出三藏記集 8.63

8.63

智猛傳云。毘耶離國有大小乘學不同。帝利城次華氏邑有婆羅門。氏族甚多。其稟性敏悟歸心大乘。博攬眾典無不通達。家有銀塔。縱廣八尺高三丈。四龕銀像高三尺餘。多有大乘經。種種供養。婆羅門問猛言。從何來。答言。秦地來。又問。秦地有大乘學不。即答。皆大乘學。其乃驚愕雅歎云。希有。將非菩薩往化耶。智猛即就其家得泥洹胡本。還於涼州出得二十卷。

The biography of Zhimeng says: In the country of Vaiśālī, there were different schools of Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna. Next to the city of Pāṭaliputra, in the city of Dilicheng, there was a Brahmin of very numerous lineage. By nature he was sharp and perceptive, with a mind devoted to Mahāyāna; he read widely among all scriptures, thoroughly comprehending everything. In his home was a silver stūpa, eight feet wide and thirty feet high, with silver images in four niches over three feet high; he possessed many Mahāyāna sūtras and made various offerings to them. The Brahmin asked Meng, 'Where do you come from?' Meng answered, 'I come from the land of Qin.' He asked again, 'Is there Mahāyāna learning in the land of Qin?' Meng immediately replied, 'It is all Mahāyāna learning.' He was astonished, praised it elegantly, and said, 'Extraordinary! Could it be that bodhisattvas have gone to transform it?' Zhimeng then obtained the Hu original of the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] from his home, returned to Liangzhou, and produced twenty fascicles.