南嶽總勝集 3.37

3.37

藍方。字元道。亳州父老言。自兒童時。見先生狀貌。迄今如一先生。髮委地黑光可愛。肌若截膏。眉目疎秀。唇若積朱。齒如排玉。舉動溫厚。接物以和。大小皆得。其歡心時人呼為笑先生也。或遊旗亭遇廢民。日於道路探懷出錢盈掬遺之。頗好施藥軫救疾苦。仁廟聞先生之名。特召先生。上殿賜坐及茶。館先生於芳林園告去。帝賜號南岳養素先生。先生乃往南岳招仙觀。是時學士賈昌朝贈先生詩云。聖澤濃沾隱逸身。道裝宜用葛為巾。祝融峯下醉明月。湘水源頭釣錦鱗。曾見海桃三結子。不知仙豆幾回春。他年我若功成去。願作雲橋跪禮人。先生獨宿閣上。一夕與人言語。侍者窺牖望之。但見紅光滿室。明日客詢之。先生曰。吾師劉道君行雨過此。留話少刻。先生一日沐浴召侍者謂之曰。吾今一百七十二歲安可復願。先生位號。但不願拒聖君之意。今當去矣。乃奄然。先生多遊西川。亦來湖湘。今人時復見之。

Lan Fang's style name was Yuandao. The elders of Bozhou said that from their childhood, they saw the master's appearance, and up to the present it remained just the same. The master's hair reached down to the ground, lustrous black and lovely; his skin was like cut lard; his brows and eyes were refined and handsome; his lips were as if smeared with vermilion; and his teeth were like aligned jade. His demeanor was gentle and generous, and he dealt with things harmoniously; great and small alike were delighted by him. People of the time called him Master Smiling. Sometimes he wandered into wine shops, and when he met destitute people, he would daily reach into his robes by the roadside and take out handfuls of cash to give them. He was quite fond of dispensing medicine to relieve distress and suffering. Emperor Renzong heard of the master's name and specially summoned him; he was granted an audience in the palace and bestowed a seat and tea. The master was lodged in the Fanglin Garden, where he announced his departure. The Emperor bestowed upon him the title 'Master Yangsu of Nanyue'. The master then went to the Zhaoxian Belvedere on Nanyue. At that time, the Hanlin Academician Jia Changchao presented a poem to the master, which read: / 'Imperial grace richly bathes the hermit's frame; / For Daoist attire, a cap of kudzu cloth is meet. / Beneath Zhurong Peak, drunken under the bright moon; / At the source of the Xiang River, angling for brocade-scaled fish. / You have seen the ocean peach bear fruit three times; / Who knows how many springs the immortal beans have passed? / If in another year my merit is fulfilled and I depart, / I wish to be a person kneeling in reverent homage on the cloud bridge.' / The master lodged alone on the pavilion. One night, he was heard conversing with someone. The attendant peeked through the window and saw only red light filling the chamber. The next day, a guest inquired about it. The master said, 'My teacher, Lord of the Dao Liu, passed by here while generating rain, and stayed to talk for a brief moment.' One day, having bathed, the master summoned his attendant and told him, 'I am now one hundred and seventy-two years old; how could I again desire the title and status of a master? It was only that I did not wish to refuse the intention of the sage sovereign. Now I must depart.' He then passed away quietly. The master often traveled through Western Sichuan and also came to Hunan; people of today still occasionally see him.