集神州三寶感通錄 3.50

3.50

幽州沙門釋智苑者。有學識。思造石經緘于西南山巖。以備法滅之護也。隋大業中。初構石室。四面鐫之。又取方石寫諸藏經。每一室滿以石錮之融鐵其縫。遠近公私無不送施。工匠既湊欲造佛堂食院。而山東無木可得。忽一夜暴雨雷震山崩。旦晴乃見大松柏數千株漂積道次。尋蹤遠自西山送來。此為神助即依而構造。頃之畢成。所造石經已滿七室。貞觀十三年苑卒。弟子等猶繼其業云云。

The śramaṇa Zhiyuan of You Prefecture was learned and knowledgeable; he conceived the idea of carving stone sūtras to store within the crags of the southwestern mountains, so as to prepare protection against the extinction of the Dharma. During the Daye era of the Sui, he first constructed a stone chamber and engraved its four walls; he also took square stones to copy the various scriptures of the canon. Whenever a chamber was full, he sealed it with stone and melted iron into the seams. Far and near, both officials and commoners brought donations. Once the craftsmen were gathered, he wished to build a Buddha hall and a dining courtyard, but no timber could be obtained east of the mountains. Suddenly, one night, there came torrential rain, thunder, and a mountain landslide. When it cleared at dawn, they saw thousands of large pines and cypresses drifting and piling up beside the road; tracing their source, they had been sent from far away in the Western Mountains. Taking this as divine assistance, they immediately made use of them for construction, and in a short while it was completed. The stone scriptures carved already filled seven chambers. In the thirteenth year of Zhenguan, Yuan passed away, and his disciples have continued his enterprise, and so forth.