勅修百丈清規 1.10

1.10

and Rinchinbal Emperor, it was said: 'Do not impose any corvée labor on the upādhyāyas, Erke'ün, or Daoist masters. Let them pray to Heaven and invoke longevity.' So it was spoken. Now, following the precedents of previous imperial edicts, do not impose any corvée labor, and let them pray to Heaven and invoke longevity for us. When Jaya'atu Emperor ordered the construction of Dalongxiang Jiqing Monastery, he ordered that it be administered according to the system of the Pure Rules, and an imperial edict was issued. Chan Master Dazhi Juezhao of Baizhang in Longxing Circuit, Jiangxi, previously established the system of the Pure Rules. In recent years, various monasteries have made additions and subtractions to this system of the Pure Rules, rendering it inconsistent. Now, Elder Dehui, abbot of Dazhi Shousheng Chan Monastery on Mount Baizhang, has been ordered to recompile it. Elder Xiaoyin of Dalongxiang Jiqing Monastery has been ordered to lead in selecting capable upādhyāyas to properly collate and unify it. Do not let those inconsistent pure rules with additions and subtractions made by various monasteries be practiced; let them be practiced as a fixed standard according to this collated and unified system of the Pure Rules. Thus an imperial edict for them to hold was granted. In these monasteries and lodgings, let no envoys be lodged; let no post horses or service provisions be seized; let no taxes or grain levies be paid. Whatever belongs to the monasteries—water, land, gardens, forests, population, livestock, mills, shops, pawnshops, bathhouses, bamboo groves, mountain tracts, rivers, lakes, boats, and the like—no matter who it is, do not seize or demand them, and do not rely on force. Having thus proclaimed, whoever violates this shall be punished as guilty. Furthermore, if these [monks] say 'We have an imperial edict' and engage in improper matters, they too shall not be spared from the imperial edict.