---
title: "紫柏尊者別集 · 傳略"
description: "紫柏尊者別集由明代学者钱谦益纂阅，是佛教重要文献之一。紫柏真可是明代四大高僧之一，主张禅净双修，影响深远。该书收录其语录、书信、诗文等，内容涵盖禅宗思想、修行法门及佛教义理，体现其融合各宗的弘法理念。钱谦益作为明末清初文坛领袖，对文本进行整理校勘，使之更具权威性。该集在佛教史上地位显著，是研究明代佛教思想及紫柏尊者生平的重要资料，对后世禅宗发展有深远影响。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cma0rbjwp00kxl104vqbjydy6"
---

師諱真可。達觀其字也。晚自號紫栢。萬曆中。慈聖皇太后。欽師道風。上亦雅知師。謂若此真可名一僧。師遂取以更其名云。世家吳江之攤缺。沈姓。父連。字季子。其先句曲人。師生有異徵。雄猛不可羈紲。稍長。志益大。飲酒恃氣。慕古游俠之行。他日自言。吾本殺猪屠狗之夫。葢道其實也。年十七。辭親隻行。願立功名。塞上行至郡城楓橋。天大雨不得前。虎丘僧明覺者。過視。壯其貌。問知遠行。因以葢接之歸。具晚餐。夜臥。聞僧誦八十八佛名號。心忽開悅。侵晨起。告覺願出家。遂解腰纏治齋。覺即白眾為祝髮。因禮覺為師。是夜即兀坐達旦。覺欲募鐵萬斤鑄大鐘。師乃獨身往平湖。趺坐一巨室門外。主人進食。不食。問何為。曰願得鐵萬斤。鑄大鐘。鎮虎丘山寺。主人立𢌿鐵如募。師為舉食。竟載之歸。閉戶讀書。歲餘不越閫。年二十。從講師受具戒。掩關武塘景德寺。三年。辭覺包腰參訪。聞僧誦張拙秀才偈。至斷除忘想重增病。趨向真如亦是邪。曰何不云方病無不是邪。僧哂之。師大疑。到處書二語于壁。迷悶至頭面俱腫。一日齋次忽悟。頭面立消。曰使我在臨濟德山座下。一掌便醒。自是氣宇凌鑠諸方矣。初祖西來。以楞伽印心。從上祖家。皆精其義。立為綱宗。勘󳮱來學。宋洪覺範憂末法失傳。遂為智證傳。僧寶傳諸書。以撰述佛祖旨訣。其書世多未見。師𢯱得古本大喜。因遊匡山。深究相宗精義。已而遊五臺。至峭壁空巖。有老宿孤坐。師作禮問。一念未生時如何。宿竪一指。又問。既生後如何。宿屐兩手。師於言下領旨。尋跡之失其處。至京師參徧融大老。融問。何來。曰從江南來。來此何事。曰習講。又問習講何事。曰貫通經旨。代佛揚化。融曰。能清淨說法乎。曰至今不染一塵。融命師解直裰施旁僧。攬其裏曰。脫却一層還一層也。師笑頷之。遂留。時與知識嘯巖。法主暹理諸公。參證所得。乃歸省覺去。辭覺時已九年。師見道法陵遲。五家綱宗墜地。以負荷大法為己事。倡刻大藏。廣其流布。日以智證傳一書囑付傳習。或時教人專持毗舍浮佛偈。謂此偈是去來諸佛心印。禪之真源。常言。吾持此二十餘年。已熟半句。熟兩句。死生無慮矣。先是。有南昌諸生出家補陀。曰密藏道開者。聞師風來歸。師深器重。留為侍者。凡法門大事如復楞嚴寺。刻大藏。復化城。皆以屬之。師終身不受人祈請出世。終師世亦無敢開堂受請者。獨與憨山清公為友。嘗對談四十晝夜。不交睫。有志修。國朝傳燈錄。與清公約。共住曹溪。開導法脈。遂從帝京繇三晉。歷關中。跨棧道。至蜀。禮普賢。順流下瞿塘。過荊襄。登太和。至匡廬。尋清公。約清公以興復勞山海印寺。為黃冠奧援訐奏被逮。師聞報。禱佛冀佑。不死。獨往曹溪知已得遣雷陽戌。因往白下江關。待之相見執手嘆曰。公以死荷大法。我何人哉。公不生還。吾無生日。他日即先公死。後事屬公。清公至雷陽。得間過曹溪曰。此達老志也。吾以行間至殆不偶後公得釋即住錫宗風振焉。上以三殿工開礦稅。中使輩出。有李道者初奏。南康守吳寶秀抗旨逮治。其夫人哀憤投繯死。師聞之曰。良二千石為民請命死。其妻自且不免。時事至此乎。遂入都門營救。以毗舍半偈令誦十萬當出獄。吳持至八萬。上意解得末減。師因喟然曰。憨山不歸。我出世一大負。礦稅不止。我救世一大負。傳燈未續。我慧命一大負。釋此三負。當不復遊王舍城矣。門弟子皆知都下側目。師相繼奉書勸出。開侍者刺血具書隱去。師居方山時。嘗卜出處于李長者。誓以身命弘法。報書輙謂。吾當斷髮。已如斷頭。今更有何頭可斷。其意以出家兒。大事既明。身心尚有僇辱揀避。雖比古之立名義不侵然諾者。尚不可得。況欲稱祖家兒孫。操提正令。以殺活天下。雖謗毀章疏不一。師處之屹然。居無何。妖書事發。上震怒。方大索。先是。江夏郭公正域為少宗伯。以楚藩事。與政府抵牾。金壇于玉立比部故與郭交好。而吳沈令譽與予。皆師弟子。以醫游公卿間。尤往來江夏稱最善。政府私人欲先得沈以及予。與郭而并及師。乘妖書羅織捕沈。拷掠楚毒備至。沈終無所承。篋中𢯱得師與令譽手書。乃欲營救清公。謂勞山海印之復。為聖母保護聖躬香火。今毀寺戍清。是傷聖母之慈。妨皇上之孝也。御史康丕揚得之。遂據以聞。先時慈聖聞師至。命近侍陳儒致齋供。賜紫伽黎。師受供謝紫衣。適從石經山。得隋時琬禪師所藏佛舍利。因請入供。太后出帑金。送歸石窟。言者率以靡內帑金錢為師咎。一日有中使奉上命。賷數千金請師印藏經頒賜。師不奉詔。曰印經自有人。中使固以受上旨。堅請不肯去。其人常從師執禮者。師呵之。欲起杖。不得已。復命。上笑曰。固知此僧。非利財者。上嘗手書金剛經。汗漬冊紙。疑當易。亟遣中貴馳問。師以偈進曰。御汗之滴。萬世津梁。無窮法藏。從此放光。上覧之。大悅。以故劾上。留中政府力持之。始下命大金吾。研審而已。師居西山潭柘寺。諸校夜至。不敢白。但匍匐求開示。師為語竟夕。至曉。諸校伏地哭出帖。師命治齋禮佛。書偈別眾。就訊以三負對。無他辭。傳送刑部對如初。有郎官嫉師者同鞠。故令杖。師凡對簿直入。趺坐階下。左右雜投刑具。唱聲恐嚇不為動。受杖已復起坐。獄詞無可按。特以救清公書謂語連朝廷。欲引子罵父律。不果竟擬坐左道。獄具將上。師聞之曰。世法如此。久住何為。手字付侍者性田。令致法侶田哭。師叱曰。侍我二十年。猶作此去就。却食飲尋說轉生歌。子夜猶口授十餘偈。黎明索姜湯嗽齒。就地坐。誦毗盧遮那佛數聲。閉目不語。御史曹學程。先以言事繫獄。聞師狀趨至。望見輒大呼。師好去。師復張目微睇。啟手扶兩足跏趺以逝。時萬曆癸卯十二月十七日也。師生于嘉靖癸卯六月十二日。世壽六十有一。法臘四十有奇。師報逝待命六日。坐風露中。顏色不少改。遺命母龕斂。周以蘲埋葬慈慧寺土坎中。次年春夏。霖雨及秋。眾憂淹漬久。令田侍者鳴諸當事。得請歸龕。啟視端然如生。見者悲踴。如佛復出。傳聽來觀。奔動畿下。龕歸江南。途中尚多求啟視瞻禮者。江南弟子議卓塔地。持未決。適圜中錄刻成寄至。中有怪來雙徑。為雙樹語。遂定議歸徑山。師相好魁奇雄碩。威掩萬眾。童真絕染。膚體如鐵石。日飯數升。過中不食。自出家即脇不到席。四十餘年如一日。所至設高座。懸燈趺對密藏開公嘗侍立。聞鷄鳴顧語師曰。學道人坐地安問鷄鳴始行脚二十里足痛。以石砥足。至日行二百里乃止。嘉興楞嚴寺初復。禪堂成。師題一聯。謂當以血書之。引錐刺臂血盈盌。用絮清大書榜上。常至膠西。秋水時至。欲渡眾不可。師解衣先涉亂流。及肩。疾呼眾前。顧謂曰。閱生死要當如是。師身律嚴。至于忠孝大節。尤為性篤。幼奉母訓。不坐閾。終身立不敢近。常禮佛始進食。在潭柘值客至。誤先舉。乃對知事曰。今日有犯戒者。命爾痛杖三十。輕則倍。起授杖就佛前伏地。受責如數。在陽羨山中。讀長沙志。至忠臣李芾城守垂陷。授劍部將。斬其全家。部將痛哭。受命已而自殺。執卷淚迸如雨。旁侍者不哭。呵之謂。當推墮崕下。所至梵剎。見祝聖牌必敬禮。曆書初授。必加額始開覧。白衣弟子入室。激發以忠義。懲戒貪暴。形于論說。至謂教人制舉業進身。使為大盜劫財。較昔人盡馬入馬腹。其罪報當愈甚。師心慈外貌威重。及門弟子多賢豪搢紳。御之平等。尊嚴不少假。常言法道非資人為牛鼎。以世情求法。不入吾室。我不憾也。惟遇利根男子。雖劄不少假借。當機不契。恨之直欲頓斷其命。至誘接下中。隨器盡量。人自習安駑緩畏其攀躋。多望崕而退焉。明覺者故嘗好醫。一日還家畜妻妾。以醫名吳會。然移居大澤中深自匿。師密使人踪跡。詭名字稱病。臥舟中邀覺。覺至大駭。師流涕嘆息。覺皇恐唯命。遂剃除。乃反執弟子之禮。師行脚見名藍廢址。必發願󳭪復。從楞嚴至歸宗。凡興建一十五所。歸宗遺蹟僅古松一株。寺僧薪斵幾所將盡伐售米五斗。有丐者乞米贖免。師過而累土石掎築。呪其下願松再榮。寺當後復。松果日茂。寺竟因師復云。師聞難。無敢為訟冤者。唯侍者性田周旋圜中。故有枯木冷重雲。獨見田侍者之句。田常熟人。幼常事慧日寺比丘古林。貌癯顴起。純體筋骨。性突兀不易馴擾已。林遣事師。獨祇侍唯謹。頷󰬇指使氣息相應。即中夜承諾警絕無寐。少不知書。索卷籍筆劄隨所命必應手。師有所往。頂笠即行。一肩追隨。若預裝者。嘗呼為小道人。或命為田道。時遭痛杖。初無怨色。一日逐之使去。田哀號無所出。故嘗向大士禮清淨三業文。是日聲鳴甚悲。音齒忽異。師問知為。田乃復令入。自此不復加杖。師示寂報訃江南。復北上奉龕歸徑山。始剃除。不踰年微疾死。塔骨寂照庵放生池山左。曰田侍者塔云。師龕始供庵中。越十一年。定葬山後黃沙灘。人言。其地有瀦水。改卜五峰大慧塔之陰曰文殊臺。巳擇曰火浴矣。清公從南嶽數千里來。撰文預定祭日。適與期會。遂把火焉。師有文集。及圜中語錄。金沙門人合刻。共一十六卷。後三十二年。有私淑弟子。四明陸符。刪次補纂。為紫栢心要四卷。序而藏于家。

> The Master, whose monastic name was Zhenke, styled himself Daguan, and in his later years called himself Zibo. During the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, the Empress Dowager revered his spiritual demeanor, and the Emperor himself had a deep appreciation for him, saying, "This is truly a man who can be called a monk." The Master therefore adopted this name as his own. He was originally from Tanque in Wujiang, with the family name Shen. His father's name was Lian, styled Jizi, and their ancestors were from Jurong. From birth, the Master showed unusual signs; he was fierce and untamable. As he grew older, his ambitions expanded. He drank wine and relied on his temper, admiring the chivalrous deeds of ancient knights-errant. He once said of himself, "I was originally a man who killed pigs and butchered dogs," which was indeed the truth. At seventeen, he left his family and set off alone, intent on achieving merit and fame. He traveled north to the city of Suzhou's Maple Bridge, where a heavy rain prevented him from going further. A monk from Tiger Hill named Mingjue saw him, was impressed by his appearance, and learned of his long journey. He sheltered the Master and brought him back, offering him a full dinner. That night, as he lay down to sleep, the Master heard the monk reciting the names of the Eighty-Eight Buddhas, and his heart suddenly opened with joy. At dawn, he got up and told Mingjue he wished to renounce the world and become a monk. He then untied his money belt to prepare a vegetarian feast. Mingjue announced this to the assembly and had the Master's head shaved, with Mingjue himself becoming his teacher. That very night, the Master sat upright until dawn. Mingjue wanted to raise funds to cast a large bell, and the Master went alone to Pinghu. He sat in full lotus posture outside the gate of a wealthy household. The master of the house offered him food, but he wouldn't eat. When asked why, he said, "I wish to obtain ten thousand jin of iron to cast a large bell to enshrine in Tiger Hill Temple." The master immediately gave him the iron. The Master then ate his meal, and eventually returned home with the iron. He closed his door to study, not leaving the threshold for over a year. At twenty, he received the full precepts from a Dharma teacher and entered a three-year retreat at Jingde Temple in Wutang. After leaving retreat, he bid farewell to Mingjue and set off on a pilgrimage. He heard a monk reciting a verse by the scholar Zhang Zhuo, which included the lines: "To cut off deluded thoughts only adds another sickness; to seek true suchness is itself a false path." The Master asked, "Why not say, 'The very sickness is itself the false path'?" The monk laughed at him, and the Master was filled with great doubt. Everywhere he went, he wrote these two lines on the wall. He became so confused and frustrated that his head and face swelled up. One day, while eating, he suddenly awakened, and the swelling on his head and face instantly disappeared. He remarked, "If I had been in the presence of Linji or Deshan, a single slap would have awakened me." From then on, his spirit and bearing surpassed everyone in the Zen world. The first patriarch came from the West and used the \*Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra\* to seal the mind. All the patriarchs of old thoroughly understood its meaning, establishing it as a fundamental principle to test later students. In the Song Dynasty, Hong Juefan, worried that the Dharma was being lost in the final age, compiled works like \*Zhi Zheng Zhuan\* (Record of Wisdom's Testimony) and \*Seng Bao Zhuan\* (Biographies of Sangha Treasures) to transmit the essential instructions of the patriarchs and Buddhas. These books were rarely seen in the world. The Master searched for and found an ancient copy, rejoicing greatly. He then traveled to Mount Kuanglu, where he delved deeply into the essence of the Consciousness-Only school. Later, he traveled to Mount Wutai and arrived at a steep cliff and empty cave where an old, solitary master was sitting. The Master made obeisance and asked, "What is the state before a single thought arises?" The old master raised one finger. He then asked, "What about after it arises?" The old master spread his two hands. At these words, the Master grasped the meaning. When he tried to find the old master, he had disappeared. In the capital, he visited the great master Bianrong. Bianrong asked, "Where are you coming from?" "From south of the river," the Master replied. "What have you come here for?" "To study and lecture." "On what?" "To penetrate the meaning of the sutras and propagate the Buddha's teaching." Bianrong asked, "Can you teach with purity?" "I have not been defiled by a single speck of dust up to now," the Master replied. Bianrong then told the Master to take off his robe and give it to a nearby monk. Taking the inner lining, he said, "Take off one layer, and there is still another." The Master smiled and nodded. He then stayed. At that time, he engaged with realized masters like Xiaoyan and the Dharma master Xianli, verifying his realizations. Then he returned to visit Mingjue. By the time he left Mingjue, nine years had passed. Seeing that the Dharma and its ways were in decline, and the guiding principles of the Five Houses were lost, the Master made it his own task to uphold the great Dharma. He advocated for the printing of the \*Dzogchen\* (Great Canon) to facilitate its dissemination. He urged people to study and transmit \*Zhi Zheng Zhuan\* and often taught individuals to single-mindedly uphold the Gāthā of Buddha Viśvabhu. He said this gāthā was the mind-seal of all past and future Buddhas, the true source of Chan. He often said, "I have upheld this for over twenty years. Now I have mastered half a line, even two lines. I am no longer concerned about life and death." Earlier, a young scholar from Nanchang, who had become a monk at Mount Putuo under the name Micao Daokai, heard of the Master's reputation and came to him. The Master deeply valued him and kept him as an attendant, entrusting him with all great Dharma affairs, such as restoring Lengyan Temple, printing the Canon, and restoring Huacheng. The Master himself never accepted requests to become a public teacher, and no one dared to open a hall to teach in his lifetime. His only close friend was Hanshan Deqing. They once had a dialogue that lasted forty days and nights without sleep. The Master had the ambition to compile a \*Lamp Record of Our Dynasty\*, and he agreed with Hanshan to live together at Caoxi to propagate the Dharma lineage. Thus, he journeyed from the capital through Shanxi, Shaanxi, and the plank roads to Sichuan, where he paid homage to Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. He then followed the river down through Qutang Gorge, passed through Jingzhou and Xiangyang, climbed Mount Taihe, and arrived at Mount Kuanglu to find Hanshan. Hanshan agreed to rebuild the Haiyin Temple at Laoshan, but due to a false accusation from a Taoist priest, Hanshan was arrested. Upon hearing the news, the Master prayed to the Buddha to protect Hanshan and ensure he wouldn't die. He went to Caoxi alone and learned that Hanshan had already been exiled to Leiyang. He then waited for him at the river checkpoint of Jiangbei. When they met, they clasped hands and sighed. The Master said, "You bear the great Dharma even to the point of death. What am I? If you don't return alive, I will have no reason to live. I will likely die before you, and I entrust my affairs to you." After Hanshan arrived at Leiyang, he had a chance to visit Caoxi and said, "This was the aspiration of the old man Daguan. I came here by chance, but it seems I am not fated to stay." Later, the Master was released and took up residence there, causing the lineage to flourish. The Emperor initiated mining and taxation for the construction of the Three Halls, and numerous eunuchs were dispatched. One named Li Dao reported that the magistrate of Nankang, Wu Baoxiu, was resisting the imperial decree and was arrested. His wife, consumed by grief and indignation, hanged herself. Hearing this, the Master said, "A good official dies for his people, and his wife cannot even save herself—has it come to this?" He then entered the capital to rescue him. He taught Wu to recite half of the Viśvabhu gāthā one hundred thousand times, assuring him he would be released from prison. Wu recited it eighty thousand times, and the Emperor's anger subsided, allowing his sentence to be reduced. The Master then sighed, "Hanshan’s inability to return is a great burden for my teaching. The failure to stop mine taxes is a burden for my world-saving work. The failure to continue the Lamp Record is a burden for my wisdom-life. Once these three burdens are lifted, I will no longer wander in this royal city." His disciples, aware that he was under scrutiny in the capital, sent letters urging him to leave. His attendant, Daokai, even drew blood to write a letter and then disappeared. When the Master lived at Mount Fang, he once consulted the local elder Li about his future course, vowing to dedicate his life to propagating the Dharma. Li replied in a letter, "When I cut off my hair, I considered it like cutting off my head. Now, what head do I have left to cut off?" His meaning was that for a renunciant, once the great matter is clear, there is no room for shame or avoidance of punishment. Even those who in ancient times were known for upholding principle and keeping their promises do not compare. How much less should anyone who claims to be a descendant of the patriarchs and seeks to hold the correct teaching, killing or giving life to all beings, behave differently. Despite numerous slanders and memorials against him, the Master remained unshaken. Not long after, the "Sedition Book" incident occurred, and the Emperor was furious, initiating a massive search. Previously, in Jiangxia, Minister Guo Zhengcheng had clashed with the government over a Chu vassal affair. Yu Yuli of Jintan, a ministry official, was a close friend of Guo's. Wu of Shen, who was an official, and I were also disciples of the Master. We moved among high officials as physicians, especially with Guo in Jiangxia. The government's confidants, aiming first to capture Shen to implicate me and Guo, and then the Master, used the sedition book incident to arrest Shen. They subjected him to brutal torture, but Shen never confessed. They found in his box a personal letter from the Master to Shen and Yu Yuli, in which the Master sought to rescue Hanshan, stating that the restoration of Haiyin Temple was for the Empress Dowager to protect the Emperor. The destruction of the temple and the exile of Hanshan, he argued, harmed the Empress Dowager's compassion and obstructed the Emperor's filial piety. When Censor Kang Piyang obtained this letter, he used it to file a report. Earlier, the Empress Dowager had heard the Master was coming and ordered her attendant Chen Ru to offer a pure vegetarian meal and bestow a purple robe. The Master accepted the meal but returned the robe. At that time, he had just obtained from Shijingshan the Buddha's relics hidden by the monk Wan in the Sui Dynasty. He requested to offer them to the palace. The Empress Dowager provided funds from her personal treasury to have them returned to the stone cavern. The Master's critics blamed him for using the Empress Dowager's money. One day, an imperial eunuch, bearing the Emperor's order, brought several thousand coins for the Master to print sutras. The Master refused, saying, "There are others to print sutras." The eunuch insisted, as he had the Emperor's command, and refused to leave. This eunuch was usually a follower of the Master. The Master scolded him and threatened him with a staff, forcing him to leave and return to the palace. The Emperor laughed and said, "I knew this monk was not after money." The Emperor once wrote out the \*Diamond Sutra\* himself, and his sweat stained the paper. He wondered if it needed to be rewritten and sent a high official to ask the Master. The Master responded with a gāthā: "The drop of the Emperor's sweat / Is a bridge for ten thousand ages / The boundless Dharma treasury / From this point sends forth its light." Upon reading it, the Emperor was greatly pleased. Because of this, the Master's accusers were ineffective, and the Prime Minister only ordered the Inspector General to conduct a review. The Master was staying at Tanzhe Temple in the western mountains. When the investigating officers arrived at night, they dared not tell him. They prostrated themselves, begging for instruction. The Master spoke with them through the night. At dawn, they knelt and wept as they showed him the warrant. The Master ordered a meal, made offerings to the Buddha, wrote a farewell gāthā, and then went for interrogation. He answered only about the three burdens, saying nothing else. When he was transferred to the Ministry of Punishment, he gave the same answers. A resentful official, presiding over the trial together with others, ordered him beaten. The Master walked directly into the courtroom, sat in lotus posture at the foot of the stairs, and remained unmoved while they threw instruments of torture around him and shouted threats. After being beaten, he got up and sat down again. The indictment contained no concrete charges, so they tried to use his letter about rescuing Hanshan as evidence of "seditious speech," citing a law against a son reviling his father. This failed, so they finally settled on the charge of "heresy." When the judgment was about to be handed up, the Master heard of it and said, "If the worldly dharma is like this, what use is it to stay longer?" He wrote a note to his attendant Xingtian, telling him to inform his Dharma friends. Tian wept. The Master scolded, "You have served me for twenty years, and you still behave like this?" He stopped eating and drinking, and soon began reciting the "Rebirth Gāthā." At midnight, he still dictated ten more gāthas. At dawn, he asked for ginger tea to rinse his teeth. Then he sat down on the ground, recited "Vairocana Buddha" a few times, closed his eyes, and was silent. The censor Cao Xuesu, who was also in prison for speaking out, came running when he heard what was happening. Seeing the Master, he shouted, "Master, go forth well!" The Master opened his eyes slightly, then raised his hands to place his feet in the full lotus posture and passed away. This was on the 17th day of the 12th month, in the year Guimao of the Wanli era. The Master was born on the 12th day of the 6th month, in the year Guimao of the Jiajing era, at the age of sixty-one. His monastic life spanned over forty years. After his passing, he lay in state for six days, sitting in the wind and dew, without a change in his complexion. He had instructed that there be no coffin, but only a burial in a mound of earth at the Cihui Temple in the earth pit. In the following spring and summer, there was heavy rain lasting into autumn. Worried about prolonged dampness, his attendants appealed to the authorities and had a coffin prepared. When they opened the cloth, the Master's body was sitting upright as if alive. All who saw him were moved to tears of both sorrow and joy, as if the Buddha himself had reappeared. News spread, and crowds came to pay their respects, causing a stir in the capital. When his coffin was returned south, many along the way begged for an opening to offer respects. The southern disciples debated where to build the pagoda, but could not agree. Then the recording from his imprisonment was printed and sent to them. It contained the verse, "Strange that a double path should lead to a twin tree," so they settled on returning the body to Jingshan. The Master's appearance was majestic and imposing. His power could command a multitude. He was pure from childhood, with skin as hard as iron. He ate several measures of rice a day but avoided eating after noon. From the time he renounced, his ribs never touched a sitting mat, a discipline he maintained for over forty years without a break. Wherever he went, he would set up a high seat, hang a lamp, and sit upright. His close attendant, Micao Kai, once stood by him and heard a rooster crow. He asked the Master, "Should a practitioner always sit, or only when I hear the crow of a rooster? " After only twenty miles of pilgrimage, my feet hurt. I used a stone to prop them up. Now I can walk two hundred miles a day without stopping." When the Great Hall of the newly restored Lengyan Temple in Jiaxing was completed, the Master wrote a couplet for it and insisted on writing it with his own blood. He pricked his arm with an awl, filling a bowl with blood, then dipped cotton in it to write the characters large on the wall. Once, at the seashore in Jiaoxi, the autumn tides were high. The crowd hesitated to cross. The Master stripped off his clothes and waded into the rapids first. When the water reached his shoulders, he shouted for the others to follow, remarking, "When facing life and death, this is how it should be." The Master was strict in his personal conduct, but he was particularly devoted to the great principles of loyalty and filial piety. He followed his mother's instruction not to step on the threshold, and for the rest of his life, he would stand and not go near it. He only ate after making offerings to the Buddha. When he was at Tanzhe Temple, a guest arrived and he accidentally ate first. He then told the officer, "Today I have broken the precepts. You are to give me thirty severe strokes with the staff. If you are lenient, double it." He then stood up, handed over the staff, knelt before the Buddha, and received the full number of blows. While reading the \*Changsha Gazetteer\* in the Yanshan Mountains, he came to the account of the loyal minister Li Shi, who, as the city was about to fall, handed his sword to his officers, ordering them to kill his entire family. The officers wept bitterly as they received the order, then committed suicide. The Master's tears fell like rain on the book. When his attendant did not cry, the Master scolded him, saying he should be thrown down the cliff. Wherever he went to a monastery, he would always pay respect to the "Long Live the Emperor" plaque. When the new calendar arrived, he would raise it to his forehead and then open it. When his lay disciples came to him, he inspired them with loyalty and righteousness, using warnings to restrain greed and violence. This theme ran through his entire discourse, to the point where he said that "teaching people to pass exams and enter officialdom is worse than a robber stealing goods, because those people use their minds to enter the 'horse's belly,' and their retribution will be even more severe." The Master's heart was compassionate, but his external manner was majestic and imposing. His disciples included many wise and virtuous people, officials, and gentry. He treated them all equally, showing respect but never being lax. He often said, "The Dharma Way does not use people as vessels of oxen and cauldrons. If you seek the Dharma with worldly intentions, do not enter my chamber. I will not regret it." When he encountered a man of sharp faculties, even if the person was arrogant, he would not relax his expectations. If they failed to grasp the opportunity, he would detest them, almost to the point of wanting to cut off their lives. But when it came to guiding those of lesser capacity, he would act according to their vessel, measuring out the appropriate teaching. However, most people, accustomed to slowness and slackness, were afraid of his strenuous standards and gave up. Mingjue, the teacher who originally ordained him, had once been fond of medicine. One day, he returned home to live with a wife and concubines, practicing as a doctor in the Suzhou area. But he moved deep into the marshes to hide. The Master sent someone to secretly track him down. The Master took a false name, pretended to be ill, and lay down in a boat, inviting Mingjue. When Mingjue arrived, he was horrified. The Master, in tears, expressed his regret. Mingjue, terrified, obeyed the Master's command and had his head shaved again, and then assumed the student's role to the Master. When the Master traveled and saw ruins of famous monasteries, he would vow to restore them. From Lengyan to Guizong, he initiated the restoration of fifteen sites. At the site of the Guizong Monastery, all that remained was a single ancient pine. The temple monks had cut and sold most of its wood, including the remaining tree, for five pecks of rice. A beggar had pleaded for rice to redeem it. The Master came and piled earth and stones around the tree, making vows that he hoped the tree would revive and the temple would be restored. The pine tree indeed grew vigorously, and the temple was eventually restored due to the Master's efforts. After the Master was arrested, no one dared to petition for his vindication. Only his attendant, Xingtian, stayed with him in prison. This is the origin of the line, "In the dead tree, cold and heavy clouds, only Attendant Tian is seen." Xingtian was from Changshu. As a child, he had served a monk named Gulin at a temple on Sun-Source Day. He was gaunt, with prominent cheekbones, and his body was all sinew and bone. His nature was abrupt and not easily tamed. Gulin then sent him to serve the Master, and he began to serve him with great devotion. A subtle nod or gesture from the Master, and Tian would be instantly responsive, even in the middle of the night, without ever sleeping. He was illiterate when young, but when his Master gave him scrolls and writing materials, he could always handle them. When the Master went somewhere, he would put on a hat and follow, always seeming to have everything pre-packed. The Master used to call him "the little Taoist" or "Tian the Wayfarer." He was often beaten, but never showed any anger. One day the Master sent him away, and Tian wailed in despair, with nowhere to go. He was once found reciting a repentance text to the Bodhisattva Guanyin, his voice very sorrowful, and his speech suddenly sounded different. When the Master asked what was happening, he learned it was Tian. He then let him back in, and from then on, never beat him again. After the Master's passing and the news reached the south, Tian went north again to bring the Master's coffin back to Jingshan. Then he shaved his head. Within a year, he died of a minor illness. His ashes were placed in a pagoda near the release pond to the left of the Temple of Silent Illumination, which is known as Attendant Tian’s Pagoda. The Master's coffin was initially placed in the temple. After eleven years, it was decided to bury him at the "Fang Famille jaune" sandbank behind the mountain. But people said the area had accumulated water, so they changed the site to Wenshu Terrace, on the north side of the Great Wisdom Pagoda. A date was set for cremation. Hanshan Deqing traveled several thousand miles from Nanyue to compose an essay, and he scheduled his memorial ceremony for a date that happened to coincide with the cremation. He then lit the funeral pyre. The Master's collected writings and prison recordings, totaling sixteen volumes, were published by his disciples in Jinsha. Thirty-two years later, Lu Fu of Siming, a private student of the Master, abridged and compiled the "Essentials of Zibo," a four-volume work, which he prefaced and kept in his family.

傳略。據塔銘為整頓先後。葢以傳說之最真者。至大師被患本末。當湖季高宗文血骨塔記。載之獨詳。因採補以入。若大師里氏。定為吳江。季高謂。此特因師無巴生傳。有生於青草灘語。且記沈十林云。固曾詢之。師曰。有益則言。無益則止。卜之以鬮不果。此更誦說大師者。不可不知也。

> Brief Biography According to the stupa inscription, the events are arranged in chronological order, drawing from the most reliable traditions. As for the details of the Great Master’s illness from beginning to end, the “Blood and Bone Stupa Inscription” by Jigao Zongwen of Danghu records them most thoroughly, so extracts have been included here. Regarding the Great Master’s birthplace and surname, it is determined to be Wujiang. Jigao says: This is because the Master had no biography by Basheng; there is only a statement that he was born at Qingcaotan. Additionally, it is recorded that Shen Shilin says: “I once asked him. The Master replied, ‘If it is beneficial, speak; if not, stop.’ I cast lots to decide the matter, but it was inconclusive.” This is something that those who recite and speak of the Great Master cannot afford not to know.