法苑珠林 76.66

76.66

In the time of Emperor Ming of the Han, there were barbarians of the Tan country who were skilled in illusions, able to swap the heads of oxen and horses. [The emperor] viewed this together with his ministers, taking it for laughter and amusement. And during the Three Kingdoms period, in Wu, there was a man named Xu Guang, whose origins are unknown. He constantly practiced illusionary arts. In the marketplace, he begged a melon from a man, whose owner would not give it to him. He then asked for the seed, dug the ground, and planted it. In the blink of an eye, the melon sprouted; shortly after, it spread vines and bloomed; shortly after, it bore fruit. The common people all gazed at it. When the melon was fully formed, he picked and ate it, and distributed it to the onlookers. When the earlier melon seller turned around to look, all of his melon stock had vanished. Things such as oranges, pomelos, jujubes, and chestnuts were also treated like this; his illusions were all of this kind.