弘贊法華傳 10.14

10.14

張萬福。貞觀年中。從晉州刺史。改為洺洲刺史。其人性麁獷。不甚敬信。初至任所。問訪左右。管內有何德行眾僧。左右報云。郭下有一尼。名妙智。甚精進。又造一部法花經。如法受持供養。緣此譽滿鄉閭。其時福問。此經。可用幾物造成。答云。此尼。用一千五百段物。萬福大驚曰。京下極好手書。寫一部。正可至七八段。何因用如許物。試為我索經來看。尼聞刺史索經。拒而不與。為使君不護淨。又未齊潔。萬福大瞋。更使人往。尼遂不敢留。即作香湯。與來使沐浴。并與新衣。著訖。始付經去。萬福得經竟。不洗手。即取經開。卷中並黃紙。遂無一字。萬福大怒曰。此妖老嫗。何由可耐。即命左右。追取尼來。使往語尼曰。師經上並無一字。使君大瞋。令追師來。尼甚憂懼。莫知所由。汗流浹體。即隨使往。至刺史牙門入屏牆。尼見一雙金剛。手擎杵棒。如似授尼。尼遂心安。即入至刺史前。其經文並在空中。化作金字。刺史見尼至。并見金剛及金字在虛空中。因即驚懼。走起下廳。號咷悲泣。謝罪懺悔禮拜。遂即迴心信向。發願造法花經一千部。通十方供養。仍自受持。不敢懈怠。乃問尼造經由緒。尼曰。欲造經之時。於山中。先種穀樹。每用香水溉灌。令得滋長。樹成之後。即預以香水和泥。造作紙屋。紙屋既成。乃採取樹皮。雇匠如法香水清淨造紙成。即募訪能護淨經生。不論工拙及貴賤。乃經三年。不獲其人。後有一江南人士。年可二十四五。應募為書。其書經屋。還以香水和泥清淨造屋。屋成之後。書生著新淨衣。未寫經前。預四十九日。護淨清齊。然後始書。每出入訖。皆須改易衣服。洗浴畢。然始就書。書時。尼手執香爐。胡跪經前供養。書生止乃止。若書生夜臥。尼亦和起。燒香旋遶。如是不闕。經了莊嚴。莊嚴就。乃作僧尼男女四色人衣。各十通。每來借經。或誦或讀。及書寫者。預令七日護淨。兼與新衣著。然始付經。如是恭敬。永不虧闕。遠近崇仰。大為利益。緣此刺史歸向之後。人皆以法花為業。

Zhang Wanfu, during the Zhenguan era, was transferred from prefect of Jinzhou to prefect of Mingzhou. By nature he was rough and aggressive, not very reverent or faithful. When he first arrived at his post, he questioned his attendants: 'What monks of virtuous conduct are there within my jurisdiction?' His attendants reported: 'Below the outer wall there is a nun named Miaozhi, who is extremely vigorous. She has also produced a copy of the Lotus Sūtra, which she upholds and makes offerings to in accordance with the Dharma; for this reason, her fame fills the villages.' At that time, Wanfu asked: 'How many bolts of cloth were used to produce this sūtra?' They answered: 'This nun used one thousand five hundred bolts of cloth.'

Wanfu was greatly astonished and said: 'In the capital, when the very best calligraphers copy a set, it only costs up to seven or eight bolts. Why did she use so much cloth? Go fetch the sūtra for me to examine.' When the nun heard that the prefect was demanding the sūtra, she refused to give it up because the prefect did not observe ritual purity and had not purified himself through fasting. Wanfu was furious and sent someone again. The nun then dared not retain it; she immediately prepared scented bathwater for the messenger to bathe in and gave him new clothes. Only after he put them on did she hand over the sūtra.

After Wanfu received the sūtra, without washing his hands, he took the sūtra and opened it: inside the scroll, it was all yellow paper, completely devoid of a single character. Wanfu flew into a great rage and said: 'How can this wicked old hag be tolerated!' He immediately ordered his attendants to arrest the nun and bring her in. The messenger went and told the nun: 'Master, there is not a single character in your sūtra. The prefect is furious and has ordered your arrest.' The nun was extremely anxious and terrified, not knowing the reason, and sweat drenched her entire body. She then followed the messenger.

When she reached the prefect's command gate and entered through the screen wall, the nun saw a pair of Vajrapāṇis holding clubs and pestles in their hands, appearing as if handing them to the nun. Thereupon the nun felt at ease. She then entered and stood before the prefect; all the characters of the sūtra were in mid-air, transformed into golden characters. When the prefect saw the nun arrive, and also saw the Vajrapāṇis and the golden characters in the sky, he was terrified. He jumped up, ran down from the hall, wept bitterly and wailed, apologized for his offense, repented, and bowed in reverence. He thereupon had a change of heart, turned toward faith, and made a vow to copy one thousand sets of the Lotus Sūtra to be offered throughout the ten directions, while personally upholding it without daring to be indolent.

He then asked the nun the origins of how the sūtra was produced. The nun said: 'When I wished to produce the sūtra, I first planted paper-mulberry trees in the mountains, constantly watering them with scented water so that they would flourish. After the trees had grown, I pre-mixed mud with scented water to build a paper-making hut. When the paper-making hut was finished, I stripped the bark and hired craftsmen to make paper cleanly with scented water in accordance with the Dharma. Once it was ready, I recruited scribes who could maintain purity, regardless of whether their skill was clumsy or fine, or whether their status was noble or base. Three years passed without finding the right person. Later, there was a man of Jiangnan, about twenty-four or twenty-five years of age, who responded to the recruitment to write it. For the hut in which he wrote the sūtra, mud was again mixed with scented water to cleanly build the hut. After the hut was finished, the scribe put on new, pure clothes; for forty-nine days prior to writing the sūtra, he observed ritual purity and a clean fast, and only then began to write. Every time he went out or came in, he had to change his clothes and bathe before proceeding to write. While he wrote, I held an incense burner in my hands, knelt on both knees before the sūtra, and made offerings; when the scribe stopped, I stopped. If the scribe slept at night, I would also rise with him, burning incense and circumambulating, never failing in this. When the sūtra was completed, it was mounted; after mounting was finished, I made clothes for four classes of people—monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen—ten sets of each. Whenever people came to borrow the sūtra, whether to chant it, read it, or copy it, they were required to observe purity for seven days in advance, and were also given new clothes to wear before the sūtra was handed to them. Revering it in this manner, it was never neglected. Those near and far revered it, and it brought great benefit.' Because of this, after the prefect converted, everyone took the Lotus Sūtra as their religious practice.