法苑珠林 36.138

36.138

晉中山有帛法橋。是中山人。少樂轉讀而稍乏聲。每以不暢為慨。於是絕粒懺悔七日七夕。稽首觀音。以祈現報。同學苦諫誓而不改。至第七日覺喉內豁然。即索水洗漱云。吾有應矣。於是作三契經聲徹三里許。遠近驚嗟人畜悉來觀聽。爾後誦經五十萬言。晝夜諷詠哀婉通神。至年九十聲猶不變。以晉穆帝永和中。卒于河北。即石虎末世也。

During the Jin dynasty, in Zhongshan, there was Bai Faqiao, who was a native of Zhongshan. In his youth, he loved chanting the scriptures, but his voice was somewhat lacking, and he constantly lamented that it did not flow freely. Thereupon, he gave up grain food and practiced repentance for seven days and seven nights, bowing his head before Avalokiteśvara to pray for a manifest retribution. His fellow students bitterly admonished him, but he swore not to change. On the seventh day, he felt an openness within his throat. He immediately asked for water to wash and rinse his mouth, saying, 'I have received a response!' Thereupon, he chanted three stanzas of scripture, his voice carrying for about three li. People far and near were astonished, and both humans and animals came to watch and listen. Thereafter, he recited five hundred thousand words of scripture, chanting day and night with an emotional plaintiveness that communicated with the spirits. Even when he reached ninety years of age, his voice still did not change. In the Yonghe reign era of Emperor Mu of the Jin, he died north of the Yellow River, during the final years of Shi Hu.