As I noted in discussing Huijiao's Biographies of Eminent Monks miracle stories are scattered widely in all categories of the biographies contained in this work. This seems to indicate, that at least as far as Huijiao was concerned, these monks were almost invariably seen as bearers of the holy and possessors of supernatural powers. When, for example, we are told that the learned monk Huiyuan struck the ground at Mt.Lu, and caused a spring to open at the site where he planned to build a temple, he is certainly described as a human locus of supernatural power. This story is immediately followed by another that describes
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how Huiyuan put an end to a drought by reciting the Dragon King Scripture (358a). (10) The "crisis of the overproduction of the holy" that Peter Brown notes was also an important issue in medieval Chinese Buddhism. In another study I am examining how at the begining of the 7th century when relics were distributed througout the empire, the monks who took these relics to their destinations were pressured to report on the miracles that occurred as the relics were lowered into the stupa. Details of the relic distribution and the miracles reported are incorporated in a large number of biographies collected in Daoxuan's Further Biographies of Eminent Monks a work that was compiled after the model first established by Huijiao. (11) I would now like to give an example of a biorgaphy in which we might well see the monk as an outside figure that contributed to maintaining the order of the society, also following Peter Brown's lead.

I will begin my discussion with a summary/translation of a short biography: the biography of Tanchao (419 ～ 492) that is found toward the end of the section on "meditation masters" in Huijiao's collection(400ab). Though Baochang's biography of this monk is now lost, Sosho's summary of Baochang's collection indicates that Tanchao was the subject of the 29th biography in the "Chinese meditation masters" section in this collection (fascicle 20, 3Bb). It would be safe to assume that Huijiao's biography of this monk was for the most part based on the biography Baochang used in his collection.

Monk Tanchao was tall and impressive in appearance; he was a strict vegetarian and wore simple clothing. At first he resided at the Longhuasi, or Dragon Flower temple, in the capital city [Jiankang of the Song dynasty, 420 ～ 479]; in the year 453 he went southward to Shixing on a sight-seeing trip. He spent nights alone under trees, but he was not harmed by tigers nor by wild buffaloes. Sometime during the Daming period (457 ～ 465) he returned to the

　　   ───────────

　　   (10) I discussed this passage in the "Two Sources of

　　　　   Chinese Buddhist  Biographies",  p.141.  It was

　　　　   probably Baochang who inserted the miracle stories,

　　　　   taken  from  the  Mingxiangji  into  the

　　　　   well-known biography of Huiyuan that was found in

　　　　   Seng you's Chu sanzang ji ji, 109b～110c.

　　   (11) I am planning to present some of the preliminary

　　　　   findings of this study in a paper to be read  at

　　　　   the Medievalist Conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan

　　　　   in May, 1992.

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capital city. After Emperor Gao of the Qi dynasty (479 ～ 502) established the new dynasty, he was ordered to go to Liaodong [to the north outside of the territory of the new dynasty] to promote meditation. He stayed there for two years and returned to the capital city in 482.

Then he unexpectedly went to Mt. Lingyin in Qiantang. Every time he practiced meditation, he did not come out of his meditative state for many days. Sometime later he unexpectedly heard the sound of wind and thunder. Suddenly a man holding a tablet appeared in front of him, announcing the appearance of a noble person. Soon another man appeared. He was extremely handsome and accompanied by lines of soldiers decorated with feathers. This man sat down on a low seat and paid his respects to the monk; he then said, "I,'a disciple ', reside in a place seven miles away. The realm under my responsibility includes this present place. I heard that the dharma master has come here, and for that reason I came here to pay my proper respects. Last winter people at the Fuyang District dug at the foot of Mt. Lu (?) to collect clay for baking tiles and disturbed the ground around the dragons 'residence. The dragons were infuriated and decided to stop the rain for 300 days. Today over 100 days have passed. Wells and ponds have dried up; the crops that were planted in the fieds are long gone. You, 'the dharma master ', have the spiritual power that reaches the gods. If you plead to put an end to this situation caused by an event in the past, your conduct will surely have cosmic effects. The rain will come and will benefit the multitude of people."