法苑珠林 79.42

79.42

唐太史令傅奕。本太原人。隋末徙至扶風。少好博學。善天文曆數。聰辯能劇談。自武德貞觀二十許年。常為太史令。性不信佛法。每輕僧尼。至以石像為塼瓦之用。至貞觀十四年秋暴病卒。初奕與同伴傅仁均薛賾。並為太史令。賾先負仁均錢五千未償。而仁均死後。賾夢見仁均。言語如平常。𦣱曰。因先所負錢當付誰。仁均曰。可以付泥犁人𦣱問。泥梨人是誰。答曰。太史令傅奕是也。既而寤。是夜少府監馮長命又夢。已在一處多見先亡人。長命聞經文說罪福之報。未知當定有不。答曰。皆悉有之。又問曰。如傅奕者。生平不信。死受何報。答曰。罪福定有。然傅奕已被配越州。為泥犁人矣（言泥犁者。依經翻為無間大地獄苦也）長命旦入殿見薛賾。因說所夢。賾又自說泥犁人之事。二人同夜闇相符會。共嗟歎之。罪福之事不可不信。𦣱既見徵。仍送錢付奕。并為說夢。後數日間而奕忽卒。初亡之日大有惡徵。不可具說臨在殿庭。親見二官。說夢皆同。

Fu Yi, the Grand Astrologer of the Tang, was originally a native of Taiyuan, and moved to Fufeng at the end of the Sui. In his youth he was fond of wide learning, proficient in astronomy and calendrical calculations, clever and eloquent, and capable of spirited debate. For some twenty years during the Wude and Zhenguan eras, he served continuously as the Grand Astrologer. By nature he did not believe in the Buddhadharma and constantly disparaged monks and nuns, going so far as to use stone statues as bricks and tiles. In the autumn of the fourteenth year of the Zhenguan reign era, he died of a sudden illness. Earlier, Yi had served as Grand Astrologer alongside his colleagues Fu Renjun and Xue Ze. Ze had previously owed Renjun five thousand coins that he had not yet repaid. After Renjun died, Ze saw Renjun in a dream, conversing just as in ordinary times. Ze asked, 'To whom should I give the money I previously owed you?' Renjun said, 'You may give it to the man of Niraya.' Ze asked, 'Who is the man of Niraya?' He replied, 'It is Grand Astrologer Fu Yi.' Then he woke up. That night, Director of the Palace Workshops Feng Changming also had a dream, finding himself in a place where he saw many deceased people. Changming had heard the scriptures speak of retribution for sins and merits, and did not know whether they definitely existed or not. [A deceased person] answered, 'They all definitely exist.' He then asked, 'In the case of Fu Yi, who all his life did not believe, what retribution does he receive upon death?' He answered, 'Sins and merits definitely exist. Fu Yi has already been consigned to Yuezhou to be a man of Niraya.' (To speak of Niraya, niraya means the sufferings of the Avīci Great Hell according to scriptural translation.) In the morning, Changming entered the palace and saw Xue Ze. Thereupon he recounted his dream, and Ze also recounted the matter of the man of Niraya himself. The two men, in the dark of the same night, had dreams that matched each other, and they sighed in amazement together: 'The matter of sins and merits cannot fail to be believed!' Having seen this verification, Ze immediately sent the money to Yi and explained the dream to him. A few days later, Yi suddenly died. On the day of his initial demise, there were great ominous omens, which cannot be recounted in detail. At the imperial palace courtyard, the two officials personally verified that their dreams were identical.