The bowl used to subdue dragons. {I} According to Inagaki， it refers to the following stories: （1） Uruvilva^ka^/syapa， the master of fire-worship having 500 disciples， offered S/a^kyamuni a room to stay for the night， which was full of flames and inhabited by poisonous dragons. Seeing those dragons subdued by the Buddha and imprisoned in his bowl， he became the Buddha's disciple. （2） Shegong 涉公， a Buddhist monk， was invited by Fujian 符坚， king of Jin 晋 （338-385）， to pray for rain; as he subdued the dragons and captured them in his bowl， rain began to fall in torrents. （3） Huineng 慧能 is reputed to have preached to the dragon in the pond in Baolin 宝林 Temple and put it in his bowl to allow it to attain liberation， leaving behind its skeleton. （Ina-Z） {II} According to Yokoi， a simile of free mental function of a Chan master， coming from an ancient Chinese story that a dragon descended from heaven and entered a bowl at a service praying for rain. （Yo）