釋氏要覽 3.328

3.328

北人亡。至三日。必齋僧。謂之見王齋。法苑云。唐中山郎元休撰冥報拾遺記云。北齊仕人姓梁。將死告其妻曰。吾生所愛奴。并馬皆為殉。既死家以土囊壓奴。死至第四日。奴還魂言地府見郎主。被鎖械人衛謂某曰。我謂同死。得儞使喚。故囑儞來。今各自受。必告放儞迴。言訖驅入府。奴於屏外窺聞。官問衛者曰。昨日壓得多少脂。對曰八斗。官曰今日壓石六尋便牽出至明旦見有喜色謂奴曰。今日必告。放儞既入府。奴復窺聽。官問壓脂。衛人對曰。以此人死經三日。妻子設齋。眾僧作唄轉經。鐵梁輒折故。壓脂不得。官稱善尋告放還。乃囑曰。傳語妻子。賴汝營齋追薦。獲免大苦。猶未全脫。更告營齋。福相救。慎勿殺生祭奠。又不得食但益吾罪。

When a northerner dies, on the third day they must host a feast for monks, calling it the "Fast for Meeting the King." The Fayuan zhulin states: "The Mingbao shiyi ji, written by Lang Yuanxiu of Zhongshan during the Tang, says: A scholar-official of the Northern Qi surnamed Liang was about to die and told his wife: 'The servant I loved most in life, along with my horse, must both be buried with me.' After he died, the family pressed the servant to death with bags of earth. On the fourth day, the servant's soul returned and said that in the netherworld he saw his master shackled in irons with guards. The master said to him: 'I thought that if we died together, I would have you to order about, so I bade you come; now each receives [his own retribution]. I will certainly plead for you to be released back.' Having spoken, he was driven into the administrative hall. Peering from outside a screen, the servant heard the official ask the guards: 'How much fat was pressed out yesterday?' They replied: 'Eight pecks.' The official said: 'Today press him with rocks of six fathoms.' He was then dragged out. The next morning, seeing the master with a joyful countenance, he said to the servant: 'Today I will certainly plead to have you released.' Having entered the hall, the servant again listened in. The official asked about the pressed fat, and the guards replied: 'Because this man has been dead for three days, his wife and children arranged a fast, and the assembly of monks performed chants and chanted sūtras; the iron beams suddenly snapped, so we could get no pressed fat.' The official praised this, and soon pleaded for [the servant] to be released back. The master then instructed him: 'Take word to my wife and children: thanks to your holding a fast to make dedications, I have escaped great torment, though I am not yet completely free. Plead with them further to arrange fasts; such merit will save me. Be careful not to slaughter living beings for sacrifices, and they must not eat [the meat], for it only increases my offenses.'"