法苑珠林 97.57

97.57

In the Han dynasty, the Puti Temple was established by people from the Western Regions and was located in Muyi Ward. The śramaṇa Duoduo, digging up a tomb to take bricks, found a living person and sent him [to the court]. At that time, the Empress Dowager and Emperor Ming of the Han were in the Hualin Central Hall. Considering it an ominous anomaly, she asked the Gentleman of the Yellow Gate, Xu He: 'Has there ever been such an occurrence since high antiquity?' Xu He replied: 'Formerly, in the Wei dynasty, a tomb was opened and a household slave of Fan Pengyou, the son-in-law of Huo Guang, was found; he spoke of the depositions and successions of the Han dynasty in accord with the historical records. It is not worthy of wonder.' The Empress Dowager ordered Xu He to inquire of his surname and given name, how many years had passed since his death, and what he had eaten and drunk. The dead man answered: 'Your servant's surname is Cui, given name Han, styled Zihong, a native of Anping in Boling. My father was named Chang, and my mother was surnamed Wei. Our home was in Cai-wharf Ward, west of the city. I was fifteen when I died, and now I am twenty-seven. During these twelve years beneath the earth, I always felt as though lying in a drunken sleep, with nothing to eat. At times I wandered about and occasionally encountered food and drink, as if in a dream, without understanding it clearly.' The Empress Dowager immediately dispatched the Chief Clerk of the Chancellery, Zhang Jun, to Cai-wharf Ward to search for Han's parents. There indeed were Cui Chang and his wife, Lady Wei. Jun asked Chang: 'Do you have a dead son?' Chang said: 'I had a son, Zihong, who died at the age of fifteen.' Jun said: 'He was dug up by someone, has revived today, and is in Hualin Garden. The sovereign has sent me to inquire of you.' Hearing this, Chang was terrified and said: 'I truly have no such son; what I said earlier was a mistake.' Jun returned and reported the truth to the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager dispatched Jun to escort Han home. When Chang heard Han had arrived at the gate, he lit a fire and held a knife in his hand, while Lady Wei held a peach branch to ward him off, saying: 'You must not come here! I am not your father, and you are not my son. Leave immediately, and you may escape calamity!' Han thereupon departed and wandered in the lanes of the capital, often sleeping beneath temple gates. The Prince of Runan bestowed a suit of yellow clothes upon him. By nature, he feared the sun and did not look up at the sky; he also feared water, fire, weapons, and the like. He always ran along the road, stopping only when exhausted, never walking slowly. People of the time still considered him a ghost. North of the Great Market of Luoyang lay Fengzhong Ward, where most residents sold funeral equipment, coffins, and vaults. Han said to them: 'For cypress coffins, do not use mulberry wood for the rims.' When asked why, Han said: 'Beneath the earth, I saw the conscription of ghost soldiers. One ghost claimed: "Mine is a cypress coffin, so I should be exempt from military service." The official said: "Though yours is a cypress coffin, its rim is of mulberry wood." Thus, he was not exempt from conscription.' When this was heard in the capital, cypress wood soared in value. People suspected that coffin sellers had transformed Han or incited him to speak these words. (Appears in the Record of the Monasteries of Luoyang.)