There was a monk in Shandong Province’s Changqing County who was well-versed in Buddhist teachings and conscientiously maintained his purity of spirit. At the ripe old age of over eighty, he
was still in very good health.
One day, he fell to the ground and failed to get back up. The monks in the monastery rushed over to help, but the old monk was already dead.
The monk himself didn’t realise he was dead, however. His soul drifted away to Henan Province. There, on that day, the young master of a gentry family was out hunting for rabbits with more than ten servants all on horseback and with hunting hawks. Suddenly, the young master’s horse startled and began to gallop away in a frenzy. The man was thrown off the horse and died immediately. At this moment, the old monk’s soul bumped into the young man’s dead body and the two became one. As the young master slowly came to, the servants gathered around, asking how he felt. He opened his eyes and wondered, “How did I get here?” The servants proceeded to help him home.
On entering the house, the young master was surprised to see a number of women with powdered faces and painted eyebrows come forward to comfort him. He said, “But I’m a monk. Why am I here?” The rest of the family thought he must be delirious and tried to talk him back to his senses. The old monk didn’t argue. He simply closed his eyes and said no more. When they brought him rice, he would eat, but if it were meat or wine, he would refuse to touch it. At night, he slept alone, rejecting the favors of wife or concubine.
This went on for a few days. Then suddenly he wanted to get up and walk around a bit, which made everybody very happy. But as soon as he left his room and hardly had he stood still than many servants came up to him, presenting him with all kinds of financial accounts for him to check. The young master turned them all away on the pretext that he had only just recovered and still felt quite weak. Then he asked the servants, ”Do you know if there’s a Changqing County in Shandong?” Everybody said “Yes.” “It’s so dull here, I would like to take a trip to Changqing. Go immediately to get my things ready.” The others tried to persuade him that since he had only just recovered, he should not undertake such a long trip, but he would not listen. The next day, they set out.
Arriving in Changqing, the monk saw that the place was just as before. Without asking the way, he went straight to the monastery. Several of his disciples came up to greet the honoured guest, bowing with reverence. He asked them where the old abbot was and was told, “The Master left this world not long ago.” And when he inquired about the abbot’s grave, they took him to the site. It was a small solitary grave, not yet totally covered by wild grass. The monks were quite puzzled, wondering what was on his mind. After a while, the young master ordered his servants to ready the horse for the trip home. As he took his leave, he said to the monks, “Your Master was a high priest who strictly abided by discipline. Take good care of his things. See that they are not damaged.” Only when the monks had repeatedly promised that they would did the young master leave the monastery.
Back home, the young master sat like a withered tree, his spirit half dead, and refused to tend to any family affairs. After a few months, he stealthily left the house and headed straight for the old Changqing Monastery. He told his disciples, “I am your Master.” But the disciples thought the young master must be speaking nonsense. They looked at one another and giggled. So he told the disciples the whole story, from beginning to end, of how his soul found residence in the body of a dead man. Then he gave an account of his life and deeds, which all fitted accurately with what they knew. Now convinced, the disciples invited him to sit on his original dais and attended to his needs as before.
Several times, the young master’s family dispatched carriages to fetch him home. Despite their pleading, he would not even look at them. More than a year passed. The young master’s wife sent the housekeeper to Changqing with many precious things. He kept only a cotton robe, declining all the gold and silver, silk and brocade. Sometimes, the young master’s former friends would come to visit him in Changqing in all reverence. They found that he spoke or laughed little, but was very earnest and devout. Although he appeared to be around thirty years of age, he often talked about things that happened more than eighty years ago.
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