法苑珠林 75.50

75.50

In the Jin dynasty, Ping Xiaojiang of Dongping served as the Grand Administrator of Guangzhou. His son was named Mazi, aged twenty-odd, who slept alone in the stables. At night he dreamed of a girl aged eighteen or nineteen, who said: 'I am the daughter of Xu Xuanfang of Beihai, the former administrator. Unfortunate to die young, it has been four years since my death. I was wrongfully killed by a ghost. According to the Master of Records, I am destined to live past eighty, and I am permitted to revive. I must have someone to rely upon, Mazi, before I can come back to life, and I am destined to be your wife. Can you comply with my request and save my life?' Mazi replied: 'I can.' She set a date with Mazi for her emergence. When the day came, hair emerged from the ground in front of his bed, level with the floor. He ordered people to sweep it away, but it grew even clearer. Only then did he realize it was the one he had seen in his dream. He dismissed his attendants, and gradually her forehead emerged, then her face, then her neck and body all emerged at once. Mazi had her sit on the couch facing him, and she spoke of extraordinary matters. She then slept with Mazi, always admonishing: 'I am still ethereal, and must restrain myself.' When asked when she could fully emerge, she replied: 'My emergence must coincide with my original birth; the day of my birth has not yet arrived.' She then went to the stables, and everyone could hear the sound of her voice. When the girl calculated that her birth date had arrived, she fully instructed Mazi on the method to care for her after she emerged. Having spoken, she bowed and departed. Mazi followed her words. When the day came, with one red cock, a plate of millet, and a sheng of clear wine, he performed a libation before her grave, more than ten paces from the stables. The sacrifice completed, he dug up the coffin and opened it to look; the girl's body and features were completely intact, as before. Slowly he carried her out and placed her inside a felt tent; only below her heart was faint warmth, and her mouth had breath. He ordered four maidservants to attend and protect her, constantly dripping the milk of a blue-black goat into her eyes. Only then did she open her mouth and manage to swallow gruel. Gradually she was able to speak, within two hundred days she arose to walk with a staff, and after a full year her complexion, flesh, and vigor were completely restored to normal. He then sent word to the Xu clan, and everyone high and low came. Selecting an auspicious day, they presented betrothal gifts and wed as husband and wife. She bore two sons and one daughter. The eldest son was styled Yuanqing, who served as a Gentleman of the Palace in the Palace Library in the early Yongjia era; the younger son was styled Jingdu, who served as an aide to the Grand Tutor. The daughter married Liu Ziyan of Jinan, the grandson of the summoned scholar Yanshi. (The two verifications above are from the *Xu soushen ji*.)