佛祖統紀 38.64

38.64

述曰。有一代君臣。必有一代之史。所以記諸言動法不法也。堯舜之德必書。跖蹻之行必書。天時人事善惡臧否莫不畢錄。有可法有可誡謂之信史。若是其可也。自佛法來東舉世知所宗上真文祕要盈滿天下。明心見性之道可坐以進益物救世正在仁義。久久弊詐日起之後。通人勝士欽挹風規。歷代修史之家。未嘗不列敘其事。故范曄之論西域曰。佛道神化興自身毒（音乾篤即天竺也）西漢方志莫有稱焉。豈道閉往運而數開叔葉乎。袁宏之著漢紀曰。天竺有佛道焉。能化通萬物。而大濟群生。唐正觀稱制晉書。摩什圖澄皆列於傳。而贊之曰。垂文闡教通幽洞冥。魏收撰魏書。其志佛老曰。佛言三世神識常不滅。凡為善惡必有報應。漸積勝業乃至無生。此皆諸史敘佛之明義。知佛道果可以益物救世云耳。異哉。歐陽氏之修唐書也。凡釋氏之事有裨國政開人心者。悉刪去之。適足以存舊史之該贍。其乏通學守隘見有若是。謂之信史。未信也。

The commentary says: Where there is a generation of ruler and ministers, there must be a history of that generation to record all their words, actions, conformity to law, and lawlessness. The virtues of Yao and Shun must be recorded; the conduct of Zhi and Qiao must be recorded. The seasons of heaven, human affairs, good, evil, approval, and censure are without exception completely documented. Containing what can be emulated and what can serve as warning, it is called a reliable history. If it is like this, it is acceptable. Since the Buddha-Dharma came to the East, the whole world has known what to venerate; true texts and secret essentials fill the realm. The path of illuminating the mind and seeing one's nature can be advanced while seated; benefiting creatures and saving the world lies precisely in humaneness and righteousness. Long after corrupt deceits arose daily, men of penetration and superior scholars admired and drank in its noble standard; the historians of successive generations never failed to set forth and narrate its matters. Thus, Fan Ye's discussion of the Western Regions states: 'The spiritual transformation of the Buddha's Path arose from Shendu (pronounced gan-du, that is Tianzhu, India); the local gazetteers of the Western Han made no mention of it. Was the Way closed in past eras, and did its destiny unfold in later times?' Yuan Hong's Record of the Han states: 'In Tianzhu there is the Buddha's Path, which can transform and penetrate the myriad things and broadly save all sentient beings.' When the Book of Jin was compiled by imperial order under Zhenguan of the Tang, Kumārajīva and Fotudeng were both included among the biographies, and were praised: 'Bequeathing writings to expound the teaching, penetrating the occult and comprehending the profound.' When Wei Shou compiled the Book of Wei, his treatise on Buddhism and Daoism stated: 'The Buddha said that the conscious spirit throughout the three periods of time is constant and never perishes. Whosoever commits good or evil will certainly experience retribution. Gradually accumulating superior karma, they reach the unproduced.' These are all clear meanings by which various histories have narrated the Buddha, knowing that the Buddha's Path can indeed benefit creatures and save the world. How strange then, when Master Ouyang compiled the Book of Tang, that wherever matters of the Śākya clan could assist state governance or open human hearts, he deleted them all! This merely served to show that the Old History was comprehensive and rich. That his lack of broad learning and clinging to narrow views should be like this—to call his a reliable history is something I cannot believe.