集神州三寶感通錄 2.14

2.14

十東晉太元二年。沙門慧護。於吳郡紹靈寺建釋迦文一丈六尺金像。於寺南傍高鑿穴以啟鎔鑄。既成將移。夜中穴內清明有花六出。白色鮮發四面翻灑。未及於地。自斂而上歸。及曉白雲若煙出所鑄穴。雲中白龍見長數十丈。光彩炳煥徐引繞穴。每至像前瞻仰遲佪。似歸敬者。斯時風霽景清細雨而加香氣。像既入座龍乃升天。元嘉初徵。士譙國戴顒嫌制古朴治像。首面威相若真。自眉以上短舊六寸。足蹠之下削除一寸。云云。

Tenth, in the second year of the Taiyuan reign era of the Eastern Jin, the monk Huihu founded a sixteen-foot golden image of Śākyamuni at Shaoling Temple in Wu Commandery. To the south of the temple, he dug a pit on high ground to begin smelting and casting. When it was finished and about to be moved, in the night the pit was luminous and clear, and there were six-petaled flowers, pure white and freshly radiant, fluttering and scattering in all directions. Before reaching the ground, they naturally gathered and returned upward. At dawn, white clouds like smoke came out from the pit where it had been cast. In the clouds, a white dragon appeared, several tens of rods in length; its radiance was bright and dazzling as it slowly coiled and circled the pit. Each time it came before the image, it gazed up and lingered, seeming to pay homage. At that time, the wind ceased and the air was clear, with fine rain carrying an added fragrance. Only when the image had been installed on its seat did the dragon ascend to heaven. In the early Yuanjia reign era, the recluse Dai Yong of Qiao Commandery felt its design was plain and archaic, so he reworked the image; its head, face, and majestic features appeared lifelike. Above the eyebrows, he shortened the original by six inches, and below the soles of the feet, he pared away one inch, and so forth.