鐔津文集 12.12

12.12

太常崔禮部。發使自通走杭遺書某曰。崇福閣成。慕仲靈志之。某初不敢為徐思崔公名大夫也。嘗為我以輔教編布之京闕。於我有高義。今益以他勝事囑我。是豈宜違之耶。遂引其事而書之。崇福在漳南為大精舍。徒眾常五百人。聚居申申然。尊大比丘顯微為長老。微師統此方五年。其屋廬大小治之以完。初其居之東有隙地。微師意其形勝可置之佛閣。乃引其州人王文渥謀。始居無何。客有來謂曰。今山中水大漲。盡浮其久積之材。出乎江涘。是足成爾也。微師以其感會。遂大出其寺錢百餘萬。王文渥益施二十五萬助之。其州之僧者俗者不啻三十人。因各相助勸其閭里之樂善者出財。合刻賢劫千佛與五百應真之像。并彩繪五百應真者。始至和甲午仲冬役土木工遒遒日不稍輟。明年方秋而其閣成。巋然九間陵空跨虛。飛橋危亭騫湧旁出。其所造之像繪事既竟。即迎而內之。釋迦彌勒藥師則位乎其中。千如來則列于前後左右也。閣之下亦以釋迦文殊普賢眾聖之像而位乎其中。五百應真與十六大聲聞則列其四向。嘉祐初而龍巖人曰楊飾者。益於其閣之南為大阿羅漢。浴室廊廡環之。備法事也。然其規模壯麗。閩人偉之。謂是閩者乃吾閩樓觀之冠也。若賢劫千如來者。蓋在此劫與吾釋迦文佛相先後而見乎人間世也。與夫天地群靈萬有。而為博大勝緣者也。然聖人垂像與於天下後世。固欲其人天者觀像以性乎無像。其次欲其睹像以發其善心。其次欲其瞻像以預其勝緣。性乎無像近至也。發乎善心嚮道也。預乎勝緣漸上善也。是三者雖於其功小差。及其當世後代成德則一也。崔公書曰。微師高行人能與人為勝事。人皆樂從之。蒙奇其作佛閣意適合乎聖人垂像之謂。則崔氏之所稱驗矣。南方之人宜知其心無謂微師徒事土木。而誇邁世俗耳。彼方袍之後來者有所營為。亦宜視法於微也。嘉祐四年己亥孟秋之晦日。靈隱之永安山舍記。

Cui, Vice Minister of Rites and Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, dispatched an envoy from Tongzhou to Hangzhou with a letter to me, saying: "The Chongfu Pavilion is completed; we admire Zhongling and wish for him to record it." At first I did not dare to do so, but on reflecting slowly, Lord Cui is a renowned grandee who once distributed my Fujiao bian in the imperial capital and has shown me great righteousness. Now he further entrusts me with another magnificent affair; how could it be right to decline? Thereupon I adumbrated the matter and recorded it. Chongfu is a great aranya in southern Zhangzhou, with an assembly constantly numbering five hundred, living together in peace and ease. They venerate the great bhikṣu Xianwei as their senior elder. Master Wei has overseen this area for five years, and the buildings, large and small, have all been completely repaired. Initially, there was a vacant lot to the east of his residence; Master Wei considered its scenic advantages suitable for erecting a Buddha pavilion, and thus consulted the local resident Wang Wenwo. Not long after, a visitor came and said: "The mountain waters have now risen greatly, completely floating down timbers that had long been stored and washing them up on the riverbank. This is sufficient to accomplish your task." Taking this as a responsive coincidence, Master Wei thereupon drew heavily from the temple funds, more than a million coins, and Wang Wenwo further donated 250,000 to assist it. More than thirty monks and laypeople of the prefecture assisted each other in encouraging the charitable of their neighborhoods to donate wealth, joining together to carve images of the Thousand Buddhas of the Worthy Kalpa and the Five Hundred Arhats, and to paint the Five Hundred Arhats. In the mid-winter of the jiawu year of Zhihe [1054], the masonry and carpentry work began, pressing forward vigorously day by day without a moment's pause. By the autumn of the following year, the pavilion was completed: towering over nine bays, rising into the sky and bridging the void, with soaring walkways and lofty kiosks rising and jutting out to the sides. When the sculpted images and painted work were completed, they were welcomed and enshrined within. Śākyamuni, Maitreya, and Bhaiṣajyaguru occupy the center, while the Thousand Tathāgatas are arrayed in front, behind, left, and right. Below the pavilion, statues of the holy assembly—Śākyamuni, Mañjuśrī, and Samantabhadra—occupy the center, while the Five Hundred Arhats and Sixteen Great Śrāvakas are arranged in the four directions. In the early Jiayou era, a man from Longyan named Yang Shi further constructed a great arhat hall south of the pavilion, surrounded by a bathhouse and covered corridors, completely preparing it for Dharma services. Its scale was magnificent and splendid; the people of Min admired it, calling it the crown of towers and pavilions in our Min. As for the Thousand Tathāgatas of the Worthy Kalpa, they appear successively before and after our Śākyamuni Buddha in the human world during this kalpa, forging vast, magnificent, and supreme affinities with heaven, earth, all spirits, and myriad beings. When the sages bestow images upon the world and future generations, they certainly wish that humans and gods may observe the images to realize the imageless nature; next, they wish that by seeing the images they may arouse their wholesome minds; and next, they wish that by gazing upon the images they may partake in their supreme affinities. Realizing the imageless nature comes close to the ultimate; arousing the wholesome mind turns toward the Way; partaking in supreme affinities gradually advances toward superior goodness. Though these three differ slightly in their efficacy, in bringing about virtue in their present age and future generations, they are one and the same. Lord Cui's letter states: "Master Wei is a person of noble conduct who can join with others in worthy deeds, and people all gladly follow him." I marvel that his intention in building the Buddha pavilion precisely tallies with what is meant by the sages bestowing images; thus what Lord Cui praised is verified. People of the south should know his heart, and not say that Master Wei merely engaged in civil engineering to boast over the vulgar world. Those later followers wearing monk's robes who undertake endeavors should also look to Wei as a model. Recorded on the last day of the first month of autumn in the jiyou year of Jiayou [1059], at the Yong'an Mountain Hermitage of Lingyin.