法苑珠林 31.23

31.23

齊帝諱洋。即元魏丞相高歡之第二子也。嫡兄澄急慢為奴所害。洋襲其位。代為相國。魏將曆窮。洋築壇於南郊。筮遇大橫大吉漢文卦也。乃鑄金像一寫而成。魏收為禪文魏帝署之。即受其禪為大齊也。凡所行履不測其愚智。委政僕射楊遵彥。帝大起佛寺。僧尼溢滿諸州。冬夏供施行道不絕。時稠禪師箴帝曰。檀越羅剎治。臨水自見。帝從之。覩群羅剎在後。於是遂不食肉。禁鷹鷂。去官漁屠。辛葷悉除不得入市。帝常坐禪竟日不出。禮佛行繞其疾如風。受戒於昭玄大統法上。面掩地令上履髮而授焉。先是帝在晉陽。使人騎駝勅曰。向寺取經函。使問所在。帝曰。任駝出城。及出奄如夢至一山。山半有佛寺群沙彌遙曰。高洋𩥟駝來。便引見一老僧。拜之曰。高洋作天子何如。曰聖明。曰爾來何為。曰取經函。僧曰。洋在寺嬾讀經。令北行東頭與之。使者反命。初帝至谷口木井佛寺。有捨身癡。人不解語。忽謂帝曰。我去爾後來。是夜癡人死。帝尋崩於晉陽。

The Qi Emperor bore the taboo name Yang. He was the second son of Gao Huan, prime minister of the Northern Wei. His elder brother of the primary wife, Cheng, was impetuous and haughty, and was killed by a slave; Yang succeeded to his position and acted as prime minister in his stead. When the dynastic tally of Wei was near its end, Yang built an altar in the southern suburbs; he divined and encountered the hexagram "Great Horizontal, Great Good Fortune", the hexagram of Emperor Wen of the Han. He then cast a golden image, which was completed in a single pouring. Wei Shou drafted the abdication text, and the Wei Emperor signed it; Yang then received his abdication, becoming the Great Qi. In all his conduct, one could not fathom whether he was foolish or wise. He entrusted the administration to the Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, Yang Zunyan. The Emperor extensively erected Buddhist temples, and monks and nuns overflowed throughout the provinces. Winter and summer, offerings and the practice of the Way continued without end. At that time, the meditation master Chou admonished the Emperor, saying: "The Danapati has the governance of a rākṣasa. Look into the water and see for yourself." The Emperor followed his advice and saw a host of rākṣasas behind him. Thereupon, he ate no meat, banned falcons and hawks, eliminated official fishing and slaughtering, and purged all pungent and rank foods, barring them from entering the markets. The Emperor often sat in meditation, not emerging the entire day. He bowed to the Buddha and circumambulated as swiftly as the wind. He received the precepts from the Supreme Controller of the Clergy, Fashang, laying his face on the ground and having Shang step upon his hair as he conferred them. Earlier, when the Emperor was in Jinyang, he sent a man riding a camel, instructing him: "Go to the temple and fetch the sūtra case." The emissary asked where it was, and the Emperor said: "Let the camel leave the city at will." When he left, as if in a sudden dream, he reached a mountain. Halfway up the mountain was a Buddhist temple. A crowd of śrāmaṇeras shouted from afar: "Gao Yang's camel has arrived!" They led him to see an old monk, whom he bowed to. [The monk] asked: "How is Gao Yang doing as Son of Heaven?" He said: "Sagacious and enlightened." [The monk] asked: "Why have you come?" He said: "To fetch the sūtra case." The monk said: "Yang was lazy in reading sūtras when he was at the temple. Go to the east end of the northern row, and give it to him." The emissary returned to report his mission. Earlier, when the Emperor arrived at the Mujing Buddhist Temple in Gukou, there was a madman who had renounced himself, who could not speak. Suddenly he said to the Emperor: "I will go, and you will come after." That night the madman died, and the Emperor soon passed away in Jinyang.