集神州三寶感通錄 3.13

3.13

雍州鄠縣南繫頭山寺者。其山本舟人繫船其側。故以名焉。昔太一未分。山連太行王屋。白鹿河水停於此川。號為少海。及巨靈大人秦洪海者。患水浩蕩以左掌托太華。右足蹋中條。太一為之裂。河通地出山遂高顯。仍本號焉。張衡西京賦云。高掌遠蹠以流河曲者是也。古老傳云。繫頭南有九空仙寺。昔有人入山採樵。逼暮不知歸道。依林而宿。夜聞鍾聲在近。即尋之忽見一寺。僧眾百餘。但有行坐而不敘問。其人怪之。至明失寺。此來在近。無往尋者。余曾至山。但有層峰秀林不可登踐。又云。山有九窟仙人所居也。有藍田大谷伏羲城側歸義寺僧弘藏者有膽勇。聞而往尋。積日累夜巡遶山隒。止獲五窟甚圓淨如人所造。無缺漏似有居者。又光明寺了禪師。亦往尋覓。依窟一夏。今所謂照陽窟也。足為華望之大觀也。而仙寺終不見焉。

Regarding the Xitoushan Temple south of Hu County in Yongzhou: this mountain was originally where boatmen moored their boats alongside it, hence the name. In ancient times, before Mount Taiyi was cleft, the mountain connected Mount Taihang and Mount Wangwu, and the waters of the Bailu River collected in this valley, being called the Lesser Sea. When the Giant Spirit Great Man, Qin Honghai, was troubled by the vast, surging waters, he propped up Mount Taihua with his left palm and trod upon Mount Zhongtiao with his right foot. Because of this, Taiyi split apart; the river flowed through, land emerged, and the mountain then rose lofty and prominent, retaining its original designation. It is as Zhang Heng says in the *Rhapsody on the Western Capital*: ‘With high palm and distant tread, he let flow the river’s bends.’ The elders hand down that south of Xitou there is the Nine Caves Immortal Temple (Jiukong Xian Temple). Formerly, someone entered the mountains to gather firewood. As dusk encroached he did not know the way home, so he lodged near the forest. At night, hearing the sound of a bell nearby, he searched for it and suddenly saw a temple with over a hundred monks. They merely walked and sat without inquiring of him. The man wondered at this. At dawn, the temple had vanished. Since then, it has been nearby, but none have gone and found it. I once went to the mountain, but there were only layered peaks and fair forests, impossible to climb or traverse. It is also said that the mountain has nine caverns where immortals dwell. There was a monk of Guiyi Temple, Hongzang, beside Fuxi City in the Great Valley of Lantian, who was bold and courageous. Hearing of this, he went to search for them. Passing days and accumulating nights he circled the mountain ridges, only finding five caverns that were extremely round and clean, as if fashioned by humans, without flaw or crack, seeming as though someone lived there. Furthermore, Dhyāna Master Liao of Guangming Temple also went searching for them and lodged in a cavern for one summer; this is what is now called the Zhaoyang Cavern. It is quite enough to be a great sight in Huazhou and Wangchuan. Yet the Immortal Temple was never seen after all.