法苑珠林 14.20

14.20

周武建德三年。猜忌佛法勇意殄滅。天下闇冥。有宜州姜明者。督事夜行。經州北百餘里山中行。往往常見上山光明。怪之因巡行光處。見有臥石狀如像形。便斵掘尋之。乃是鐵礦不可鏨鑿。故其形䃙𮀼。高三丈許。欲加摩鎣卒不可觸。又向下尋乃有石趺。孔穴具足。乃共村人以拗舉之。其像欻然流下逕趣。趺孔卓然峙立。眾以為奇瑞以奏聞徹。時天元嗣曆佛日將融。乃改為大像元年。仍以其處為大像寺。隋祖開運重斯故迹。又改為顯除寺。討尋其本處非人住。又無大石及以鐵礦。豈非育王神力之所降感乎。大唐因之不改。貞觀末寺西置宮。名曰玉華。像仍舊所在宮東三十里苑內。太宗甞往禮事。嫌非華飾捨物莊嚴。永徽年中改宮立寺。還名玉華。今屬邡州。陰暗之夕每發光瑞。道俗常見。故不甚驚怪云。

In the third year of the Jiande era of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou, out of jealousy and suspicion toward the Buddhadharma, he resolved to eradicate it, and the world fell into darkness. There was a man named Jiang Ming of Yizhou who was traveling at night on official business. While traveling in the mountains more than a hundred li north of the prefecture, he repeatedly saw a bright light on the mountain. Marveling at this, he followed the place of the light and found a reclining stone resembling the shape of a statue. He excavated it, but found it was iron ore that could not be chiseled, so its shape remained rough and uneven. It was roughly thirty feet tall, and when they wished to polish it, it could not be touched at all. Searching further down, they found a stone pedestal complete with socket holes. Together with the villagers, he levered it up. The image suddenly slid down, heading straight into the pedestal's socket, and stood erect. The multitude regarded it as an extraordinary auspicious omen and memorialized it to the throne. At that time, Emperor Tianyuan succeeded to the throne, and the sun of the Buddha was about to shine again; he changed the era name to Daxiang (“Great Image”), the first year, and established the Daxiang Temple at that location. When the founder of the Sui inaugurated his reign, he valued this historical site and renamed it the Xianchu Temple. Upon investigating its original place, it had never been inhabited by people, nor were there large stones or iron ore. Was this not a manifestation brought about by King Aśoka's divine power? The Great Tang followed this without changing it. Toward the end of the Zhenguan era, a palace was established to the west of the temple, called Yuhua. The image remained at its old location, inside the park thirty li east of the palace. Emperor Taizong once went there to pay homage; displeased that it was not adorned, he donated goods to embellish it. During the Yonghui era, the palace was converted into a temple, still named Yuhua, which now belongs to Fangzhou. On overcast evenings it frequently emits radiant omens; clergy and laity witness them frequently, so they no longer find them astonishing.