法苑珠林 13.31

13.31

東晉太元二年沙門支慧。護於吳郡紹靈寺建釋迦文丈六金像。於寺南傍高鑿穴以啟鎔鑄。既成將移。夜中雲內清明有華六出。白色鮮發四面翻灑。未及於地斂而上歸。及曉白雲若煙出所鑄穴。雲中白龍現。長數十丈。光彩煙煥徐引繞穴。每至前瞻仰遲徊似歸敬者。斯風霽景清細雨而加香氣。像既入坐。龍乃昇天。元嘉初徵士譙國戴顒嫌制古朴。治像手面威相若真。自肩以上短舊六寸。足蹠之下削除一寸云。

In the second year of the Taiyuan reign of the Eastern Jin, the śramaṇa Zhi Huihu erected a sixteen-foot gold image of Śākyamuni at Shaoling Temple in Wu Commandery. To the south of the temple, along an elevation, a pit was excavated to commence the smelting and casting. Once it was completed and about to be moved, during the night the sky within the clouds was clear and bright, and six-petaled flowers, of a fresh and radiant white, fluttered and sprinkled down in all four directions; before reaching the earth, they gathered and returned upward. By dawn, white clouds like smoke emerged from the pit where it had been cast. Amidst the clouds a white dragon appeared, several tens of zhang in length, its radiance and vapor luminous, slowly wheeling around the pit; each time it came before [the image], it gazed upward and lingered as though paying homage. Then the wind settled, the scenery grew clear, and a fine drizzle fell, accompanied by a fragrant scent. Once the image was seated, the dragon ascended into heaven. At the beginning of the Yuanjia reign, the recluse Dai Yong of Qiao Commandery found its design too rustic and simple; he reworked the image's hands and face, making its majestic marks lifelike. From the shoulders upward, it was shortened by six inches compared to the old [proportions], and beneath the soles of the feet, one inch was shaved away.