法苑珠林 14.22

14.22

隋開皇中。蔣州興皇寺佛殿被焚。當陽丈六金銅大像并二菩薩。俱長丈六。其摸戴。顒所造。正當棟下。于時焰火大盛。眾人拱手咸共嗟悼。大像融滅忽見欻起。移南一步棟梁摧下。像得全形。四面甎木炭皆去像身五六尺許。雖被火焚而金色不變。趺下有銘。大眾咸駭歎聲滿路。今移在白馬寺。鳥雀無踐。至唐永徽二年。盜者欲利像銅乃鋸窓櫺子斷將欲拔出。遂被夾腕。求拔不得脫。至曉僧問。盜者云。有一人著白衣在堂內撮手。求脫不得云。

During the Kaihuang era of the Sui, the Buddha hall of the Xinghuang Temple in Jiangzhou was consumed by fire. Directly in the center stood a sixteen-foot gilt-bronze great image along with two bodhisattvas, both sixteen feet tall. The model had been crafted by Dai Yong, and it stood directly beneath the main ridgepole. At that time, the blaze was raging fiercely; the multitude held their hands together and lamented that the great image would melt away. Suddenly, it arose and moved one pace to the south, whereupon the ridgepole and beams collapsed downward, and the image was preserved intact. On all four sides, the brick, wood, and charcoal were five or six feet away from the image's body. Although scorched by fire, its golden color did not change. Beneath the pedestal was an inscription. The multitude was amazed, and cries of admiration filled the streets. It has now been moved to the Baima Temple, where birds do not tread upon it. In the second year of the Yonghui era of the Tang, thieves who coveted the bronze of the image sawed through the window lattice to pull it out, but their wrists became caught; they tried to pull free but could not escape. When morning came, a monk questioned them, and the thieves said: “There was a man dressed in white inside the hall who seized our hands, and we could not break free.”