法苑珠林 13.28

13.28

In the Eastern Jin, in the sixth year of the Yonghe reign era of Emperor Mu, the year being dingwei—though checked against the extended calendar, it was in fact the third year—on the night of the eighth day of the second month, an image appeared north of the city wall of Jingzhou. It was seven feet five inches tall, and including its halo and pedestal, eleven feet tall. None could tell where it had come from. Earlier, in the fifth year of Yonghe, merchants from Guangzhou were finishing loading their cargo and lamented that the ship was too light. In the middle of the night, they felt that someone had rushed aboard the ship. Startled, they searched together, but saw nothing at all, yet the ship's load had naturally become so heavy that no more could be added. Though astonished at this anomaly, they could not fathom it. They sailed swiftly onward, always ahead of the other boats, and soon arrived at Zhugong. No sooner had they moored by the water than in the night they again felt someone disembarking from the ship. The ship's cargo became light once more. Only when the image appeared did they realise that this had been an omen. At that time, Grand Marshal Huan Wen was garrisoned as governor over the Western Shaanxi region. He paid homage and bowed in person, moving the whole prefecture. The monastic assemblies of the various temples vied to welcome and lead it away, but it clanged firmly and would not budge. The prefect of Changsha, Teng Jun (some say Teng She) of Jiangling, had in the second year of Yonghe given up his residence to make a temple, naming it after the commandery. Hearing that Master Dao'an was overseeing the Xiangchuan region, he requested a superintendent. Dao'an said to his disciple Tanyi, 'The gentry and commoners of the Jing and Chu regions are just beginning to believe in the Dharma. Who but you could bring this good deed to fruition? You should go.' Carrying his monk's staff, Tanyi journeyed south. He constructed it for a full year. Though the monastic halls were completed, the holy images were not yet installed. He would often sigh and say, 'The images of King Aśoka's temples spread according to conditions. If one's utmost sincerity is not lacking, why worry that one will not descend?' When he heard that the image had arrived at the city of Jingzhou, joy and emotion filled his breast, and he said, 'This image embodies my original vow. It will surely come to my Changsha [Temple]. It can indeed be expected by the heart, but cannot be brought by physical force.' The assembly all agreed, saying, 'If it is as you say, the proof will not be far off.' Tanyi burned incense, bowed, and made his entreaty, ordering three disciples to lift it. Lightly and swiftly it rose, and was thereupon installed in his temple. Clergy and laity rejoiced. In the Eastern Jin, in the second year of Xian'an under Emperor Jianwen, a lotus pedestal was first cast for it. In the Taiyuan reign era of Emperor Xiaowu of the Jin, Yin Zhongkan was regional inspector. In the middle of the night, the image walked out of the temple's west gate. A patrolman, thinking it was a man, questioned it, but received no answer; he struck it with a sword, which rang out sharply. Looking closely, it was indeed the image. The mark where the sword struck its chest was visible on the outside. There was a Dhyāna master from Kashmir named Saṃghananda, a man of wide learning and broad vision, who came from Shu to Jingzhou. Entering the temple to pay homage to the image, he sighed and choked with tears for a long time. Tanyi asked him the reason, and he replied, 'It was recently lost in India. How has it descended so far into this land?' Thereupon they checked the months and years, and they all matched. Looking at the Sanskrit inscription on the back of the image's halo, it read: 'Made by King Aśoka.' When they heard this inscription, their reverence and esteem doubled. This was the proof of Tanyi's thought evoking the response. When he was critically ill, the image's light suddenly vanished. Tanyi said, 'The Buddha shows this sign; my illness will surely not recover. The light has gone to other realms to perform Buddha-work again.' He passed away within ten days. Later, monks cast another halo imitating the original, which is the present one. In the time of Emperor Xiaowu of the Song, the image emitted a great light, and the Buddha-Dharma in the Jiangdong region flourished greatly for a time. At the end of the Taishi reign era of Emperor Ming of the Song, the image wept tears. Emperor Ming soon passed away, and his successor was wild and rebellious, whereupon the dynastic change from Song to Qi took place. Shen Youzhi, regional inspector of Jingzhou, at first did not believe in the Dharma and purged the monks and nuns. In Changsha Temple alone, there were over a thousand monks, and nearly several hundred were to be returned to lay life. The entire assembly was terrified, young and old weeping in sorrow. For their sake, sweat flowed from the image for five days without stopping. Hearing of this, Master Xuanchang, a venerable monk of the Shenlü Temple, came to inquire of the cause. Chang said, 'The Sage is not far; no sorrow fails to reach him. Past, future, and present Buddhas contemplate each other. Could it not be that the present Buddha is contemplating the Buddhas? Wishing to admonish the patron's unbelieving heart, there is this response.' He was asked, 'From which sutra does this come?' He replied, 'It comes from the Sukhāvatīvyūha.' Youzhi obtained the sutra and examined it with great delight, immediately halting the purge. In the second year of Yongyuan of the Qi, Xiao Yingzhou, General of the Guard, together with the founder of the Liang, joined with Xiao Baorong, Prince of Nankang and regional inspector of Jingzhou, to raise troops. At that time, the image walked outside the hall and was about to descend the steps. Two monks saw it and cried out in alarm, whereupon it turned back into the hall. In the third year, Yingzhou died suddenly, Baorong was also deposed, and the celebration accrued to Emperor Gaozu of the Liang. At the end of the Tianjian reign era of the Liang, the abbot Daoyue and a layman were clearing grass beside the pagoda. Opening the pagoda door, they saw the image circumambulating the shrine. Daoyue bowed in secret and did not let the matter leak out. When the hall was fully opened, the image was back on its seat. When the Prince of Poyang of the Liang was in Jingzhou, he repeatedly requested to bring it into the city to establish great merit. When he fell ill, he sent for it, but though they doubled the bearers, it could not be lifted; in a few days he passed away. When Emperor Gaozu was formerly in the Jing and Shaanxi region, his sincere devotion was long established. He repeatedly sent for it to be welcomed, but it could never be brought. In the third month of the fourth year of Zhongdatong, he sent the monk Jin of the Baima Temple and Shu-shu He Si from afar carrying incense and flowers for offerings, fully presenting his sincere plea. That night it emitted light, appearing to follow the envoys. The next morning, when they went to receive it, it was obstructed once more. Only after they paid repeated homage and prayed did it deign to follow them. The fourfold assembly, longing and admiring, escorted it to the river ferry. On the twenty-third day it reached Jinling, eighteen li from the capital. The Emperor came out in person to welcome it. All along the way, light shone continuously without interruption. Clergy and laity rejoiced, praising it as unprecedented. It stayed in the palace for three days, receiving wholehearted offerings (some say it stayed at the Zhongxing Temple), and an unobstructed grand feast was held for twenty-seven days. It entered Tongtai Temple through the Datong Gate. That night, the image emitted a great blaze of light. An imperial edict ordered a hall to be built northeast of the main hall of Tongtai Temple, with three bays and two side wings, and a seat with a seven-jeweled canopy was installed to house the auspicious image. Two gilt-bronze bodhisattva statues were also made. Mountains were built, ponds were excavated, rare trees and strange stones were placed, and flying bridges with balustrades flanked both flights of stairs of the hall. A pair of bronze cauldrons were also provided, each holding thirty hu, and on three sides were multi-storeyed pavilions, winding and exquisite. In the third month of the second year of Zhongdatong, the Emperor visited Tongtai Temple to hold an assembly and lecture on the scriptures. He visited various halls to pay homage. Only at dusk did he arrive at the Auspicious Image Hall. Just as the Emperor stepped onto the stairs, the image emitted a great light, illuminating the bamboos, trees, mountains, and water, all turning them golden, which did not cease until midnight. When Tongtai Temple was burned, the halls and chambers were all destroyed, and only the hall where the Buddha resided survived. In the second year of Taiqing, the image sweated profusely. In the eleventh month of that year, Hou Jing staged a rebellion. In the third year of Dabaocheng, the rebels were pacified, and the monks of Changsha Temple, Fajing and others, welcomed the image back to Jiangling to rest once again in its original temple. In the seventh year of Dading of the Later Liang, the image sweated again. In the second month of the following year, Emperor Xuan of the Western Liang passed away. In the third year of Tianbao, fire spread to Changsha Temple, and the entire temple was ablaze with smoke and flames on all sides. Wishing to rescue the auspicious image, there was no way to move it. Traditionally, a hundred men were always needed to lift it, but on that day six men were able to raise it. In the fifteenth year of Tianbao, Emperor Ming invited the image into the inner palace to perform repentance, receiving unseen response. In the twenty-third year, the Emperor passed away, and his successor Xiao Cong moved the image to the Renshou Palace, where it again sweated profusely. In the second year of Guangyun, the Liang state was extinguished. In the seventh year of Kaihuang, the monk Faqian and others of Changsha Temple welcomed it back to the temple again. In the fifteenth year of Kaihuang, Tian Zongxian, regional inspector of Qianzhou, came to the temple to pay homage, and the image immediately emitted light. The lord resolved to build a main north hall of thirteen bays, with east and west flanking halls of nine bays. Timber was transported from more than five thousand li upriver from Jingzhou; the timber was cut and transported to the river and released freely. The timber floated down to Jingzhou and moored itself naturally at the bank; even though wind and waves whipped it up, it never drifted far away. Workers were then engaged to construct it. The pillars were three feet in diameter, and the base stones below were eight feet wide. This too was unsurpassed through all antiquity. The main hall was paneled entirely with agarwood, within which thirteen jeweled canopies were placed, all adorned with gold and jewels, down to the rafters, purlins, and caisson ceilings, which were all interspersed with jeweled flowers. The east and west halls where the auspicious image resided were paneled with sandalwood, with jeweled canopies and flower-shaped torches inside, all fashioned of pure gold, reaching the peak of magnificence, the foremost under heaven. In the twelfth year of Daye, the auspicious image sweated repeatedly. In that year, the rebel Zhu Can sacked and plundered various prefectures, coming to the city of Jingzhou and encamping inside the main hall of the temple. Overlooking the north of the city from on high, the rebels mounted the hall and shot arrows into the city. The garrison commander was distressed by this and burned it at night with fire-arrows. The clergy and laity in the city grieved that the auspicious image was destroyed and lost. That night, without anyone noticing, the image crossed the city wall and entered, standing outside the gate of the Baoguang Temple. Seeing that the image had survived, the whole city rejoiced. When the rebels dispersed, they looked at the image's former site; it had not been burned at all, untouched by ashes or charcoal. The hall that was subsequently rebuilt was not equal to the previous one. In the fifth year of Fengming of the pseudo-Liang under Xiao Xian, the pseudo-Song King Yang Daosheng and others came to the temple to pay homage; the image sweated profusely, flowing like rain from its body and head, not ceasing all day. In the ninth month of that year, the soldiers and horses of the Great Tang descended from the Shu River. On the twentieth day of that month, the temple monk Fatong, seeing that the Tang destiny was about to unite the realm, wished for an omen and circumambulated the image practicing the Path. That night it emitted light that filled the hall. By the twenty-fifth day, the radiant luster gradually faded. On that day, the soldiers and horses of the Prince of Zhao Commandery entered the city. This was also a fortunate unification, so the flowing light served as an auspicious omen for it. As for months of drought, whenever the governors presented their utmost sincerity, there was none that did not receive a complete response. In the sixth month of the sixth year of Zhenguan, there was a great drought. The Area Commander, Duke of Ying State, Wu Shihuo, welcomed the image, established a vegetarian feast, and circumambulated the image practicing the Path for seven days. Officials high and low stood before the image, contemplating the Buddha single-mindedly. After a good while, clouds gathered on all sides and sweet rain poured down. That year saw an abundant harvest. The Area Commander then donated gold to regild the auspicious image, and carriages, banners, flowers, and all accoutrements of adornment were fully provided. It is now at the Changsha Temple in Jiangling. There is also a foreign bronze image about seven feet tall, which was ancient and strange and not much valued. Master Dao'an sent it when he was at Shicheng in Chang'an; he had a disciple find a śarīra in its topknot, which emitted light.