神僧傳 7.17

7.17

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.