民逃難工免薪

乙酉一百有六歲。粵北已陷。被日寇佔據。逃難來寺者甚多。初食飯粥。後食木薯粉。在亂兵萬難之際。公自民國卅二年。由李漢魂諸公送駐錫雲門山大覺寺。百廢俱興。現雖時局不安。仍進行修建工程。而木泥瓦等匠人。亦暫不領工資。

宣化偈曰：

離亂興工倍艱巨。更加難民增負擔。
願同甘苦與患難。再奇工者不支錢。

Witnessing people fleeing from trouble; workers forego wages

In 1945, the Master was one-hundred-and-six. Northern Canton Province had been invaded by and fallen to the Japanese. People fled the stricken areas, and came in large numbers to the monasteries. At first, everyone ate rice gruel, and later on just potato flour. During this very difficult period of chaos and military action, the Master had been escorted by General Li Han Yun and others to Ta Chueh (Great Enlightenment) Monastery on Yun Men (Cloud Gate) Mountain in the thirty-second year of the Republic (1944). He began to take care of the previously neglected monastery, and despite the unpeaceful times, he still went ahead with reconstruction projects. Bricklayers, stonemasons, and carpenters who were temporarily at the monastery donated their labor.

The gatha says:
Despite the chaos, the work began amidst redoubled vicissitudes.
The Master continued to aid the people; his heavy burden increased.
They vowed to undergo sweetness and suffering and those difficult times together.
What is more, the workers there did not ask for wages.