法苑珠林 67.62

67.62

At the beginning of the Tang, the pagoda of Daci Temple in Xiangzhou was burned down. Because bandits arose concurrently at the end of the Daye era, and the temple was situated on Mount Getang, west of the Sanjue Terrace, people from the four rural districts came to seek refuge, building walls to defend it solidly. People and property crowded together so that not an inch of ground was empty; the upper and lower levels of the pagoda were packed full repeatedly. Within it, the filth was unbearable to see or smell. After the bandits were pacified, the people dispersed, and the temple monks lacked the strength to clear it away. Suddenly a fire arose, burning and scouring inside and outside until everything was completely consumed; only the hall of the Prince's Contemplation statue at the southeast corner remained preserved. This can be called purification by fire to remove the foul filth. This pagoda was originally established by imperial decree of Emperor Gaozu of the Sui. Initially, when the Sui mandate first arrived, the empire had not yet submitted. Yuchi Jiong, Duke of Wu, was a pillar minister of the Zhou who guarded Hebei and served as shepherd of the old capital; hearing that the Yang clan ruled the charts, his heart did not consent, and on that very day he gathered forces, took up arms, and cursed the imperial edict. Once the government troops arrived, his great formation collapsed. They gathered and captured nearly one million captives, amassing them all in the Youyu Garden north of the temple. The next morning, they were to be beheaded; there was an opening in the garden wall, and those who escaped were let go. By dawn, it was cut off; there were still six hundred thousand people, and all were beheaded on the bank of the Zhang River. Their floating corpses filled the water so that the water ceased to flow. The river ran with blood for a month, and ghosts wept night after night, their grief and resentment piercing to people. When this was reported, the Emperor said, 'In this single execution, there was great injustice and excess. The bandit was only Yuchi Jiong; the rest were all coerced. At that time, feelings of pity were felt by all who knew of this matter. At the beginning of the dynasty, circumstances did not permit releasing them. Daci Temple may be erected on Mount Getang south of the Youyu Garden, dismantling the Sanjue Terrace to build it. In the six periods of paying homage to the Buddha, add one prostration for those who died unjustly in the garden.' When the temple was completed and the monks took up residence, they paid homage and chanted according to the decree; the sounds of resentful weeping suddenly ceased all at once. (In the cases cited above, descendants witnessed them in succession and knew them personally. Trusting and receiving the Buddha's teaching on the retribution of good and evil, one verifies that it is not false. If I kill, I must repay; how could there be any error in this?)