華嚴經傳記 5.7

5.7

Śramaṇa Facheng: his secular surname was Fen; he was a native of Wannian County in Yongzhou. Having gone forth into homelessness when young, he constantly took reciting the Avataṃsaka as his vocation. Because he met Dhyāna Master Huichao living in seclusion in Blue Valley, he looked up to him as to a lofty mountain, cherishing high aspirations. He then cast aside noisy tumult, laid bare his sincere heart, and requested instruction. Later, on the southern ridge of the monastery, he constructed an Avataṃsaka Hall, thoroughly purifying it inside and out before setting about the copying. The hall's tiles and mortar were both mixed with fragrant water, all stamped and trodden by Facheng himself. When the adornments were complete, he cleanly painted images of the Seven Locations and Eight Assemblies. He also sought out and summoned a man skilled in calligraphy at that time, Zhang Jing, an Erudite of the Hongwenguan; keeping every matter pure, he respectfully copied this scripture. Facheng also personally held an incense burner, single-mindedly offering veneration, even fixing his gaze and pouring out his heart upon every dot and stroke. Moreover, his bestowal of generous compensation was earnest and heavy: for two sheets of paper, he paid five hundred cash. Consequently, he moved an auspicious bird of extraordinary shape and colour to fly into the hall carrying a flower in its beak, hovering and circling around, descending to the scripture desk and rising again to the incense burner. When the scripture was still incomplete and copying was paused, it was resumed later; on the day it was resumed, the bird flew in again. He further crafted a jeweled curtain and a fragrant casket, embellished and completed in full. From then on, those who chanted it with a concentrated mind mostly received touching blessings.