佛祖統紀 42.39

42.39

八年勅三教首座辯章充左街僧錄。沙門僧徹充右街僧錄○潭州岳麓寺沙門疏言（疎同）往太原求大藏經。河東節度使司空盧鈞。副使韋宙。以經施之。節度巡官李節為之記曰。儒學之人喜排釋氏。其論必曰。禹湯文武周孔之代皆無有釋。釋氏之興源於漢。流於晉。瀰漫於宋魏齊梁陳隋唐。此衰世之所奉也。宜一掃絕之使不得滋。論者之言粗矣。吾請精而言之。昔有一夫膚腯而色和。神清而氣烈。怡然保順。醫與禱無用也（粗倉胡切腯音突肥也）復一夫而有風濕之痾。背癃而足躄。耳聵而目瞑。於是用攻熨焉事禳禬焉。是二夫者胡相反耶病不病異耳（躄音壁。不能行。聵五怪切。耳聾。瞑莫定切。目閉也）嗚呼三代之前世康矣。三代之季世病矣。三代之前禹湯文武。德義播之。周公孔子。典教持之。道風雖微猶有漸漬。以故詐不勝信。而惡知避善也。暨三代之季。風俗大敗。詐力相乘。廢井田則唯務兼并。貪土宅則日事戰爭。姦邪於是肆其志。賢士不能容其身。以故上下相仇。而激為怨俗也。釋氏之教以清淨自居。柔和自抑。則怨爭可得而息也。以因果為言。窮達為分。則貴賤可得而安也。怨爭息則干戈盜賊之不興貴賤安則君臣民庶之有別。此佛聖人所以救衰世之道也。不有釋氏尚安救之哉。今論者不責衰世之俗為難移。而尤釋氏之徒為無用。是不憐抱病之夫。而詬醫禱之為何人也不思釋氏救世行化之為大益。而且疾其宮牆之麗徒眾之蕃。摘其猥庸無檢者為口實。而欲一概以廢棄之。是見其末而遺其本也。會昌季年武宗大剪釋氏巾其徒徹其居。容貌於土木者沈諸水。言論於紙素者投諸火。分命御史乘驛走天下。察敢隱匿者罪之。於是天下名藍真宇毀去若掃。今天子建號之初。雪釋氏不當廢也。亟下詔復之。而自湖以南遠人畏法。體朝廷之嚴旨。焚徹經像殆無遺餘。故今明命雖頒。莫能得其經籍。道林寺者湘西之勝遊也。有釋疏言獨曰。太原府國家舊都佛祠為最多。大帥司空盧公天下仁人。我第往求遺書或可得也。既上謁軍門。公果諾之。四馳以求逸文。月未幾得經律論五千四十八卷。輦而歸。嘻釋氏救世之道。既言之矣。向非我明君洞鑑理源。何能復行其道。非司空公克崇大法。何能復全其書。非沙門疏言深識法運。何能不憚遠求以遂茲盛典。奉聖上之令興釋氏之宗。惠及後人。其功用有不可勝言者。可無記焉。

In the eighth year, an imperial decree appointed Bianzhang, Chief of the Three Teachings, as the Monastic Controller of the Left Street, and the śramaṇa Sengche as the Monastic Controller of the Right Street. The śramaṇa Shuyan of Yuelu Monastery in Tanzhou went to Taiyuan to seek the Great Canon. Lu Jun, Military Commissioner of Hedong and Sikong, and Vice Commissioner Wei Zhou donated the scriptures to him. Li Jie, Patrol Officer of the Military Command, composed a record for it, saying: 'Men of Confucian learning take pleasure in rejecting the teachings of the Śākya clan. Their argument invariably says: "During the eras of Yu, Tang, Wen, Wu, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius, there was no Śākya. The rise of the Śākya clan originated in the Han, flowed through the Jin, and flooded across the Song, Wei, Qi, Liang, Chen, Sui, and Tang. This is what declining ages revere; it should be swept away entirely so that it cannot flourish." The words of these critics are crude. Let me speak of it with refinement. Formerly, there was a man whose flesh was plump and complexion harmonious, whose spirit was clear and vitality vigorous; serenely he preserved his balance, and physicians and prayers were of no use to him. (The graph for 'crude' [粗] is pronounced cāng-hú; 'plump' [腯] is pronounced tū, meaning fat.) There was another man who suffered from wind-damp ailment; his back was bent and his feet were lame, his ears deaf and his eyes closed. Thereupon needling and hot compresses were applied, and exorcisms and sacrifices were performed. Why were these two men so contrary to each other? It is simply the difference between being sick and not being sick. (The graph for 'lame' [躄] is pronounced bì, meaning unable to walk. The graph for 'deaf' [聵] is pronounced wǔ-guài, meaning deaf. The graph for 'closed eyes' [瞑] is pronounced mò-dìng, meaning eyes closed.) Alas! The world before the Three Dynasties was healthy; the world at the end of the Three Dynasties was sick. Before the Three Dynasties, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu spread virtue and righteousness, while the Duke of Zhou and Confucius upheld the canons and teachings. Though the influence of the Way was slight, it still permeated gradually; therefore deceit did not overcome trustworthiness, and evil knew to shun goodness. When it came to the end of the Three Dynasties, custom greatly collapsed, and deceit and force took advantage of one another. Abolishing the well-field system, they aimed only at annexation; coveting land and residences, they engaged daily in warfare. Traitors and villains thereupon gave rein to their desires, and worthy gentlemen could not find a place for themselves. Therefore high and low bore mutual hatred, stirring up resentful customs. The teachings of the Śākya clan dwell in purity and restrain themselves with gentleness, so that resentments and disputes can be quelled. Speaking in terms of cause and effect and assigning poverty and prominence as one's lot, the noble and the base can find peace. When resentments and disputes are quelled, arms and brigands will not arise; when the noble and the base are at peace, ruler, minister, and common people have their distinction. This is the way by which the Buddha, the Sage, rescues a declining age. Without the Śākya clan, how else could it be saved? Now critics do not blame the customs of a declining age for being difficult to alter, but instead fault the followers of the Śākya clan for being useless. This is like not pitying a sick man, but rather reviling the doctor and the supplicant for who they are! They do not consider that the Śākya clan's saving of the world and carrying out transformation is of immense benefit; instead, they despise the splendor of their palatial walls and the multitude of their followers, seizing upon the base and undisciplined among them as a pretext, wanting to discard them all uniformly. This is seeing the branches while abandoning the root. In the final years of the Huichang era, Emperor Wuzong severely suppressed the Śākya clan, clothing their disciples in turbans and dismantling their residences. Those whose forms were in clay and wood were drowned in water; those whose words were on paper and silk were cast into fire. He dispatched censors riding courier horses throughout the realm to investigate and penalize any who dared conceal them. Thereupon the empire's famed monasteries and authentic abodes were swept away as if clean. At the beginning of our current Son of Heaven's reign, he vindicated the Śākya clan as not deserving abolition, and swiftly issued edicts to restore it. Yet south of the lakes, the distant people feared the law, and executing the court's strict decrees, they burned and dismantled scriptures and images until virtually none remained. Hence, although the enlightened mandate has now been promulgated, none can obtain their canonical texts. Daolin Monastery is a scenic resort west of the Xiang River. Only the monk Shuyan said: "Taiyuan Prefecture is the old capital of our state, where Buddhist shrines are most numerous. The Great Commander, Sikong Lord Lu, is a humane man of the world. If I only go to seek the surviving writings, perhaps they can be obtained." Having paid his respects at the military gate, the Lord indeed granted it. He dispatched messengers in all four directions to seek lost texts; within less than a month, they obtained 5,048 volumes of the Sūtras, Vinaya, and Abhidharma, and carried them back in carriages. Ah! The way the Śākya clan rescues the world has already been spoken of. Formerly, had our enlightened sovereign not deeply perceived the source of principle, how could its Way be practiced once more? Had the Sikong Lord not been able to venerate the Great Dharma, how could its writings be completely preserved again? Had the śramaṇa Shuyan not deeply understood the turning of the Dharma, how could he, undaunted by distance, have sought them out to fulfill this great celebration? Upholding the Holy Sovereign's command, he revived the school of the Śākya clan, extending its benefit to future generations. Its merit and efficacy cannot be spoken of exhaustively; how could there not be a record of it?'