法苑珠林 78.48

78.48

Emperor Wu of the Liang wished to build a temple above the mausoleum of Emperor Wen, but lacked fine timber. He made his intention known to the officials, ordering them to search for it. Previously, there was a man of Qu'a surnamed Hong whose personal name is forgotten; his family was very wealthy. Together with his relatives, he took a great deal of wealth and goods and went to Xiangzhou to engage in trade. Over the course of several years, he managed to procure a raft about a thousand paces long, of magnificent timber rarely seen in the world. When he returned to Nanjin, Meng Shaoqing, the Commandant of Nanjin, seeking to flatter the court's wishes, applied the law with extreme severity. Because Mr. Hong still had some leftover clothing, silks, and coloured fabrics that he had been selling, Shaoqing falsely accused him of having obtained them through highway robbery, and also charged him with constructing [a raft] that exceeded proper regulations, which was inappropriate for a merchant. He reached a final conviction sentencing him to death and confiscating the raft for the state to use for the temple. His memorial was subsequently approved and carried out. On the day of his execution, Hong instructed his wife and children: 'You may place one hundred sheets of yellow paper together with brush and ink in my coffin. If there is consciousness after death, I will surely lodge a complaint.' He also wrote Shaoqing's name several dozen times and swallowed the paper. After about a month, while Shaoqing was sitting upright, he saw Hong coming. At first he still tried to ward him off, but later gradually submitted in confession, merely crying out, 'Mercy!' and vomiting blood until he died. All the prison officials and court recorders who had participated in this judicial case or signed the memorial passed away one after another; before a year had elapsed, they had all perished. When the construction of Huangji Temple was just completed, heavenly fire burned it, leaving practically not a speck behind; the pillar timbers buried in the ground turned to ash.