法苑珠林 14.5

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.