集神州三寶感通錄 1.27

1.27

Thirteen: The stūpa of Fugan Temple in the suburbs of Yizhou is west of the city in the suburbs of the prefecture. It was originally named Big Rock. Tradition says that ghosts and spirits, obeying King Aśoka's command, took a large rock from the western mountains to serve as the stūpa's foundation, with the śarīra inside it; hence it was called Big Rock. When Prince Xiu of Shu under the Sui dynasty governed the Jingluo region, he heard about this and ordered people to dig and chisel down. It was entirely a single rock; tracing its fissures down to the water source, they could not find its bottom. A sudden storm of wind and rain arose, and someone chiseled off a fragment from the edge of the stone to bring it out; it turned out to be dark jade. When they asked merchants who recognized precious gems, they said it was genuine dark jade, rare in the world. In the early Sui dynasty, Vinaya Master Shen saw this ancient site and erected a nine-tiered wooden pagoda upon it; it still stands in Yizhou today. In years of drought or flood, officials praying for rain always do so at this stūpa; their prayers meet with responses and especially numinous signs, which is why it is also named Fugan (Blessing and Resonance). I once went there; it is truly as related. Recently, someone stole the bells and was about to climb down three tiers when a spirit raised the bracket set and shoved the thief's thigh inside. Trapped, the man screamed and shouted; the temple monks pried the bracket open before he could be freed.