集神州三寶感通錄 1.31

1.31

十五鄭州起化寺塔者。在州西南百餘里密縣界。在縣東南十五里東大川西嵩嶽南歸山北又川。寺院東西五六十步。南北亦爾。塔在寺東南角。其北連寺。方十五步許。其寺塔基在淖泥之上。西面有五六泉。南面亦有。皆孔方三尺騰涌沸出。流溢成川灌溉遠近。泉上皆下安柏柱鋪在泥水上。以炭沙石灰次而重填。最上以大方石可如八尺床。編次鋪之。四面細腰長一尺五寸深五寸。生鐵固之。近有人試發一石。下有石灰乃至柏團。便抽出一團長三丈徑四尺見在。自非輪王表塔神功所為。何能辦此基搆。終古不見其儔也。今於上架塔三重。塔南大泉涌沸。鼓怒絕無水聲。豈非神化所致也。有幽州僧道嚴者。姓李氏。形極奇偉。本入隋煬帝四道場。後從俗服今年一百五歲獨住深山。每年七日來此塔上。盡力供養嚴。怪其泉流涌注無極。乃遣善水崑崙入泉討之。但見石柱羅列。不測其際。中有寶塔。可高三尺。獨立空中。四面水圍。凝然而住。竟不至塔所。考其原始莫測其由。時俗所傳。育王所立。隋祖已來寺塔見在。寺南歸山寺西嵩山。寺在川中地極污下。每年二山大水常東流注。繞寺北轉方始東逝。水漲寺高水減寺下。自古至今終不遭溺。泉初出孔文如蓮華。下打碾磑浪極恬靜。水中沙石綠色鮮明。國家見寺衝要欲造離宮。尋行有塔。將欲南徙。其基牢固遂休。近有僧於南夜坐。望見此塔光明殊異矣。

Fifteenth: The Qihua Temple stūpa in Zhengzhou is located in the territory of Mi County, more than one hundred li southwest of the prefecture; it is fifteen li southeast of the county, with a great river to the east, Mount Song to the west, Mount Gui to the south, and another river to the north. The temple precinct is fifty to sixty paces from east to west, and the same from north to south. The stūpa stands in the southeastern corner of the temple, adjoining the temple on its north, about fifteen paces square. The foundation of this temple stūpa rests upon watery mud. On the west side there are five or six springs, and there are also some on the south side; all have openings three feet square, gushing and bubbling forth, overflowing into rivers that irrigate far and near. Above the springs, cypress pillars were laid below onto the muddy water, and charcoal, sand, and lime were packed in successively and repeatedly. On the very top, large square stones, about the size of an eight-foot couch, were laid out in woven sequence, with the four sides having waists one foot five inches long and five inches deep, secured with cast iron. Recently, someone tried to uncover one stone: beneath it was lime down to cypress logs; they then pulled out one log, thirty feet long and four feet in diameter, which is still there. Were it not for the divine work of a cakravartin marking a stūpa, how could such a foundational structure have been accomplished? Throughout all antiquity, its equal has never been seen. Now a three-tiered stūpa has been erected above it. The great spring south of the stūpa boils and surges, churning furiously without any sound of water; is this not brought about by divine transformation? There was a monk of Youzhou named Daoyan, surnamed Li, whose stature was extraordinarily majestic. He originally entered the four bodhimaṇḍas of Emperor Yang of the Sui, and later wore secular clothing; now one hundred and five years old, he lives alone in the deep mountains. Every year he comes to this stūpa for seven days to make offerings with all his might. Daoyan marveled that the spring flowed and surged without limit, so he sent a Kunlun skilled in water to enter the spring and explore it. He saw only stone pillars ranged in rows, their limits unfathomable. In the middle was a jewel stūpa, about three feet high, standing independently in midair, surrounded by water on all four sides, motionless and still; in the end he did not reach the site of the stūpa. When investigating its origins, no one can fathom its cause; worldly tradition relates that it was erected by King Aśoka. Since the Sui founder, the temple and stūpa have been present. South of the temple is Mount Gui, and west of the temple is Mount Song; the temple lies in a river basin where the ground is extremely low-lying. Every year, the great waters of the two mountains always flow and pour eastward, winding north of the temple before heading east. When the waters rise, the temple rises; when the waters recede, the temple descends; from ancient times to the present, it has never suffered flooding. When the springs first emerge from the openings, their patterns resemble lotuses; below, they turn millstones, their waves extremely tranquil, and the sand and stones in the water are a bright and vivid green. When the imperial court saw that the temple was at a strategic point, it wished to build a detached palace; after inspecting it and finding the stūpa, it intended to move it south, but since its foundation was solid, the plan was abandoned. Recently, a monk sitting in meditation to the south at night looked toward this stūpa and saw its light was exceptionally marvelous.