法苑珠林 23.70

23.70

宋邢懷明。河間人。宋大將軍參軍。嘗隨南郡太守朱循之北伐。俱見陷沒。於是伺候間隙俱得道歸。夜行晝伏。已經三日猶懼追捕。乃遣人前覘虜候。既數日不還。一夕將雨陰闇。所遣人將曉忽至。乃驚曰。向遙見火光甚明。故來投之。那得至而反闇。循等怪愕。懷明先奉法。自征後頭上常戴觀世音經。轉讀不廢。爾夕亦正暗誦。咸疑是經神力。於是常共祈心。遂以得免居于京師。元嘉十七年有沙門。詣懷明云。貧道見此巷中及君家殊有血氣。宜移避之。語畢便去。懷明追而目之。出門便沒。意甚惡之。經二旬隣人張景秀傷父及殺父妾。懷明以為血氣之徵。庶得無事。時與劉斌劉敬文。比門連接同在一巷。其年並以劉湛之黨。同被誅夷云。

Xing Huaiming of the Song was a native of Hejian, who served as an adjutant to the Senior General of the Song. He once accompanied Zhu Xunzhi, the Grand Administrator of Nanjun, on a northern expedition, and both fell into enemy hands. Thereupon, watching for an opportune moment, they both managed to find a way to return. Traveling by night and hiding by day, three days had already passed, yet they still feared pursuit and capture. Thus, they sent a man ahead to scout for the enemy. When several days passed and he did not return, one evening, as rain was threatening and it was overcast and dark, the man they had dispatched suddenly arrived just before dawn. He exclaimed in astonishment, “Earlier, seeing a bright firelight from afar, I came toward it. How is it that upon arriving, it turns out to be dark instead?” Xun and the others were bewildered. Huaiming had previously practiced the Dharma, and ever since the expedition he had constantly carried the Avalokiteśvara Sūtra upon his head, never ceasing to recite it. That evening, he happened to be silently reciting it. Everyone suspected this was the divine power of the sūtra. Thereupon, they frequently joined in praying with sincere hearts, and finally managed to escape and dwell in the capital. In the seventeenth year of the Yuanjia era, a śramaṇa visited Huaiming and said, “This poor monk sees an extraordinary aura of bloodshed in this lane and in your home; you ought to move to avoid it.” Having finished speaking, he departed. Huaiming pursued him with his eyes, but as soon as the monk went out the gate, he disappeared. Huaiming felt an intense foreboding. After two decades of days had passed, his neighbor Zhang Jingxiu injured his own father and killed his father's concubine. Huaiming thought this was the fulfillment of the omen of bloodshed, and hoped that he would remain safe. At that time, his doors adjoined those of Liu Bin and Liu Jingwen, living in the same lane. That year, all of them were executed together as partisans of Liu Zhan.