法苑珠林 31.73

31.73

The wife of Wang Chengshi of Langye, Lady Xie of Chen Commandery, gave birth to a son whose infant name was Nuzi. Years later, Wang took his wife's maidservant Zhaoli as a concubine. In the eighth year of the Yuanjia reign (431 CE), Lady Xie died of illness. Wang's ancestral tomb was in Kuaiji, so she was temporarily buried at the eastern hillock of Jiankang. Having completed the return rite of the spirit carriage, her soul tablet was brought into the house and placed upon a table. Suddenly it was hurled from the air to the ground, and there was an angry voice saying, 'Why did you not make dirges, leaving me to set out on the road in silence?' Chengzhi said, 'It is because this is not your permanent burial that the full rites were not provided.' (The preceding two verifications are from the Yiyuan.)