神僧傳 9.51

9.51

The monk Zhiyan stated that his surname was Xu and that he was a native of Shouchun. He shaved his head at the Seven Koṭī Cloister of Jingde Monastery in the Eastern Capital, serving Qingsui. Sui saw that his appearance was extraordinarily ancient and that he stared straight without blinking; marveling at him in his heart, he conferred the full precepts upon him. Yet his movements were lofty and unrestrained, and his speech and laughter lacked restraint. He often walked through the marketplaces, lifting his skirts and running rapidly, raising his finger to draw in the air and standing still for a long while. From time to time he associated with butchers and wine-sellers, eating and drinking without discrimination. The crowd thought him mad, but Sui alone said, "This is an extraordinary person." When people wished to hold a vegetarian meal and offer dāna, he would always know in advance and arrive. Lin Zhongfang, a man of Wenzhou, came from his home to present a patched robe; just as the boat reached the shore, Zhiyan quickly came and took it away. Emperor Renzong often invited him into the forbidden palace, where he would go straight onto the seat and sit cross-legged. When the meal was finished, he quickly exited without ever having bowed. Sometimes he secretly divined good and bad fortune, writing on paper and wielding the brush very rapidly; at first it could not be understood, but afterward much of it was verified. When Renzong's years grew advanced and an heir to the throne had not yet been established, he quietly dispatched an attendant to Zhiyan's place. What Zhiyan wrote had the characters "Eleventh Son"; no one could fathom what it meant. Later, Emperor Yingzong succeeded to the throne as the eleventh son of the Prince of Pu, and only then did the assembly understand. Bujing Cloister provided baths. When the night water-clock had just run out and the doors had not yet been opened, just as they were welcoming the Buddha, there was the sound of a person in the bathhouse. Going to look, Zhiyan was there. If someone prepared a vegetarian meal and presented minced fish, he would eat it all together. Coming to a stream, he would vomit it up, and it turned into small live fish swimming away in schools. A seafarer encountered a storm and was about to sink; he saw a monk holding a hawser, pulling the vessel, and rescuing it. When the merchant arrived at the capital, he met Zhiyan, who suddenly said to him, "Were it not for me, what would have become of you?" The merchant recalled his appearance; he was truly the one who had towed the boat. When about to die, he composed a eulogy that could not be understood. Afterward he said, "From antiquity I first accomplished liberation in many lands, and now it is the Southern Land." Emperor Renzong dispatched an attendant to make a statue using his true body and place it in the monastery, with a placard reading "Chan Master of Manifest Transformation." Later, good people who paid homage to it saw his forehead glowing brightly with light; examining it closely, they obtained relics.