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30 Abbot Mingwu Redeems Abbot Wujie Once a dweller in the mortal world, He now joins the Buddhist assembly in heaven. In the Pure Land, a willow twig in hand, He looks back upon his previous life. Our tale begins in the days of Li Yuan [566–635], first emperor of the Tang dynasty, who, taking over the empire from the Sui dynasty, made Chang’an, Shaanxi, capital of the new dynasty and promulgated a new set of laws. With his second son, Li Shimin, leading the troops, he crushed all enemies at the seventy-two border posts and wiped out eighteen barbarian strongholds. During the new Wude reign period [618–26], he founded the Institute of Education, with its eighteen leading scholars; built the Pavilion Reaching into Mists to honor twenty-three men who had rendered him outstanding service; and appointed as successive prime ministers Wei Zheng [580–643], Du Ruhui [585–630], and Fang Xuanling [578–648] so as to bring order to the empire. The years during the reign periods Zhenguan [627–49], Zhiping [1064–67, Song dynasty],1 and Kaiyuan [713–41] went by in peace and prosperity. It was only toward the end of Emperor Xuanzong’s reign [712–55] that the emperor’s exclusive shower of favors upon the treacherous court ministers Li Linfu [d. 752], Lu Qi [d. ca. 784], and Yang Guozhong [d. 756] incurred the An Lushan rebellion. Though the insurgence was put down, the dynasty thereafter knew no peace, with border posts breaking away from central rule and eunuchs abusing power in a court where villains replaced worthy men. Let me now tell of a man in Luoyang by the name of Li Yuan, with the courtesy name Zicheng, an erudite scholar who had learned by heart enough books to fill five carriages and who knew everything there was to know about history from time immemorial. Disgusted at the vice-ridden court, he resigned from o‹ce and developed a close friendship with Abbot Yuanze of the local Huilin Monastery. Yuanze, a reincarnation of Buddha, was held in high esteem by all the worthy men in Luoyang of the time for his renown as a poet as well as for his many deeds of compassion. On many a day, the two men would 517 visit scenic spots and historic sites and wax poetic under the inspiration of the moon, wind, mountains, and rivers. One day, they left on a journey by river for Qutang of the Three Gorges to visit Skyscape Temple. There were four of them in the boat: Li Yuan with his servant and Yuanze with a disciple. Upon arrival in less than two weeks’ time, they anchored the boat along the shore and were standing up and straightening their clothes when they caught sight of a pregnant woman about thirty years of age wearing old, worn out clothes over her brocade vest. She carried a jar of baked clay on her back and was drawing water from a clear spring. Yuanze was annoyed. Pointing at the woman, he said to Li Yuan, “This pregnant woman is the one to give me rebirth. I will be on my way to the West2 early tomorrow morning.” A startled Li Yuan asked, “What makes you say this?” Yuanze replied, “I have some farewell words for you before I will my death.” Thereupon, the four men entered the monastery, where they were greeted by a monk. After tea, Yuanze explained about his imminent death, much to the astonishment of everyone present. He then took a bath in perfumed water and, after leaving instructions with his disciple, bade farewell to Li Yuan in these words: “It is my good fortune, in my forty years of life, to have enjoyed a close friendship with you, but my time is up and there is nothing I can do but part with you. Three days after my rebirth, please pay a visit to that woman’s house, where, while being washed, I will give you a smile as evidence of my identity. I will then die that very night, but will see you again twelve years later, in Tianzhu Monastery in Hangzhou.” So saying, he took a pen and a sheet of paper and composed these lines bidding farewell to the earthly world: In forty years of self-cultivation, Poems and wine kept me merry company. Bidding you farewell as I am today, I shall see you again on Mount Tianzhu. Behold! Back into the...

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