An Shoufan
An Siqian, the governor of Pengzhou during the pseudo-Shu period, had a son named Shoufan. Shoufan once visited the Tiantai Zen Temple with his guests and composed a poem with a couplet. Shoufan said, “When I came to Tiantai Temple, I met a monk from outside.” Yang Dingfu, a magistrate of the Dingyong Army, said, “Forgetting the same group, the words are out of the three yanas.” Zhou Shu, a former inspector of Huaiyuan Army, said, “The old tree is silent in the middle garden, and the window is clear outside the realm of emptiness.” Li Renzhao, a former judge of Meizhou, said, “Under the pines and cypresses, a hundred thousand lamps are connected.” After the three of them finished the chant, they wrote it down on the wall of the temple and left.
The next day, a poor boy came to the monastery to beg for food, and when he saw the poem on the wall, he said out loud, “Humanity has a beginning and no end, but this has an end and no beginning. But in the next five years, the first and last lines were all broken, and Cook was not as good as the last.” The monks in the courtyard drove him away, but the poor boy told the monks as he walked away, “After this, the master will come from a thousand miles away.” The people all thought he was crazy, and no one could guess what the reason was.
After a few years, Shoufan was brought to justice and Dingfu died of a violent illness. This is the meaning of “the first two lines are broken”. Zhou Shu and Li Ren Zhao were promoted many times. This is the meaning of “not as good as the last line”. The abbot of the monastery died soon afterwards, and the successor of the abbot came from Xing Yuan. This is the meaning of “not far from a thousand miles”. The poor boy’s saying is true.
(From “The Wild Man’s Idle Tales”)
Ma Deqian
During the time of Pseudo-King Shu, there was a man named Ye Feng who was smart and enlightened as a teenager. He often visited the magician Ma Diqian together with Sun Guangxian and asked if his fate was fulfilled. Ma Diqian said, “You can only seek an official position after you are forty years old; if you get an official position before that time, you will not live long.”
At that time, for various reasons, Ye Feng’s promotion to an official position was delayed. Later he served as a general magistrate in Hunan. Before he was appointed, he dreamed that he was waiting for the official by boat on the river, and at almost noon, the official arrived and welcomed him to a stone cave. When he woke up, he talked with Du Guangcheng about the incident, and suddenly it was reported that the emperor’s royal decree had come down, granting him the official position of the official of the Water Ministry. Guangcheng said, “Isn’t the dream last night referring to Xiaochuan?” Ye Feng then sent a boat to embark for his post, and when he arrived at Qing Yi Beach in Gandan County, the boat capsized and died, which is what Ma Diqian originally foresaw. Ye Feng had a bad dream that night, and it was so effective!
Sun Guangxian was going down the Yangtze River from Sichuan when one night he dreamt that Ye Feng said, “You will not be spared at the Tsing Yi Beach.” After waking up, he decided not to follow the river to Jiazhou, but to take the dry road to Yangshan and then change to a small boat to avoid the danger of the Tsing Yi beach. However, the boat broke and was sucked into the beach by the turbulent current, and was fortunately saved. Can ghosts and gods also joke with each other?
(from “Northern Dreams and Words”)
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