佛祖統紀 39.47

39.47

九年。傅奕七上疏請除佛法。帝以其疏付群臣雜議。大臣皆曰。佛法興自屢朝。弘善遏惡冥助國家。理無棄廢。宰相蕭瑀（後梁明帝之子）曰佛聖人也。而奕非之。非聖人者。無法當治其罪。奕曰。人之大倫莫如君父。佛以世嫡而畔其父。以匹夫而抗天子。蕭瑀不生於空桑。乃遵無父之教。非孝者無親。瑀之謂矣。瑀合掌謂之曰。地獄正為此人設（瑀音禹見舊唐史）帝一日問群臣曰。傅奕每言佛教無用卿等如何。左僕射裴寂曰。陛下昔創義師。志憑三寶言登九五。誓啟玄門。今六合歸仁富有四海。而欲納奕言。豈不虧往德而彰今過乎。帝復以疏。頒示諸僧。問出家於國何益。沙門法琳撰破邪論。謂佛教徹萬法之源。而孔老立言時域中之治。凡出家者。守志明道弘善興福。啟迪昏蒙利國非淺。時秦王府記室虞世南。為序以贊之。明概法師作決對論。責奕謗佛僧八事。有秦王府典儀李師政。述內德論云。勸善進德之廣。六經所未逮戒惡防患之深。九流莫之比。但窮神知化。其言宏大而可驚。去惑絕塵。厥軌清邈而難蹈。夫能事未興於上古。聖人開務於後世。故棟宇易檜巢之居。文字代結繩之政。飲血茹毛之饌。則先用而未珍。火化粒食之功。雖後作而非弊。豈得以詩書早播而可隆。貝經晚至而宜替。又死生無窮之緣。報應不朽之說。釋氏之所明。黃老之未喻也。又慧乘作辨正論十喻九箴。破道士十異九迷之謬。上覽諸沙門論議。寤奕譽道毀佛。遂有兼汰二教之意○五月下詔。以沙門道士苟避征徭不守戒律而寺觀隣接廛邸溷雜屠酤非所以為垂教。其僧道戒行虧闕者。並令罷道。精勤練行者。並就大寺觀居止供給衣食。京師留寺三所觀一所。諸州各留一所。餘皆罷之○六月庚申。皇太子建成齊王元吉。謀不利於秦王。秦王世民討殺之。以秦王為皇太子。癸亥大赦天下。停前沙汰僧道詔○八月詔傳位於皇太子。既即位。嘗問傅奕曰。佛道微妙聖迹可師。且報應之事顯然。卿獨不悟其理何耶。對曰。佛乃西方之桀黠無補國家。臣非不悟鄙不學也。帝深惡其言（云云）。後傅奕得惡病。遍身糜爛號叫而死。少府監馮長命夢至冥府。多見先亡。因問傅奕毀佛惡病而死今受何報。答曰。已聞付越州為泥犁矣。當時識者。謂是泥犁地獄也（苦報記）。

In the ninth year, Fu Yi submitted seven memorials requesting the abolition of the Buddhadharma. The Emperor referred his memorials to the ministers for mixed deliberation. The high officials all said, 'The Buddhadharma has flourished through successive dynasties, promoting goodness, checking evil, and invisibly aiding the state; by principle it should not be discarded.' Chancellor Xiao Yu (son of Emperor Ming of the Later Liang) said, 'The Buddha is a sage, yet Yi denounces him. One who denounces a sage is lawless and should be punished.' Yi replied, 'Among the great human relations, none surpasses sovereign and father. The Buddha, as an heir apparent, rebelled against his father, and as a commoner defied the Son of Heaven. Xiao Yu was not born from a hollow mulberry tree, yet he follows a fatherless teaching. One who rejects filial piety has no love for his kin; this applies to Yu.' Yu joined his palms and said to him, 'Hell is prepared precisely for such a man!' One day the Emperor asked the ministers, 'Fu Yi repeatedly says the Buddhist teaching is useless; what do you think?' Pei Ji, Vice Director of the Left, said, 'When Your Majesty formerly raised the righteous army, your intent relied upon the Three Jewels, and your vow to ascend to the throne pledged to open the mystery-gate. Now the realm has returned to benevolence and possesses the wealth of the four seas; if you wish to accept Yi's words, would this not impair past virtue and manifest present fault?' The Emperor again promulgated the memorial to the monks, asking how going forth as a monk benefits the state. The śramaṇa Falin composed the Treatises on Destroying the Heterodox (Poxie lun), asserting that the Buddhist teaching penetrates the source of the myriad phenomena, whereas Confucius and Laozi established words only for governance within the temporal realm. All who go forth uphold their resolve, clarify the Way, promote goodness, and generate blessings, enlightening the ignorant and benefiting the state in no small measure. At that time, Yu Shinan, Recording Secretary in the Prince of Qin's Headquarters, wrote a preface praising it. Dharma Master Minggai composed the Decisive Counter-Treatise (Juedui lun), rebuking Yi on eight points for slandering the Buddha and monks. Li Shizheng, Master of Ceremonies in the Prince of Qin's Headquarters, composed the Treatise on Inner Virtue (Neide lun), stating: 'The breadth with which it encourages goodness and advances virtue is beyond the reach of the Six Classics; the depth with which it warns against evil and guards against calamities cannot be matched by the Nine Streams. Only in plumbing the spiritual and comprehending transformation are its words so immense as to be astonishing; in removing delusion and severing defilement, its path is so pure and lofty as to be difficult to tread. Useful developments did not arise in high antiquity; the sages initiated practices in later generations. Hence ridgepoles and eaves replaced dwelling in tree-nests, and written characters replaced the governance of knotted cords. The fare of drinking blood and eating raw fur was used first yet not prized; the efficacy of cooking by fire and eating grain, though invented later, is not defective. How could it be that the Classics of Poetry and Documents, having spread early, should be exalted, while the palm-leaf sūtras, having arrived late, should be discarded? Furthermore, the condition of unending birth and death and the doctrine of imperishable retribution are what the Śākya clan has clarified, but what Huang-Lao has not understood.' Furthermore, Huicheng composed the Treatise on Discerning Rectitude (Bianzheng lun) with Ten Analogies and Nine Admonitions, refuting the Daoists' errors of the 'Ten Heterodoxies and Nine Delusions'. The Emperor examined the treatises of the various śramaṇas and realized that Yi was praising Daoism and slandering Buddhism; thereupon he intended to purge both teachings together. In the fifth month, an edict was issued: because śramaṇas and Daoists illicitly evaded corvée, failed to observe the monastic precepts, and because their monasteries and abbeys adjoined marketplaces and mixed with butchers and winemakers, this was not how instruction should be handed down. Those monks and Daoists whose precept-conduct was deficient were all ordered to leave the clergy. Those who were diligent and refined in practice were all to reside in major monasteries and abbeys, supplied with clothing and food. In the capital, three monasteries and one abbey were retained; each prefecture was to retain one each; all the rest were abolished. In the sixth month, on the gengshen day, Crown Prince Jiancheng and King Yuanji of Qi plotted harm against the Prince of Qin. The Prince of Qin, Shimin, attacked and killed them. The Prince of Qin was made Crown Prince. On the guihai day, a great amnesty was granted across the realm, and the previous edict on purging monks and Daoists was suspended. In the eighth month, an edict abdicated the throne to the Crown Prince. After ascending the throne, he once asked Fu Yi, 'The Buddhist Way is subtle and profound, and its holy traces worthy of emulation; moreover, the matters of retribution are manifest. Why is it that you alone do not realize its principles?' Yi replied, 'The Buddha was merely a cunning and crafty fellow from the West, of no benefit to the state. It is not that I fail to realize it; I despise it and do not study it.' The Emperor deeply detested his words. Later, Fu Yi contracted a foul illness; his whole body rotted and festered, and he died wailing. Feng Changming, Director of the Palace Administration, dreamed that he went to the underworld and saw many of the deceased. He asked, 'Fu Yi slandered the Buddha and died of a foul illness; what retribution does he suffer now?' The reply was: 'We have already heard he was handed over to Yuezhou to be in Nili.' People of discernment at the time said this meant the Nili Hell (Record of Bitter Retributions).