集神州三寶感通錄 2.14

2.14

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.