神僧傳 7.46

7.46

The monk Puman acted as he pleased, not constrained by the marks of a monk. He would sing or laugh, and no one understood his intention. Because his remarks concerning events often proved efficacious, the people of the time regarded him as another Wanhui. Later, in a Buddhist chapel in Luzhou, he wrote several poems and died. What was recorded reads: 'This water connects to the Jing River; / The double pearls, blood fills the streams. / The green ox will lead the red tiger, / And it will again be called a year of Great Peace.' After he wrote the poem, no one could understand it. When the rebel Zhu Ci raised troops, the multitude finally came to understand. 'This water' (此水) refers to the character Ci (泚). 'The Jing River' refers to the military mutiny from Jingzhou. 'The double pearls' (雙珠) refers to Zhu Ci and Zhu Tao. 'The green ox' refers to the second year of the Xingyuan era (yichou): yi is wood [associated with green], and chou is the ox. The following year the reign era was changed to Zhenyuan, in the year bingyin: bing is fire [associated with red], and yin is the tiger. By that time the rebels had already been pacified; hence it said: 'The green ox will lead the red tiger, / And it will again be called a year of Great Peace.'