法苑珠林 14
English (machine translation) 14
- Language
- English
14.1
Compiled by the Śramaṇa Shi Daoshi of Ximing Temple
14.2
Chapter 6: Veneration of the Buddha, Part 2: Section on the Contemplation of the Buddha, Accounts of Sympathetic Resonances, Continued
14.3
1. Account of the Gold Image of Mañjuśrī in the Song Capital
2. Account of the Bronze Image Emerging from the Earth in Dongyang under the Song
3. Account of the Gold Image in Puzhong Emerging upon the Manifestation of Light under the Song
4. Account of the Gold Image in Shangming Marsh of Jiangling under the Song
5. Account of the Wall Painting in Jingzhou Reappearing after Being Painted Over under the Song
6. Account of the Gold Image and Vow in Zhijiang of Jiangling under the Song
7. Account of the Paulownia Shield in Xiangzhou Becoming a Buddha's Halo through Sympathetic Resonance under the Song
8. Account of the Stone Image in Panyu Lightly Lifting Itself when Encountering Fire under the Qi
9. Account of the Gold Image in Pengcheng Sweating to Manifest an Auspicious Omen under the Qi
10. Account of the Gold Image of Guanyin in the Capital Yangdu under the Qi
11. Account of King Udayana's Sandalwood Image in Jingzhou under the Liang
12. Account of the Gold Image at Guangzhai Temple in the Capital Yangdu under the Liang
13. Account of the Life-Sized Gold and Silver Images of Emperor Wu of the Liang
14. Account of the Gold Image of Guanyin in Dingzhou and the Gao Wang Sutra under the Northern Wei
15. Account of the Chongyun Hall and its Images Flying into the Sea under the Chen
16. Account of the Stone Image at Lingshi Temple in Jinzhou under the Zhou
17. Account of the Iron Ore Stone Image on the Northern Mountain of Yizhou under the Zhou
18. Account of the Avataṃsaka Processional Image on Mount Xian in Xiangzhou under the Zhou
19. Account of the Moving of the Burned Image at Xinghuang Temple in Jiangzhou under the Sui
20. Account of the Auspicious Stone Shadow at Riyan Temple in the Capital under the Sui
21. Account of the Four-Faced Image at Shahe Temple in Xingzhou under the Sui
22. Account of the Dry-Lacquer Image of Śākyamuni at Ningguan Temple in Yongzhou under the Sui
23. Account of the Stone Image Emerging from the Mountain in Fangzhou under the Tang
24. Account of the Buddha's Footprint Radiating Divine Light in Jianzhou under the Tang
25. Account of the Mountain in Liangzhou Producing Stone Markings with the Character 'Buddha' under the Tang
26. Account of the Buddha's Footprint Appearing in Stone at Xiangsi Temple in Yuzhou under the Tang
27. Account of the Buddha's Footprint at Lingkan Temple in Xunzhou under the Tang
28. Account of Li Da'an Being Rescued through Sympathetic Resonance by a Gilt-Bronze Image in Yongzhou under the Tang
29. Account of the Image Unharmed by Fire in Yuyang County of Youzhou under the Tang
30. Account of the Great Image Radiating Light and Manifesting Auspicious Signs at Tongzi Temple in Bingzhou under the Tang
31. Account of the Theft of the Gold Image at Qingchan Temple in the Western Capital under the Tang
32. Account of the Processional Images in Fuzhou and Tanzhou under the Tang
33. Account of the Gold Image Emerging from Stone in Lantian of Yongzhou under the Tang
34. Account of the Gold Image Emerging from the Feng River in Hu County of Yongzhou under the Tang
35. Account of the Mountain Stone Image Radiating Light to Illuminate the Valley in Qinzhou under the Tang
36. Account of the Painted Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha at Faju Temple in Yizhou under the Tang
37. Account of the Painted Image of an Auspicious Figure Radiating Light in Jingzhou under the Tang
38. Account of the Transformations and Manifestations Emitting Sounds from the Images on Mount Wutai in Daizhou under the Tang
14.4
In the second year of the Yuanjia reign of the Song, Liu Shizhi made a gold image of Mañjuśrī, paying reverence to it morning and evening. Shortly thereafter, it went missing. He prayed with sorrow and longing, untiring day and night. After five years had passed, at dusk one evening, he saw light emanating from the Buddha seat up to the ridgepole. Shizhi thereupon burned incense and dusted the bed and curtains, whereupon he saw the lost image resting there completely intact.
14.5
In the twelfth year of the Yuanjia reign of the Song, Liu Yuanzhi of Changshan in Dongyang, whose family engaged in the cultivation of ramie, repeatedly found that whenever they burned the field embankments, there was one patch of tangled grass that would not ignite. After a long time, he found it strange and no longer cleared or farmed it. Later, he tried digging lightly, and obtained a seated bronze image, about three inches high. Upon examining the site, it had not been a town or settlement in former times, and no one could fathom whence it came.
14.6
In the fourteenth year of the Yuanjia reign of the Song, Sun Yanceng's family had venerated the Buddha for generations. His concubine, Wang Huicheng, had faith from her youth, which grew all the more earnest as she aged. While reciting the Lotus Sutra, she repeatedly saw multicolored light in the inlet; she sent someone to dig, and at a depth of two feet they obtained a gold image, two feet and one inch high including its halo and pedestal. The inscription on the pedestal read: 'Made in the sixth year of the Jianwu reign, the year being Gengzi, by Faxin and Sengxing, monks of the Official Temple.' It was immediately polished and burnished.
14.7
In the fifteenth year of the Yuanjia reign of the Song dynasty, Luo Shun served as an officer under the Pacification Army of the West, garrisoned at Shangming. In the twelfth month, he released his falcon in the wild marshlands. His companions saw that both the falcon and a pheasant had dropped together. At that time, a fire was burning the plain flat; only a patch of grass about thirty feet across remained unburnt. They then parted the grasses and searched there, whereupon they obtained a seated gold statue of a bodhisattva. Together with its pedestal it was one foot high, and its workmanship was extraordinarily skillful. At that time, the magistrate of Dingxiang thought it had been hidden by a thief, so he issued an official notice throughout his borders inquiring if anyone had lost a statue. [As no one claimed it,] he thereupon collected and made offerings to it.
14.8
Prince Kang of Linchuan, who was the Song dynasty General of the Palace Guard, built a three-bay hall inside the city of Jingzhou to make offerings to scriptures and statues. On the walls of the hall, images of bodhisattvas were extensively painted. When King Wen of Hengyang succeeded him in the garrison post, he decommissioned it to serve as his sleeping quarters and plastered over it entirely with mud. Whenever the mud dried, it fell away in flakes, leaving the painted forms fresh and clean. When they plastered it again, it was still the same. The prince did not believe or revere [the Dharma] and also thought it merely an accident. He then had it plastered thickly, but the painted images showed through clearly and could be discerned distinctly. The prince again ordered the old walls destroyed and completely rebuilt. Soon afterward, he fell ill; whenever he closed his eyes, he saw those statues vividly filling his sight. Thereupon he abandoned it and did not dwell there, and extensively engaged in vegetarian retreats and lectures.
14.9
During the Yuanjia reign of the Song dynasty, Zhang Sengding's younger sister from Zhijiang in Jiangling had revered the Dharma from her youth and was determined to go forth into the homeless life. She regularly made offerings to a small gold statue, regarding it as the provision for her future path. Her parents, however, pressured her to marry, but she vowed her intention would not waiver. They secretly betrothed her to the Bing family, which the girl did not know at first. When the betrothal gifts of lamb and wild geese arrived, she cried out in sorrow and refused to comply, burning incense and prostrating on the ground seeking death. This statue then emitted a golden light that filled the entire village. Her father and elder brothers were astonished by this spiritual resonance and ceased trying to marry her off. The two families, Zhang and Bing, consequently gave rise to great reverent faith. Sengding went forth into the homeless life on her account. When the Song Chancellor and Prince of Nanjun was garrisoned in Shan, he constructed a vihāra at her dwelling.
14.10
During the Taishi reign of the Song dynasty, He Jingshu of Donghai revered the Dharma from his youth. Following Liu Yun, the inspector of Xiangzhou, to supervise a county, he happened to obtain sandalwood and made a statue from it. After it was finished, it lacked a halo. He searched for materials very diligently, but in the end could find nothing. Leaning on his armrest in contemplation, as if asleep, he saw a śramaṇa wearing patched robes and carrying a tin staff come and say, 'Sandalwood cannot be found, and coarse wood will not do. Only the paulownia board of the He family behind the county seat is fit for use. Although he cherishes it, if you plead earnestly, you can obtain it.' Upon waking, he questioned those around him, and it was indeed as had been said. Thereupon he sought to purchase it. Master He said, 'I have a board that I love very much. Fearing someone would beg or take it away, I have never shown it to anyone. How did you know of it, magistrate, to seek to buy it directly?' Jingshu told him of the matter. Master He joyfully and reverently offered it to make the halo. Later, when serving as a duty officer in the Xiang administration, Jingshu dreamed in the middle of the night that the statue said, 'A rat has bitten my foot.' At dawn, he quickly returned to inspect the statue, and it was indeed so.
14.11
During the Jianyuan reign of the Qi dynasty, the Vaiśālī Vihāra in Panyu possessed an old stone statue from the kingdom of Funan; no one knew its origin. Its appearance was quite extraordinary, and only seventy or eighty people together could lift and move it. This monastery had a thatched roof. Fire broke out and spread to the building downwind; the smoke and flames had already reached it. More than ten nuns looked at each other with no plan. Among them was one whose determination did not waver; she tried lifting it together with three or four others. It rose up lightly, without even the weight of thirty catties. Once the statue had been moved, the building was consumed by fire. Whenever divine light appeared, or when military bandits troubled the prefecture and its commanderies, it would break out in a sweat like tears all over its body. In Lingnan, this was taken as a regular sign. Later, Liu Quan, the inspector of Guangzhou, submitted a memorial to send it to the capital; it should now be in a monastery in the old Jiangzhou.
14.12
Wang Zhongde, inspector of Xuzhou under the Song dynasty, made an eighteen-foot gold statue at Songwang Temple in Pengcheng. Its marks and signs were adorned and splendid, a wondrous creation west of the Yangtze River. Whenever troops rose in the northern borders, or if harm was to befall the sangha, the statue would perspire profusely. By estimating the amount of sweat, the magnitude of the disaster could be known in advance. The people of the commandery regularly looked to it for signs. At the beginning of the Jianyuan reign of the Qi dynasty, the statue perspired again. That winter, the Wei forces invaded the Huai River region. At that time, several commanderies of Yanzhou rose in righteous rebellion and aligned southwards, gathering great numbers of people. They also coerced śramaṇas into helping them defend the ramparts. The Wei army slaughtered their camps and fortresses, intending to annihilate them all. They submitted a memorial to the Wei court falsely accusing them of aiding the rebellion, and execution was imminent. At that time, the statue perspired heavily, wetting the floor of the hall. The Wei inspector of Xuzhou, the Prince of Liang, revered the Dharma with great devotion; arriving at the monastery, he personally had people wipe it with cloth and silk. As soon as it was wiped, it kept sweating without cease. Even when several tens of people joined hands vying to wipe it, it still could not be stopped. The prince then burned incense, bowed, held the cloth, and prayed, saying: 'The assembly of monks is blameless; I vow to protect them myself, and they will certainly not suffer calamity. If this hidden sincerity evokes a response, let it immediately cease when wiped.' Having spoken, he wiped it himself, and indeed it became dry to the touch. The prince submitted a detailed report of the matter to the throne, and an edict was issued pardoning them all.
14.13
At the beginning of the Jianyuan reign of the Qi dynasty, Wang Yan of Taiyuan was still of a young age. He received the five precepts from Dharma Master Xian in Jiaozhi, who gave him a gold statue of Avalokiteśvara to worship. Thereupon he carried it back to the capital Yangdu and deposited it at Nanjian Temple. While napping during the day, Yan dreamed that the statue stood at the corner of his seat; he felt this was very strange, and immediately galloped to fetch it back. That night, Nanjian Temple lost more than ten statues, stolen and melted down to mint coins. In the autumn of the seventh year of the Daming reign of the Song dynasty, one evening it emitted light illuminating about three feet around; its golden radiance was dazzling, and the whole family witnessed it together. Later, this statue was deposited at Duobao Temple. Yan went to Jingchu for nearly ten years, not knowing the whereabouts of the statue. When he returned to Yangdu, he dreamed it was east of the main hall, clearly visible among numerous small statues. At dawn he went to the monastery and found it just as in the dream. This occurred on the thirteenth day of the seventh month in the first year of the Jianyuan reign. Therefore, Yan's own preface to the Mingxiang ji says: 'I have constantly made offerings to this statue myself, hoping it will eternally serve as a ferry. Reflecting upon these events, my heart is deeply moved; following these evident signs, I have compiled this record. For reflecting that which is near to human sentiment, nothing surpasses statues and icons; the arising of auspicious verifications mostly stems from this. The scriptures say that those who cast, carve, paint, and depict similar forms and appearances can all move and emit light. Now, the two statues of Śākyamuni and Maitreya in the Western Regions are so resplendent and efficacious as if real; is this not because they have attained the true likeness? Now the sacred copies in the Eastern Xia display divine responses most prominently. Perhaps it was also evoked by the karmic affinities of sentient beings at that time, borrowing wood and stone to display hidden marvels, not necessarily because the physical appearance alone could achieve this. Thus, the sunken stone floating on the deep sea truly unfolded the conversion of Min and Wu; the dripping sweat of the gilded bronze served to alleviate the calamity of Peng and Song. The rest of the diverse demonstrations are difficult to explain in detail, but in general they all follow this principle. As for the manifest efficacy of scriptures and stūpas, their import and evidence are the same; since the matter is of the same thread, I continue it at the end.'”
14.14
Emperor Wu, the founder of the Liang dynasty, on the eighth day of the first month in the first year of the Tianjian reign, dreamed that a sandalwood statue entered his realm. Consequently, he issued an edict recruiting people to go and welcome it. According to the Account of the Buddha's Travels in India and the two-fascicle King Udayana Sūtra, when the Buddha ascended to the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven for one summer retreat to preach the Dharma for his mother, the king and his ministers longed to see him. King Udayana dispatched thirty-two craftsmen bearing sandalwood, requesting the divine power of Mahāmaudgalyāyana to transport them there to depict the Buddha's likeness. Having accomplished what they wished, the depiction was finished and they returned. Seated, it was five feet high, and offerings have been made to it in Jetavana Temple up to the present. The emperor wished to welcome and invite this statue. At that time, General Hao Qian of Juesheng, Xie Wenhua, and others—eighty people in all—responded to the recruitment and arrived there, presenting their request in detail. The King of Śrāvastī said, 'This true image of the Central Realm cannot go to peripheral lands.' He then ordered thirty-two craftsmen to carve another statue out of red sandalwood, each person depicting one mark. Beginning their work at the hour of the rabbit, it was completed by noon. Its marks and signs were fully equipped, and the top of the statue emitted light, fine rain fell, and there was an extraordinary fragrance. Therefore, the King Udayana Sūtra says: 'Once the true body has hidden away, next the second statue appears, broadly bringing profound benefit to sentient beings'—which refers to this. Qian and the others carried the second statue on their backs and traveled tens of thousands of li, experiencing every hardship and barrier, difficult to recount in full. Moreover, they crossed the great ocean, braving wind and waves; following the waves to a mountain, their provisions were exhausted again. Many of the people and messengers they led died. Encountering all kinds of fierce beasts, they mindfully recited the Buddha's name with single-minded devotion. Then they heard the sound of armor behind the statue, and also heard the sound of a bell. Beside a cliff, there was a monk sitting upright beneath a tree. Qian climbed up carrying the statue and placed it before him. The monk rose and bowed to the statue, and Qian and the others bowed to the monk. The monk handed them a washing pitcher, having them drink, and all were filled and satisfied. The monk said, 'This statue is named Samyaksambuddha; King Kumbhīra has accompanied it here to perform great Buddha-work.' Within moments of speaking, he vanished. That night, all dreamed of seeing the spirit, and at dawn they jointly drew its likeness. On the fifth day of the fourth month in the tenth year of the Tianjian reign, Qian and the others arrived in Yangdu. The emperor and the hundred officials walked forty li on foot to welcome it back to the Taiji Hall. He established vegetarian retreats, ordained people, declared a general amnesty, and prohibited killing. All bows, knives, spears, and the like were refashioned into lotus and stūpa finials. Because of this, the emperor abstained from meat and severed sexual desires. In the fifth month of the third year of the Taiqing reign, he passed away. The Prince of Xiangdong ascended the throne in Jiangling with the reign title Yuanchengsheng; he sent people to escort it up from Yangdu to the Chengguang Hall in the capital of Jing to receive offerings. In the eighth year of the Dading reign of the Later Liang, the Daming Temple was built at Jingling north of the city, and the statue was placed there. It exists at present, and many copies have been made and circulated throughout the capitals and realm.
14.15
At the beginning of the Tianjian reign of the Liang founder, he established Guangzhai Temple at his former residence and made an eighteen-foot gold statue. Once the blueprint was completed, it did not deviate by the slightest fraction. When about to cast it, they suspected there would not be enough copper. Just as they were about to submit a request, an envoy suddenly arrived leading fifteen carts of copper, saying: 'By imperial decree, these are delivered to the monastery.' They then melted and poured it, and it was completed in a single casting, surpassing all in the realm. It was only noticed to be taller and larger; when they measured it to test, it was twenty-two feet tall. When a memorial was submitted to report the situation, [it was stated that] the casting of the statue had succeeded without altering the original design, yet all the copper successively delivered had been used up completely. Upon measuring it carefully again, it had increased by four feet. An edict said: 'We did not initially send the copper; by what cause did this happen? Is it not that the true likeness in sympathetic resonance uniquely manifests the divine and miraculous? It may be carved upon the lotus pedestal as a spiritual record.' Thus a full inscription was carved beneath its feet, and it remains there to this day. When the Liang founder built the hall of Da'aijing Temple on Mount Zhong for his father, miraculous signs of the great statue occurred; therefore, they are not recounted again here, as they are fully recorded in separate accounts. Many Liang Buddhist statues manifested divine wonders. The great stone statue of Shan County was originally made by a prince at the beginning of the Song dynasty. Initially, Dhyāna Master Tan'guang came from the north wandering among mountains and streams looking for a secluded dwelling; seeing this mountain lofty and beautiful, he built a small thatched hut upon the peak. He heard heavenly music and a voice from the sky saying: 'This is Buddha-ground; how can there suddenly be a vegetable garden here?' Hearing this, Guang moved south to Tiantai. Later, [people] carved it into a Buddha statue, but after accumulating years, it could never be completed. When King Jian'an of the Liang was ill, he had a dream that if he could complete the stone statue of Shan County, his illness could be cured. He then invited Vinaya Master Sengyou. When [Sengyou] arrived at the mountain and inspected the form and design, he was displeased that the previous work was too shallow and crude. Before his deliberation was finished, the mountain suddenly collapsed at night, crushing more than two hundred people. Inside it, the Buddha appeared; from the neck down, it was still inside the stone. They then chiseled away the loose rock until reaching the original body, whereupon they stopped. Once it was completely cleared away, the marks and signs were fully equipped. This was because the true likeness had originally been inside the stone, and by using craftsmanship to chisel away the rock, it was able to appear. Liu Xie, Secretariat drafter to the Liang Crown Prince, composed a stele before the statue.
14.16
After Emperor Wu, the founder of the Liang, ascended the throne, he venerated Buddhism and abolished the Daoist teachings. He frequently invited eminent monks to converse on the profound tenets. He also made two life-sized images, one in gold and one in silver, and paid homage to them morning and evening in the Chongyun Hall. For some fifty years, in winter and summer, he trod the stone during the six periods of the day without missing a single time; at the place where his feet trod the stone, the patterns of his ten toes became visible. His reign eventually came to an end. When Hou Jing usurped the throne, the offerings to them were still maintained. Grand Defender Wang Sengbian punished Jing and restored the Palace City. At that time Emperor Yuan was captured in Jiangling, leaving the region south of the Yangtze without a ruler. Sengbian thereupon entered into communication with the Qi and welcomed Xiao Yuanming, the Marquis of Zhenyang, to be emperor. At that time the Jiangzuo region was not yet settled, and factions vied for power. Sengbian dispatched his son-in-law Du Kan to command the palace guard. Kan was by nature violent and obstinate, having no regard for the future. He wished to destroy the two images to make ingots. First he ordered several tens of men to ascend the Sanxiu Pavilion and chisel the necks of the Buddhas. Just as their hammers and chisels were raised, both images turned their heads at once and glared at them. The arms of the men who were sent seemed to drop limp, so that they could not lift them. They were struck dumb as if drunk, and Du Kan was likewise affected. After a long while they woke up, only to be beaten and pummeled, their entire bodies bruised and swollen. They saw only frightening beings—Vajrapāṇis—vying to strike them. Moaning in agony, their whole bodies festered and rotted; pus and blood flowed freely, piercing the skin and exposing the bone, and they died. This was a recent event, known equally to both the clergy and the laity.
14.17
During the Tianping era of the Northern Wei, Sun Jingde, a conscripted soldier of Dingzhou, made a gilt-bronze image of Avalokiteśvara while serving garrison duty on the northern frontier. When his term was completed and he was about to return, he constantly paid homage to it. Later, he was falsely implicated by robbers and imprisoned in the capital jail. Unable to bear the flogging, he made a false confession and was sentenced to death. The execution was to be carried out the next morning. That night, he bowed, repented, and wept like rain, appealing: “If I am wronged in this life, it must be because in a past life I wronged others. I pray that my debt will be fully repaid, and I vow never to commit it again.” He also made great vows, and so forth. Soon after he finished speaking, indistinctly, as if in a dream, he saw a śramaṇa teaching him to recite the *Sūtra on Avalokiteśvara Saving Lives*. The sūtra contained names of Buddhas and bade him recite it a thousand times to cross over suffering and difficulty. Jingde suddenly awoke, sat up, and recited it from memory without the slightest error. By daybreak he had already reached a hundred times. The officials bound him and led him to the marketplace, and he recited as he walked. When the execution was imminent, he reached the full thousand recitations. The blade was brought down to strike, but it broke into three pieces without harming his skin or flesh. Another blade was substituted to strike again, and after three changes the edges broke as before. The supervising officials were all astonished and marveled. They reported the details to the court. The Chancellor Gao Huan memorialized the emperor to request his pardon, and so he was spared from death. An imperial edict was issued to transcribe this sūtra and propagate it; this is what is now known as the *Gao Wang Guanshiyin jing*. Jingde was released to return home, and he held a vegetarian feast to fulfill his vow. When he took out the image he had kept during his garrison duty, he saw three blade marks on its neck. His relatives and neighbors all witnessed it and sighed in admiration at its sympathetic efficacy. (Found in the *Qi zhi* and the *Jingyi ji*).
14.18
When Emperor Wu of the Chen died, his elder brother's son, Chen Qian, ascended the throne. When he was about to prepare the funeral and build the hearse, the state had just recently been established, and there was no leisure to undertake the project from scratch. Formerly, Emperor Wu of the Liang had erected the Chongyun Hall, wherein the scriptures and images were adorned with rare jewels outshining all other states. Although the mandate had passed to the Chen, the hall and its images remained. Chen Qian wished to take the pearl pendants from the Buddha canopy of the Chongyun Hall to ornament the burial. When the manpower was gathered and approached from all four directions simultaneously, they saw only clouds and vapors gathering and swirling about the Buddha hall, while the other directions were clear and overcast-free. The populace found it strange and raced to watch. In an instant, a heavy rain poured down, and thunder and lightning shook the area. Smoke spread from the owl-tail roof ornaments, and fire arrayed in the clouds, spreading blazing flames that surged high and low. Suddenly, the reflection of the Chongyun Hall appeared: the two images stood majestically, and the divine kings of the four classes along with the jeweled thrones ascended at once, accompanied by smoke and fire, and suddenly flew far away. The spectators from throughout the state all turned to faith. After the rain cleared, when they inspected the former site, only the plinths remained. Over a month later, someone came from the eastern islands saying that on that very day he had seen the image of the hall flying across the sea through the void. Nowadays, those who look out over the sea still catch sight of it at times. Furthermore, the pagoda of the Yongning Temple in Luoyang of the Wei dynasty, which was a thousand feet above the ground, was struck by lightning from heaven. Its image was similar, and someone on the Eastern Sea has occasionally seen traces of it.
14.19
At the end of the Northern Qi, the śramaṇa Senghu of Lingshi Temple in Jinzhou, who maintained the Way with a straightforward mind and did not seek intellectual wisdom, vowed to carve an eighteen-foot stone image. The monks all found his words boastful. Later, in the valley north of the temple, he saw a reclining stone roughly eighteen feet long, so he hired artisans to go there and make a Buddha. After about a year, the face and torso were roughly completed, but the back was still stuck to the ground. They tried to lever it up using six sets of devices, but it would not budge. Overnight, it turned over on its own. In the morning they looked upon it with joy, then completed the work and moved it to the Buddha hall. On the day Jinzhou fell, sweat flowed from the image onto the ground. When the Zhou troops entered the territory, they first burned down the temple and its pagoda. Although this image was consumed by fire, its color did not change at all; only two fingers were damaged. Later they wished to topple it, but sixty men and oxen pulled and hauled to no avail. Suddenly, an extraordinary monk whom no one recognized used tiles, wood, and earth bricks in a haphazard pile to surround it; in a moment it was finished, and the whereabouts of the monk were lost. Later, the image appeared in a dream to a believer, saying: “I suffer from finger pain.” The man realized what it meant and repaired it. When the Sui dynasty came to power, the temples were restored as before. In the fifteenth year of the Kaihuang era, someone stole its banners and canopies; that night he dreamed of an eighteen-foot person entering his room to reprimand him. Filled with shame and terror, the thief returned them. The image still exists today.
14.20
In the third year of the Jiande era of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou, out of jealousy and suspicion toward the Buddhadharma, he resolved to eradicate it, and the world fell into darkness. There was a man named Jiang Ming of Yizhou who was traveling at night on official business. While traveling in the mountains more than a hundred li north of the prefecture, he repeatedly saw a bright light on the mountain. Marveling at this, he followed the place of the light and found a reclining stone resembling the shape of a statue. He excavated it, but found it was iron ore that could not be chiseled, so its shape remained rough and uneven. It was roughly thirty feet tall, and when they wished to polish it, it could not be touched at all. Searching further down, they found a stone pedestal complete with socket holes. Together with the villagers, he levered it up. The image suddenly slid down, heading straight into the pedestal's socket, and stood erect. The multitude regarded it as an extraordinary auspicious omen and memorialized it to the throne. At that time, Emperor Tianyuan succeeded to the throne, and the sun of the Buddha was about to shine again; he changed the era name to Daxiang (“Great Image”), the first year, and established the Daxiang Temple at that location. When the founder of the Sui inaugurated his reign, he valued this historical site and renamed it the Xianchu Temple. Upon investigating its original place, it had never been inhabited by people, nor were there large stones or iron ore. Was this not a manifestation brought about by King Aśoka's divine power? The Great Tang followed this without changing it. Toward the end of the Zhenguan era, a palace was established to the west of the temple, called Yuhua. The image remained at its old location, inside the park thirty li east of the palace. Emperor Taizong once went there to pay homage; displeased that it was not adorned, he donated goods to embellish it. During the Yonghui era, the palace was converted into a temple, still named Yuhua, which now belongs to Fangzhou. On overcast evenings it frequently emits radiant omens; clergy and laity witness them frequently, so they no longer find them astonishing.
14.21
As for the processional image of the Huayan Temple on Mount Xian in Xiangzhou during the Zhou: it had been a wooden image since ancient times, and its origins were unknown. Its face and head were exceptionally beautiful, and people gazed upon it without end. It was about fifty feet tall. Its past miraculous verifications will not be recounted in full here. When the Zhou eradicated the Dharma, people hid its head. In the Kaihuang era of the Sui, it was brought out and adorned as before as a seated image, called the Buddha Rocana, serving as a sanctuary where people prayed for blessings each year. When Emperor Wen of the Sui was about to die, mucus flowed from both of its nostrils, soiling its breast; the gold foil peeled away, and the flowing mucus shone. When wiped, no dust was left, but upon looking at it, it seemed like mucus again. In the fourth month of the twenty-third year of the Zhenguan era, mucus again flowed continuously, spreading over an area of a square foot across the breast. At first, no one understood it; only later, when Emperor Taizong passed away, did they realize it had been an omen. In the sixth month, the mucus flowed again, and the entire prefecture was terrified, not knowing what calamity would strike. In the seventh month, the Han River flooded, overflowing into the city walls to a depth of over ten feet, drowning many people. The image is now in this temple, and prayers there are earnest. (According to local custom in Xiangyang, those with few children all go to pray to it, and their wishes are fulfilled for boys or girls according to their intent).
14.22
During the Kaihuang era of the Sui, the Buddha hall of the Xinghuang Temple in Jiangzhou was consumed by fire. Directly in the center stood a sixteen-foot gilt-bronze great image along with two bodhisattvas, both sixteen feet tall. The model had been crafted by Dai Yong, and it stood directly beneath the main ridgepole. At that time, the blaze was raging fiercely; the multitude held their hands together and lamented that the great image would melt away. Suddenly, it arose and moved one pace to the south, whereupon the ridgepole and beams collapsed downward, and the image was preserved intact. On all four sides, the brick, wood, and charcoal were five or six feet away from the image's body. Although scorched by fire, its golden color did not change. Beneath the pedestal was an inscription. The multitude was amazed, and cries of admiration filled the streets. It has now been moved to the Baima Temple, where birds do not tread upon it. In the second year of the Yonghui era of the Tang, thieves who coveted the bronze of the image sawed through the window lattice to pull it out, but their wrists became caught; they tried to pull free but could not escape. When morning came, a monk questioned them, and the thieves said: “There was a man dressed in white inside the hall who seized our hands, and we could not break free.”
14.23
The stone shadow-image of the Riyansi Temple in the capital during the Sui: It is octagonal in form, the color of amethyst, eight inches high and five inches in diameter, translucent inside and out. Formerly, in the Taiqing era of Emperor Wu of the Liang, a Western monk brought it; encountering the rebellion of Hou Jing, he placed it atop an image at the Xilin Temple on Mount Lu in Jiangzhou. In the tenth year of the Kaihuang era of the Sui, Emperor Yang was stationed in Yangyue and widely sought extraordinary treasures, gathering all the writings and records of the region south of the Yangtze. In a miscellaneous record, he found the account of this shadow-image, and immediately ordered the Gentleman of the Retinue Wang Yanshou to go to the temple to search for and acquire it. Ever since he was Prince of Jin, whenever he traveled, he always kept it in a black-lacquered box and had a man on horseback carry it before him. Later, after being made heir apparent, he sent it to the Riyansi Temple at Quchi, ordering the temple to lock it away after viewing and not let outsiders see it. The temple had been built by the emperor himself. Toward the end of the Daye era, the realm was in turmoil. The monks of the capital frequently came to view it, but some living in this temple did not yet believe in or venerate it, merely seeing a glittering golden light within the stone that faintly resembled a Buddha image. They saw that eminent and virtuous monks gave differing accounts, all saying: “The features and marks are clearly distinct, never obscure.” Always lamenting that they themselves could see nothing, they purified themselves and performed a special seven-day repentance; thereafter, looking at it as before, they saw a silver pagoda, and looking again, a silver Buddha. When clergy and laity viewed it together, they often saw different things: some saw Buddha pagodas and bodhisattvas, some saw assemblies of monks seated in rows, some saw curtains, canopies, banners, and pennants, some saw mountains, forests, and the eight classes of beings, some saw the suffering aspects of the three realms of woe, and some saw the living and deceased across seven generations. In a single viewing, it was either stable or changing; although good and bad appeared alternately, auspicious signs were abundant. Therefore, those who came to pray made vows beforehand, specifying what form they had taken in the past and where they would be reborn, and it manifested according to their words. Truly, it is the karmic mirror of the unseen realms! In the seventh month of the sixth year of the Zhenguan era, an imperial decree ordered that it be brought into the palace for worship.
14.24
As for the Four-faced Buddha of the Shahe County Temple in Xingzhou during the Sui: In the time of the founder of the Sui, someone entered the mountains and saw a monk guarding this Buddha, whose bronze body was over three feet high. He requested it, and the monk agreed; thereupon the monk's whereabouts were lost. When people from various places heard of it, they vied with one another to pull and haul it, but none could lift it. Only the monks of the Shahe Temple pulled it, and it followed their hands all the way to the temple. Later, someone found a piece of gold beside the temple with two crow forms on it and an inscription saying: “Intended to measure the Four-faced Buddha.” When they measured it accordingly, the body of the image was entirely covered in crow forms, and then it was suddenly lost. Light repeatedly appeared in a pond beside the temple, and upon searching, it was scooped out. Later rulers of the Sui, hearing of this, dispatched artisans to cast an imitation, but they could not succeed. After more than two hundred days it was finally cast, but in the end there was a flaw, so they abandoned the attempt.
14.25
During the Sui dynasty, there was a monk named Faqing at Ningguan Temple. In the third year of the Kaihuang reign era, he made a standing dry-lacquer statue of Śākyamuni sixteen feet in height. Before the work on the statue was finished, Faqing suddenly died. On that very day, at Baochang Temple, another monk named Dazhi also died, but after three days he revived. He then said to the monks of his temple: 'Before King Yama, I saw the monk Faqing looking extremely distressed. A short while later, I saw this statue come before the king. The king hastily ran down the steps and joined his palms in reverence to the statue. The statue said to the king: "Faqing was making me, and now it is still not finished; why have you caused him to die?" The king looked around and summoned a subordinate, asking: "Is it Faqing’s time to die or not?" The subordinate replied: "His life was not yet destined to end, but his provisions of food were exhausted." The king said: "You may grant him lotus leaves so that he may complete his meritorious endeavor." Suddenly they were gone.' When Dazhi revived, he related this to the monks of his temple. They then sent someone to Ningguan Temple to look; in a moment, they saw Faqing revive as well. What he recounted did not differ in the least from Dazhi's words. After Faqing revived, he constantly ate lotus leaves, finding them delicious; but whenever he ate other food, he could never swallow it. Several years after the statue was completed, he passed away. The statue's marks were perfectly rounded, and it frequently emitted light. Although this temple is now abandoned, the statue still exists.
14.26
During the Wude reign era of the Tang dynasty, in Ciwuchuan to the southwest of Fangzhou, there was a man named Hao Ji, who was by nature faithful and reverent. Seeing a herd of deer constantly gathered on the mountain, which returned whenever driven away, he found it extraordinary and excavated the place where the deer lingered. There he obtained a stone statue about fourteen feet tall. He moved it out to the village within the river valley, where it still exists today. After the statue emerged, the herd of deer dispersed. The elders handed down the tradition that forty statues were concealed here in the time of Kāśyapa Buddha. Although two have now appeared, the rest remain hidden in the mountains. Its form is similar to the iron-ore statue east of Yuhua today; it cannot be decorated with pigment, so they say.
14.27
In the ninth month of the seventeenth year of the Zhenguan reign era of the Tang dynasty, Li Xiyu, the Area Commander of Liangzhou, while patrolling his territory, reached the boundary of Changquan County to the southeast of the prefecture. There was an inscription on a stone tablet totaling one hundred and ten characters, which included such words as 'Seven Buddhas', 'Eight Bodhisattvas', 'Supreme Fruit', and 'Buddha-field'. He memorialized the matter to the throne in a report. An imperial decree was issued ordering a reinvestigation, which found everything just as he had reported. Orders were handed down to the responsible officials to dispatch an urgent imperial edict granting the Liangzhou Area Command a one-year exemption from taxes and corvée, and pardoning criminals.
14.28
A hundred li west of Yuzhou in the Tang dynasty, on the rocky mountain north of Xiangsi Temple, there are twelve footprints of the Buddha. All are about three feet long, one foot one inch wide, and nine inches deep, with fish patterns in their centers. They are seen more than ten paces north of the Buddha hall, where monks reside. In the tenth month of the twentieth year of the Zhenguan reign era, suddenly lotus flowers emerged from the spring beside the temple. Their form was red, complete with stamens and calyxes, and as large as three feet across. When lifted out face-down, they were like mucous, but upon entering the water they formed flowers. Travelers on boats coming and going were all amazed. They did not disappear for a whole month. Xiangsi Temple gained its name from this. Another account says there is also such a temple in Fuzhou. The temple was originally impoverished, but because of this sympathetic resonance that drew offerings, it has remained prosperous ever since. Formerly, during the Qi dynasty, the Son of Heaven's Well east of the city wall of Jingzhou produced brocade; at that time men and women took and used it, no different from human-woven brocade, and it only ceased after a month. Thus we know that such emergences are not truly strange (as recounted in Wu Jun’s Qi chunqiu and Xiao Cheng’s Jingnan zhi).
14.29
To the northeast of Xunzhou in the Tang dynasty, at Xingning County, upon the stone north of Lingkan Temple, there are thirty traces of the Buddha's footprints, the largest being five feet or less in length. Xunzhou lies within a river basin, two hundred li from east to west and one hundred li from north to south. The temple is exceedingly well-endowed. Recently a bronze cache was discovered: three feet across, it yielded over a hundred braziers, plates, boxes, and the like. Its inscription reads: 'If monks obtain it, blessing shall flourish; if the laity obtain it, disaster shall arrive.' Ancient tradition relates that in the Jin dynasty, a northern monk lived in seclusion in this mountain. Wandering to Dahong Ridge at the site of the Buddha's footprints, he found a great stone grotto where flowers and fruit grew luxuriantly, and he stayed overnight. The mountain deity manifested an uncanny apparition to frighten him, but his mind remained steadfast and unmoved, saying: 'This place cannot be dwelled in; mountain ghosts frequently come.' Looking toward the rocky mountain ahead, it reached into the clouds and covered the sun. He then went and ascended it, but looking down into the sheer abyss, it was impossible to cross to the other side. He returned to Xingning and spoke of it. During the Song dynasty, two monks, knowing of the previous failure to reach it, bravely resolved to search again. These monks recited the Lotus Sūtra; their moral discipline was pure and firm, able to subdue gods and ghosts, even to the point where the spirits manifested their forms to receive the precepts along with their dependents. Looking toward the cliff ahead, there was an extraordinary radiance. Separated by about ten feet, both above and below were sheer cliffs. The monks laid timber as a bridge and crossed to look; there they saw ten wondrous footprints, their color like human flesh, appearing upon the rock. In the third year of the Zhenguan reign era, yet another footprint appeared, emitting light and fully endowed with the wheel mark. Today, those who view them see different numbers. Thus Lingkan [Spiritual Shrine] was established to capture this wonder. Inquiring into its origin, during the Song dynasty a Wang family donated an orchard to make a temple, which is where the ancient hall still stands today.
14.30
Li Da'an of Longxi during the Tang dynasty was the elder brother of Li Daliang, Minister of Works. During the Wude reign era, Daliang served as the Area Commander-General of Yuezhou, and Da'an traveled from the capital to visit him. Daliang sent several servants to accompany his brother. On his return, he reached Muchao in Guzhou and lodged at an inn. One of the servants plotted to murder Da'an. Waiting until he was fast asleep after midnight, the servant stabbed Da'an through the neck with a small sword, piercing completely through so that the blade struck the bed. The servant then fled without pulling it out. Startled awake, Da'an called his servants. The servants who had not rebelled wished to pull the blade out, but Da'an said: 'If you pull the blade, I will die instantly. First fetch paper and brush so I may finish writing a letter.' The county magistrate also arrived; they then pulled out the blade, washed the wound, and applied medicine. Da'an subsequently lost consciousness. Suddenly, as if in a dream, he saw an object over a foot long, four or five inches wide and thick, shaped like pork, hovering about two feet above the ground, coming in through the door to the front of his bed. A voice from within it said: 'Hurry and return my pork!' Da'an said: 'I do not eat pork; on what account do I owe you?' At once a voice outside the door was heard saying: 'A mistake; it is not him.' The object immediately turned and went out through the door. Da'an then saw a pool of water in the courtyard, clear, shallow, and lovely. On the western bank of the pool stood a golden statue, about five inches tall. In an instant it gradually grew larger and transformed into a monk wearing a kāṣāya, exceedingly fresh and clean. He said to Da'an: 'Were you injured? I shall now take away the pain for you. You will recover; return home, be mindful of the Buddha, and cultivate goodness.' He then stroked the wound on Da'an's neck with his hand and departed. Da'an observed his appearance: on the monk's back, a patch of red silk was sewn onto the kāṣāya, about a square inch in size, very distinct. Soon after, Da'an woke up and revived; the wound was no longer painful, and he was able to sit up and eat. A dozen days later, younger kinsmen from the capital household came to welcome him home. When family and kin came to see him, Da'an recounted the circumstances of his injury and the incident of seeing the statue. A maidservant standing by heard this and said: 'When our master first set out, the mistress sent me to a statue maker to fashion a Buddha statue. When the statue was finished and painted on its robes, a drop of vermilion stained the back of the statue. When I asked the artisan to remove it, he refused. It is still there now, exactly in the form the master described.' Da'an then went with his wife and family to look at the statue; it was identical to what he had seen, with no difference. The spot on the back corresponded precisely to the patched place. Thereupon, marveling at the wonder and knowing with conviction that the sacred teachings are not false, he deepened his devotion to the Buddha's Dharma, paying ever more earnest reverence, and lived for many more years before dying. Since the eastward transmission of the Buddha's Dharma, the sympathetic resonances of efficacious statues are too numerous to recount fully; they are briefly set down as above (the single verification above is from the Mingbao ji).
14.31
Inside the Wuzhong garrison town of Yuyang County in Youzhou during the Tang dynasty, there were about a hundred households. In the fourth month of summer in the second year of the Longshuo reign era, a fire broke out in the garrison town; the gate towers and the dwellings of the people were all reduced to ashes. Only two vihāras, a stūpa, and the paper blinds, rush mats, and similar furnishings on the Buddha shrines—wherever there were Buddha statues—alone did not catch fire. Unburned by the flames, they stood towering and solitary. Among the people of the time who saw it, none failed to sigh in wonder, believing it to be upheld by the Buddha's power. Lang Yuling of Zhongshan, having held office there, and an officer from Qi Commandery, an acquaintance of his elder brother Yuqing, who had traveled on a mission to Yingzhou, both personally witnessed this event and related it in full to Yuling.
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Linked texts (1)
- 法苑珠林 — 道世, Classical Chinese