大唐內典錄 10.57

10.57

The monk Yisu: his dwelling place was unknown. He wandered through the mountains and plains of Liquan, making the recitation of the Lotus Sūtra his practice, chanting it several thousand times. During the Zhenguan era, nearing his end due to illness, he told his friend, Chan Master Huikuo, "Lately, although I have recited sūtras, I hoped for a sign. If I am reborn in a good realm, my tongue root will not decay. You may bury me for ten years and then exhume me. If the tongue has decayed and perished, know that the recitation had no merit; if the tongue remains as before, build a stūpa for me to inspire faith and reverence in the worldly." Having spoken, he died. In the eleventh year, they exhumed him according to his words. The flesh of his body was entirely gone, yet only the tongue was undecayed. The gentlemen and women of the entire county all revered and admired it. They placed the tongue in a casket and built a large stūpa on the bank of Gangu.