Sŏk Tamsi 釋曇始[249] was a native of Kuan-chung 關中.[250] After becoming a monk he performed many miracles. [1017 a] His feet were whiter than his face, and even when he was wading through mud they would not become wet. People called him the White-Footed Master. In the last year of the era t‘ai-yüan[251] 太元 (396) of Chin, [Tamsi,] with several tens of scriptures and disciplinary texts, went to Liaotung to convert the people. Seizing favorable opportunities, he made known the principles of Buddhism, taught the Three Vehicles (triyāna),[252] and laid down the Triple Refuge and Five Commandments for the people.[253] The author of the Liang kao-seng chuan regards this as the beginning of Buddhism in Koguryŏ.[254] This was during the fifth year (395) of King Kwanggaet‘o 廣開土王 (391-412),[255] the forty-first year of King Naemul (356-402)[256] of Silla, and the fifth year of King Asin 阿莘王 (392-405)[257] of Paekche, and was twenty-five years after Fu Chien of Ch‘in sent over the scriptures and images of Buddha. Four years later, Fa-hsien 法顯 (339-420)[258] went to India (399). Two years after Kumārajīva came to China (401), Master of the Law Hsüan-kao 玄高 (402-444)[259] was born.
In the beginning of the era i-hsi 義熙 (405-418) of Chin, Master Tamsi returned to Kuan-chung and began preaching in the Three Cities.[260] An uncle of Wang Hu 王胡[261], a resident of Ch‘ang-an, had been dead for several years. One day the uncle suddenly appeared [to Wang] in a dream and took him on a journey through Hell, showing him the various retributions suffered there. When the time for farewell came, the uncle said, “Now that you understand cause and effect, you should render respectful service to the monastery[262] of the White-Footed Master and cultivate good deeds.” [Wang] Hu promised respectfully and awoke. He then inquired of all the monks; seeing Tatnsi’s feet whiter than his face, he attended him deferentially.
At the end of Chin, the Hsiung-nu Ho-lien Po-po 赫連勃勃 (381-407-425)[263] captured Kuan-chung and massacred innumerable people. The master was also attacked, but no blade could harm his person. After this, all the monks were pardoned, and none were killed. [Tamsi] escaped to the mountains and cultivated esoteric, ascetic practices. Not long afterwards, Ch‘ang-an was recaptured by T‘o-pa T‘ao 拓拔燾 (408-424-451-452),[264] whose power spread over Kuan-chung and Lo-yang. At that time, Ts‘ui Hao 崔浩 (381- 450)[265] of Po-ling,[266] who had known Taoist magic from childhood, was jealous of Buddhism. He was then minister of the new court and gained the confidence of T‘ao. Together with the Taoist priest K‘ou [Ch‘ien-chih] 寇謙之 (d. 448),[267] he persuaded T‘ao to outlaw Buddhism on the grounds that it did not benefit the world but instead injured the people’s interests. T‘ao, deluded by their words, issued a decree of annihilation in the seventh year of the era t‘ai-p‘ing 太平 (446). Soldiers were sent everywhere to burn down monasteries. Monks and nuns within the territory were forced to renounce their status. Those who attempted to escape were seized and killed, and their heads exposed.[268] As a result, not a single monk was left within the realm. Hsüan-kao and others were also killed at this time, the account of which is found in his biography. The master went to a place where soldiers could not reach him, and regretfully bided his time. At the end of the era t‘ai-p‘ing he calculated that the time for the conversion of T‘ao was near. Therefore, on New Year’s Day,[269] holding a metal staff in his hand,[270] he went to the palace gate.[271] The officer reported to the emperor that a white-footed monk was coming in right through the palace gate and that his appearance seemed strange. Hearing this, T‘ao ordered strong soldiers to behead him, but to no avail. T‘ao, in great anger, struck him with his sharp sword; but, except for the place struck by the weapon, which looked like the trace of a red thread, the master was completely unharmed.[272] T‘ao then ordered him to be taken to the tigers’ den in the Northern Park. The tigers, however, all lay sulking and would not approach him. But when T‘ao ordered a Taoist priest to go near the den, [1017b] the animals roared and leapt toward him and were about to seize and devour him. From this T‘ao realized that the power of Buddhism surpassed that of the Yellow Emperor and Lao Tzu;[273] he requested the master to go to his palace and there, bowing to his feet, repented his evil deeds.[274] The master explained the relentless truth of karma and, opening his palms, showed T‘ao efficacious signs. T‘ao was both ashamed and afraid, and [promised] to redeem the past and to do good in the future. But the evil he had done was irrevocable. As a result, T‘ao fell ill; Ts‘ui and K‘ou also fell ill and were approaching death. Realizing that the disaster had been caused by these two, T‘ao could not forgive their crime. He therefore destroyed the two families and proclaimed the restoration of Buddhism within his realm. Thus, the sounding of bells and chanting of hymns was resumed. When his grandson Hsün 濬 (440-452-465)[275] ascended the throne, he remembered the lesson[276] and promoted Buddhism. Thus, the precious system[277] rapidly came back to life. No one knows where the master finally went.
The eulogy says: When fire blazes over the K‘un-lun Mountains,[278] gems and stones are scorched together. When frost lays waste the field, orchids (lan) and weeds die together.[279] The hardships and obstacles the master encountered were indeed extreme. The usual hardships of felling trees and removing their traces are far from providing an adequate comparison. Like a white cloud behind a green hill, he appeared and disappeared as occasion demanded. Like the moon’s reflection on a deep pond, scooped out by a windlass,[280] he advanced and withdrew upon encountering dangers. He sacrificed his body to save the drowned, and the Way flourished on this account. A Bodhisattva’s protection of the Buddha-truth ought to be just like this. [The master] came to the country of the mulberry[281] and restored sight to those bom blind. This must have been the fulfillment of his vows from a former life.