大唐內典錄 10.47

10.47

Formerly, during the Tianping era of the Northern Yuan Wei, Sun Jingde, a recruited soldier from Dingzhou, made an image of Avalokiteśvara while on border defense. When his term of service ended and he was about to return home to worship it, he was later implicated by bandits. Unable to endure the torture, he falsely confessed to the crime. On the eve of his scheduled execution the following day, he wept and performed repentance. Suddenly, as if in a dream, he saw a monk who taught him to recite the Life-Saving Avalokiteśvara Sūtra. The sūtra contained the names of various buddhas and instructed that reciting it a thousand times would allow one to escape suffering and distress. When Jingde awoke, what had occurred in the dream was completely clear without any error. Thereupon, he recited it one hundred times. The officials bound him and led him toward the market square; he walked while reciting. As he approached the execution ground, he reached one thousand recitations. When the blade came down to strike him, it broke into three pieces. His skin and flesh were unharmed; they changed the blade and struck again. Altogether the blade was changed three times, and each broke as before. The supervising officials questioned him, and he related the entire affair from beginning to end. They reported the situation to Prime Minister Gao Huan, who submitted a memorial requesting his exemption from death. Because of this, it circulated widely in the world, being what is known as the Gaowang Avalokiteśvara Sūtra. When Jingde returned, he held a vegetarian feast to welcome the statue, and then he saw three blade marks on its neck. This appears in the Book of Qi.