English
English version Hen laid eggs. Brooding twelve eggs. One night, an old man dreamed of twelve men and women, bowing down in the hall and saying, 'Thanks to your chanting of the scriptures, we have all been able to escape the bodies of birds and animals, so we have come to thank you.' The old man woke up, thinking of the twelve eggs, took them out and felt they were very light, opened them and they were all empty shells. So he called everyone to look at them, and they were all like this when opened. The creatures born from eggs were able to be liberated, it's truly miraculous! All twelve categories of beings are like this. The merit of reciting scriptures is truly inconceivable. Aiding the Deceased During the Jiajing (1522-1566) and Longqing (1567-1572) periods, the great general Qi Jiguang usually recited the Diamond Sutra. When he was stationed in Yue, a dead soldier appeared in a dream and said, 'Tomorrow, please have my wife visit you and ask you to recite a volume of the Diamond Sutra to help me on my path in the underworld.' Qi Jiguang woke up and warned the gatekeepers not to stop any women who came. Soon enough, a woman came, weeping and begging to see him, so he let her in, just as in the dream. Qi Jiguang agreed to her request. The next day he recited the sutra, and that night he dreamed of the soldier saying, 'Thank you for your great kindness, but I only received half the merit, because the word 'useless' was mixed in.' Qi Jiguang thought about the reason, probably because when he was reciting the sutra, his wife sent a maid to bring tea cakes, and Qi Jiguang saw her from afar and waved her away, although he didn't say it, he was thinking 'useless'. So he sincerely closed the door and recited the sutra again. After he finished reciting, that night the soldier bowed his head in the dream and said, 'I have been liberated.' In Fengqiao, Suzhou, Sheng Zaide studied scriptures with the lecturer Xuanming. In the early Wanli (1573-1620) period, he fell ill and went to the underworld, where he was accused by the vengeful ghost Sheng Zhihua to the city god, and was arrested for questioning. Sheng Zaide was righteous and was allowed to see the hells and then released back to the world. After one night he died again, and saw the city god descending the steps and instructing him, 'I was a native of Jingzhou in my previous life, surnamed Cao. Since ascending to the divine ranks, my mother, Zhang Taijun, has been reincarnated three times, all as women and without children. If you can ask Master Xuanming to sincerely recite the Diamond Sutra and the 'Moon Above Woman Sutra', five hundred times each, to save my mother and have her reborn as a man.' The city god's instructions were very earnest. After Sheng Zaide was reborn, he respectfully invited Xuanming, and after reciting the full number of scriptures, he reported it. Zhao Bi of Sizhou went to the capital to take the imperial examination. His wife, Li, had already passed away. Later, Zhao Bi passed the examination and returned home. When he was about ten miles from home, he felt tired and fell asleep. He dreamed that his deceased wife was kneeling by the roadside. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese
。哀告曰。奴在生时。杀害物命甚重。每于蟹出时。买作醉蟹。恣意啖食。死后。阎君来驱蟹山地狱。被群蟹钳其眼曰。遍身流血。昼夜受苦。又生前吐酒余残。饮剩盏脚。及作贱饭粥羹汤。阴司积聚。至五石九斗七升五合。使奴阳寿先减一纪。又受三七大地狱苦。再来狱吏。监奴卖酒。以俟无常鬼追到亡魂。却就奴身刺血。应卖五石九斗七升五合。务要填足原数。别受地狱。今闻夫荣归。特来哀告。阴府深敬书写金刚经。乞将奴房奁变卖。为奴写七卷。仗此般若功。可救地狱苦。其夫到家。即舍财请僧写经。方完两卷。一日备祭礼。为妻上坟。至墓侧。忽见老翁。言汝妻承写经功德。昨午时准阎王来。已升天界矣。言讫不见。 生天 遂川。赵文信。贞观元年暴死。三日复苏。自云。初死时。被吏驱逐。同伴十人。相随至阎王所。中有一僧。王先问云。师在世修何功德。答云。诵金刚经。王闻此语。即惊起。合掌赞言。善哉善哉。审诵般若。当得升天。因何错来至此。言未讫。忽有天衣下来。引师上天去。文信回生。具述其事。 开元中。有卢公。寄住滑州。常持金刚经。昼日间坐。见二黄衫人入门。卢问为谁。答曰。是里正。奉帖追公。卢愕然。因求帖观。见封上作卫县字。遂开。文字错镠。 现代汉语译本： 哀求道：‘我在世的时候，杀害了很多生命。每当螃蟹上市的时候，就买来做醉蟹，恣意地吃。死后，阎王派人押我去蟹山地狱，被一群螃蟹钳住眼睛，遍身流血，日夜受苦。而且我生前浪费酒和剩下的残羹冷炙，阴间统计我浪费了五石九斗七升五合的食物。因此阳寿先减少了十二年，还要受三七大地狱的苦。之后狱吏又来，监督我卖酒，等待无常鬼追捕亡魂。然后就在我身上刺血，抵偿卖掉的五石九斗七升五合的酒，必须填补原来的数量，再受地狱之苦。现在听说夫君荣耀归来，特来哀求。阴间很敬重书写《金刚经》的功德，乞求将我的嫁妆变卖，为我抄写七卷经书。凭借这般若（Prajna，智慧）的功德，可以救我脱离地狱之苦。’她的丈夫到家后，就拿出钱财请僧人抄写经书。刚抄完两卷，有一天准备祭祀的礼品，为妻子上坟。到了坟墓旁边，忽然看见一位老翁，说：‘你的妻子承蒙抄写经书的功德，昨天中午阎王批准，已经升到天界了。’说完就不见了。 升天 遂川（Suichuan，地名）的赵文信，贞观元年（627年）暴死，三天后又苏醒。他自己说：‘刚死的时候，被官吏驱赶，和十个同伴一起到了阎王那里。其中有一个僧人，阎王先问他说：‘您在世的时候修了什么功德？’僧人回答说：‘诵读《金刚经》。’阎王听到这话，立刻惊起，合掌赞叹说：‘太好了，太好了。如果诵读般若（Prajna，智慧），应当升天，怎么会错误地来到这里？’话还没说完，忽然有天衣降下来，引导僧人上天去了。’赵文信复活后，详细地叙述了这件事。 开元（713-741年）年间，有个卢公，寄住在滑州（Hua Zhou，地名）。经常诵持《金刚经》。白天坐着的时候，看见两个穿着黄衫的人走进门来。卢公问他们是谁。回答说：‘是里正（local official，地方官员），奉公文来追捕您。’卢公很惊讶，于是请求看公文。看见封面上写着卫县（Wei County，地名）的字样，就打开了。文字错乱。
English
English version: She pleaded: 'When I was alive, I killed many living beings. Every time crabs were available, I would buy them to make 'drunken crabs' and eat them at will. After death, Yama (阎君, Yan Jun, the King of Hell) sent someone to escort me to the Crab Mountain Hell, where a group of crabs pinched my eyes, causing me to bleed all over my body, and I suffered day and night. Moreover, in my lifetime, I wasted wine and leftover food. The underworld tallied that I wasted five shi, nine dou, seven sheng, and five he (石，斗，升，合, units of volume) of food. Therefore, my lifespan was reduced by twelve years, and I had to endure the suffering of the Three Seven Great Hells. Later, a jailer came to supervise me in selling wine, waiting for the impermanence ghost (无常鬼, Wuchang Gui, a type of ghost) to chase after the departed soul. Then, they would draw blood from my body to compensate for the five shi, nine dou, seven sheng, and five he of wine sold, and I must replenish the original amount before suffering further in hell. Now that I hear my husband has returned in glory, I have come to plead. The underworld deeply respects the merit of writing the Diamond Sutra, and I beg that my dowry be sold to have seven copies of the sutra written for me. With the merit of this Prajna (般若, wisdom), I can be saved from the suffering of hell.' After her husband returned home, he took out money to hire monks to copy the sutra. Just after completing two copies, one day he prepared offerings to visit his wife's grave. When he arrived at the tomb, he suddenly saw an old man who said, 'Your wife, thanks to the merit of having the sutra copied, was approved by Yama yesterday at noon and has ascended to the heavens.' After saying this, he disappeared. Ascension to Heaven Zhao Wenxin of Suichuan (遂川, a place name) died suddenly in the first year of the Zhenguan (贞观) era (627 AD), and revived three days later. He said himself: 'When I first died, I was driven by officials and went to Yama's place with ten companions. Among them was a monk, and Yama first asked him, 'What merits did you cultivate when you were alive?' The monk replied, 'I recited the Diamond Sutra.' When Yama heard this, he immediately stood up in surprise, put his palms together, and praised, 'Excellent, excellent. If you recite Prajna (般若, wisdom), you should ascend to heaven, how could you have mistakenly come here?' Before he finished speaking, heavenly robes descended and guided the monk to ascend to heaven.' After Zhao Wenxin revived, he described this matter in detail. During the Kaiyuan (开元) era (713-741 AD), there was a Mr. Lu who lived in Hua Zhou (滑州, a place name). He often recited the Diamond Sutra. One day, while sitting, he saw two men in yellow robes enter the door. Mr. Lu asked who they were. They replied, 'We are the Lizheng (里正, local officials), and we are here to arrest you with an official document.' Mr. Lu was surprised, so he asked to see the document. He saw the words 'Wei County (卫县, a place name)' written on the seal, so he opened it. The writing was garbled. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese
不似人书。怪而诘焉。吏言。奉命相追。不知何故。俄见马在阶下。不得已上马。顾见尸在床上。甚恶之。仓卒间不知是死。又见马出。不由门。皆行墙上。乃惊愕下泪。方知已死。恨不得与母妹等别。行可数十里。至一城。城甚壮丽。问此何城。吏言王国。入城经过一院。问此何院。吏曰。是御史大夫院。因问大夫何姓名。云姓李名某。卢惊喜曰。此吾表兄。令吏通刺。须臾出见甚喜。具言平昔。大夫谓曰。弟诵经。功德甚多。良由金刚是圣教之骨髓。乃不可思议功德也。卢初入院。见数十人皆衣冠。其后大半系网中。或无衣。或露顶。卢问此悉何人。云是阳地衣冠。网中者罪重。弟若为一说法。见之者悉得升天。遂取高座。令卢升坐。诵金刚经。网中人已有出头者。至半后皆出地上。或袖衣大袖。或乘车御云。诵既终。往生都尽。及入谒王。呼为法师。致敬甚厚。王云。君功不可思议。算又不尽。令吏送回。既至舍。见家人披头哭泣。尸卧地上。心甚恻然。俄有一婢。从庭前入。吏令随上阶。及前。魂忽入体。遂活。 归西 严江。相城皮工也。中年弃业。于佛寺担斋饭。在路专持金刚经。并念阿弥陀佛不绝声。年六十余。忽绝粒。饮水一月。乃言曰。我当以某月某日某时去。至期沐浴更衣。跏趺而 现代汉语译本： 不像人写的书信，感到奇怪便询问差役。差役说：‘奉命前来追赶，不知道是什么缘故。’不久看见马在台阶下，不得已骑上马。回头看见尸体在床上，非常厌恶。仓促之间不知道是死了。又看见马出去，不走门，都走墙上。于是惊愕流泪，才知道自己已经死了，遗憾不能和母亲妹妹等人告别。走了大约几十里路，到达一座城，城非常壮丽。问这是什么城，差役说是王国。进入城经过一个院子，问这是什么院子，差役说是御史大夫的院子。于是问大夫姓什么叫什么，说姓李名某。卢某惊喜地说，这是我的表兄。让差役通报。一会儿表兄出来相见，非常高兴，详细说了以前的事情。大夫对他说：‘你诵经，功德很多，主要是《金刚经》是圣教的骨髓，是不可思议的功德啊。’卢某刚入院子，看见几十个人都穿着官服，其中大半被系在网中，有的没有衣服，有的光着头。卢某问这些人都是什么人，说是阳间的官员，在网中的是罪重的。‘你如果为他们说一次法，见到的人都能升天。’于是取来高座，让卢某升座，诵《金刚经》，网中的人已经有探出头来的，到一半后都出了地面，有的穿着宽大的袖子，有的乘车驾云。诵经完毕，往生的人都走了。等到进去拜见国王，国王称他为法师，非常尊敬。国王说：‘您的功德不可思议，算也算不尽。’让差役送他回去。到家后，看见家人披头散发地哭泣，尸体躺在地上，心里非常悲伤。一会儿有一个婢女，从庭前进来，差役让她随着上台阶，到跟前，魂魄忽然进入身体，于是活了。 归西 严江，是相城的一个皮匠。中年时放弃了手艺，在佛寺里负责挑斋饭，在路上专心持诵《金刚经》，并且念阿弥陀佛的声音不绝于耳。六十多岁时，忽然断绝了饭食，只喝水一个月，于是说：‘我应当在某年某月某日某时离开。’到期后沐浴更衣，跏趺而坐。