法苑珠林 13.35

13.35

涼州石崖塑瑞像者。昔沮渠蒙遜。以晉安帝隆安元年。據有涼土三十餘載。隴西五涼斯最久盛。專崇福業。以國城寺塔終非久固。古來帝宮終逢煨燼。若依立之効尤斯及。又用金寶終被毀盜。乃顧盻山宇可以終天。於州南百里連崖綿亘東西不測。就而斵窟安設尊儀。或石或塑千變萬化。有禮敬者驚眩心目。有土聖僧可如人等。常自經行初無寧舍。遙見便行近矚便止。視其顏面如行之狀。或有羅土坌地。觀其行跡。人纔遠之即便蹈地。足跡納納。來往不住。如此現相經今百餘年。彼人說之如此。

Regarding the auspicious clay images on the stone cliffs of Liangzhou: Formerly, Juqu Mengxun, taking possession of the land of Liang in the first year of the Long'an reign of Emperor An of the Jin, ruled for more than thirty years; of the Five Liang regimes in Longxi, his was the longest-lasting and most prosperous. He exclusively venerated meritorious works. Considering that temples and pagodas in national capitals were ultimately not enduring, and that the imperial palaces of old had all ended up in ashes—and that if he erected them following such examples, the same disaster would reach them; and moreover, that using gold and jewels would ultimately result in theft and destruction—he looked around and saw that mountain dwellings could endure through all eternity. Thus, along the continuous cliffs one hundred li south of the prefecture, stretching endlessly from east to west beyond reckoning, he approached them, excavated caves, and set up revered images; whether carved in stone or modeled in clay, they displayed myriad transformations, dazzling the minds and eyes of those who bowed and paid reverence. There is a holy monk of clay, roughly of human size, who constantly walks in circumambulation on his own, never resting. Seen from afar he is walking, but observed up close he stops, though his facial expression remains that of walking. Sometimes fine earth is spread over the ground to observe his footprints; no sooner do people step away from him than his feet tread upon the ground, his footprints clearly pressed, coming and going without ceasing. Such manifestations have continued down to the present for over a hundred years, as related by the people there.