peaks, saying: "Life is liberated at this place." Fishermen would catch nothing; if they happened to catch a little, a great storm of wind and thunder would immediately arise. The boatmen, terrified, would release their catch, and the wind and rain would then subside. In his later years, even though he led troops, he still prohibited the various armies from fishing and hunting; if anyone secretly violated this, in the middle of the night fierce beasts would inevitably come seeking to devour them, or their mooring ropes would be lost. A young disciple playfully cut off a snake's head and came to see Fahe. Fahe said, "Why did you kill it?" and pointed to show him. The disciple then saw the snake's head biting onto the crotch of his trousers and not falling off. Fahe had him repent and make merit for the snake. There was another man who tested a sword on an ox, severing its head with a single stroke, and then came to see Fahe. Fahe said, "There is a headless ox demanding your life with great urgency; if you do not make merit for it, the retribution will arrive within a month." The man did not believe him, and in a few days he indeed died. Fahe also sited residences and examined graves for people to avert misfortune and seek good fortune. He once said to someone, "Do not tie your horse to a mortar." When that man passed through a village, there was a mortar beside a gate, so he tied his horse to its post. Upon entering the gate, he remembered Fahe's admonition; he ran out to untie it, but the horse was already dead. Emperor Yuan of the Liang appointed Fahe as Area Commander, Regional Inspector of Yingzhou, and enfeoffed him as Duke of Jiangcheng County. Fahe did not refer to himself as a subject; above his name with the red seal in his memorials, he called himself a lay practitioner (upāsaka), and later called himself Minister of Works (Situ). Emperor Yuan of the Liang said to his Vice Director of the Left, Wang Bao, "I have never intended to appoint Lu to the Three Excellencies, so why does he style himself thus?" Wang Bao said, "Since he considers himself master of the arts of the Way, it is likely that he has foreknowledge." Because Fahe's merits and achievements were growing increasingly substantial, Emperor Yuan of the Liang thereupon conferred on him the title of Minister of Works, while he remained Area Commander and Regional Inspector as before. His several thousand retainers were all called disciples; he transformed people solely through the arts of the Way, never subjecting them to penal laws or prisons. Furthermore, where marketplaces were arranged, no market directors were established; no one was assigned to handle the laws of pasturage and administration. There were merely empty locked chests along the roads with a single hole cut on top to receive money; merchants and shopkeepers, according to the amount of their goods, calculated their prices and limits and deposited it into the chests themselves. The officials who received and oversaw it unlocked and took it only in the evening, itemized the entries, and delivered them to the treasury. Furthermore, in ordinary times, Fahe spoke as if words could hardly leave his mouth, but whenever he held a discussion, his powerful eloquence was peerless, though still tinged with a Man barbarian accent. He was skilled at offensive warfare. Stationed at Jiangxia, he amassed a great force of warships, intending to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang and enter the Wu Pass. Emperor Yuan of the Liang sent word to stop him. Fahe said, "I, Fahe, am a seeker of the Buddha; I do not even covet the seat of Śakra, King of the Gods, or Brahmā—how could I plot against the position of the ruler? It is only that at the place of the Void King Buddha, I formed an incense-and-fire karmic bond with His Majesty; seeing that a retribution is due to arrive for the King, I came to his rescue. Now that I am suspected, this karma is fixed and cannot be undone." Thereupon he prepared an offering of food, consisting of large dumplings and thin pancakes. When the Wei mobilized troops, Fahe went from Yingzhou into Hankou, intending to rush to Jiangling. Emperor Yuan of the Liang sent someone to head him off, saying, "We can defeat the rebels ourselves; Master, merely guard Yingzhou, there is no need to move." Fahe then returned to the province, whitewashed the city gates, donned a coarse white cloth robe and trousers with a slanted kerchief, bound his waist with a thick rope, and sat upon a reed mat; only at the end of the day did he remove it. When he heard that Emperor Yuan had been defeated and destroyed, he again took up his former mourning garments, put them on, wept, and received condolences. When the Liang captives entered the Wei, they indeed saw the dumplings and pancakes. Earlier, Fahe built the Shouwang Monastery on Baili Isle; after framing the Buddha hall, he had the beams and pillars cut shorter, saying, "Some forty-odd years from now, the Buddhadharma will suffer a hailstorm; this monastery is secluded and remote, and will be able to escape the calamity." When the Wei pacified Jingzhou, the palaces were burned to ashes; the Commander-in-Chief wished to dismantle and take the Buddha hall of Shouwang Monastery, but disliked that its timbers were too short, so he stopped. Later, when the Northern Zhou suppressed the Buddhadharma, this monastery was separated by the Chen border, and so did not suffer the calamity. In the spring of the sixth year of the Tianbao era, King Yue of Qinghe advanced his army to the Yangtze River; Fahe surrendered the entire province to the Northern Qi. Emperor Wenxuan appointed Fahe as Grand Area Commander of the Military Affairs of Ten Provinces and Grand Commandant; and appointed Song Li, Southwest Grand Area Commander of the Military Affairs of Five Provinces, Regional Inspector of Jingzhou, and Duke of Anxiang Commandery, as Regional Inspector of Yingzhou, with their ranks and peerages as before. Li's younger brother Song Qian was appointed Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary, Specially Advanced with the Threefold Protocol, Regional Inspector of Xiangzhou, and Duke of Yixing County. When the Liang general Hou Tian came to press Jiangxia, the Qi army abandoned the city and retreated. Fahe, together with the brothers Song Li and Song Qian, entered the imperial court. Emperor Wenxuan, hearing that he possessed marvelous arts, open-mindedly wished to meet him; he prepared the ceremonial retinue of the Three Excellencies and set up tents twelve li south of the city to await him. Seeing the city of Ye from afar, Fahe dismounted and performed the Pace of Yu. Xin Shu said to him, "Since Your Excellency has pledged allegiance from ten thousand li away and His Majesty treats you with an open mind, why do you perform such arts?" Fahe, holding an incense burner in his hands, walked following the imperial carriage until he reached the guesthouse. The next day he was granted an audience. He was provided with a fully screened carriage veiled with an oiled netting. When he went to the palace to submit his name, he did not mention his official titles or peerage, nor did he call himself a subject, but merely said: "The Lay Practitioner of Mount Jing." Emperor Wenxuan feasted Fahe and his disciples in the Zhaoyang Hall. He bestowed upon Fahe one million cash, ten thousand bolts of textiles, a first-class mansion, one hundred qing of fields, two hundred male and female slaves, and a matching quantity of provisions and utensils. Fahe freed all the slaves he received, saying, "Go each according to your own conditions." The money and silk were distributed in dāna and exhausted in a single day. Using the residence bestowed by the government, he constructed a Buddhist monastery, residing himself in a single room no different from an ordinary person. Within three years, he was twice made Grand Commandant, yet the world still called him a lay practitioner. Without illness, he announced to his disciples the time of his death. When the time arrived, he burned incense, made obeisance to the Buddha, sat upon a rope-strung bed, and passed away. After he was bathed and about to be encoffined, his corpse shrank slightly, measuring only about three chi. Emperor Wenxuan ordered the coffin opened to inspect it; it was merely an empty coffin. Fahe had written on the wall of the room where he lived and then plastered over it; when the plaster peeled away, there was writing that said: "A Son of Heaven for ten years is still passable; a Son of Heaven for a hundred days is urgent as fire; Sons of Heaven for a full year sit successively on the throne." It also said: "One mother gives birth to three heavens; two heavens share five years." Commentators took this to mean that Empress Dowager Lou gave birth to three Sons of Heaven, and from Emperor Xiaozhao's accession to Emperor Wucheng's abdication of the throne, together with the Latter Master, it was five years in all.

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神僧傳 — Classical Chinese