法苑珠林 38.97

38.97

又問。若爾周穆已後諸王建置塔時。何為此土文記罕見。答曰。立塔為於前緣多是神靈所造。人有見者少。故文字少傳。楊雄劉向尋於藏書。往往見有佛經。豈非秦前已有也。今衡岳南可六百里。在永州北有大川。東西五百餘里。南北百餘里。川中昔有人住數十萬家。今生諸巨樹。大者徑二三丈。下無草木。深林可愛。中有大江。東流入湘江。尋㵎覓之即得。川南有谷。北出入谷。有方池四方砌石。水深龍居。有犯者輒雷震山谷。左側多有山果橘柚陽梅之屬。列植相次。池南有育王大塔。石華捧之。上以石籠覆。與地平。塔東崖上具有碑。篆書可識之。登梯抄取足知立塔之由也。

Again it was asked: "If so, when various kings after King Mu of Zhou established and built stupas, why are they rarely seen in the textual records of this land?" The answer was: "The erection of stupas was due to former affinities, and most were created by divine spirits. Few human beings saw them, so they were rarely transmitted in writing. When Yang Xiong and Liu Xiang searched through the library collections, they frequently saw Buddhist sūtras; how could there not have been any before the Qin? Now, about six hundred li south of Mount Heng, north of Yongzhou, there is a great river valley, more than five hundred li from east to west and more than one hundred li from north to south. In the past, hundreds of thousands of households lived in the valley. Now giant trees grow there, the largest being twenty to thirty feet in diameter, with no grasses or shrubs beneath them; it is a lovely deep forest. In its midst is a great river flowing eastward into the Xiang River; if you follow the ravine and search for it, you will find it. South of the valley there is a gorge; exiting and entering the gorge to the north, there is a square pool with stone paved on four sides. The water is deep and dragons dwell there; if anyone violates it, thunder instantly shakes the mountain valley. On the left side are many mountain fruits such as oranges, pomelos, and bayberries, planted in neat succession. South of the pool is a great Aśoka stupa, supported by stone flowers, covered above by a stone cage, level with the ground. On the cliff east of the stupa there is a full stele, which can be read in seal script. Ascending a ladder and transcribing it is enough to know the reason for the stupa's erection."