集神州三寶感通錄 1.31

1.31

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.