冥報記 3

English (machine translation) 3

Language: English

3.1

Compiled by Tang Lin, Minister of the Ministry of Personnel

Toward the end of the Kaihuang era of the Sui, there was a man of Daizhou surnamed Wang who served as a cavalry general and was garrisoned in Jingzhou. By nature he was fond of hunting and killed a great number of beasts. He had five sons and no daughters; later, a daughter was born to him who was as exquisitely beautiful as a painting. Everyone who saw her marveled at and loved her, and her parents cherished her deeply. After returning to their home village, the villagers and kin vied to make fine clothes for her and adored her together. When the girl was seven years old, one morning she went missing, and no one knew where she was. At first they suspected the neighbors had hidden her in play, but upon inquiring, no one had seen her. Her brothers rode horses to search far away, and found her among briars and brambles over thirty li from home. When they went to take hold of her, she was startled, ran far away, and could not be overtaken by horses. The brothers surrounded and captured her with ten horsemen. The sounds coming from her mouth resembled the cry of a hare. Carrying her home, she was unable to speak, and her body was wounded by briar thorns. When her mother picked them out for her, she obtained a handful of thorns. After more than a month, she died without eating. The parents were filled with sorrow and grief, and the whole family fasted and practiced ascetic discipline. Xuanming, Assistant in the Court of Judicature and Revision, who had formerly served as an officer of the law in Daizhou, related this to Lin.

3.3

Cui Hao, Minister over the Masses of the Later Wei, was widely learned and possessed strategic talent. He served Emperor Taiwu, who heeded his words and followed his counsel, so that the people of the state took him as a model. Hao served the Daoist Kou Qianzhi as his master and utterly disbelieved in the Buddha, constantly saying that it was a vain delusion that brought waste to the common people. Seeing his wife reading a sūtra, he snatched it and threw it into a well. Following Taiwu to Chang'an, they entered a monastery and found bows, arrows, and weapons. The emperor in anger executed the monastery's monks. Hao thereupon came forward and urged that all śramaṇas be put to death and the sūtras and images burned. An imperial edict was issued by the Palace Secretariat ordering that the four quarters follow Chang'an's precedent. Kou Qianzhi disputed this with Hao, but Hao would not heed him. Qianzhi said to Hao, 'From now on, you shall suffer execution, and your clan shall be wiped out!' Four years later, Hao was indeed exterminated along with his clan despite being innocent [of treason]. When he was about to be executed, he was carried on an open cart. The officials had ten men ride atop the cart and urinate into his mouth in turns. After traveling several li, unable to endure the agony, he wailed and begged for mercy. In the end, all five punishments were fully inflicted upon him. Since ancient times, such execution and humiliation had never occurred before. The emperor also wrongfully executed the crown prince, and was soon afterward assassinated by the eunuch Zong Ai. People of the time considered this an evident retribution for destroying the Buddha-Dharma (see the *History of the Later Wei* and *Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen States*).

3.4

When Emperor Yuan of the Liang was six years old, he saw a large pearl in his mother's cosmetic box, took one pearl, held it in his mouth, and then accidentally swallowed it. Suspecting that attendants had stolen the pearl, they interrogated them, but none confessed; thereupon they cremated a live fish to take an oath and curse [the thief]. The next day, the emperor had a bowel movement, and the pearl emerged with the feces. One of the emperor's eyes consequently went blind (see the *Brief Account of the Liang*).

3.5

Emperor Wu of the Zhou was fond of eating chicken eggs, consuming several at each meal. There was a Director of the Imperial Banquets with the rank of Yitong named Ba Biao, who constantly presented the imperial meals and enjoyed imperial favor. When Emperor Wen of the Sui ascended the throne, he still directed the banquets and presented meals. During the Kaihuang era, he died suddenly, but his heart remained warm; his family could not bear to encoffin him. After three days he revived and was able to speak, saying first, 'Carry me to see the Emperor, to deliver a message on behalf of Emperor Wu of the Zhou!' Thereupon he requested an audience. Emperor Wen summoned him and questioned him, and he said, 'At first, I suddenly saw a person calling me, and I followed him to a place where there was a great cavern. The path we took led directly into the cavern. Just as we reached the mouth of the cavern, I saw from afar over a hundred cavalry approaching from the west, their guard of honor like that of a king. Presently, arriving at the mouth of the cavern, it turned out to be Emperor Wu of the Zhou. I bowed. The Emperor said, "The King has summoned you to bear witness to my affair. You yourself are not guilty of any fault." Having said this, he entered the cavern. The messenger also led me inside to a palace gate and ushered me into the courtyard. I saw Emperor Wu seated together with another person, who was treated as an honored guest with extraordinary respect. The messenger ordered me to pay homage to the King. The King asked, "When you prepared food for the Emperor, how many white dumplings did you present in all?" I did not recognize [the term] "white dumplings." I looked to the attendants, and the attendants instructed me, saying, "Chicken eggs are called white dumplings." I then replied, "The Emperor constantly ate white dumplings; in truth, their number cannot be recounted." The King said to the Emperor, "This person does not remember; it must be extracted from you." The Emperor looked grim and displeased, and stood up. Suddenly, in front of the courtyard, there appeared an iron bed and several tens of hell wardens, all with ox heads and human bodies. The Emperor was already lying on the bed. The hell wardens pressed him down with an iron beam, and the Emperor's flanks cracked open. From the splits, whole eggs poured out, soon reaching the level of the bed, perhaps more than ten hu. The King then ordered them counted. When this was finished, the bed and the hell wardens all vanished, and the Emperor was once more back in his seat beside the King. The King told me to go back. Someone led me out to the mouth of the cavern, where I saw Emperor Wu emerge again. He said to me, "Please tell the Son of Heaven of the Great Sui: In the past you once served together with me, and the storehouses of jade and silk were also accumulated by me. Now, because I destroyed the Buddha-Dharma while emperor, I am enduring extreme, great suffering. May you perform meritorious deeds on my behalf!"' Thereupon Emperor Wen ordered all the people under heaven to contribute one coin to cultivate posthumous merit for him (my maternal grandfather, Duke of Qi, witnessed this in person, returned home, and recounted it in full).

3.6

During the Northern Qi, there was an official surnamed Liang who was very wealthy. When he was about to die, he said to his wife and children, 'All my life I have cherished my slave and my horse; I have employed and ridden them for a long time, and they have suited my wishes. When I die, they may be sacrificed to accompany me in death; otherwise, I will have nothing to employ or ride.' When he died, his family members filled sacks with earth and pressed down on the slave to kill him; the horse, however, had not yet been killed. Four days after he died, the slave revived and recounted: 'Without realizing it, I walked away and came in haste to the gate of an official bureau. The gatekeeper detained me, and I spent a night at the gate. The next morning, I saw my master in chains, strictly guarded by armed soldiers, about to enter the official's presence. Seeing me, he said, "When I died, other people took my slaves and maidservants; my dying words summoned you, but now each of us must bear his own suffering, and they are of no concern to each other at all. Now I shall ask the official to release you." Having spoken, he entered. I peeked from behind the screen and saw the official ask the guards, "How much fat was pressed yesterday?" They answered, "We obtained eight sheng." The official said, "Take him away again and press out one hu and six dou." The master was immediately dragged out, unable to say a word. The next day he came again, looking joyful. He said to me, "Today I shall speak for you." When he went in, the official asked, "Did you obtain fat?" They replied, "We did not." The official asked why, and the officer in charge said, "This man has been dead for three days, and his family has invited monks to hold a vegetarian feast on his behalf. Whenever the sounds of sūtra recitation and chanting are heard, the iron beam snaps, and so we could not obtain it." The official said, "Take him away for now." The master then addressed the official, requesting the release of his slave, and the official at once summoned me and let me go. As we both exited the gate, the master sent a message through me to his wife and children, saying, "Thanks to your cultivating posthumous merit, I was able to escape great suffering. However, I am not yet liberated. If you can further copy the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra and make Buddha images to rescue me, I hope I will surely be freed. From now on, do not make sacrificial offerings; doing so will only increase my sins!" Having spoken, he parted from me.' The slave thereupon revived and recounted it in full. The household had indeed held a gathering on that day. Thereupon they exhausted their wealth to cultivate posthumous merit and ordered the entire household to practice spiritual purification (my maternal uncle, Prefect Gao of Jingzhou, said that he saw a man of Qi recount this).

3.7

Li Kuan, Duke Hui of Pushan and Grand Pillar of State of the Sui, was fond of hunting and regularly kept several tens of falcons. Later, a son was born to him whose mouth was a falcon's beak; he then did not rear him. (The duke was the father of Li Mi; my family was related to them, and they all saw this.)

3.8

Jiang Lue, a woman of Tianshui and a Brave-as-Eagles General under the Sui, hunted in her youth and was skilled at flying falcons. Later, she fell ill and saw thousands of birds, all without heads, surrounding her bed and chirping, 'Quickly return our heads to us!' Lue would then suffer a headache and lose her breath; after a long time she would revive. She prayed to cultivate posthumous merit on behalf of the birds. When she promised to do so, they all departed, and she was presently cured. Thereupon, for the rest of her life, she abstained from wine and meat and did not kill living beings. (When I was in Longyou, I saw Jiang in summer; she was about sixty years of age and recounted this to me herself.)

3.9

At the beginning of the Kaihuang era of the Sui, in an outlying district of Jizhou, there was a young boy aged thirteen who constantly stole his neighbor's chicken eggs, roasted them, and ate them. Later, early in the morning before the villagers had arisen, his father heard someone knocking on the outer door and calling the boy's name. The father told the boy to go out and answer it. He saw a man who said, 'The authorities summon you for corvée.' The boy said, 'If you summon me for corvée, let me go inside to fetch clothes and provisions.' The messenger said, 'There is no need.' He then led the boy out through the village gate. South of the village were formerly mulberry fields, which had been plowed but not yet sown. This morning, the boy suddenly saw that by the road there was a small city, with gate towers on all four sides, painted in red and white very beautifully. The boy marveled, 'When was this built?' The messenger scolded him and made him keep silent. He then led him to the north gate of the city and ordered the boy to enter first. As the boy stepped through, the city gate suddenly shut. Not a single person was to be seen; it was only an empty city, and the ground was entirely burning ash and fragmented fire, barely deep enough to submerge one's ankles. The boy cried out in panic and ran toward the south gate, but just as he approached, it shut. He ran to the east, west, and north gates as well, and all were like this: before he arrived they were open, but as soon as he reached them, they closed. At that time, villagers went out to the fields, and all—men and women, young and old—saw this boy running wildly in all four directions in the plowed fields, making sounds like weeping. They all said to one another, 'Is this boy mad? Ever since he came here, he has been playing without rest.' When it was time for breakfast, the mulberry pickers all returned. The boy's father asked, 'Have you seen my boy?' The mulberry pickers replied, 'He is running and playing south of the village; when we called him, he refused to come.' The father went out of the village and saw from afar his boy running. He called his name loudly, and at the single shout, the boy stopped. The city and ashes suddenly disappeared. Seeing his father, he collapsed, weeping and unable to speak. The father looked at his feet: from mid-calf upward, the flesh and blood were scorched dry, and below his knees, they were festered and rotten as if roasted. He carried him home and nursed him; the flesh of his thighs returned to normal, but below his knees they ultimately became withered bones. When the neighbors heard of this, they went together to look at the place where he had run; the footprints were clear, with no ash or fire whatsoever. Thereupon the people of the district, men and women, young and old, all upheld the precepts and practiced spiritual purification. (The monk of great virtue Daohui, originally a native of Jizhou, related this to me; this was in his neighboring district.)

3.10

During the Daye era of the Sui, a prison guard in Jingzhao Commandery, whose name has been lost, treated the prisoners with extreme cruelty. The prisoners could not endure the agony, but the guard took it as amusement. Later, a son was born to him who, beneath his chin and above his shoulders, had something like a fleshy cangue, having no neck at all. At several years of age, he could not walk, and died.

3.11

During the Daye era of the Sui, the wife of a man of Henan was unfilial in caring for her mother-in-law. The mother-in-law was blind in both eyes. The wife chopped earthworms to make broth and gave it to her to eat. The mother-in-law was suspicious of its taste, secretly hid a piece of the meat, and kept it to show her son. When the son returned and saw it, he wanted to deliver his wife to the county magistracy. Before they arrived, a thunderclap sounded, and his wife vanished. Presently, she fell from the sky; her body and clothes were as before, but her head had changed into a white dog's head. Her speech remained unchanged. When asked the reason, she answered, 'Because I was unfilial to my mother-in-law, I have been punished by the heavenly spirits.' Her husband sent her to the authorities, and she would beg for food in the marketplace. Later, her whereabouts became unknown.

3.12

The father of Bian Shiyu of Yangzhou was granted the rank of Yitong under the Sui for his merit in pacifying the Chen dynasty. By nature he was stingy. He once hired workers to build a house but did not pay them their wages. When a laborer demanded money, Bian's father whipped him. The laborer resented him, saying, 'If you truly wrong me, when you die you shall become an ox for me!' Shortly afterward, Bian's father died. That laborer's cow became pregnant and gave birth to a yellow calf. Across its waist were black markings, encircling it all around like a man's waistband. On its left hip was a white marking running diagonally across, exactly the size and shape of an ivory tablet. The cow's owner called to it, 'Duke Bian, why did you wrong me?' The calf came forward, bent its two front knees, and knocked its head on the ground. Shiyu offered one hundred thousand coins to redeem it, but the cow's owner refused. Only when it died was it buried (Zhen Tuo recounted this to me).

3.13

Yin Anren of Jingzhao came from a wealthy family and had long served the monks of Cimen Monastery. At the beginning of the Yining era, a guest lodged at his home and stayed there. The guest stole someone else's donkey, flayed its hide, and gave it to Anren. When it came to the third year of the Zhenguan era, Anren met a person on the road who said to him, 'The authorities are pursuing you. An emissary will arrive tomorrow, and you must die.' Anren was terrified and went straight to the Buddha Hall in Cimen Monastery, where he stayed through the night without coming out. At mealtime the next day, there indeed arrived three horsemen accompanied by several dozen men, all bearing weapons, who entered the monastery. Seeing Anren from a distance, they called him to come out. Anren did not respond, but recited the Buddha's name and chanted sūtras with ever-greater diligence. A ghost said, 'Yesterday we did not take him at once; now that he is cultivating merit like this, how can we possibly seize him?' Thereupon they left together, leaving behind one man on guard, who said to Anren, 'In the past you killed a donkey, and the donkey has now filed a complaint against you; that is why we have come to arrest you. In the end, you must confront it face to face; what benefit is there in not going?' Anren replied from a distance, 'In the past, the thief killed the donkey himself and merely gave me the hide. It was not I who killed it; why am I being pursued? Please go back and tell the donkey on my behalf: "I originally did not kill you. Yet now I will cultivate merit on your behalf for your benefit; you ought to release me."' The man agreed, saying, 'If the donkey refuses, I shall come again tomorrow; if it consents, I shall not come again.' Having finished speaking, he departed. On the following day, he indeed did not come. Anren thereupon cultivated merit on the donkey's behalf, and his entire household upheld the precepts and ate a vegetarian diet (Lu Wenli related this, saying that Anren is still alive today).

3.14

According to the custom of the market neighborhoods of Chang'an, every year after New Year's Day, people would take turns preparing food and drink to invite one another, calling it 'passing the seats.' Zhao Shici, a brush-maker of the Eastern Market, was due to host it. A guest arrived early and went to the privy, where he saw on the mill-stand a young girl of about thirteen or fourteen, wearing a green skirt and a white blouse, with a hemp rope tied around her neck, bound to the post of the mill-stand. Weeping, she said to the guest, 'I am the host's daughter. Formerly, before I died, I stole one hundred coins from my parents, intending to buy rouge and powder, but I died before I could do so. That money is now inside the kitchen wall in the northwest corner. Although I never used it, having already stolen it, I was found guilty on this account, and now I must repay it with my life.' Having finished speaking, she transformed into a blue-black sheep with a white neck. Frightened, the guest informed the host. The host asked about her appearance, and it was indeed his young daughter, who had been dead for two years. He sent someone to the kitchen wall and retrieved the coins, which looked as though they had been kept there for a long time. Thereupon he sent the sheep to a Buddhist monastery, and his entire household ceased eating meat (related by Lu Changli).

3.15

Pan Guo of Jingzhao was not yet twenty years of age when, during the Wude era, he served as a minor clerk in the Directorate of Waterways. After going off duty, he returned home and went out to the fields to amuse himself with several young men of his village. Passing among the graves, they saw a stray sheep that had been lost by its owner, grazing on the grass alone. Guo and the village youths caught it and were going to take it home. On the way, the sheep began to bleat; fearing that its owner would hear, Guo pulled out the sheep's tongue, and it made no more sound. That night they cooked and ate it. A year later, Guo's tongue gradually shrank until it completely melted away. He submitted a petition to be relieved of his office. Zheng Yuqing, the county defender of Fuping, suspected that he was feigning, and opened his mouth to inspect it, finding that he had no tongue at all; looking at the original site, only a remnant the size of a small bean was left unconsumed. Marvelling at this, he questioned him, and Guo fully reported the truth of the matter. The county magistrate instructed him to cultivate merit on behalf of the sheep. Guo then received the five precepts and extensively cultivated merit. A year later, his tongue gradually regrew, and soon became fully restored as before. He went to the county office to report in person, and the county magistrate employed him as a village headman. In the eighteenth year of the Zhenguan era, Yuqing was an investigating censor, and he personally related this to Tang Lin.

3.16

During the Daye era of the Sui, there was a man of Luoyang surnamed Wang who upheld the five precepts. He would occasionally speak of things before they occurred, and the village respected and trusted him. One morning he suddenly said to people, 'Today someone will give me a donkey.' When noon arrived, someone indeed led a donkey to present to him, weeping as he explained: He had lost his father early, and his widowed mother had raised a son and a daughter; after the daughter married, the mother died, which was some ten years ago. On the Cold Food Festival, the younger sister came home for a visit; the family had owned a donkey for several years. By the custom of Luoyang, on the Cold Food Festival people would carry wine and food to make offerings at the graves. The man rode the donkey there. The grave was east of the Yi River; when he wished to cross the Yi River, the donkey refused to cross, so he whipped its head and face until it was injured and bleeding. Once he arrived at the grave site, he released the donkey and made the offerings, but soon lost the donkey, which had returned to its original place. On that day, the sister was alone at her brother's house, when she suddenly saw her mother come in, blood streaming down her head and face, her appearance haggard and withered. Weeping bitterly, she told her daughter, 'In life, without your brother's knowledge, I gave you five sheng of rice; for this transgression, I suffered retribution, receiving the body of a donkey, and have been repaying your brother for five years. Today we were to cross the Yi River; the water was deep and I feared it, but your brother beat me with a whip, smashing my head and face all over, and he even promised that upon returning home he would beat me even more severely. I have run here to tell you. I have nearly finished repaying the debt; how could he torment me so unreasonably?' Having finished speaking, she ran out, and upon searching for her, she was nowhere to be seen. The daughter remembered where the wounds were. Soon after, the brother returned, and the daughter first inspected the donkey's head and face for the wounds; embracing it, she wept bitterly. The brother marvelled and asked her about it, and the daughter told him what had happened. The brother also said that it had initially refused to cross, and that its disappearing and returning matched her account. Thereupon the brother and sister embraced the donkey and wailed with grief; tears streamed down the donkey's face as well, and it refused to eat water or grass. The brother and sister knelt and implored it, 'If you are our mother, please eat grass.' The donkey then ate grass for their sake, but soon stopped again. The brother and sister did not know what to do, so they prepared grain and beans and sent it to the place of the keeper of the five precepts, whereupon it ate and drank again. Later, when the donkey died, the sister collected its remains and buried it.

3.17

During the Sui dynasty there was a man named Kang Bao, a gentleman of the gentry from Jiangnan, who had scholarship and proper conduct in his youth. In the ninth year of the Daye era, Yang Xuanwu rebelled; Bao's elder brother accepted an official post from Xuanwu, and Bao was implicated because of his brother. Condemned to die, he went into hiding, concealing himself in the capital. By the tenth year, Bao went into the Palace Library to look for old acquaintances. At that time Emperor Yang was away, and all the gates of the Imperial City were shut, with only the Anshang Gate open, through which all traffic passed. Just as Bao entered the gate, he ran into an old acquaintance surnamed Zeng. Zeng was also a man of Jiangnan, and at the time was serving as an administrator under the regent. Seeing Bao, he spoke with him and asked where he was staying; Bao, knowing that they were well acquainted, told him the truth. After they parted and Bao went inside, Zeng dispatched men to pursue and arrest him. Bao had entered the Palace Library, and his pursuers arrested him and reported it to the authorities. At that time Wang Shao was the deputy director of the Palace Library; having previously been an acquaintance of Bao, he did not wish him to be condemned, so he came forward and said to the captors, 'I have known him for a long time.' Kang Bao understood his intention and promptly responded, 'I am in truth merely a southern laborer dodging corvée service.' Shao expelled him and ordered him to leave. The captors returned and reported to Zeng, who again lay in wait at the Anshang Gate, arresting and seizing him. Knowing that he could not escape, Bao said to Zeng, 'I have indeed failed the government, and death is my due lot; yet I have never wronged you. You and I are old acquaintances; if you could not help me, why must you do the reverse? If the dead possess awareness, I shall certainly take retribution on you.' Soon after, Bao was executed. Several days later, Zeng, whose residence was in the Taiping ward, was on his way to the regent's office; as he passed from the Shanhe ward inside the West Gate, he suddenly saw Bao riding a horse, his robes and cap very splendid, with two servant boys following behind. Bao said to Zeng, 'My life was also nearing its end, but I still had three years remaining; it was on your account that I was killed. I now serve as the registrar of Mount Tai, and have already petitioned the Heavenly Bureau to execute you in retribution.' Zeng kowtowed and begged forgiveness, asking to cultivate merit on his behalf; Bao consented, and suddenly vanished. Several days later, Zeng met Bao again at this spot, who said to him, 'I will kill you in the end; I grant you seven days to cultivate merit, after which I shall take your head and carry it away. If you do not believe me, when you die your face will be on your back.' Terrified, Zeng returned home and cultivated merit, dying when the appointed time arrived; his face had turned to his back, exactly as had been foretold (related by Kang's close acquaintances).

3.18

During the Wude era, a man of Linqiong surnamed Wei made an oath with a woman promising never to abandon her, but over the years she lost his affection and love. The woman harbored deep resentment, and Wei, fearing that trouble would reach him, strangled her to death. Several days later, Wei's body began to itch, and he died after breaking out in leprosy (related by Wei Xiaoxie, who said that this was his cousin).

3.19

Ma Jiayun of Wei Commandery was at home in the first month of the sixth year of the Wude reign period. Late in the day, he went out the main gate and suddenly saw two men, each holding a horse, standing beforehand under a tree outside the gate. Jiayun asked who they were. They answered, saying, 'We are envoys of the Duke of the Eastern Sea, come to welcome and fetch Scholar Ma.' Jiayun had always possessed scholarly learning and was renowned in the prefectures and villages; whenever there were circuit envoys or noble guests from the four quarters, they often requested to see him. When he heard this summons, he did not find it strange. He said to the envoys, 'I have no horse.' The envoys brought forward a horse, saying, 'We brought this to welcome you, Scholar Ma.' Jiayun immediately mounted the horse beneath the tree and rode away, but in reality he had fallen and lay on the ground under the tree. Soon he arrived at an official bureau. As he was about to enter the main gate, there were several dozen men and women outside the gate who looked like litigants. There was a woman among them who was an old acquaintance of Jiayun: Lady Cui, the wife of Zhang Gongjin from the same commandery. Holding a document in her hand, she said to Jiayun, 'Scholar Ma, do you still recognize me? Formerly, when you associated with Area Commander Zhang, we met frequently. The area commander was unprincipled and wrongfully murdered me. I lodged an appeal with the Heavenly Bureau, and now three years have passed. Because Heavenly Master Wang shielded Gongjin, I was constantly suppressed. Now I have finally obtained redress, and the authorities have already dispatched a summons for him; he will arrive before long. I was suspecting that I alone had suffered this wrongful harm; why have you also come, Scholar Ma?' Jiayun had known that Lady Cui had been murdered, but only upon seeing her did he realize she was dead. An envoy led him into the gate, but the gatekeeper said, 'The Duke is asleep and cannot be received yet. You should lead him to the quarters of Judicial Administrator Huo to sit.' Jiayun saw the judicial administrator, who was none other than Huo Zhang, formerly a vice director of the branch department of state affairs in Yizhou. Seeing Jiayun, he invited him to sit and said, 'The post of record keeper in this bureau is vacant. The Duke of the Eastern Sea heard of your talent and learning, and wishes to demean you with this office, that is all.' Jiayun said, 'My family is poor, and my wife and children cannot support themselves. I hope you will speak for me, so that I may be fortunate enough to be spared.' Zhang said, 'If so, when the time comes you may state on your own that you lack literary learning, and I shall provide clarification for you.' Soon someone came and said, 'The Duke has awoken from sleep.' He led Jiayun inside, where he saw a man sitting in the hall, short, stout, and dark-skinned. He called Jiayun forward and said to him, 'I have heard of your talent and learning, and wish to engage you as my record keeper. Can you do it?' Jiayun bowed in thanks and said, 'I am deeply fortunate, but I am an uncouth rustic from the wilderness; I have only taught the classics to youths and am not fit for the duties of a master of records.' The Duke said, 'Do you know Huo Zhang?' He answered, 'I know him.' Thereupon the Duke had Zhang summoned and asked him about Jiayun's talents. Zhang said, 'All my life I have known his classical learning, but I have never seen him compose literary prose.' The Duke said, 'Release Scholar Ma to return.' He immediately ordered Chen Ziliang to be summoned. Jiayun took his leave and went out. Zhang parted from him, saying, 'I trouble you to tell my Sangou: on my deathbed I told you to sell the horse I rode and build a black stūpa. Why did you sell the horse and spend the money on yourself? Quickly do as I instructed and construct the stūpa.' Sangou was the pet name of his eldest son. Jiayun then asked, 'Who is the "Heavenly Master" mentioned by Zhang Gongjin's wife earlier?' Zhang said, 'It is Wang Wujie, a fellow villager of Gongjin. Upon dying, he became a heavenly master and has constantly protected Gongjin; that is how he survived until now. Now it seems he will not escape.' Having finished speaking, they parted. An envoy was dispatched to escort Jiayun to a narrow, rugged path, and instructed him to return by this road. As soon as Jiayun entered the path, he revived, and only after a good while was he able to rise. It was toward midnight, and his wife and children were all sitting and weeping. Jiayun recounted everything in full. In the seventh month of that year, a man of Mianzhou named Chen Ziliang died suddenly and revived after a night. He himself said that he had seen the Duke of the Eastern Sea, who wished to employ him as a record keeper, but he demurred that he was illiterate and that there was another Chen Ziliang, a man of Wu, who was skilled at literary drafting. Thereupon the Duke ordered that one to be summoned and dismissed this one. The following year, Chen Ziliang of Wu suddenly died, and Zhang Gongjin also passed away. After the two died, Jiayun was once traveling on the road with several people when he suddenly saw runners from the official bureau. Jiayun's expression became anxious and terrified; he bowed deferentially and hurried forward. After a short while, he settled down. His companions asked him about it, and he replied, saying, 'The one I just saw was an envoy of the Duke of the Eastern Sea, who said he was going to Yizhou to arrest someone. He further remarked: "Ziliang complained intensely against you. Judicial Administrator Huo was severely interrogated on your account. You almost did not escape; it was only through the merit of your ransoming living beings that you were spared."' Earlier, when Jiayun was in Shu, the local people were about to drain a pond to catch fish. At that time, Jiayun was lecturing on the texts for people and had received several dozen bolts of silk. He therefore bought the pond fish and released them; 'ransoming living beings' referred to this. During the Zhenguan era, when the imperial retinue was at the Jiucheng Palace, the Emperor heard of this and sent Cen Wenben, Vice Director of the Secretariat, to investigate the matter. Wenben recorded it in full and presented it in a memorial. Jiayun later served as an erudite of the National University and died in office.

3.20

At the beginning of the Wude era, Kong Ke, an adjutant for records in the Area Command of Suizhou, suddenly fell ill and died, reviving after one day. He personally recounted that he was arrested and taken to an official's office. The official asked Ke, 'Why did you kill two water buffaloes?' Ke said, 'I did not kill them.' The official said, 'Your younger brother testified that you killed them; why do you not confess?' He then summoned the younger brother, who had already died several years earlier. When he arrived, he was under heavy wooden cangue and fetters. The official asked, 'Is what you said about your elder brother killing the buffaloes true or false?' The brother said, 'My elder brother was previously dispatched on an imperial commission to pacify and conciliate the Liao bandits. He ordered me to kill the buffaloes to feast them. It was truly done on my brother's orders, not of my own accord.' Ke then said, 'It is true that I had my brother kill the buffaloes to feast the Liao. But it was a state affair; what crime has Ke committed?' The official said, 'You killed the buffaloes to feast the Liao because you wanted to take the pacification as your own achievement and seek official rewards for your personal benefit. How can you call it a state affair?' He then said to Ke's brother, 'Because you were needed to testify against your brother, we detained you for a long time. Now that your brother has admitted to ordering the slaughter, you are innocent and are released to take rebirth as you please.' When he finished speaking, the brother suddenly vanished, and they could not even exchange words of farewell. The official further asked Ke, 'Why did you also kill two ducks belonging to someone else?' Ke said, 'During my former post as county magistrate, I killed the ducks merely to provide for official guests. How is that Ke's crime?' The official said, 'Official guests have their own rations that do not include ducks. You killed them to provide for them in order to seek a fine reputation. How is that not a crime?' The official added, 'You also destroyed six chicken eggs.' Ke said, 'All my life I have not eaten chicken eggs. I only recall that when I was nine years old, on the Cold Food Festival, my mother gave me six eggs, and I boiled and ate them myself.' The official said, 'Indeed. Do you wish to shift the blame to your mother?' Ke said, 'I would not dare; I am only stating the cause. It was indeed Ke who destroyed them.' The official said, 'Since you took their lives, you must suffer for it yourself.' When he finished speaking, several dozen men in dark clothes suddenly seized Ke and were about to lead him out. Ke cried out loudly, 'This official bureau is also greatly unjust and corrupt!' Hearing this, the official called him back and asked, 'How is it unjust?' Ke said, 'Since my birth, every sin I committed has been recorded without omission. Yet regarding the merits I cultivated in my lifetime, there is no record whatsoever. How is that not corrupt?' The official asked the clerk in charge, 'What merits does Ke have? Why were they not recorded?' The clerk replied, 'Merits are also fully recorded. But we weigh the amount of sins against merits: if merits are many and sins few, we first have them receive reward; if sins are many and merits few, we first have them undergo retribution. Ke's merits are few and his sins many, so we temporarily set aside his merits without discussing them.' The official said angrily, 'Even if he is to undergo retribution first, why did you not proclaim his merits to show him?' He ordered the clerk to be given one hundred lashes. In an instant, the whipping was finished, blood splattering the ground. Then the clerk chanted the merits Ke had cultivated throughout his life, not omitting a single one. The official said to Ke, 'You should receive punishment first, but I will release you to return home for seven days; you may diligently cultivate posthumous merits.' He then sent someone to escort him out, and he revived. Ke gathered a large assembly of monks and nuns to practice the Way and repent, striving with utmost diligence. He recounted this affair himself. When the seven days arrived, he bade farewell to his family and passed away shortly after. My elder brother was a subordinate official in the Sui Commandery, and so I know this in detail.

3.21

Dou Gui, the Area Commander of Luozhou and Duke of Cuan, was cruel by nature and fond of killing. Early on, when he served as vice director of the branch department of state affairs in Yizhou, he killed many officers and soldiers, and also murdered Wei Yunqi, the minister of the branch department. In the winter of the second year of the Zhenguan era, while in Luozhou, he fell gravely ill. He suddenly said, 'Someone has brought me melons as a gift.' His attendants reported, 'There are no melons in winter.' The Duke said, 'A plate of fine melons—how can you say there are none?' Soon, looking in terror, he said, 'They are not melons; they are all human heads demanding the debt of life from me!' He further said, 'Support me to get up; I see Minister Wei.' Having spoken, he died.

3.22

Song Xingzhi, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, was a native of Caoling. By nature he did not believe in the Buddha and spoke slightingly and irreverently of him. In the fifth month of the second year of the Yonghui era, he died of illness. On the ninth day of the sixth month, Wang Shu, a clerk of the Department of Punishments, died suddenly of illness and revived after two days. He himself recounted: When he first died, he saw four men come to his place, saying, 'We have come to summon you.' Shu followed them, entering a large gate, where he saw that in the western bay of a hall sat an official, stout and dark in appearance. In the eastern bay of the hall sat a monk, facing north directly opposite the official. Each had a couch, mattress, and table, and about two hundred attendant boys, some wearing caps and some not, all of handsome appearance. Below the steps were government clerks and dossiers. There was an old man in a cangue, bound and standing below the steps facing west. When Shu arrived in the courtyard, he too was bound. A clerk holding paper and brush interrogated Shu, reading the charge: 'In the eighteenth year of the Zhenguan era, when you served as an auxiliary clerk in Chang'an, why did you alter the registers?' Shu said, 'It was not Shu's fault.' The high official in the hall read his testimony, then looked down and said to the old prisoner below the eastern steps, 'Why did you falsely accuse him?' The old prisoner said, 'Xuda's age indeed had not yet arrived; it was because Shu altered the register to advance Xuda's age. I would not dare speak falsely.' Shu said, 'I was transferred to another office in the seventeenth year; my letters of appointment are at home. I request that they be retrieved and verified.' The high official thereupon summoned three of the men who had brought Shu to untie his bonds and retrieve the letters of appointment. When the letters of appointment arrived, the high official read them himself and said to the old prisoner, 'His transfer is very clear; you have no case.' He then ordered the prisoner out through the north gate. Shu saw from afar that outside the north gate it was murky and dark, with many walled enclosures, all topped with crenellated parapets; it seemed to be an evil place. The high official then wrote upon his desk and said to Shu, 'You are innocent. You are released.' Shu bowed and took his leave. A clerk led Shu to the foot of the eastern steps to bow before the monk. The monk stamped Shu's arm with a seal and said, 'Go well.' The clerk led Shu out through the east gate. Walking south, they passed through three gates; at every gate, the seal on his arm was examined before he was permitted to pass through. When they came to the fourth gate, it was extremely large, with a two-storied pavilion painted vermilion and white, and three doors opening together, shaped like an imperial city gate, heavily guarded. After his seal was verified, he was permitted out of the gate. Walking several dozen paces southeast, he heard someone call Shu again. Shu looked back and saw Vice Minister Song Xingzhi, his face a dismal dark color, his head bare, his sash undone, wearing an old scarlet robe, with short hanging hair like a foreigner's, standing below the steps of an office hall, guarded by clerks and soldiers. To the west of the steps, near the wall, was a large wooden placard more than ten feet high and about two feet wide, with large writing on the placard: 'This is a royal official awaiting investigation and trial.' The characters were large, more than a foot square, and very distinct. In the office hall were couches, seats, and tables like those in a government office, but with no people. When Xingzhi saw Shu, he said with sorrow and joy, 'Why have you come here?' Shu said, 'The authorities summoned me for investigation and questioned me about altering the registers; finding no fault, they graciously released me to return.' Xingzhi spread both hands and said to Shu, 'I am being questioned about my register of merit, but I have no register of merit in my hands. Sitting here, I am utterly exhausted, and added to this are hunger and thirst; the suffering is unspeakable. Sir, please exert yourself to go to my house and tell them to perform meritorious deeds.' Thus with earnest devotion he repeatedly urged him. Shu then took his leave and departed. Having walked several dozen paces, he was called back again. Before they could speak, an official came and sat in the hall, and angrily said to Shu, 'I am just now investigating various matters. Who are you to come recklessly to the prisoner's quarters?' He then had a soldier strike his ear. The soldier struck his ear and pushed him away. Shu ran and came to another gate. The gatekeeper clerk said, 'Your ear was struck; it must be deaf. I will remove the thing inside it for you.' He then picked at his ear with his hand, and his ear rang with sound. His release was then verified and he was let out. Outside the gate it was black as pitch; Shu did not know where to go. Groping with his hand to the west and south, there were walls everywhere; only to the east was there no obstruction, but it was dark and impassable. Shu stood still for a short while, and saw the clerk who had previously interrogated him come out from the gate and say to Shu, 'That you could still wait for me, sir, is very good. Could you beg a thousand coins for me?' Shu did not answer, thinking to himself, 'I am innocent and the officials released me to return; why should I bribe a clerk?' The clerk at once said to him, 'You must not be unprincipled, sir. If I had not brought you before the officials early just now and made you suffer two days in bonds, would you not have been exhausted?' Shu agreed in his heart, and feeling ashamed, he apologized and said, 'I shall respectfully obey your command.' The clerk said, 'I have no use for your copper coins; I only want white paper coins. I expect them to come on the fifteenth day.' Shu gave his promise, and then asked the way back. The clerk said, 'Just go two hundred paces east, and you will see an old ruined wall with a hole in it. When you see light, you may push it down, and you will arrive at your home.' Shu did as he said. He walked to the wall and pushed it; after a long time it collapsed. Shu went out through the collapsed section, and at once arrived at his residence, at the south gate of the Longzheng Ward. Thereupon he returned home. His family members were weeping; he entered the house and revived. On the fifteenth day, Shu forgot to give the money. The next day, he fell critically ill again, and saw the clerk come and say angrily, 'You are truly untrustworthy, sir! You promised to give me money, yet you did not give it. Now I must take you away again.' He then drove him along out of Hanguang Gate and ordered him to enter a great pit. Shu bowed and apologized more than a hundred times, begging to make the money; only then was he released to return, and he revived again. Shu told his family to buy a hundred sheets of paper to make money and send it. The next day Shu was critically ill again, and saw the clerk return and say, 'Fortunately you were able to give me money, sir, but it was bad and of poor quality.' Shu apologized again and begged to make more, which was granted. When the twenty-first day arrived, Shu ordered that sixty coins be spent to buy a hundred sheets of white paper to make paper money, and together with wine and food, he burned them himself by the water of the western canal of Longzheng Ward. Thereafter his body felt light and healthy, and he was completely cured. When I, [Tang] Lin, heard of this matter, I was with Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice Liu Yanke and Court of Judicial Review Vice Minister Xin Mao, about to interrogate prisoners in the Court of Judicial Review. Liu summoned Shu to come, and questioned him face-to-face together with [Xin] Mao, and this is what he said.

3.23

During the Zhenguan era, Wei Qingzhi of Jingzhao, Senior Administrator of the Prince of Wei's household, had a maiden daughter who died prematurely, and the couple grieved over her deeply. Two years later, when Qingzhi was about to gather relatives and guests and slaughtered meat to prepare a feast, his household bought a sheep but had not yet slaughtered it. Qingzhi's wife dreamed at night that she saw her deceased daughter, wearing a green skirt and a white blouse, with a pair of jade hairpins in her hair—the very garments she had worn in life. She came to see her mother and said weeping, 'I once made use of property in secret without telling my parents. In consequence of this karmic retribution, I have now received the body of a sheep to repay my parents with my life. Tomorrow I will be slaughtered. The green sheep with a white head is me. I specifically pray for your compassionate grace, that you may grant me my life.' The mother awoke in alarm. At dawn she went to inspect it: the sheep's neck and shoulders were completely white, and on its head were two white spots opposite each other, shaped like jade hairpins. The mother wept facing it, and told her household not to slaughter it, but to wait until Qingzhi arrived and then release it. Soon Qingzhi arrived and hurried the meal. The cook reported, 'The lady does not permit slaughtering the green sheep.' Qingzhi was angered and at once ordered it slaughtered. The butcher hung the sheep up to kill it, and several guests had already arrived; they saw a young woman of graceful countenance appeal to the guests, saying, 'I am Senior Administrator Wei's daughter. I beg you to save my life!' The guests were shocked and stopped the butcher. The butcher, fearing Qingzhi's anger and seeing only a sheep bleating, slaughtered it anyway. Soon the guests were seated and the food arrived, but none of the guests would eat. Qingzhi was surprised and questioned them, and the guests told him everything. Qingzhi was overwhelmed with grief and fell ill, and eventually could not rise again. Most scholars in the capital know of this. Minister Cui Dunli recounted it in full to me, [Tang] Lin, and Minister Yan Lide also spoke of it in this manner.

3.24

Zhang Fayi was a native of Zheng County in Huazhou. In his youth he was poor and rustic, and did not cultivate etiquette or restraint. In the tenth year of the Zhenguan era, he went into Mount Hua to gather firewood, and encountered a monk sitting within a rocky cavern. Fayi went up and spoke with him. As it happened, the sky grew dark, and having sat for a long time he could not return, so he stayed the night there. The monk served him ground pine and cypress to eat, and said to Fayi, 'I, a poor monk, have lived here long and do not wish outsiders to know. When you go out, patron, be careful not to speak of our meeting.' He then explained to him that worldly people have many sins and entanglements, and upon death all enter the evil destinies; but through sincere repentance, they can be eliminated. He then had him bathe cleanly, put on monk's robes, and performed repentance for him. At dawn they parted. In the nineteenth year, Fayi died of illness and was buried in the wilds. Being poor and without an inner or outer coffin, he was covered only with firewood and not buried deep. After seven days he revived, pushed it away himself, and returned home. His family was shocked and terrified, but upon examining and questioning him they knew he was alive, and rejoiced. Fayi himself recounted: When he first died, two men came to take him, and traveled south through the sky to a government office. Entering the great gate, they moved through alleys; on both sides were government bureaus, with gates facing one another, too numerous to count. Fayi arrived at one bureau and saw an official, who rebuked the messengers from afar, saying, 'This is Zhang Fayi of Huazhou. His deadline was to arrive in three days; why was he delayed for seven days?' The messenger said, 'Fayi's household dogs were fierce, and moreover there was an incantation master whose spirits struck us severely.' He then bared his back and showed it; the back was all bruised and swollen. The official said, 'Being late is heavily blameworthy; give them twenty lashes.' As soon as he spoke, the lashing was finished, blood spilling on the ground. The official said, 'Take Fayi over to the recording secretary.' The recording secretary's office issued a document ordering him sent to the judge. The judge summoned the chief clerk to fetch Fayi's dossier. The dossier registers were very numerous, filling a couch. The chief clerk unrolled and examined them in front of Fayi. Most of the registers had previously been checked off with red marks; for those that had not been checked off, the clerk recorded them, saying, 'In the eleventh year of the Zhenguan era, Fayi's father ordered him to reap grain; Fayi looked back with glaring eyes and secretly cursed him. This is unfilial; he should receive eighty lashes.' Just as he had recorded this one entry, they saw the monk from the rocky cavern arrive. The judge rose to greet him and asked the monk what business he had. The monk said, 'Zhang Fayi is this poor monk's disciple. His sins have all been eliminated through repentance, and have already been checked off in the records of the Celestial Bureau. Now he has been wrongly summoned here and ought not to die.' The chief clerk said, 'Those that have undergone repentance have indeed been checked off in this dossier. But as for glaring and cursing his father, although he received repentance, the matter has not yet been checked off.' The monk said, 'If that is not so, you should retrieve the dossier and investigate it; there should be meritorious blessings.' The judge ordered the chief clerk to take Fayi to consult the King. The palace was in the east, the halls magnificent, with several thousand attendants and guards. The monk also followed to the King's place. The King rose to greet the monk and said, 'Master, has your turn on duty arrived?' He replied, 'It is not yet my turn on duty. I have a disciple, Zhang Fayi, who was recorded and brought here. This man's past karma has all been checked off by this poor monk; he ought not to die.' The chief clerk also consulted the King regarding the glaring matter. The King said, 'The glaring occurred after the repentance; it ought not to be remitted. However, since the master has come to make this request, he may be specially released for seven days.' Fayi said to the monk, 'Seven days is not much time; if I come again, I fear I will not see you, Master. I request to stay and follow you immediately.' The monk said, 'Seven days means seven years. You should leave quickly.' Fayi firmly begged to follow the monk. Thereupon the monk requested the King's brush and wrote a character on Fayi's palm, and also requested the King's seal to stamp it, saying, 'You should leave quickly. Return home and cultivate merits. If later you do not see me, you should present this seal to the King, and the King will naturally release you.' Fayi then took his leave. The monk had someone escort him to his home. Inside the house it was pitch black, and Fayi did not dare enter. The messenger pushed him, and he revived. Feeling that he was in the earth, which was very light and loose, he pushed with his hands and was able to get out. He then entered the mountains and went to the mountain monk to cultivate the Way. The markings where he was stamped on his palm were unrecognizable, but they all turned into sores that could never heal, and they still remain to this day. Wang Bo of Longxi lived near Fayi and knew this thoroughly, and recounted it thus to me, [Tang] Lin.

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冥報記 — Classical Chinese