The Tang Emperor Keeps Faith and Holds a Great Mass

Guanyin Appears to the Reincarnated Golden Cicada

When the devil officers left the underworld with Liu Quan and his wife,a dark and whirling wind blew them straight to the great capital Chang’an, where Liu Quan’s soul was sent to the Golden Pavilion and Li Cuilian’s to an inner courtyard of the palace, where Princess Yuying could be seen walking slowing beside some moss under the shade of some blossoming trees. Suddenly the devil officers struck her full in the chest and knocked her over; they snatched the soul from her living body and put Li Cuilian’s soul into the body in its place. With that they returned to the underworld.

When the palace serving-women saw her drop dead they rushed to the throne hall to report to the three empresses that Her Royal Highness the Princess had dropped dead. The shocked empresses passed the news on to Taizong who sighed and said, “We can well believe it. When we asked the Ten Lords of Hell if young and old in our palace would all be well, they replied that they would all be well except that our younger sister was going to die suddenly. How true that was.”

He and everyone else in the palace went with great sorrow to look at her lying under the trees, only to see that she was breathing very lightly.

“Don’t wail,” the Tang Emperor said, “don’t wail; it might alarm her.” Then he raised her head with his own hand and said, “Wake up, sister, wake up.”

All of a sudden the princess sat up and called out, “Don’t go so fast, husband. Wait for me.”

“Sister, we’re waiting for you here,” said the Emperor.

The princess lifted her head, opened her eyes, and looked at him. “Who are you?” she asked. “How dare you put your hands on us?”

“It’s your august brother, royal sister,” replied Taizong.

“I’ve got nothing to do with august brothers and royal sisters,” said the princess. “My maiden name is Li, and my full name is Li Cuilian. My husband is Liu Quan, and we both come from Junzhou. When I gave a gold hairpin to a monk at the gate three months ago my husband said harsh words to me about leaving the women’s quarters and not behaving as a good wife should. It made me so angry and upset that I hanged myself from a beam with a white silk sash, leaving a boy and a girl who cried all night and all day. As my husband was commissioned by the Tang Emperor to go to he underworld to deliver some pumpkins, the Kings of Hell took pity on us and let the two of us come back to life. He went ahead, but I lagged behind. When I tried to catch him up I tripped. You are all quite shameless to be mauling me like this. I don’t even know your names.”

“We think that Her Royal Highness is delirious after passing out when she fell,” said Taizong to the palace women. He sent an order to the Medical Academy for some medicinal potions, and helped Yuying into the palace.

When the Tang Emperor was back in his throne-hall, one of his aides came rushing in to report, “Your Majesty, Liu Quan, the man who delivered the pumpkins, is awaiting your summons outside the palace gates.” The startled Taizong immediately sent for Liu Quan, who prostrated himself before the vermilion steps of the throne.

“What happened when you presented the pumpkins?” asked the Tang Emperor.

“Your subject went straight to the Devil Gate with the pumpkins on my head. I was taken to the Senluo Palace where I saw the Ten Kings of Hell, to whom I presented the pumpkins, explaining how very grateful my emperor was. The Kings of Hell were very pleased. They bowed in Your Majesty’s honour and said, ‘How splendid of the Tang Emperor to be as good as his word.’”

“What did you see in the underworld?” asked the Emperor.

“I did not go very far there so I did not see much. But when the kings asked me where I was from and what I was called, I told them all about how I had volunteered to leave my family and my children to deliver the pumpkins because my wife had hanged herself. They immediately ordered demon officers to bring my wife, and we were reunited outside the Senluo Palace. Meanwhile they inspected the Registers of Births and Deaths and saw that my wife and I were both due to become Immortals, so they sent devil officers to bring us back. I went ahead with my wife following behind, and although I was fortunate enough to come back to life, I don’t know where her soul has been put.”

“What did the Kings of Hell say to you about your wife?” asked the astonished Emperor.

“They didn’t say anything,” replied Liu Quan, “but I heard a demon officer say, ‘As Li Cuilian has been dead for some time her body has decomposed.’ To this the Kings of Hell said, ‘Li Yuying of the Tang house is due to die today, so we can borrow her body to put Li Cuilian’s soul back into.’ As I don’t know where this Tang house is or where she lives, I haven’t been able to go and look for her yet.”

The Tang Emperor, who was now very pleased, said to his officials, “When we were leaving the Kings of Hell, we asked them about our family. They said all its members would be well except for my sister. She collapsed and died under the shade of some blossoming trees, and when we hurried over to support her she came to, shouting ‘Don’t go so fast, husband. Wait for me.’ We thought at the time that she was just talking deliriously after passing out, but when we asked her to tell us more her story tallied precisely with Liu Quan’s.”

“If Her Royal Highness died suddenly and came to shortly afterwards talking like this, then it means that Liu Quan’s wife must have borrowed her body to come back to life,” said Wei Zheng. “Things like this do happen. The princess should be asked to come out so that we can hear what she says.”

“We have just ordered the Imperial Medical Academy to send some medicine, so we don’t know whether it will be possible,” said the Tang Emperor, who then sent a consort into the palace to ask her to come out. The princess, meanwhile, was shouting wildly inside the palace, “I’m taking none of your medicine. This isn’t my home. My home is a simple tiled house, not like this jaundiced, yellow place with its flashy doors. Let me out, let me out.”

Four of five women officials and two or three eunuchs appeared while she was shouting and helped her go straight to the throne hall, where the Tang Emperor asked, “Would you recognize your husband if you saw him?”

“What a thing to ask! We’ve been married since we were children, and I’ve given him a son and a daughter, so of course I’d recognize him.” The Emperor told his attendants to help her down and she went down from the throne hall. As soon as she saw Liu Quan in front of the white jade steps she seized hold of him.

“Husband!” she exclaimed, “where did you go? Why didn’t you wait for me? I tripped over, and all these shameless people surrounded me and shouted at me. Wasn’t that shocking?” Although Liu Quan could hear that it was his wife talking, she looked like somebody else, so he did not dare to recognize her as his wife.

“Indeed,” said the Emperor,

“Sometimes mountains collapse and the earth yawns open,

But few men will shorten their lives to die for another.”

As he was a good and wise monarch he gave all of the princess’ dressing-cases, clothes and jewelry to Liu Quan as if they were a dowry, presented him with an edict freeing him from labor service for life, and told him to take the princess home with him. Husband and wife thanked him before the steps and returned home very happily. There is a poem to prove it:

Life and death are pre-ordained;

Some have many years, others few.

When Liu Quan came back to the light after taking the pumpkins,

Li Cuilian returned to life in a borrowed body.

After leaving the Emperor the pair went straight back to the city of Junzhou, where they found that their household and their children were all well. There is no need to go into how the two of them publicized their virtue rewarded.

The story turns to Lord Yuchi, who went to Kaifeng in Henan with a hoard of gold and silver for Xiang Liang, who made a living by selling water and dealing in black pots and earthenware vessels with his wife, whose maiden name was Zhang, at the gate of their house. When they made some money they were content to keep enough for their daily expenses, giving the rest as alms to monks or using it to buy paper ingots of gold and silver, which they assigned to various hoards in the underworld and burnt. That was why they were now to be so well rewarded. Although he was only a pious pauper in this world, he owned mountains of jade and gold in the other one. When Lord Yuchi brought them the gold and silver, Mr. and Mrs. Xiang were terrified out of their wits. Apart from his lordship there were also officials from the local government office, and horses and carriages were packed tight outside their humble cottage. The two of them fell to their knees dumbfounded and began to kowtow.

“Please rise,” said Lord Yuchi. “Although I am merely an imperial commissioner, I bring gold and silver from His Majesty to return to you.” Shivering and shaking Xiang Liang replied, “I’ve lent out no silver or gold, so how could I dare to accept this mysterious wealth?”

“I know that your are a poor man,” said Lord Yuchi, “but you have given monks everything they need and bought paper ingots of gold and silver which you have assigned to the underworld and burnt, thus accumulating large sums of money down there. When His Majesty the Emperor Taizong was dead for three days before returning to life he borrowed one of your hoards of gold and silver down there, which he is now repaying to you in full. Please check it through so that I can go back and report that I have carried out my instructions.” Xiang Liang and his wife just went on bowing to Heaven and refused to take the gold and silver.

“If humble folk like ourselves took all this gold and silver it’d soon be the death of us. Although we have burned some paper and assigned it to various stores, it was a secret. Anyhow, what proof is there that His Majesty—may he live for ten thousand years—borrowed gold and silver down there? We refuse to accept it.”

“The Emperor said that Judge Cui was his guarantor when he borrowed your money, and this can be verified, so please accept it,” replied Lord Yuchi.

“I would sooner die than do so,” said Xiang Liang.

Seeing how earnestly he refused Lord Yuchi had to send a man back with a detailed report to the throne. On reading this report that Xiang Liang had refused to accept the gold and silver, Taizong said, “He really is a pious old fellow.” He sent orders to Yuchi Jingde that he was to build a temple in his name, erect a shrine to him, and invite monks to do good deeds on his behalf: this would be as good as paying him back the gold and silver. On the day this decree reached him Yuchi Jingde turned towards the palace to thank the Emperor, and read it aloud for all to hear. Then he bought fifty mu of land at a place inside the city that would not be in the way from either the civil or the military point of view, and here work was begun on a monastery to be called The Imperially Founded Xiang Quo Monastery. To its left was erected a shrine to Mr. and Mrs. Xiang with an inscribed tablet that read “Built under the supervision of Lord Yuchi.” This is the present Great Xiang Guo Monastery.

When he was informed that work had been completed Taizong was very pleased, and assembling the multitude of officials he issued a notice summoning monks to come and hold a Great Mass for the rebirth of those lonely souls in the underworld. As the notice traveled throughout the empire the local officials everywhere recommended holy and venerable monks to go to Chang’an for the service. By the end of the month many monks had arrived in Chang’an from all over the empire. The Emperor issued a decree ordering Fu Yi, the Deputy Annalist, to select some venerable monks to perform Buddhist ceremonies. On hearing this command Fu Yi sent up a memorial requesting a ban on the building of pagodas and saying that there was no Buddha. It read: By the Law of the West there are no distinctions between ruler and subject or between father and son; the Three Paths and the Six Roads are used to deceive the foolish; past sins are chased away to filch future blessings; and Sanskrit prayers are recited in attempts to avoid retribution. Now birth, death and the length of life are in fact decided by nature; and punishments, virtue, power and blessings come from the lord of men. But these days vulgar believers distort the truth and say that they all come from Buddha. In the time of the Five Emperors and Three Kings of antiquity this Buddha did not exist, yet rulers were enlightened, subjects were loyal, and prosperity lasted for many a long year. When foreign gods were first established in the time of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, sramanas from the West began to propagate their religion. This is in reality a foreign encroachment on China, and it does not merit belief.

When he had heard this read to him Taizong tossed it to his other officials for debate. The minister Xiao Yu stepped forward from the ranks, kowtowed and said, “The Buddha’s law has flourished for several dynasties, and by spreading good and preventing evil it gives unseen help to the state; there is no reason why it would be abolished. Buddha was a sage. Those who deny sages are lawless. I request that he be severely punished.” Fu Yi argued with Xiao Yu, pointing out that correct behavior was derived from serving one’s parents and one’s sovereign, whereas the Buddha turned his back on his parents, resisting the Son of Heaven although he was but a commoner, and rebelling against his mother and father with the body that they gave him. Xiao Yu had not been born in an empty mulberry tree, but he honoured a religion that denied fathers; this indeed proved that he who had no sense of filial piety denied his father.

All Xiao Yu did was to put his hands together and say, “Hell must have been made for men such as him.” Taizong sent for the High Chamberlain Zhang Daoyuan and the Head of the Secretariat Zhang Shiheng to ask them how effectively Buddhist ritual obtained blessings.

“The Buddha dwells in purity, benevolence and mercy,” the two officers replied, “and the True Result is Buddha-emptiness. Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty placed the Three Teachings in an order. The Chan Master Dahui wrote a poem in praise of the distant and mysterious. If the masses support monks, anything can happen. The Five Patriarchs came down to their mothers’ wombs, and Bodhidharma appeared. From remotest antiquity everyone has said that the Three Teachings are highly venerable and cannot be destroyed or abolished. We humbly beg Your Majesty to give us his perceptive ruling.”

“Your submission makes sense,” said the delighted Taizong. “If anyone else makes further comments, he will be punished.” He then ordered Wei Zheng, Xiao Yu and Zhang Daoyuan to invite all the monks and select one of great virtue to be Master of Ceremonies. They all bowed to thank him and withdrew. From then on there was a new law: anyone who injured a monk or slandered the Buddha would lose his arm.

The next day the three court officials assembled all the monks at the altar among rivers and hills, and they went through them all one by one. From among them they chose a venerable and virtuous monk. Do you know who he was?

Fully versed in the basic mystery, his title was Golden Cicada;

But because he did not want to hear the Buddha preach

He transferred to the mortal world to suffer torment,

Was born among the common mortals to fall into the net.

From the moment he entered the womb he met with evil,

Before he left it he encountered a gang of villains.

His father was Top Graduate Chen from Haizhou,

His grandfather a senior imperial commander.

His birth offended the meteor that dropped into the water,

He drifted with the current and followed the waves.

Jinshan Island had a great destiny:

The abbot Qian’an brought him up.

Only at seventeen did he meet his mother,

And go to the capital to find his grandfather.

Commander Yin Kaishan, raising a great army,

Wiped out and punished the bandits at Hongzhou.

Graduate Chen Guangrui escaped from the heavenly net,

And father and son were happily reunited.

Accepting the invitation he receives once more the monarch’s grace,

And his fame is spread as he climbs the lofty tower.

Refusing to take office he wants to be a monk,

So as sramana of the Hongfu Temple he learns about the Way,

The child of an ancient Buddha who used to be called Jiangliu,

And took the dharma-name of Chen Xuanzang.

That day the Reverend Xuanzang was chosen from among all the monks. He had been a monk from infancy, and ever since birth he had eaten vegetarian food and observed the prohibitions. His maternal grandfather was an imperial commander, Yin Kaishan. His father Chen Guangrui had come top in the Palace Examination and had been appointed a grand secretary in the Imperial Library. Xuanzang, however, had no interest in honour and glory, and his only joy was to cultivate Nirvana. Investigation revealed that his origins were good and his virtue great; of the thousand sutras and ten thousand holy books there was not a single one that he did not know; he could sing every Buddhist chant and knew all the religious music. The three officials took him to the imperial presence, where they danced and stirred up the dust. When they had bowed they reported, “Your subject Xiao Yu and the rest of us have chosen a venerable monk called Chen Xuanzang in obedience to the imperial decree.”

On hearing his name Taizong thought deeply for a long time and then asked, “Is that the Xuanzang who is the son of Grand Secretary Chen Guangrui?”

“Your subject is he,” replied Xuanzang with a kowtow.

“Then you were indeed well chosen,” said the Emperor with satisfaction. “You are indeed a monk of virtuous conduct of a mind devoted to meditation. I give you the offices of Left Controller of the Clergy, Right Controller of the Clergy, and Hierarch of the Empire.” Xuanzang kowtowed to express his thanks and accepted the appointments. The Emperor then gave him a multicolored golden cassock and a Vairocana miter, telling him to be sure he conscientiously continued to visit enlightened monks, and giving him the position at the top of the hierarchy. He gave him a decree in writing ordering him to go to the Huasheng Temple to pick a propitious day and hour on which to begin the recitations of the scriptures.

Xuanzang bowed, took the decree, and went to the Huasheng Temple where he assembled many monks, had meditation benches made, prepared for the mass, and chose the music. He selected a total of twelve hundred high and humble monks of enlightenment, who he divided into an upper, a middle and a lower hall. All the holy objects were neatly arranged before all the Buddhas. The third day of the ninth month of that year was chosen an auspicious day on which to start the seven times seven days of the Great Land and Water Mass. This was all reported to the throne, and at the appointed time Taizong, the high civil and military officials, and the royal family went to the service to burn incense and listen to the preaching. There is a poem to prove it that goes:

At the dragon assembly in the thirteenth year of Zhen Guan

The Emperor called a great meeting to talk about the scriptures.

At the assembly they began to expound the unfathomable law,

While clouds glowed above the great shrine.

The Emperor in his grace orders the building of a temple;

The Golden Cicada sheds his skin to edify the West.

He spreads the news that rewards for goodness save from ill,

Preaching the doctrine of the three Buddhas of past and future.

In the year jisi, the thirteenth of Zhen Guan, on the day jiaxu, the third of the ninth month, the Hierarch Chen Xuanzang assembled twelve hundred venerable monks at the Huasheng Temple in the city of Chang’an for a chanting of all the holy scriptures. After morning court was over the Emperor left the throne hall in his dragon and phoenix chariot at the head of a host of civil and military officials and went to the temple to burn incense. What did the imperial chariot look like? Indeed

Propitious vapours filled the sky

That shone with ten thousand beams of sacred light.

A mellow breeze blew softly,

The sunlight was strangely beautiful.

A thousand officials with jade at their belts walked in due order.

The banners of the five guards are drawn up on either side.

Holding golden gourds,

Wielding battle-axes,

They stand in pairs;

Lamps of purple gauze,

Imperial censers,

Make majestic clouds.

Dragons fly and phoenixes dance,

Ospreys and eagles soar.

True is the enlightened Son of Heaven,

Good are his just and loyal ministers.

This age of prosperity surpasses the time of Shun and Yu;

The eternal peace he has given outdoes that of Yao and Tang.

Under a parasol with curved handle

The dragon robe sweeps in,

Dazzling bright.

Interlocking jade rings,

Coloured phoenix fans,

Shimmer with a magic glow.

Pearl crowns and belts of jade,

Gold seals on purple cords.

A thousand regiments of soldiers protect the imperial chariot,

Two lines of generals carry the royal chair.

Bathed and reverent, the Emperor comes to worship the Buddha,

Submitting to the True Achievement as he joyfully burns incense.

When the carriage of the Tang Emperor reached the temple, orders were given to stop the music as he descended from the vehicle and went at the head of his officials to bow to the Buddha and burn incense. When he had done this three times he looked up and saw what a magnificent assembly it was:

Dancing banners,

Flying canopies.

When the banners danced

The sky shook with the clouds of silk;

When the canopies flew

The sun gleamed as the red lightning flashed.

Perfect the image of the statue of the Honoured One,

Mighty the grandeur of the Arhats’ countenances.

Magic flowers in a vase,

Censers burning sandalwood and laka.

As the fairy flowers stand in vases

Trees like brocade fill the temple with their brightness.

As the censers burn sandalwood and laka

Clouds of incense rise to the azure heaven.

Fresh fruit of the season is piled in vermilion dishes,

Exotic sweets are heaped on the silk-covered tables.

Serried ranks of holy monks intone the surras

To save abandoned souls from suffering.

Taizong and his civil and military officials all burned incense, bowed to the golden body of the Lord Buddha, and paid their respects to the Arhats. The Hierarch Chen Xuanzang then led all the monks to bow to the Emperor, and when this was over they divided into their groups and went to their meditation places while the Hierarch showed the Emperor the notice about the delivery of the lonely ghosts. It read:

“Mysterious is the ultimate virtue, and the Sect of Meditation leads to Nirvana. The purity of the truth is all-knowing; it pervades the Three Regions of the universe. Through its countless changes it controls the Negative and Positive; unbounded are the embodiments of the eternal reality. In considering those forlorn ghosts one should be deeply distressed. At the sacred command of Taizong we have assembled some chosen monks for meditation and preaching. He has opened wide the gates of enlightenment and rowed far the boat of mercy, saving all the beings in the sea of suffering, and delivering those who had long been afflicted by the six ways of existence. They will be led back to the right road and revel in the great chaos; in action and in passivity they will be at one with primal simplicity. For this wonderful cause they are invited to see the purple gates of the pure capital, and through our assembly they will escape from the confines of Hell to climb to the World of Bliss and be free, wandering as they please in the Paradise of the West. As the poem goes:

A burner of incense of longevity,

A few spells to achieve rebirth.

The infinite Law is proclaimed,

The boundless mercy of Heaven is shown.

When sins are all washed away,

The neglected souls leave Hell.

We pray to protect our country;

May it stay at peace and be blessed.”

When he had read this the Tang Emperor’s heart was filled with happiness and he said to the monks, “Hold firm to your sincerity and never allow yourselves a moment’s slackness in the service of the Buddha. Later on, when the Assembly is over, you will be blessed and we shall richly reward you. You shall certainly not have labored in vain.” The twelve hundred monks all kowtowed to thank him. When the three vegetarian meals for the day were over the Tang Emperor went back to the palace. He was invited to come back to the Grand Assembly to burn incense once more on the seventh day. As evening was now drawing in all the officials went away. It was a fine evening:

A light glow suffused the boundless sky;

A few crows were late in finding their roosts.

Lamps were lit throughout the city as all fell still;

It was just the hour for the monks to enter the trance.

We will omit a description of the night or of how the monks intoned the scriptures when their master took his seat again the next morning.

The Bodhisattva Guanyin from Potaraka Island in the Southern Sea had been long in Chang’an, looking on the Buddha’s orders for the man to fetch the scriptures, but she had not yet found anyone really virtuous. Then she heard that Taizong was propagating the True Achievement and selecting venerable monks for a Grand Assembly, and when she saw that the Master of Ceremonies was the monk Jiangliu who was really a Buddha’s son came down from the realms of supreme bliss, an elder whom she herself had led into his earthly mother’s womb, she was very pleased. She took her disciple Moksa and the treasures that the Buddha had given her out on the street to offer them for sale.

Do you know what these treasures were? There was a precious brocade cassock and-a monastic staff with nine rings. She also had those three golden bands, but she put them away safely for future use; she was only selling the cassock and the staff.

There was a monk in Chang’an city too stupid to be chosen for the service but who nonetheless had some ill-gotten banknotes. When he saw the bald, scabby, barefoot figure wearing a tattered robe—the form the Bodhisattva had taken—offering the cassock of dazzling beauty for sale he went up and asked, “How much d’you want for that cassock, Scabby?”

“The price of the cassock is five thousand ounces of silver and the staff two thousand,” replied the Bodhisattva. The stupid monk roared with laughter.

“You must be a nutcase, Scabby, or else a dope. Those two lousy things wouldn’t be worth that much unless they gave you immortality and turned you into a Buddha. No deal. Take’em away.”

Not bothering to argue, the Bodhisattva walked on with Moksa. After they had been going for quite a long time they found themselves in front of the Donghua Gate of the palace, where the minister Xiao Yu happened to be returning home from morning court. Ignoring the crowd of lictors who were shouting to everyone to get out of the way, the Bodhisattva calmly went into the middle of the road with the cassock in her hands and headed straight for the minister. When the minister reined in his horse to look he saw the cassock gleaming richly and sent an attendant to ask its price.

“I want five thousand ounces of silver for the cassock and two thousand for the staff,” said the Bodhisattva.

“What’s so good about the cassock to make it worth that much?” asked Xiao Yu.

“On the one hand it is good and on the other it isn’t,” replied the Bodhisattva. “On the one hand it has a price and on the other it hasn’t.”

“What’s good about it and what isn’t?” asked the minister.

“Whoever wears this cassock of mine will not sink into the mire, will not fall into Hell, will not be ensnared by evil and will not meet disaster from tiger or wolf: these are its good points. But as for a stupid monk who is greedy and debauched, who takes delight in the sufferings of others, does not eat vegetarian food, and breaks the monastic bans; or a common layman who harms the scriptures and slanders the Buddha—such people have great difficulty even in seeing this cassock of mine: that is its disadvantage.”

“What did you mean by saying that it both has a price and hasn’t got one?” asked the minister, continuing his questions.

“Anyone who doesn’t obey the Buddha’s Law or honour the Three Treasures but still insists on buying the cassock and the staff will have to pay seven thousand ounces for them: in that case they have a price. But if anyone who honors the Three Treasures, takes pleasure in goodness, and believes in our Buddha, wants to have them, then I’ll give him the cassock and staff as a gift. In that case they have no price.” Xiao Yu’s cheeks coloured, showing that he was a good man, and he dismounted to greet the Bodhisattva.

“Elder of the Great Law,” he said, “forgive me. Our Great Tang Emperor is a true lover of goodness, and every one of the civil and military officials in his court acts piously. This cassock would be just right for the Hierarch, Master Chen Xuanzang, to wear in the Great Land and Water Mass that is now being conducted. You and I shall go into the palace to see His Majesty.”

The Bodhisattva gladly followed him as he turned around and went straight in through the Donghua Gate. The eunuchs reported their arrival, and they were summoned to the throne hall. Xiao Yu led the two scabby monks in, and they stood beneath the steps of the throne.

“What have you come to report, Xiao Yu?” the Emperor asked. Xiao Yu prostrated himself in front of the steps and replied, “When your subject went out through the Donghua Gate I met two monks who were selling a cassock and a staff. It occurred to me that this cassock would be suitable for Master Xuanzang to wear. So I have brought the monks for an audience with Your Majesty.” The delighted Taizong asked how much the cassock cost. Still standing beneath the steps,