[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [佛祖統紀](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035) › 37.14 # 佛祖統紀 37.14 佛祖統紀 37.14 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [37.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.37.14) 述曰。祭天地祀宗社。必殺牲以備物。皇王以來用以為法。有國家者掌之為故。且不敢有所議也。夫司天地之化。所以稱上帝稱皇天后土者。至聖至神也。烏有神聖而好殺牲牢之命。肯歆腥臊之食哉。由夫上古之俗茹毛飲血以是養己。必以是事神。朴陋之見曾不知牷牢腥臭之為瀆也。蒸民既粒俗不能變。聖賢教世師古法以著之禮經。於是後王遵而行之。莫或敢議其可不者。以養己。猶古不思事神之不當瀆也。夫果於殺命不仁也。薦以腥臭不義也。以不仁不義為養己之舊習。尚當思有以節以求全好之心。豈於事天地祖宗之神靈。而欲以牲牢腥臭之物以瀆之哉。自佛法東漸勸修齋戒。天帝尚知事佛。豈人事天而不知事佛乎。知所以事佛。則不當以牲牢瀆天。為可信矣。惟梁有武皇魏有獻文。勅郊廟祭祀不用牲牷。而易之以蔬麫酒果。可謂違古而道。奉黍稷薦明水。是亦三代之祀法也。烏在乎牲牢腥臭之物哉。 > The author remarks: Sacrificing to Heaven and Earth and making offerings to the ancestral temple and the altars of the soil and grain have inevitably involved slaughtering sacrificial beasts to prepare the offerings. Since the emperors and kings of antiquity, this has been used as a rule, and rulers of states have kept to it as precedent, never daring to question it. Now, those who oversee the transformations of Heaven and Earth—those addressed as the Sovereign on High or Sovereign Heaven and Empress Earth—are supremely sagely and supremely divine. How could divine and sagely beings delight in killing sacrificial victims, or be willing to savour rank and greasy food? This arose because in high antiquity the common custom was to eat raw meat with its fur and drink blood, sustaining oneself in this way, and people inevitably served the gods by the same means. With such crude and uncultivated views, they never understood that sacrificial beasts, rank and fetid, were an act of profanation. Once the populace began eating grain, the custom still could not be changed. Sages and worthies, teaching the world, took antiquity as their model and set it down in the ritual classics; thereupon later kings complied and practiced it, none daring to debate whether it was proper or not. Using it to sustain themselves was still out of an unthinking habit from antiquity, not considering that in serving the gods one ought not to profane them. Now, being resolute in slaughtering life is unbenevolent; offering rank and fetid food is unrighteous. Taking what is unbenevolent and unrighteous as an old habit of self-sustenance, one should still consider restraining it to pursue a mindset of complete goodness. How much less, when serving the spiritual entities of Heaven, Earth, ancestors, and predecessors, should one wish to profane them with sacrificial beasts and rank, fetid things! Ever since the Dharma of the Buddha spread eastwards, exhorting the cultivation of fasting and precepts, even the Lord of Heaven knows to serve the Buddha; how could humans serve Heaven yet not know to serve the Buddha? If one knows how to serve the Buddha, then it is truly credible that one should not profane Heaven with sacrificial beasts. Only Emperor Wu of the Liang and Emperor Xianwen of the Wei decreed that sacrificial beasts should not be used in the sacrifices of the suburban altars and temples, replacing them with vegetables, flour, wine, and fruit. This can be called departing from antiquity yet according with the Way. Offering millet and presenting clear water was also the sacrificial method of the Three Dynasties; what need is there for sacrificial beasts and rank, fetid things? > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 37.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.37.13) - [Next: 37.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.37.15) - [Up: 37](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.37) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035~en-mt.37.14) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.37.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.37.14) · Pramāṇa