辯正論 3.20

3.20

Emperor Xiaoxuan, Gaozong of Chen held the jade tablet to lead the central banners, and mounted the golden wheel to point toward the supreme realm. Occupying the position of the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Shao, he managed the pivotal affairs of state. The years yielded abundant harvests, and the people had great stores; there was no trouble within the realm, and all under Heaven was peaceful. In the Jinzhong ward of Yangzhou, he built Taihuang Monastery. However, out of a deeply dutiful devotion to honor his ancestors, he felt profound yearning for Zhangling; thus, on behalf of the Filial Grand Dowager Concubine of King Zhaolie of Shixing, he built a seven-tiered wooden pagoda at Taihuang Monastery. Its golden wheels vied with the sun in brilliance, and its pearl discs competed with the conjoined bi jades in splendor. Furthermore, since Emperor Guang of Han abdicated the throne and the branch house inherited the family line, he established a field of merit and built Chonghuang Monastery. In the second year of Taijian [570 CE], once more on behalf of the Filial Grand Dowager Concubine of King Zhaolie of Shixing, reaching down to the common folk, he reverently erected a spiritual pagoda fifteen zhang in height. Beneath it, he enshrined a nail relic of the Buddha, two inches long and one inch wide, polished and lustrous in a precious niche and hidden away in jewel caskets. At times it emitted five-colored light and flames rising one fathom; its divine transformations were inexhaustible, and beholders were transformed anew. He made 20,000 gold and bronze statues, restored 1,300,000 old statues, copied twelve sets of the complete Buddhist canon, repaired fifty old monasteries, and ordained 10,000 monks and nuns.